Shendu vs. Uchiha Madara

"What's wrong, Zetsu?!"

But before Zetsu could say anything, the boulder blocking the entrance was blasted to pieces by a laser beam. Then, through the clouds of dust, a pair of terrifying red eyes and a towering figure appeared.

"Who are you?!"

Uchiha Madara sprang to his feet, instantly on guard. He grabbed the Uchiha Gunbai and assumed a battle stance.

"Your emperor—Shendu!"

(PS: The Shendu in this book is an enhanced version, one that follows the original setting.)

The moment Shendu finished speaking, flames burst from his mouth, and scorching heat engulfed the entire cave.

"Uchiha Reflection!"

Uchiha Madara instinctively raised the Gunbai in his hand to block the attack. But the next instant, the onrushing flames, whipping up waves of heat, made him realize just how disastrously wrong his decision had been.

"This attack... It has no chakra at all!"

The scorching torrent swallowed the Uchiha Gunbai in an instant, then engulfed Uchiha Madara himself. Agonizing pain tore through his body. His skin blistered and peeled away, then charred black.

Enduring the agony of his severe burns, Uchiha Madara activated Susanoo. He no longer cared about the base or anything else, and swung out two sword waves, cleaving through the sea of flames.

"An ordinary human can withstand one of my attacks? Impressive. But that's all you are!"

Madara was used to being the one who said arrogant things like that. How could he stand hearing them from someone else? Fury surged through him, and he summoned Perfect Susanoo, cleaving the Mountain's Graveyard—his own lair—in two. Then he sent sword waves flying toward Shendu.

"Pointless attacks..."

Shendu didn't dodge. The reflection of the Rooster Talisman shimmered in his eyes, and the sword waves seemed to be stopped by an invisible pair of hands. They abruptly reversed direction and hurtled back toward Madara.

"What?!"

Madara immediately used Perfect Susanoo to deflect the incoming sword waves with his blade. But just as he was about to counterattack, Shendu vanished from the spot.

The invisibility magic of the Snake Talisman had taken effect.

"He disappeared?!"

Madara didn't dare let down his guard. He carefully sensed every rustle and stir around him, but Shendu seemed to have vanished into thin air. No matter what he did, he couldn't find him.

"Damn it!"

By the time a powerful fist swept in from the side, it was too late. Though there was nothing there, Madara could still feel Susanoo taking a devastating blow.

—Bang!

The force, several times greater than Senju Hashirama's, instantly shattered Susanoo's outer shell and struck Madara directly. In that moment, he felt every bone in his body crumble to dust. His body went limp, and his organs burst as he was hurled away.

—Boom!

He smashed through several mountains before finally becoming embedded in one. His red battle armor was now in tatters, fragments scattered across the ground, revealing the Dog Talisman that Madara had always worn against his chest.

Spitting out another mouthful of blood, Madara's mind raced. He'd lived for nearly a century. The shinobi of the current era should have been far weaker than him. Where had this Shendu come from?

That kind of strength... And those abilities that didn't use chakra at all. He couldn't understand it. When had the world grown so strange? Weren't he and Hashirama the strongest people since the Warring States period?

Though the power of the Dog Talisman let him remain standing, the wounds on his body were all too real...

"Tch..."

Madara pulled himself out of the crater in the shape of a person. His refusal to lose reignited. He was the "Savior of the Ninja World"—how could he fall here?!

"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"

Madara raised both hands. Tree roots spread out and coiled upward. Shendu made no attempt to dodge, and the roots bound him tightly.

Everyone knew that chakra was like the spiritual energy in cultivation novels: it was everywhere in the Ninja World and existed within all its living beings. The only difference was how much each one possessed.

So Madara naturally assumed that Shendu did have chakra, but was concealing it with some special ability. He used Wood Release to restrain Shendu, planning to drain him dry first.

But the next moment, Madara realized he was wrong again. Shendu couldn't be judged by the laws of the Ninja World. He truly had no chakra at all.

—Roar!

Blazing flames consumed the forest. Madara immediately followed up with the Wood Dragon Technique, but it was useless against Shendu. Shendu leaped in front of Madara and swung another loaded punch.

This time, however, Madara didn't repeat his mistake by facing the attack head-on. He immediately used the Substitution Technique to escape.

"I never thought I'd have to use such a basic technique again..."

"If I can't sense him, then he shouldn't be able to sense me either..."

Madara abandoned his brawler approach and, for once, took a moment to think.

Shendu had punched Madara's wooden substitute to ashes, then roared at the sky in frustration. That alone showed he couldn't seem to tell the substitute apart from the real Madara. If that's the case...

Madara formed Hand Seals and, before Shendu could attack again, unleashed the "Multiple Wood Clone Technique" several times in a row.

In an instant, thousands upon thousands of Uchiha Madaras, each controlling a Perfect Susanoo, stood beneath the cavern ceiling. The moment Shendu turned invisible again, they formed Hand Seals in unison.

"Fire Release: Dust Hiding Technique!"

A dense cloud of dust blotted out the sky, concealing everything around them. It was quite like Jack's "Darkness Misty Metropolis" Noble Phantasm.

Just as Madara had expected, the smoke screen clung to the invisible Shendu. His pair of eyes, gleaming with a murderous red light, stood out clearly through the dust.

"Now!"

Scorching flames followed. Orange-red fire spread rapidly through the smoke, searing the area with intense heat. Madara could use Susanoo to withstand the flames, but Shendu had to endure them with his own body.

Madara had badly misjudged the situation, though. How could Fire Release possibly work on Shendu, a Fire Demon?

The instant the smoke dispersed, even more violent flames swept across the entire battlefield, melting large portions of Madara's Perfect Susanoo in moments.

The chakra inside Madara rapidly dwindled, while Shendu continued unleashing Eye Beams and Fire Breath without showing any signs of fatigue. Even Uchiha Madara, so proud of himself, couldn't help asking in his mind, Does this guy even get tired?!

As if he'd seen through Madara's confusion, Shendu stopped attacking and spoke slowly with the air of a ruler addressing a subject. "Mortal, did you think I was as weak as you? I am a demon! I am a dragon! My magic is limitless!"

"Magic?!"

Madara latched onto the keyword. He seemed to remember White Zetsu telling him that an old man in Konoha had appeared who used "Qi Magic." So there really are other systems of power besides chakra?

When White Zetsu had brought this up, Madara thought it was just a con artist's trick. But now... perhaps that wasn't the case after all...