Close-Range Fire Release, a Skeleton Walking Out of the Flames

Close-Range Fire Release, a Skeleton Walking Out of the Flames

Susanoo!

A nearly perfect ocular technique.

It truly combined offense and defense, an ability that manifested the Mangekyō Sharingan's ocular power.

Having awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan for the first time, in such an unstable state and without any prior experience or attempts, Uchiha Madara had actually managed to activate Susanoo. Though it was merely the most basic initial form, it was already an exceptionally terrifying power.

He reveled in the immense power granted by the Mangekyō Sharingan, and both body and mind were filled with pleasure.

Yet his fury outweighed it all. The blazing wrath within him had become an inferno that could not be extinguished. Only by killing Tobirama Senju would those flames finally burn themselves out.

"Wood Release! Wood Mallet Technique!"

Wood Release had not been capable of sweeping across the Ninja World from the start. It had grown stronger slowly, step by step.

Senju Hashirama clasped his hands together, and a massive wooden hammer appeared several meters before him, smashing fiercely toward Uchiha Madara.

Such a laughably absurd attack was like children playing ninja games. It posed no threat whatsoever to Uchiha Madara.

More than a dozen ninja clans, large and small, witnessed the formidable power possessed by the Uchiha Clan at that moment.

But they also understood why the Senju Clan had been able to contend with the Uchiha Clan for centuries. It turned out that the Uchiha Clan was not the only one to possess incomprehensible power. The Senju Clan, capable of standing alongside the Uchiha Clan, was equally unimaginably powerful.

"Wood Release! Deep Forest Emergence!"

A lush expanse of trees tore through the earth and rose up, claiming the open ground between Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama in an unstoppable, tyrannical fashion.

Uchiha Madara's eyes narrowed as even more surging ocular power poured forth. Upon Susanoo's basic form, he forcibly expanded a further body. A skeletal upper torso appeared behind him, shielding Uchiha Madara as it tore apart the Wood Release that had attacked him.

"This technique is useless against me!"

"Since you refuse to see reason, I'll show you the Uchiha Clan's true power!"

Consumed by inescapable rage, Uchiha Madara's fury devoured the last remnants of his reason. He paid no heed to his body's condition, frantically squeezing the unstable Mangekyō Sharingan for more ocular power, desperately trying to evolve Susanoo into an even higher form.

Influenced by Uchiha Jobu, he had already been somewhat stronger than Senju Hashirama. With that slight gap between them, he now disregarded the damage this would inflict on his body and desperately wrung dry his already unstable Sharingan.

Susanoo seemed capable of evolving into an even more powerful form. An overwhelming aura that no one could resist erupted from Uchiha Madara in an instant. Every ninja still fighting felt its terrifying might in that moment and stared in horror at the figure guarded by the skeleton.

Uchiha Madara took a step forward, seeming to have lost all sense of pain. The blood flowing from his eyes did not affect him in the slightest. With a raise of his hand, he controlled Susanoo to slice through every tree.

"So powerful! Is this Uchiha Madara, the Uchiha Clan's new clan head?"

"Can a human truly contend with this kind of strength? I've seen the heads of other ninja clans, but none of them possessed such terrifying power!"

"Don't joke around! A monster like this shouldn't even exist. We should run! No pact is more important than staying alive!"

These ninja clans had attached themselves to the Senju Clan only to gain a better chance of survival. Weak ninja clans possessed neither strength nor a way to accept missions in the Ninja World in exchange for supplies.

The best option was to attach themselves to major clans, or willingly become lapdogs at the beck and call of wealthy men.

If this had merely been an ordinary battle, no one would have feared dying in combat. But when these ninja clans faced the overwhelming power displayed by Uchiha Madara and stared in terror and shock at Susanoo's skeletal form, no one could consider this normal.

There was only fear rising from the depths of their hearts!

"Shut up! The Senju Clan will not lose! The power my elder brother possesses is far beyond anything you can imagine!"

Tobirama Senju roared.

But it was useless. The more he spoke, the more terrified those ninja clans became.

Uchiha Jobu said in a deep voice, "Come over now, and I will accept you in the name of the Uchiha Clan. Whether you choose to live, or choose to become Uchiha Clan members and be killed, is up to you!"

Although these ninjas who had attached themselves to the Senju Clan were weak and possessed no formidable clan secret techniques, making them seem little better than burdens, they still had value if one wanted to build a village or directly sweep across the Ninja World. At the very least, they could serve as basic population to make up the numbers.

These people hesitated between the two massive ninja clans, the Uchiha Clan and the Senju Clan. Should they directly choose the seemingly invincible Uchiha Clan, or remain with the Senju Clan, whose strength was no weaker than the Uchiha Clan's?

Uchiha Madara did not care what anyone thought, nor would he stop for several weak ninja clans. Having cut apart the obstructive wood blocking his path, Susanoo reached toward the figure standing ready ahead.

"Madara! I won't lose to you! I won't let you kill my younger brother!"

"Wood Release! Adamantine Wood Growth!"

Having witnessed just how powerful the Mangekyō Sharingan was and been directly struck by the overwhelming aura released by Uchiha Madara, Senju Hashirama naturally understood that he had already fallen behind in their contest of power. In Uchiha Madara's current state, he was no match for him.

But step aside?

Impossible.

Because if he stepped aside, his younger brother Tobirama Senju would be killed.

"Take your stupidity and naïveté... and die!"

"Fire Release! Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

By choosing to unleash such a powerful Fire Release ninjutsu at close range, he had never intended to let Senju Hashirama live.

As he severed the string called "friendship" in his heart, he could feel his ocular power ascend further, while the Mangekyō Sharingan's instability gradually stabilized.

Uchiha Madara walked out of the flames expressionlessly. Looking at Tobirama Senju, who had already prepared himself for death, he said, "You dared to harm Izuna. Go to the Pure Land with your regrets and keep Hashirama company."