The moment that shout of "Use that move!" rang out, Izuna's gaze changed.
He stopped tangling with Ryuto. His Sharingan spun, and he shot backward, retreating to Madara's side in an instant.
The two stood less than three meters apart.
Madara glanced at Izuna, and Izuna nodded.
"Big brother."
"Mm."
That was their entire exchange.
Then they both began forming hand seals.
Their movements were identical, so fast that only afterimages remained.
Ryuto saw it clearly from the air, and his heart lurched.
They're combining to unleash an ultimate move?
He hurriedly flew higher, putting more distance between them.
Below, Izuna finished his hand seals first.
He pressed his palms together before his chest, his eyes snapping wide open.
The patterns in his Mangekyō Sharingan spun furiously, so scarlet they looked ready to drip blood.
"Susanoo!"
Boom-
A purple chakra skeleton erupted skyward from Izuna, growing over ten meters tall in an instant.
Flesh and meridians swiftly covered the skeleton, forming the outline of a giant's upper body.
But this time was different.
Izuna's Susanoo did not fully develop into its dual-sword-wielding stage. Instead, it stopped with an initial layer of flesh covering its skeleton.
Madara moved immediately afterward. He finished his hand seals, the patterns in his Sharingan spinning even faster than Izuna's.
"Majestic Attire: Susanoo!"
Deeper, denser chakra poured out of Madara.
It was not purple, but a dark red bordering on black.
Like armor come to life, this chakra flew piece by piece toward Izuna's purple Susanoo skeleton.
Clack, clack, clack, clack-
The dark red armor fitted precisely over every joint and every surface of the purple skeleton.
Layer upon layer.
In just two seconds, the purple Susanoo skeleton was completely covered, becoming a giant encased in dark red armor.
The giant was complete. No longer just