Madara seized an opening in Uchiha Mai's defenses and sent him flying with a kick.
Madara did not press his advantage afterward. Although he seemed to have knocked Uchiha Mai away, he had actually suffered worse injuries than Mai.
Over a thousand Supersonic Fists in just over ten seconds might not have beaten Madara to a pulp, but they had certainly left him scrambling to defend himself and drained him considerably.
Uchiha Mai, on the other hand, only needed a moment to catch his breath after pushing his body so hard. Wearing the Sun Wheel Armor, with physical abilities on par with a Saint, he had suffered no real injuries and expended relatively little energy.
A ninja's chakra reserves were closely tied to their physical and spiritual energy. Having already crossed the threshold of a Saint's power, Uchiha Mai possessed even more terrifying energy than Madara at his restored peak.
"Haah, haah!"
Madara panted heavily. Glancing down at his tattered crimson armor, he frowned slightly and casually tore it off.
Then he looked at Uchiha Mai, his fighting spirit soaring. "Ahahahaha! Mai, you truly are the greatest genius in the Uchiha Clan's history.
"Even Izuna and I fall far short of you. Your strength may already surpass Hashirama's back then."
Madara conceding that Mai was more talented did not mean he thought he could not win. Talent and strength were not the same thing.
"Now, how about trying this?"
Madara clapped his hands together. Ripples spread through his eyes, and a vast ocean of overwhelmingly powerful chakra surged out, consumed as fuel for his technique.
Tengai Shinsei!
The sky suddenly darkened, an extremely unusual occurrence in a desert covered in yellow sand with almost nothing to block the light.
Everyone instinctively looked up. A meteor large enough to blot out