"But! This still isn't enough! If you want to know what my plan is, you'll need more than this! If you claim to be some kind of successor, then show me all your strength!"
Excitement flickered in Madara Uchiha's eyes.
He hadn't fought like this in a long time. The aging of his body and the long period of lying low for the sake of his plan—everything about it had left him feeling fed up.
He formed Hand Seals, and a violent, chilling chakra quickly emerged from Madara Uchiha's body.
His elated spirit and the chakra of his archenemy and closest friend made Madara Uchiha's eyes grow stronger and stronger. Even though these weren't his real eyes, decades of Yin Release power hadn't been for nothing.
The patterns in his Mangekyō Sharingan spun faster and faster, while the blue chakra materializing around him grew larger and more powerful. It gradually changed from the shape of a skeleton to that of a body, and then armor began to form!
"Let's see just how much of Hashirama you've got in you!"
Madara Uchiha laughed wildly. Although he despised the Ninja System, there was one thing he wholeheartedly agreed with.
A ninja should die on the battlefield. Unless they could put an end to all the wars in the world, dying in any other way—sitting down or lying in bed—was a disgrace!
"Then it seems that only by showing you power on par with yours, or even greater, can we have a conversation."
Li Ke didn't particularly want to fight Madara Uchiha. Madara was a classic case of someone who'd been deceived, then driven to despair by what he saw as the betrayal of his closest friend and by the future he'd witnessed.
All of Madara Uchiha's actions were really just a desperate struggle.
So Li Ke, who had awakened Link Power, wanted to talk with Madara Uchiha.
After all, if he could get Madara Uchiha's help, uniting the entire Ninja World would be much easier.
Whether he, Li Ke, became Hokage didn't really matter to him.
He wanted to become Hokage to put an end to the Ninja Village System, but—
"Now's the time to show my strength!"
The Mangekyō Sharingan in Li Ke's eyes began to spin rapidly as well. His vast chakra quickly transformed into ocular power, and armor rapidly formed over the Wood Golem beneath him as it grew in size.
That wasn't all. At that moment, the Wood Golem swung its fist at Madara Uchiha's Susanoo!
Madara Uchiha said nothing more. He simply had his Susanoo swing its fist as well.
The two enormous fists collided. The violent shock wave instantly sent the earth and trees around them flying. The raging gale was so powerful that it even affected birds a thousand meters away, throwing the flight paths of countless birds into disarray.
The intense tremors made Li Ke feel nauseated, but under the constant stimulation of Senjutsu Chakra and Hashirama Senju's chakra, his body was quickly adapting to the sensation, and his chakra reserves continued to grow.
So, the next moment, Li Ke pressed his hands together. A massive amount of Senjutsu Chakra surged into the Wood Golem beneath him. The violent Senjutsu Chakra instantly caused a wooden longsword to grow from the Wood Golem's waist, and the moment it drew the blade, a layer of purple chakra coated it!
"Haah!!"
Madara Uchiha seemed to realize something just then. Susanoo's hand also drew its longsword with a sudden motion, and it clashed fiercely with the blade wielded by the Wood Golem Li Ke controlled!
Their violent chakras collided again. Even the clouds in the sky were rocked by the impact, and a raging storm began to form around them!
Yet amid these world-shattering attacks, the two swords locked together. Madara Uchiha stared at you with a cold gaze.
"So this is the power of Izuna's that you stole, brat? You're still far from good enough! I knew that as long as Senju Tobirama could still move, he'd come up with a whole pile of disgusting things!"
His ocular power grew stronger still as Li Ke displayed the power of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
But—
"Sorry, but I believe Lord Izuna's power is important too. It's part of Konoha's power."
Tears of blood streamed from the corners of Li Ke's eyes. The next moment, the Chakra Blade in the Wood Golem's hand erupted in black flames, which, under the power of the Dojutsu Kagutsuchi, quickly formed a searing edge along the blade!
"The Senju and Uchiha, the Hyuga and Sarutobi, the Ino-Shika-Cho and the Aburame Clan—the village formed by ninja working together is what makes Konoha. It cannot do without a single one of them. So what I'm showing you right now—"
One of Li Ke's eyes rapidly changed into a Byakugan before Madara Uchiha's astonished gaze.
But this time, because of the Senjutsu Chakra in his body, the Byakugan constantly shone with white light!
"—is the power of Konoha!"
The next instant, fire, wind, water, lightning, and earth materialized all at once.
Five Release: Great Barrage Technique!
Madara Uchiha watched as five masses of chakra, each with both nature and shape transformation, rushed at him from all directions. There had been no Hand Seals, no trace of a jutsu—they had appeared out of thin air. The excitement in his eyes grew more and more intense!
"Not enough!"
His longsword swept out in an instant. Madara Uchiha intended to use his strike and his invincible Susanoo to wipe out every attack at once!
But—
A Flying Thunder God Mark suddenly appeared on his chest. Before he could react, the Susanoo around him vanished!
"Wha—"
There was no time to think. The next moment, shadows bound his entire body, leaving him no choice but to face the sweeping barrage of five attacks with his own body, along with the Chakra Blade wreathed in Amaterasu's flames!
A violent roar and flashes of light exploded across the mountainous region. The high ground where countless Konoha and Iwagakure Ninja had once fought for control shattered amid the thunderous blasts.
It was beyond anything an ordinary ninja could imagine—a battlefield of what was, to them, the power of myth!
The earth-shaking rumble didn't make them immediately realize that two ninja were fighting. They simply assumed it was yet another natural disaster.
Not a single person thought that this was merely a battle between two people!
Not one!
Yet Li Ke, the one who had caused all this, wasn't doing so well either. After using the smoke to blow away the dust around him, he couldn't help dropping to one knee, trying to ease the dizziness brought on by using his eyes and the weakness from his chakra being depleted so drastically in an instant.
Yes, the Natural Energy around him was being converted into chakra by his body without pause. But, just like the combat memories Hashirama Senju had passed on to him, channeling such a huge amount of chakra in a single instant still left Li Ke severely unaccustomed to it.
To put it simply, if Li Ke had previously released chakra like turning on a faucet, then when Hashirama Senju used chakra, it was like opening the gates of a dam. An ordinary ninja would only have to imitate him for a second to die hundreds or thousands of times over.
"Whew... ha, ha, ha..."
He panted heavily, but Li Ke knew Madara Uchiha wasn't dead. Although he'd genuinely caught him off guard with his Dojutsu, Li Ke had seen clearly with his Byakugan: the instant his attack landed, Madara Uchiha's body disappeared.
He'd been killed, but he'd also disappeared.
The sight told Li Ke what Madara Uchiha had done to take on a younger appearance and unleash such overwhelming power at a time like this.
Izanagi.
The Uchiha Clan's ultimate jutsu.
It was an ultimate genjutsu activated at the cost of sacrificing one Sharingan, making every disadvantage disappear—including death itself.
It was an utterly unfair jutsu.
"But I never expected it could even temporarily suppress aging..."
Watching the young Madara Uchiha gradually emerge from the dust, Li Ke formed Hand Seals again, making the signs for Wood Release.
"Good. In this era, now that Hashirama is dead, I'm willing to call your Wood Release the strongest! But you obviously still don't know the true power of the Uchiha Clan!"
The gale died down. Madara Uchiha stood there unharmed, looking at Li Ke's two different eyes as his own narrowed.
"Wood Release, Byakugan, and Sharingan... Evil Senju Tobirama, is this the result of your secret plan?!"
His eyes were full of fury. At that moment, Li Ke had become the product of Senju Tobirama's secret experiments in his mind!
He knew it! As long as Senju Tobirama was alive, something bad was bound to happen!
"What the hell are you talking about, Madara Uchiha!"
Senju Tobirama took control of Li Ke's mouth and shouted at him, then spoke to Li Ke.
"Kid! Use Shadow Clones! This bastard has been clinging to life and scheming all this time, and he dares to say that to me! You and I will take him on together! I'll show him the might of our Mutual Instantaneous Revolving Technique!"
The usually calm Senju Tobirama seemed like a completely different person after encountering Madara Uchiha. And when Madara Uchiha heard Senju Tobirama's voice, the ever-spinning Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes grew even more powerful!
Feeling that sudden surge in chakra, Li Ke knew the power wouldn't last long, but he still couldn't help feeling speechless.
"Did the Senju Clan manage to overpower the Uchiha Clan back then only because the Second Hokage had such a sharp tongue?"
Of course, he didn't dare say it aloud. Otherwise, after they got back, Senju Tobirama would surely put him through hell in his dreams.
Fortunately, Hashirama Senju spoke up the next moment.
"Come on, come on, Tobirama. Don't be like that. This is Qingtan's battle. We can't interfere."
But as soon as Madara Uchiha heard Hashirama Senju's words, his chakra surged again!
Seriously! Were these brothers giving their opponent buffs?!
While Li Ke stood there dumbfounded, Madara Uchiha spoke irritably.
"Hashirama! You're really going to let this brat fight me? His abilities are impressive, but he's far too inexperienced! He may have killed me once, but that's nowhere near enough against the power of the Uchiha!"
Madara Uchiha gave a vicious grin. At this point, he could summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and the Three-Tails, using the Tailed Beasts' chakra to prolong his life and strengthen his own chakra.
The Tailed Beasts could also compete with Li Ke for the Natural Energy he was constantly absorbing, leaving him short on chakra and unable to maintain Sage Mode.
As for the plan?
What plan?
If he couldn't get rid of Li Ke, no plan would matter!
As long as Li Ke, who wielded the power of the Byakugan, Sharingan, Wood Release, and Flying Thunder God, was alive, then the moment Madara died, the Eye of the Moon Plan would never be completed!
In just three years, this child's chakra could grow to the level he and Hashirama had reached in their youth. And if you added that strange Sage Mode, which had made him think of the Tailed Beasts, then this kid could end the era of the Ninja Villages all by himself! He could put an end to this age of chaos!
Madara Uchiha thought this through solemnly, then froze.
"Wasn't he using honorifics to address me this whole time? This kid..."
Perceptive as ever, Madara Uchiha noticed something and couldn't help looking Li Ke over. He made no move to attack.
Li Ke circulated his chakra again, ready to counterattack at any moment.
"Sorry, Lord Tobirama, Lord Madara, but this really is my battle!"
Watching Madara Uchiha intently, Li Ke knew very well that although he was strong now, he might not be later. He could sense a strange chakra in both Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju.
The moment Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha met, the strange chakra in Hashirama Senju's body began to affect Li Ke, rapidly changing his body and increasing his strength.
Once the two of them separated, or once Hashirama Senju's chakra left his body, the effect of that special chakra would vanish too.
So, right now, he wanted to keep pushing his limits and make the most of that chakra's power!
Yet Madara Uchiha didn't attack immediately. Instead, he wasted the precious time he had left with Izanagi, looking Li Ke over carefully before speaking.
"Your name's Murata Qingtan, right... I remember one of my younger sisters married into your family... In that case, it's no wonder you have all these powers..."
Madara Uchiha recalled the surname Murata. In fact, because the charcoal burned by the Murata Clan could greatly enhance the power of the Uchiha Clan's Fire Release, the two families had maintained a good relationship for centuries.
But this clan got along well with every family. When the clans fought, they all tacitly agreed to leave alone this minor Ninja Clan that stayed out of the clan wars, and sometimes even protected them.
There were actually quite a few minor Ninja Clans like this. He just hadn't expected that a descendant of one could awaken so many Kekkei Genkai at once!
So Madara Uchiha asked the question he most wanted answered.
"Then, brat, if you became Hokage, what would you do?"
Li Ke answered without hesitation.
"End the age of the ninja, abolish the Ninja Village System, kill all those who oppose me, eliminate all the Daimyo and every privileged class and armed force outside the ninja, and unite the entire world!"
Hashirama Senju: "Huh?"
Madara Uchiha: "Huh?"
Before you continue