Do You Want to Dance Too?

"You... you are—"

Mu stared at the man who had entered his field of vision, his body inexplicably tensing. Even his tone changed as cold sweat poured down his forehead.

In that instant, he felt like a rabbit being watched by a lion, his body trembling beyond his control.

Yayoi's expression was no better, a trace of gloom appearing on his face.

Because the man who had appeared here was the one person in the Hidden Leaf Village he least wanted to encounter—Madara Uchiha.

His striking black hair danced in the night wind. He wore layered crimson armor over his shinobi uniform and a Konoha forehead protector.

His scarlet Sharingan looked down from above, his domineering gaze sweeping over everyone as though he were looking at a group of motionless corpses.

Still that same arrogant attitude. But he has every right to be...

Yayoi had vaguely realized this as well. Although he had met Madara Uchiha only a few times, and they had never had any meaningful exchanges,

that look in his eyes, as though everyone else were mere ants, already made everything clear.

In this man's eyes, aside from Hashirama Senju, there was no place for anyone else.

"Lord Madara, may I ask why you are here? Could it be that Lord Hashirama arranged for you to—"

Yayoi stepped forward, intending to ask why Madara had come.

But before he could finish, Madara impatiently cut him off.

"Do not mention that man's name in front of me. Are you asking me to kill you?"

Yayoi pressed his lips together and said no more.

But Ōnoki, who had been standing beside Mu, was utterly fearless in his youthful recklessness and could not help speaking up.

"But this alliance meeting was personally arranged by Lord Hashirama—"

Boom!

The earth exploded and shattered in an instant.

A brilliant blue sword aura suddenly split the air, crushing everything before it with incomparable force.

A horrifyingly massive fissure opened in the ground, extending all the way into the depths of the forest.

The rocks and trees along its path were blasted far beyond the range of sight by the shockwave created by that tyrannical blue sword aura.

In the blink of an eye, this stretch of land had been brutally and savagely split in two.

"Gulp."

That was the sound of Ōnoki swallowing, still shaken to the core.

Mu had grabbed him by the collar, brought him to safety, and tossed him aside. Sitting on the ground, Ōnoki's face was bloodless, and he could not say a word.

If Mu had not pulled him away in time, he would have been cleaved in half by the sword aura.

"Teacher Mu! Your arm..."

Ōnoki suddenly noticed that Mu's right arm was drenched in blood, staining the sleeve red as blood continuously dripped onto the ground.

Madara's attack had been too fast. Although he had sensed the danger in advance, he had still been a step too slow and had failed to fully escape the range of Madara's sword aura.

Moreover, carrying the burden of Ōnoki was a major reason he had not been able to escape danger in time.

"I'm fine."

Mu spoke in a low voice. Although cold sweat still beaded on his forehead, there was no fear in his eyes. Instead, they held a mad glint.

Meanwhile, Yayoi and Kakuzu had also escaped the sword aura's range in time.

Even so, both of them were left filthy and disheveled.

Kakuzu especially.

He had tried to use the black tendrils of Earth Grudge Fear to resist and delay the destruction caused by the sword aura's impact, only for them to be pulverized in an instant.

At his feet lay black blood-vessel tendrils torn apart by the sword aura.

"Lord Yayoi, honestly, I think this is the time for a strategic retreat..."

Like Mu, Kakuzu was breaking out in layer after layer of cold sweat, even soaking the mask on his face.

For that brief instant, he had even felt the illusion of death, as though his head had been severed and sent flying.

"Not a bad idea. But unfortunately, the moment he set his sights on us, escape was already impossible. No matter what, don't show such a disgraceful attitude yet, Kakuzu."

Yayoi's face was grave as he began extracting large amounts of chakra from within his body, distributing it to every part of himself. His solemn gaze fixed on the enormous blue chakra monster vaguely visible through the dust ahead.

Susanoo.

The nightmare power that appeared from the eyes only after awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan!

The natural manifestation of the Uchiha clan's greatest power!

The dust coiling around the enormous chakra warrior slowly dispersed. Unlike the one Yayoi had seen over a year ago, this one was complete and standing upright.

The chakra warrior enveloping Madara's body currently had no lower half and stood less than twenty meters tall.

Even so, this giant warrior formed from solidified chakra had an extraordinarily complete torso, with nearly perfect muscular contours. Its four arms were spread wide, each gripping a chakra-forged sword radiating murderous intent.

The strike that had sent everyone flying earlier had come from one of those swords.

If all four swords struck at once...

"I already told you not to mention that man's name in front of me. You grains of sand truly know how to anger people. Still, I will give you a chance to speak..."

Madara did not attack immediately. He remained at the top of the stairs, glancing over the four disheveled figures below.

"Immediately submit a letter of surrender on behalf of the countries behind you. I may then show mercy and spare your lives."

Those words practically told them that kneeling to surrender now was the highest honor, not humiliation.

Such extreme arrogance darkened everyone's expressions.

"Why? This is not what we agreed upon! We came to Konoha to sign an alliance treaty, not to—"

Ōnoki's body trembled. Though he was afraid, he clearly could not bring himself to surrender on behalf of the Land of Earth.

Mu said nothing, but his bloodied and wounded right hand patted Ōnoki's shoulder, silently supporting his decision.

"That man has his own methods, and I... have mine. Most importantly, the Hidden Leaf Village needs no allies. All you miscellaneous little countries need do is submit to Konoha's strength."

Madara stared at them coldly through his Sharingan and continued.

"Enough formalities. Tell me your choice now. Will you submit, or do you intend to resist to the end? Your answer will determine how I treat you."

A chill wind swept past, carrying away a cloud of dust and sand.

"Sorry..." After a moment of silence, Mu's hoarse, low voice rang out, filled with uncontrollable anger and unwillingness. His sharp gaze fixed directly on Madara. "People say that you and Lord Hashirama stand at the pinnacle of the shinobi world. But I do not believe it. I want to challenge this so-called pinnacle and see whether it truly deserves its name..."

"Is that so? Then what about you two?"

Madara turned his Sharingan toward Yayoi and Kakuzu, asking for their stance.

Kakuzu's body instinctively tightened. He lowered his center of gravity and clenched his fists.

Yayoi said nothing. He merely bit his finger and formed hand seals with both hands.

"Summoning Jutsu."

With a bang, the smoke dispersed, and Irori appeared beside Yayoi.

"Lord Yayoi?"

The moment she emerged, Irori swept her gaze over the surroundings, confused about what had happened. Her voice was filled with uncertainty.

"No more questions, Irori. We're going to fight at full strength."

Yayoi made his position clear through his actions.

Like Mu, he wanted to know just how wide the gap was between himself and the pinnacle of the shinobi world.

Moreover, against an opponent like Madara Uchiha, any probing would be meaningless. He had to go all out from the very beginning, or he might not even get a chance to attack.

"Yes."

Irori seemed to sense the gravity in Yayoi's heart. Her expression immediately turned solemn, her silver hair beginning to float as a biting pale chill rapidly spread through the surrounding air, displaying her readiness to fight at full strength.

At the sight of this, Madara was not disappointed. Instead, an almost terrifyingly savage grin appeared on his face.

It was as though he had long known matters would develop into this situation.

The complex black tomoe within his scarlet Sharingan began to spin.

"Good. Then the five of you may dance to your hearts' content before me!"