Three days later, in a dense forest along the border, the morning fog had yet to lift.
The air hung so still it seemed solid. The slightest tremble of a leaf felt magnified a thousandfold. Uchiha Sou lay hidden like a withered leaf deep in the crown of a massive cedar, his breathing nearly stopped. Through a gap in the branches, his Double Tomoe Sharingan locked firmly onto the winding path below.
His heart beat heavily in his chest. It wasn't just the tension of the impending battle; an inexplicable, ever-growing sense of oppression weighed on him. It was as if the Natural Energy around him were issuing a silent warning, foretelling some ominous outcome. This was the vague premonition that came from constantly maintaining his "resonance" state. He couldn't make sense of it, but it left him on edge.
His position was the plan's second observation point, some distance from the designated main ambush zone. It gave him a clear view of the whole area while keeping him relatively safe. Madara and Izuna's main force was concealed farther ahead, in a strategically advantageous spot.
Time passed second by second.
At last, the faintest whistle of something cutting through the air reached him, along with a fluctuation in Chakra.
They were here!
Uchiha Sou's nerves snapped taut.
A squad of elite Senju came into view, escorting several supply carts sealed with runes. They moved quickly but warily along the path. At the center of the group, that striking white hair and stern face could belong to no one else: Tobirama Senju! He walked as if at ease, yet his keen eyes swept the surroundings like a hawk's, and every step landed where an ambush was least likely.
The squad ventured deeper into the ambush zone.
Without the slightest warning—
Rumble!
A massive Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame descended like heavenly fire, instantly swallowing the front half of the squad! A moment later, countless Shuriken and Kunai rained down from the woods on both sides!
"Enemy attack! Uchiha!" The Senju ninja reacted swiftly and immediately formed a defensive formation, but caught off guard, they had already lost several men!
Uchiha Madara dropped from the sky like a demon god. His Mangekyō Sharingan spun as he precisely located and avoided several hidden trap arrays in the formation before charging straight at Tobirama Senju!
"Uchiha Madara!" Tobirama's gaze sharpened, but he met the charge without fear. His Ghost Shadow Body Flicker Technique activated, turning him into a series of afterimages as the Kunai in his hand thrust toward Madara's vital points!
The battle reached its climax the moment it began!
Madara's Mangekyō perception was astonishing. He always seemed to predict where Tobirama's Body Flicker Technique would take him. Flames clashed with blades in deafening roars, sending surging waves of air through the clearing. Izuna led the other elite Uchiha in a fierce assault on the Senju's defensive formation, trying to cut off Tobirama's escape route.
From his vantage point, Uchiha Sou watched with his heart in his throat. Madara's power was truly terrifying; the Dojutsu Power of his Mangekyō seemed to form an invisible domain that suppressed Tobirama's speed. But Tobirama's ability to adapt was just as frightening. The movements of his Body Flicker Technique grew increasingly unpredictable. He always dodged lethal attacks by the narrowest margin, and the contingencies he had arranged in secret began to reveal themselves. Several Senju ninja suddenly formed Hand Seals, and Barrier Stone Pillars infused with sealing Chakra rose from the ground, attempting to restrict Madara's movements!
The battle was a brutal stalemate.
Sou forced down his unease and focused his Sharingan, tracking every detail. He noticed that although Tobirama seemed to be losing ground under Madara's fierce assault, his expression remained calm, as if he were waiting for something.
Just then, the situation suddenly changed!
A Senju ninja who had seemed like an ordinary guard protecting the supply carts abruptly dropped his disguise. His hands formed Hand Seals as fast as lightning!
"Flying Thunder God Guiding Thunder!" (Incomplete version.) He shouted as he activated the technique on a specially made Kunai that he had already planted nearby!
Hum!
Space rippled with the faintest distortion!
Tobirama Senju, locked in a fierce clash with Madara, suddenly blurred and used the unfinished space-time technique to break free of their engagement in an instant, reappearing beside the ninja!
"Now! Move!" Tobirama barked. He grabbed the ninja by the shoulder and, with his other hand, flung out a large number of smoke bombs and Explosive Tags to cover their retreat!
Their goal had never been to fight to the bitter end. They meant to use the unfinished technique to slip away and, perhaps, catch Madara off guard in the process!
"You think you can escape?!" Uchiha Madara roared. His Mangekyō locked onto the fading spatial distortion, and an overwhelming force of Dojutsu Power erupted as he tried to destabilize the technique!
"Brother, watch out!" Izuna cried out. He saw the Senju ninja who had used the technique reveal a crazed, resolute expression as the Chakra within his body began to swell wildly, growing dangerously unstable—a human bomb!
A trap within a trap!
Everyone's attention was drawn to the sudden turn of events!
Yet at that very moment—
Uchiha Sou, who had been lying in wait above, felt his pupils contract!
His Sharingan saw clearly that, just as Madara focused all his strength on disrupting space and Izuna tried to rush forward to protect his brother, another exceedingly faint shadow—almost indistinguishable from the darkness, perhaps a Water Clone Tobirama had left behind or some kind of high-speed afterimage—used the smoke and explosion for cover. Holding a short blade etched with dangerous runes, it moved at a speed beyond the eye's limits, silently circling into Madara's blind spot and thrusting toward his back!
The real killing blow! Tobirama had drawn everyone's attention with the unfinished Flying Thunder God Technique and the human bomb. The true lethal strike was hidden in that instant!
Madara's Mangekyō seemed to sense the danger, but his body had gone rigid for a brief moment from the effort of disrupting space!
There was no time!
Uchiha Sou's mind went blank. Every calculation, every fear, every hesitation vanished in that moment!
He didn't know why he was doing this. Perhaps it was to ensure the Uchiha's victory, perhaps to keep Madara from falling here and plunging the situation into total chaos, or perhaps... he simply couldn't bear to see the fated "script" play out?
The Two-Tomoe in his eyes spun wildly, reaching its limit. He even felt a sharp, tearing pain! He staked everything he had—his entire mental strength, his Dojutsu Power, and the faint connection to the world that he had accumulated through more than a year of "resonance"—like a gambler betting it all!
His target wasn't an attack, or a defense, but—interference!
He would disrupt the faintest "causal" thread holding that shadow's lethal strike in place!
"Deflect!" An inaudible cry that consumed all his strength exploded deep within his soul!
He didn't specify how the attack should be deflected. He poured all his will into one overwhelming desire: let this attack miss its vital point!
Pff!
A sound as faint as a balloon popping.
Below, in the instant before the shadow's rune-etched blade was about to pierce Madara's back, its movement seemed to be tugged by some invisible, uncanny force. Its trajectory shifted ever so slightly—so subtly that even the wielder didn't notice at once!
At the same time, Madara finally recovered from his brief paralysis. His Mangekyō perception returned, and he sensed the icy killing intent behind him. He struggled to dodge to the side!
Shhk!
The rune-etched blade failed to pierce his heart, instead plunging deep into the right side of Madara's back and piercing his lung! The dangerous runes on the blade lit up at once, seeming to activate some sinister effect!
"Ugh!" Madara grunted as pain and the sensation of a foreign object struck him. But his battle experience was immense. He spun and lashed out with a fist wrapped in violent Chakra and fury!
Boom!
The shadow was blown apart by his enraged blow, dissolving into a pool of water—as expected, it had been an incredibly lifelike Water Clone trap!
Meanwhile, Tobirama's true body, relocated by the unfinished Flying Thunder God Technique, had barely had time to catch his breath before he felt the feedback of the Water Clone's destruction and the plan's failure. His face turned deathly pale, disbelief and profound grief flashing in his eyes. The subordinate he had used as bait to perform the unfinished Flying Thunder God Technique was a research assistant he valued immensely!
"Move!" He didn't hesitate. With Madara wounded and the battlefield in chaos, he led his remaining trusted men and vanished into the depths of the forest as quickly as he could.
"Brother!" Izuna rushed to Madara's side. When he saw the rune-etched blade embedded deep in his lung, his face went deathly pale.
"Don't touch it!" Madara gritted out. His Mangekyō fixed on the runes along the blade as his immense Dojutsu Power forcibly suppressed the sinister energy about to erupt from them. Veins stood out on his forehead.
The Uchiha ninja tried to pursue, but Madara raised a hand to stop them. "Don't chase... a cornered enemy... watch out... there may be more traps..." Blood flecked his lips with every word.
The ambush ended in a brutal toll. Tobirama Senju had gravely wounded Uchiha Madara, at the cost of losing a trusted subordinate and exposing the unfinished technique, but he had also escaped and saved most of the supplies. Uchiha Madara was badly wounded. He had avoided a fatal injury, but his condition was severe, and the strange blade would be extremely difficult to deal with.
After using up all his strength to make that single intervention, Uchiha Sou blacked out and fell straight from the tree. A nearby clansman spotted him in time and caught him. His face was as pale as paper, blood ran from his eyes, and he sank into a deep coma as if his very soul had been drained away.
Before he completely lost consciousness, one last hazy thought crossed his mind: that warning-like feeling of rejection... had never been so intense...
Senju Clan Compound.
Tobirama returned with his battered survivors, his expression frighteningly grim. The operation had suffered heavy losses. The unfinished Flying Thunder God Technique had been exposed, and most important of all, he had lost his most valued research assistant!
He locked himself in the laboratory and stared at the complicated blueprints, his eyes bloodshot and filled with obsession.
"Uchiha Madara... the Mangekyō... and that bizarre power that interfered with my killing blow..." He clenched his fists. "I have to move faster! A better Flying Thunder God Technique! More powerful Forbidden Jutsu! I'll... destroy you once and for all!"
Deep in the forest, Hashirama Senju was merging with Natural Energy when, as if sensing something, he jolted awake from his training.
A powerful unease and a pang of dread gripped him.
"Tobirama..." He looked toward the border, his brow furrowed.
The next moment, a Senju ninja came running over in a panic. "Lord Hashirama! Something terrible happened! Lord Tobirama... the operation failed, and he returned gravely wounded. And... and Mr. Lianglu... he was killed in action!"
Hashirama felt as if he had been struck by lightning! Lianglu was Tobirama's most important assistant and one of his few friends!
Overwhelming worry and grief, along with an unending hatred of war, erupted within his chest like a volcano!
Without thinking, he pressed both hands to the ground and let out a pained roar toward the sky!
Boom!
Trees far larger and more vibrant than before burst from the earth. They did not attack; it was as if they sensed his pain. They grew wildly, intertwining to form a lush forest domain that glowed with a gentle light! More Natural Energy was drawn in by his powerful emotions, flowing into it!
The red markings beneath his eyes became a little clearer.
His understanding of Senjutsu deepened unexpectedly, nourished by pain.
The world's "favoritism" had once again used the Uchiha's blood and suffering to advance its "child of destiny."
Uchiha Sou, unconscious. Uchiha Madara, gravely wounded. Tobirama Senju, consumed by obsession. Hashirama Senju, whose power had grown through pain...
The spiral of hatred tightened once more, turning faster.
And the eyes watching indifferently from behind the scenes seemed... quite pleased with this.
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