Clash of the Strongest

With nothing else to do while crouching in the grass, Chu Yang looked up to count the stars. But the sky was blanketed by dark clouds today, and he could not see a single one.

When the clouds covered the moonlight overhead for the third time,

Chu Yang's Observation Haki sensed two immensely powerful auras.

The sheer strength of those auras made his heart pound, forcing Chu Yang to shut off his Observation Haki.

Then Tobirama Senju whispered in Chu Yang's ear, "They're here!"

They were here!

Those two simple words made Chu Yang's heart leap into his throat!

Chu Yang cautiously poked his head out and finally saw Hashirama Senju.

Standing opposite him was the renowned Madara Uchiha.

The two fated enemies stared at each other across a small creek.

"Madara, surrender! Let's end this meaningless war together!" Hashirama Senju called out. "You and I can build a peaceful place where the children of our clans can live safely and happily."

"You're still as naive as ever. Sometimes, I truly envy you..." Madara Uchiha looked at Hashirama Senju with a complicated expression, shook his head, and said coldly, "Where is Izuna? Did you kill him?"

Hashirama Senju explained, "He isn't dead."

Hearing that his younger brother was alive, Madara Uchiha's cold expression finally eased, and a flash of relief crossed his eyes.

Madara Uchiha said, "Hashirama, unless we settle this today, this war cannot end. You long for peace, then let your fists do the talking."

At those words, Hashirama Senju finally cast aside the last shred of hope in his heart. He took a deep breath and prepared to fight.

Madara Uchiha smiled. This was exactly what he wanted—to see his opponent go all out. Their previous battles on the battlefield had merely been minor skirmishes.

The next second, the two figures collided, launching into a fierce battle.

As Chu Yang watched, he realized that neither Madara Uchiha nor Hashirama Senju used Ninjutsu very frequently. Most of their battle consisted of Taijutsu clashes.

When top-tier experts fought, they had mastered their Ninjutsu to the extreme. They did not need many hand seals to use them, or had simplified them down to just two or three.

Otherwise, the gap while forming hand seals would be a massive opening in the enemy's eyes.

So far, Madara Uchiha had only used Fire Release to assist his battle, while Hashirama Senju had only used Wood Release.

Yet it was precisely this battle, simple to the extreme, that delivered an overwhelming visual impact to Chu Yang.

Gradually... their speed surpassed the limits of human vision. Chu Yang could only see a string of blurred figures and could no longer make out their exact movements.

Tobirama Senju, standing beside Chu Yang, noticed his predicament and offered him a few words of comfort.

There was no helping it. Unless one possessed special ocular techniques like the Sharingan or Byakugan, which could greatly enhance vision, ordinary eyesight truly could not keep up with the movements of top-tier experts.

Even though Chu Yang's body had been strengthened by Wood Release, he could only watch for a little longer than an ordinary person.

The two men's battle spread far and wide, ravaging the entire valley. The earth crumbled apart, trees, flowers, and grass were reduced to ashes, and everything was destroyed.

Chu Yang watched with his heart in his throat. Before he could react, Tobirama Senju grabbed him and swiftly fled the edge of the battlefield.

Not long after they left, a fireball the size of a three-story building crashed into where they had been standing. The blast wave stripped the ground bare.

After Chu Yang landed, he looked back and saw nothing but a blackened, charred expanse. If he had still been standing there, Wood Release or not, not even Laozi himself could have saved him.

In an instant, cold sweat soaked Chu Yang's back, and he began trembling involuntarily.

Tobirama Senju smiled. "Did you see that? Even a simple Great Fireball Technique has different power in different hands!"

Chu Yang could not help rolling his eyes!

The hell you mean, Great Fireball Technique?

Anyone who didn't know better would think a mushroom bomb had landed on my head!

Even now, Tobirama Senju did not forget to lecture the still-shaken Chu Yang. "You are very smart, but that is also your problem. You learn everything too easily, so you want to learn everything. In the end, you'll just become an idiot who knows a little about everything."

Chu Yang did not deny Tobirama Senju's point, but he was not fighting alone, was he?

So many clones could learn from one another and merge each other's knowledge. The problems ordinary people faced would not become Chu Yang's problems. The path he walked was destined to be beyond the imagination and understanding of ordinary people.

As the moon in the sky grew brighter and brighter, the battle gradually reached its climax.

The trembling earth caught Chu Yang's attention.

The moment he looked up... he saw an indescribably enormous figure rise from the ground!

A Treant a thousand zhang tall instantly blocked out the moonlight, like an ancient demon god descending upon the world.

Wood Release: Wood Human Technique

Standing on the Wood Human's shoulder, Hashirama Senju wore a grave expression. The battle had reached this point, and both sides had brought out their trump cards. Victory or defeat would be decided in one stroke.

RUMBLE!!!

The Wood Human moved. Every step it took made the entire valley shake and quake.

Directly ahead of the Wood Human, Madara Uchiha began forming hand seals as the tomoe in his Mangekyō Sharingan spun without pause.

Madara Uchiha pushed his ocular power to its limit!

At the same time, he consumed ninety percent of his Chakra in one burst. Blue flames burned out of the void, gathering into the phantom of a skeleton.

As the flames grew fiercer, the phantom solidified. Its skeleton gradually became a complete humanoid form, eventually condensing into the enormous phantom of a martial god clad in samurai armor.

The imposing martial god was Susanoo. It was nearly the same size as the Wood Human, with a pair of wings on the armor behind its back and four arms, each gripping a sword.

Under Madara Uchiha's control, the martial god drew closer and closer to the Wood Human, then was the first to slash out with its sword!

The Wood Human reached out and brutally grabbed the energy-forged longsword in the martial god's hand. It yanked the martial god before itself with a backhanded pull, then drove a vicious fist into it.

The battle between the two giants made Chu Yang's blood boil!

"Big Brother has this won. Madara Uchiha does not have enough stamina to maintain Susanoo. His ocular power is already nearing its limit," Tobirama Senju said coldly.

At that moment, Chu Yang also noticed that the longer Susanoo remained active, the more sluggish its movements became.

Madara Uchiha had accumulated many injuries in the earlier battle, while Hashirama Senju's exceptional healing ability left him in far better condition.

Madara Uchiha, who had emptied his body to summon Susanoo, was already at the end of his strength!

Tobirama Senju let out a long sigh. "How ironic. His current state is exactly the same as that of the Uchiha clan!"

With that sigh, the demon-god-like Susanoo suddenly collapsed!