You Few Dance Beautifully!

"Ice Release: Thousand Killing Array!"

Irori opened with Ice Release.

Cold flashes gleamed in the sky as countless blades, spears, swords, and halberds forged from ice condensed in an instant. Breaking the sound barrier, they even produced terrifying sonic booms as they tore through the air, launching an endless barrage at Madara.

This Ice Release technique was Irori's fastest to form, fastest to attack with, and one of the widest in range.

Moreover, as more chakra was poured into it, the technique's power increased explosively.

Now, Irori unleashed the full power of this Ice Release with maximum chakra output.

The ice weapons alone densely covered the entire sky.

Every weapon made of ice could easily pierce flesh and shatter rock.

The ice weapons exploded against the chakra warrior surrounding Madara's body.

Frigid mist scattered in all directions. The shattered ice weapons had nowhere to vent their cold, leaving it to sweep outward in every direction.

Within moments, the chilling current covered an area several hundred meters wide.

And as more ice weapons exploded, the area blanketed by the cold rapidly expanded.

However, against that chakra warrior, such an attack was still utterly insignificant.

Madara did not move a single step, remaining protected within the chakra warrior.

Even the steps beneath his feet remained completely undamaged.

He merely glanced upward. Facing an Ice Release ninjutsu that would have driven ordinary ninja to despair, there was not even the slightest intention to block in his eyes.

"Ice Release: Ice Banquet Corridor!"

Irori let out a sharp cry.

The cold air spreading in every direction rapidly converged and condensed around Madara's chakra warrior.

A teeth-grinding cracking sound came from the air. Thick white mist appeared over the blue chakra warrior, then rapidly condensed into solid ice.

In but an instant, Madara and the Susanoo warrior were frozen inside a colossal block of ice as large as a small mountain.

Through the thick ice, only the blurry blue silhouette of the Susanoo warrior could be seen, its lifeline seeming as fragile as a flickering candle in the wind.

"Amazing, that froze him instantly—"

Ōnoki's eyes widened in shock.

He had not expected such a powerful ninja to exist outside the system of the Five Great Nations.

Especially a female ninja. That was exceedingly rare in the Ninja World.

However, before he could finish speaking, the blue chakra warrior sealed within the ice, seemingly as fragile as a candle flame in the wind, suddenly burned like a raging fire.

Boom!

The ice exploded.

Four blue sword arcs cut out from within the ice from four different directions.

Massive chunks of thick ice blasted outward, smashing down rows of trees and rumbling across the ground, making the earth groan as though struck by an earthquake.

Four blue sword arcs followed the flying ice like shadows, triggering a second wave of destruction.

Blue sword light flashed before everyone's eyes, robbing them of their vision.

By the time they recovered, the ground within a hundred meters had been completely cleaved apart.

Every rock and tree that could have concealed their sight had vanished.

The instant that blue sword light erupted, every obstacle across this stretch of land had been wiped away.

"Ōnoki, get farther away. I won't have time to look after you next. The real battle is only beginning now!"

Mu charged toward Madara in an instant while warning Ōnoki to protect himself.

The battle ahead was completely beyond what Ōnoki could participate in.

Even Jonin-level ninja would risk their lives merely by approaching the coming battlefield.

Using the four blue sword arcs Madara had swung out as the signal to attack, Yayoi and Kakuzu, who had been observing the situation from the side, coordinated with Mu and advanced as well.

The three moved so quickly that they vanished from the naked eye as they launched their assault on Madara.

"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"

At the sight, Madara's hands finally moved as he began forming hand seals.

Sheltered by the Susanoo warrior, he completed the technique with incomparable ease.

His head tilted back slightly as vast amounts of chakra gathered in his mouth. Then, in a single breath, he spewed out the blazing flames accumulated within.

It was a massive Fire Release attack unlike the blue sword light.

The fiercely burning flames warped the surrounding air.

Like a collapsing mountain or a tsunami, they swallowed everyone in their path.

The affected area was so vast and the sea of flames surged so quickly that there was no time or space to evade.

"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"

From the rear, Irori slapped her hands together at almost the same time. Purple light spread through her eyes, radiating an intense violet glow that was even tinged with a cold crimson hue.

The moment she opened her mouth, the sound of surging waves spread through the air.

First came a rushing current, then it became a torrent no less immense than the sea of fire, pouring from Irori's mouth and roaring across the ground, shaking the frigid atmosphere.

Boom!

Tsunami-like waves collided with the firestorm.

After an earth-shaking roar, a sharp hiss sounded, and scalding white steam rapidly spread in all directions, obscuring everyone's vision.

Well done, people of the Land of Night. Now, this is my stage...

As the only sensory ninja present, Mu activated his invisibility technique and hid within the white steam.

His body began floating upward without any support as he sensed Madara's chakra to lock onto his position.

He spread his hands, aimed at his opponent, and filled his eyes with killing intent.

"Dust Release: Atomic Disassembly Jutsu!"

Dazzling white light condensed between his open palms, then transformed with a thunderous burst into a transparent cylinder extending outward, striking directly at Madara's location.

If this technique hit, even the pinnacle of ninja would surely die!

"!?"

Mu jerked in shock. Madara's chakra had vanished in an instant, only to suddenly reappear somewhere else the next moment.

The transparent cylindrical barrier created by Dust Release had undoubtedly missed, reducing only the steps beneath Madara's former position to near-atomic particles.

"To make me move my feet... not bad."

Madara appeared elsewhere as though he had teleported together with the Susanoo warrior, delivering a flat evaluation.

His scarlet Sharingan had long ceased to bear the basic tomoe pattern. Instead, they displayed a far more mysterious and ornate design.

He's incredibly fast. His taijutsu is probably extremely powerful as well. Unless I restrict his movements, my Dust Release can never hit him.

Mu swiftly assessed the situation in his mind.

The Kekkei Tōta—Dust Release—that he had created was indeed immensely powerful, but if it could not hit its target, it was meaningless.

Mu revealed himself and quietly gave Yayoi a signal.

Yayoi did not hesitate either, sending a thought to Irori.

Irori, use that technique to seal Madara's movements directly and coordinate with Mu's Dust Release attack.

Mu's Dust Release was the only technique among them capable of dealing Madara a fatal blow.

In contrast, neither Yayoi nor Kakuzu possessed such a lethal means.

As for Irori, her release techniques were certainly vast in scale, but breaking through Madara's Susanoo head-on would still be extremely difficult.

Furthermore, Madara moved with great agility. His range of movement and speed had to be severely restricted, and among those present, only Irori could accomplish that.

Understood, Lord Yayoi!

Irori did not hesitate in the slightest. She clapped her palms together with a crisp sound.

"Ice Release: Freezing Vapor Barrage!"

Irori took a deep breath, then puffed out her cheeks and sprayed a torrent of white freezing vapor toward Madara.

The freezing current shot forth as swiftly as lightning. Before Madara could react, it had already struck his Susanoo warrior, bursting into vast amounts of white cold vapor that enveloped dozens of meters around him.

What a fast attack!

Even Madara was slightly surprised by the astonishing speed of Irori's Ice Release ninjutsu.

"Hm? Susanoo's movements..."

Madara had intended to swing the chakra sword in the Susanoo warrior's hand and disperse the cold mist around it, but he discovered that the white vapor had completely adhered to the Susanoo warrior and could not be shaken off.

Not only that, he found the Susanoo warrior's movements beginning to grow noticeably sluggish.

Even within the Susanoo's protection, he felt a bone-piercing chill affecting his body, making his movements slightly stiff.

The plunging temperature made him feel as though he had fallen into an ice cave, truly experiencing the frostbite attack brought by ice and snow.

"Dust Release: Atomic Disassembly—"

Mu had already turned invisible again through his invisibility technique and flown into the air, where he once more aimed at Madara.

White light gathered between his palms as he prepared to use Dust Release to finish this figure standing at the pinnacle of ninja.

Yet, faced with such a coordinated assault, Madara did not even lift an eyelid. A faint contemptuous smile touched his lips.

There was barely any time to react. A grander blue sword arc, capable of splitting apart the earth and forest, swept forth.

The atmosphere had only just begun to wail when the sword arc surpassed the sound itself, cleaving the surrounding earth and forest in two before the sound could reach them.

Boom!

The storm created by the explosive impact then swept forth in a frenzy, practically stripping the land bare, rolling up thick layers of soil and revealing the reddish-brown earth beneath.

Rows of trees hundreds of meters away were uprooted as well, becoming a rolling tide that was swept farther away along with the overturned ground.

Under the pure white moonlight, both the earth and forest trembled and cried beneath the unbearable burden, their droning roar lingering without end.

"Argh!"

Mu let out a scream as he fell from the sky into the distance.

As the dust gradually dispersed, Madara's Susanoo warrior had somehow grown a lower body and legs, forming a complete humanoid shape.

The magnificent chakra giant stood towering like a mountain against the backdrop of the earth and moonlight.

Its savage, terrifying shadow blanketed the desolate and shattered land.

The four chakra swords gripped by its four arms became more solid and weighty, their lengths increasing by more than double.

Merely standing there gave off an overwhelming despair that could not be opposed.

Madara stood calmly atop the chakra giant's head. The white cold vapor that had slowed both him and the Susanoo had long since been completely dispersed beneath the sword light.

"I didn't expect to bring Susanoo out to this extent... You few have danced beautifully."

Madara's voice, cold and indifferent from the beginning, finally showed the slightest hint of emotion.

"Then we thank Lord Madara for the praise."

Within the smoke that had yet to fully disperse, Yayoi's armor and ninja clothes had long since been cut away and sent flying somewhere by the sword lights raging in every direction.

A solid chakra cloak covered his exposed, sturdy muscles. Blue flames flowed slowly across its surface like water.

He had officially entered Chakra Armament Mode.

Yet even so, he still could not contend with that overwhelmingly powerful sword arc.

The dense, solid chakra cloak over his chest had been torn open by a long, narrow gash. A deep sword wound had also appeared in his chest muscles, exposing even the stark white bone beneath.

Yet he was still smiling. Without forming a single hand seal, fresh flesh buds wriggled from the torn flesh and bone in his chest, beginning to fuse them back together.

Irori stood solemnly in front of Yayoi, white cold vapor swirling around her body as she displayed an unyielding will to fight.

Though she looked disheveled and dust had stained her beautiful silver hair, her condition was far better than Yayoi's.

The wound slashed across her abdomen revealed neither blood nor human flesh. Instead, extremely compressed solid chakra had gathered at the wound, sealing the cut and ultimately restoring her body to normal.