Meanwhile, Madara, seated atop the tower in the Land of Rain, turned his head to glance in the direction of Nagato and Jiraiya, a flicker of surprise passing through his eyes.
To be fair, even for him, without control over the Rinnegan, dealing with Nagato would have taken some effort. Judging by the aura now, it had been a narrow victory, but it was still truly impressive.
Jiraiya was a commoner. For him to have come this far had been far from easy, and his ability to teach disciples was first-rate as well. Madara turned back and looked down at Minato, who was trading blows evenly with his many clones below.
A hint of approval flashed through Madara's eyes. A pity. He was only a commoner.
Madara's battle with Minato and the others was the same as when he had fought the Five Kage in the original work—he had sent out Wood Clones. But this was far simpler than dealing with the Five Kage.
Although the old fellows present were probably somewhat stronger than the Five Kage in the original work, they were different from the Five Kage.
Among the Five Kage in the original work, only Ōnoki had seen Madara's power, and only part of it at that. Even Tsunade had merely heard of it and had no concrete impression.
But most of the people here knew Madara's power very well, especially after Madara displayed Wood Release. The only ones on the field who still retained their will to fight were Minato and Fugaku.
While Madara was leisurely watching the battle, Minato below dodged Susanoo's attack, and a flash of orange eyeshadow vanished at the corner of his eyes. He frowned slightly.
From his sensing, the battle on Jiraiya's side had already ended, and Jiraiya's aura had returned to