"Heh."
Madara Uchiha could sense it.
The other party was still doing things his own way, with no intention of changing course.
He wasn't coming to find him. If anything, he was fleeing in the opposite direction even faster than before.
He had to remember that, in his day-to-day life, Madara relied on the Demonic Statue to supply him with chakra and keep him alive.
Now, Madara had already removed the tubes connected to the Demonic Statue.
What sustained his frail, aged body now
was the layer of White Zetsu wrapped around him from head to toe.
That was what kept his crumbling body stable.
But White Zetsu was still far too weak.
Even while possessing him,
he couldn't bring out even a third of his original strength.
Never mind anything resembling his peak.
Madara couldn't help but sigh. "As expected, the only way is to be revived according to plan!"
After making arrangements for Obito and Black Zetsu,
Madara had originally planned to remove the tubes himself
and fall into a true, literal slumber.
But then there was the Uchiha Clan,
and the genius who had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan had piqued his curiosity.
After all, Uchiha Obito had only awakened his Mangekyō because Madara had secretly pushed him toward it.
Yet someone in the village had managed to awaken one on their own.
How could that not pique Madara's interest?
As for who in Konoha had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan,
Madara had assumed it was the head of the Uchiha Clan.
Either Uchiha Fugaku or his child, Uchiha Itachi,
since Uchiha Sasuke had not yet been born.
So naturally, Sasuke wasn't among the possibilities Madara considered.
But the resonance between the Sharingan just now had told him
that this person wasn't from the clan leader's branch of the Uchiha Clan.
That only made him even more curious.
Feeling his time grow shorter now that he was separated from the Demonic Statue,
Madara had no choice but to hurry.
"The resonance between Mangekyō—doesn't he feel even the slightest bit curious?!"
If it were anyone else,
they would have come to investigate by now.
This kid could actually hold back so well.
It truly surprised Madara a little.
With no other choice,
Madara could only go find him himself.
So he placed his palm against the enormous spherical barrier covering the skies above Konoha.
He patiently searched for a familiar weak point.
Fortunately, before leaving the village,
he had left quite a few contingencies in Konoha.
For example, the code for the Konoha barrier right in front of him.
With that code,
Madara could slip into the village without anyone noticing.
The White Zetsu clinging to him cautiously warned, "Lord Madara, if the people in the village discover you—"
"Tch!"
That single shift in Madara's tone
was enough to scare White Zetsu into silence.
A moment later,
Madara was standing on a utility pole along a Konoha street.
He looked down at the Uchiha below with interest.
"Tell me your name."
"Uh..."
Yatsuhashi had noticed him at once,
the moment Madara appeared above him, looking down.
He saw a mysterious figure wrapped from head to toe in White Zetsu, with only a white spiral mask showing his face.
Without hesitation, Yatsuhashi shouted, "I'm Madara Uchiha! You, hiding your face—do you want to dance too?"
"..."
Madara looked at Yatsuhashi, who was also wearing an Eagle Mask that hid his true face.
"What an interesting kid."
The resonance between their Mangekyō
had also let Yatsuhashi sense that the man had entered the village just like that.
Though he'd had little time,
Yatsuhashi had still prepared himself.
For example, he'd put on an Anbu mask to conceal his identity.
He already had a rough idea
of who the newcomer might be.
He just hadn't expected
the other party to arrive so quickly!
"Never mind."
Madara had clearly lost interest in recruiting Yatsuhashi.
"I'll take your eyes!"
The next second, Madara, standing atop the utility pole,
vanished from in front of Yatsuhashi in an instant.
"So fast!"
Even though Yatsuhashi had already awakened the Mangekyō,
that terrifying speed still startled him.
Almost the instant Madara disappeared,
he was already standing in front of Yatsuhashi. "Still too slow!"
As he spoke, Madara's left hand shot toward Yatsuhashi's right eye.
"I'll take one eye first."
Just as his fingertips were about to touch Yatsuhashi's eye,
Yatsuhashi immediately counterattacked.
He blocked with his right arm and knocked Madara's left hand off course,
making Madara's fingertips graze Yatsuhashi's forehead.
He'd narrowly avoided the eye socket,
but his forehead was still cut open,
and a string of blood droplets scattered through the air.
Yatsuhashi then used the momentum to wrap his right hand around Madara's left arm
and forcefully press it down,
pinning the whole arm beneath his armpit.
Finally, he drew back his left fist, ready to strike Madara's exposed abdomen.
But at that critical moment,
Madara suddenly drove his knee into Yatsuhashi's chest.
"Thud!"
The knee strike slammed into Yatsuhashi's chest,
and its tremendous force sent him flying,
until he crashed through two courtyard walls and finally came to a stop.
It had all happened in the blink of an eye,
so quickly that even the White Zetsu covering Madara
hadn't been able to see what had happened.
"Huh?!"
Madara looked at Yatsuhashi, who had flown backward and only stopped after smashing through the walls.
"Interesting. You actually kept up with my speed. Is that your dōjutsu?"
Yatsuhashi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his eyes filled with wariness.
He had awakened the Mangekyō a long time ago.
But his opponent still only had an ordinary Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
And yet, with just the Three Tomoe, he had overpowered Yatsuhashi in Taijutsu.
How could Yatsuhashi not take him seriously?
Was this Uchiha Obito's strength?
No, that couldn't be!
Then who was this person?
Cold sweat beaded on Yatsuhashi's forehead.
At the same time, he secretly felt relieved that he hadn't been stupid enough to leave the village.
"Damn it, why hasn't Anbu arrived yet?!"
As soon as Yatsuhashi had sensed the other person entering the village,
he had sent word ahead of time,
asking the nearest patrolling Anbu member, Gekko Hayate, to call for backup.
That was why Yatsuhashi had stayed put,
and why he had the confidence to face his opponent.
But he'd already exchanged blows with the other party.
So why hadn't Gekko Hayate brought the Anbu reinforcements yet?!
"Heh!"
Madara slowly walked toward him, one step at a time. "What, were you born with nothing to say?"
Yatsuhashi's gaze was icy
as he slowly rose to his feet.
He knew that against an enemy like this,
he only had one chance.
He had to seize that one chance.
"Eight Inner Gates: Gate of Pain, open!!!"
A visible surge of chakra erupted from Yatsuhashi's body,
and his strength
rose by another enormous step.
At the same time,
the vial of deadly First Hokage Cell Serum
quietly appeared in his hand.
Madara naturally noticed the little trick.
"Looks like you still want to—"
But before Madara could finish speaking,
Yatsuhashi had already moved.
This time, he was so fast
that he left a long afterimage in the air.
White Zetsu shrieked in terror. "Watch out, Lord Madara!"
"Shut up!"
Madara was completely unfazed. He swung his fist to meet Yatsuhashi's head-on.
Boom—!!!
Their fists collided, and the shockwave instantly sent the surrounding rooftops tumbling.
Yatsuhashi poured all the chakra in his body into that punch.
When he threw it,
there was nothing flashy about it.
Only the purest, most primal, terrifying force—a power that could destroy everything!
Even the earth seemed to tremble in that moment,
as a massive crack spread hundreds of meters along the street.
But Madara Uchiha, who had been standing opposite him, was nowhere to be seen.
The moment their fists met,
Yatsuhashi had sent him flying with a single punch.
Now, as the dust settled,
Yatsuhashi knelt on one knee,
staring at the enormous fissure before him.
"It's over..."
Yatsuhashi gasped for breath. Nearly all the chakra in his body was gone.
The chakra consumed by that punch had far exceeded what an ordinary jōnin could manage,
which was why it had produced such a terrifying result.
"You can't afford to let your guard down in the middle of a fight!"
But to Yatsuhashi's utter surprise,
Madara Uchiha, who had clearly been struck by that punch,
suddenly emerged from the ground the very next second.
"That was a fine attack. It's just a shame."
One of Madara Uchiha's Three-Tomoe Sharingan
had quietly turned a lifeless, ashen gray.
It was Izanagi, the Uchiha Clan's secret technique:
at the cost of losing one Sharingan,
it swallowed an unfavorable reality and treated it as a dream.
Madara Uchiha watched the massive amount of chakra drain from Yatsuhashi in an instant.
"So this is your ocular jutsu? Trading chakra for power."
"How boring."
Madara Uchiha had no intention of wasting any more time.
An uproar this loud was bound to draw the village's attention.
He blurred forward,
closing in on Yatsuhashi once more,
and thrust two fingers straight toward his eyes.
At this critical moment,
Yatsuhashi sprang to his feet.
How could he fall here?
There were still people he needed to protect.
Clinging to that conviction,
Yatsuhashi forced himself to summon one last breath of strength
and clashed with Madara Uchiha.
The two moved incredibly fast.
Their clashes sent shockwaves
that erupted into a series of piercing booms.
Just then,
Yatsuhashi took a heavy blow from Madara Uchiha.
In exchange, he got the chance to inject the lethal serum in his hand into Madara Uchiha's body.
Madara Uchiha snorted.
His eyes had already caught Yatsuhashi's little trick.
After all, Madara Uchiha's body had been enhanced with Hashirama Cells.
Hashirama's incredible vitality
made him fear no scheme or trick in the world.
A contemptuous smile tugged at Madara Uchiha's lips.
"Pathetic little tricks."
There wasn't the slightest trace of fear on his face.
He simply struck Yatsuhashi with a palm, sending him flying.
He had chosen to take Yatsuhashi's desperate attack head-on.
Yatsuhashi crashed through a house
before finally coming to a stop.
Madara Uchiha slowly walked toward Yatsuhashi, who lay amid the rubble.
"Now, this is the real end."
But then, his body suddenly shuddered.
The White Zetsu attached to him realized in horror
that Madara Uchiha's body was showing signs of coming apart.
"Hah!"
Madara Uchiha hastily formed Hand Seals,
trying to steady the Hashirama Cells that had suddenly turned violent within him.
But he only managed to stabilize them for a second.
Then the Hashirama Cells in his body began to run rampant.
"Gah?!"
Madara Uchiha let out a pained roar.
"My lord!"
White Zetsu shrieked in alarm. "Your body..."
Countless tender green branches began bursting from Madara Uchiha's body.
It was a sign that the Hashirama Cells had gone out of control and were about to turn him into a tree.
"Damn it!"
"What... what did you do?"
Madara Uchiha glared at Yatsuhashi in the rubble.
He had never imagined
that this man could make the Hashirama Cells in his body, which had been stable until now, run wild.
It was a method Madara Uchiha had never seen before.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Just then, a large group of Konoha Anbu finally arrived, the cold gleam of their weapons flashing all around them.
White Zetsu called urgently,
"My lord! I can't get away without your help!"
Hearing White Zetsu's words,
Madara Uchiha gave Yatsuhashi one last long look.
Then he slowly sank into the earth beneath his feet.
The Anbu members who had just arrived
immediately tried to sense Madara Uchiha's trail as he slipped underground.
"After him!"
At the Anbu Captain's command,
dozens of Anbu operatives pursued Madara Uchiha in the direction he had gone.
Kakashi also reached Yatsuhashi's side in time.
Seeing him covered in dust,
Kakashi asked worriedly, "How are you? You okay?"
Yatsuhashi looked at Kakashi through blurred vision. "I'm not dead yet."
"Gekko Hayate was badly wounded, but he managed to send word to the Anbu for backup before he passed out."
At that, Yatsuhashi nodded wearily.
He looked at the moon in the sky and said nothing more.
Yatsuhashi had already guessed the man's true identity.
Before you continue