Outside Konoha, on an open stretch of overgrown wasteland.
Madara Uchiha walked at the front.
Shinichi and Scarface followed behind him, leaving the Uchiha Clan Compound and walking all the way out of Konoha.
Scarface held the kunai at his waist, his palm slick with sweat.
When they reached the middle of the wasteland, Madara stopped and turned around.
"This is just a spar."
At those words, Scarface hurriedly backed away.
He retreated all the way to a tree at the edge of the wasteland, far from the two of them.
Shinichi stood where he was.
Tenseigan Chakra Mode.
Pale blue chakra spilled from his eye sockets and instantly spread over his entire body.
A glowing, pale blue cloak enveloped him.
Madara stood in place with his Sharingan active.
His two scarlet eyes watched Shinichi opposite him.
The two stood facing each other, a dozen or so paces apart.
Without a word, Madara attacked.
He pushed off the ground and crossed the distance in a blink, charging right up to Shinichi.
His fist whipped through the air, smashing straight toward Shinichi's face.
Shinichi raised his arm and firmly blocked the punch.
With Tenseigan Chakra Mode active, Shinichi's strength and speed were far greater than usual.
Madara's taijutsu was exceptionally strong, his strikes fast and fierce.
His fist had only just been blocked when a whipping kick swept toward Shinichi's side.
Shinichi stepped back half a pace, easily dodged it, and countered with a palm strike.
The two immediately exchanged blows.
Madara's Sharingan tracked Shinichi, seeing his every movement clearly.
His punches and kicks came one after another, relentless and heavy.
Shinichi's Tenseigan clearly saw every chakra pathway and chakra point in Madara's body.
Seizing the opening as Madara withdrew a punch, he pressed his index and middle fingers together.
A ball of pale blue chakra gathered at his fingertips.
The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist.
A strike to a chakra point from those chakra-coated fingertips would sever the chakra pathways.
Shinichi raised his hand and thrust his fingers toward a chakra point on Madara's chest.
Madara's Sharingan saw it clearly.
Just before the fingertips touched him, he abruptly stopped and twisted aside.
Shinichi did not stop. He stepped forward, following up with several more Gentle Fist strikes.
Chakra coated his fingertips, each strike aimed at a vital chakra point on Madara's body.
Madara reacted extremely quickly, pulling away at the last moment every time.
They exchanged another dozen or so moves.
No matter how relentless Madara's punches and kicks were, not one landed on Shinichi.
Nor did a single one of Shinichi's Gentle Fist strikes hit him.
Madara forced Shinichi back with a sweeping kick, then used the momentum to leap backward.
He landed a dozen or so paces away, putting distance between himself and Shinichi.
The instant Madara's feet touched down, his hands began rapidly forming hand seals.
Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame.
He opened his mouth and exhaled sharply, spewing a vast torrent of flame.
The immense blaze spread into a wall of fire in the blink of an eye, sweeping toward Shinichi.
Everywhere the flames passed, the dry grass instantly caught fire.
Scarface hid beneath the tree at the edge of the wasteland.
Seeing the fire surge straight toward him, he hurriedly turned and fled farther away.
Shinichi stood his ground without retreating.
He staggered his feet and released chakra from every chakra point in his body at once.
Then he began spinning rapidly on the spot.
The Hyuga Clan's Rotation.
The pale blue chakra spun rapidly with him, forming a large dome.
The fire slammed into it.
The spinning layer of chakra kept the entire wall of fire outside, not letting even a trace through.
The flames could only flow along the dome's edges, splitting to burn past on either side.
Before long, the fire burned out.
The surrounding wasteland was scorched black, smoke rising from the charred ground.
Only the patch where Shinichi stood remained untouched, not a single blade of grass burned.
On the streets of Konoha.
People stopped in their tracks and turned to look beyond the village.
Half the distant sky outside the village had lit up.
A great blaze was roaring upward.
"Why is there such a huge fire out there?"
"What happened?"
Passersby pointed at the distant flames, murmuring among themselves.
Inside the Hokage Building.
Hashirama was standing by the window.
He, too, saw the distant blaze outside.
Only Madara could produce Fire Release on that scale.
Madara had gotten into a fight.
"That Madara..."
Hashirama turned and strode out the door.
He rushed out of the Hokage Building and headed straight for the outskirts of the village.
Seeing Rotation block the flames, Madara rapidly formed hand seals again.
Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame.
The flames he spat out were much larger than before.
The blaze spread in every direction, setting the entire wasteland alight.
A churning sea of fire surged toward Shinichi.
Shinichi stood in place.
He raised one hand, aiming his palm at the oncoming blaze.
Repulsive Force.
A force surged outward to meet the sea of fire.
The approaching flames struck that force and abruptly stopped in midair.
Then the entire sea of fire was pushed backward.
The blaze retreated all the way beyond the wasteland.
Beneath a large tree at the edge of the wasteland.
A figure descended from the sky and landed steadily.
Hashirama Senju had arrived.
He landed right beside Scarface.
Scarface was hiding behind the tree and jumped when someone suddenly landed next to him.
He turned, saw who it was, and hurriedly straightened.
"Lord Hokage."
Hashirama waved a hand casually, his eyes fixed on the middle of the wasteland.
The sea of fire had just been pushed beyond the wasteland.
Shinichi had not lowered his raised hand.
He turned his palm toward Madara opposite him and sharply pulled it back.
Attraction.
A powerful force swept out and seized Madara's body.
Madara's feet lifted, his entire body dragged off the ground by the force.
Suspended in midair, he flew straight toward Shinichi.
In midair, the Mangekyo in Madara's eyes spun rapidly.
Blue-violet chakra erupted from his body.
An enormous blue-violet skeleton instantly formed, enclosing Madara securely within it.
Then solid muscles rapidly grew over the skeleton, along with two thick arms.
Susanoo, second stage.
The upper-body-only Susanoo abruptly sank down and slammed heavily into the dirt.
The impact shook the ground.
Susanoo's half-body settled firmly against the ground like a small mountain.
Shinichi's attraction still pulled, but it could no longer budge Madara inside Susanoo in the slightest.
Susanoo began changing again.
The churning blue-violet chakra transformed into layers of heavy armor that covered Susanoo's half-body.
Susanoo's huge hand grasped at the air and closed around a giant blade.
Seeing this, Shinichi lowered his hand and released the attraction.
Susanoo gripped the giant blade with both hands, raised it high, and brought it crashing down at Shinichi's position.
A thunderous boom rang out.
Dirt flew, and a long, deep trench split the ground.
But Shinichi was already gone.
Madara made Susanoo whirl around and slash down with the giant blade again.
Yet Shinichi had already landed on Susanoo's other side.
Madara did not stop, delivering several more slashes in succession.
Crashes thundered across the wasteland as trench after trench split open, turning the ground over.
But not one of those successive slashes even touched the hem of Shinichi's clothes.
Beneath the large tree at the edge of the wasteland.
Hashirama folded his arms and watched the two in the middle of the wasteland.
He grinned and turned to Scarface beside him.
"This kid's gotten even stronger since last time!"
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