"What... is that thing...?"
Yimopu and his Heroic Spirit were looking up at Lin Xiaoran and Madara, high above them inside the giant's head.
At that moment, their positions, one high and one low, seemed to attest to the gap in their strength.
"You wouldn't understand even if I told you."
This power did not belong to this world. There were no records of Madara's existence, not even in anime or novels.
Thus, the shock Madara delivered at this moment far exceeded that of Issho in the previous round.
Last time, at least they had known that Issho's ability was gravity manipulation, which made summoning meteorites somewhat plausible.
But this time?
Even now, none of the viewers knew what kind of power Madara possessed or what system it belonged to.
They had thought it was some sort of flame-manipulation ability, since Madara's Fire Release was incredibly powerful.
Only now did they realize that mere Fire Release really was just one of Madara's ordinary, everyday skills. This blue giant was his true strength!
They did not yet know how strong this blue giant's defenses were, but its attack power was undoubtedly the highest among all the Heroic Spirits!
Even the viewers from Country Y knew that if this blue giant brought its sword down, the Heroic Spirit Stone Giant summoned by their challenger, Sophia, would probably be chopped into rubble on the spot!
As for the others?
Yimopu's ultimate move was probably the sandstorm he had just summoned, but it had accomplished nothing against Madara.
So Lin Xiaoran had essentially secured her place as the final victor of this round.
This was a fact that left everyone in the other countries helpless.
"I don't believe it! I don't believe it!"
Yimopu grew crazed, his eyes bloodshot and his hands clenched so tightly that his nails dug into his flesh, drawing blood.
Heaven and hell were only a step apart.
Yimopu had experienced that truth profoundly.
"Wizard! Bring out everything you've got! Otherwise, we're going to die here!" Yimopu turned and roared.
The wizard nodded gravely and raised his hands again, because he, too, had a reason he could not lose!
The national fortune rewards!
If he successfully helped his Master, Yimopu, win, he might obtain even greater power and thus exact his revenge on the king!
He could not lose!
"Aah!"
The wizard unleashed all the power within him, setting the yellow sand within three thousand meters flowing!
Viewed from above, the once-quiet desert began swirling like flowing water.
And the center of that vortex was precisely where Lin Xiaoran and Madara stood!
The solid ground began to sink, and the Susanoo, which had only an upper body, slowly sank into the yellow sand.
"Mere grains of sand think they can dance too?" Madara gazed down coldly, utterly unconcerned by their current situation.
Lin Xiaoran beside him was the same, and she said, "Go straight to the perfect form. Give them a little shock."
"P-Perfect form?!" Yimopu was stunned and swallowed instinctively.
The viewers were stunned too.
[What does that mean?!]
[What do you mean, perfect form?! This still isn't its strongest form!?]
[Half of it is already a hundred meters tall! How tall would the perfect form be!?]
[Come on! Tell me, what the fuck do you call a surprise!]
[I'm going crazy!]
"This is only Susanoo's second stage."
The first stage took the form of a skeleton.
The second stage added muscles, meridians, skin, and four longswords to that foundation.
As Madara continued increasing the ocular power output of his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, the half-bodied Susanoo grew legs and stood up out of the vortex of yellow sand!!
"This is Susanoo's third stage," Madara said softly.
For the first time, a blue giant nearly two or three hundred meters tall appeared in this world, before everyone's eyes!
The experience of facing a giant directly was like facing a natural disaster. There was nothing in their hearts but fear.
Even the A-rank beasts that had appeared in the National Fortune Game so far had never exerted pressure as overwhelming as this Susanoo!
That was because, in everyone's minds, the size of an A-rank beast already placed it among colossal monsters!
For example, the A-rank venomous spider Lin Xiaoran had dealt with in the previous round.
Its destructive power had been enough to destroy a city!
But what if it were this Susanoo instead?
Perhaps the whole of Sky Blue Star would only stand a fighting chance by deploying countless nuclear bombs!
And they did not even know whether those could destroy it!
This was probably what the power of a [god] looked like.
There was also something worth noting...
"This is only... the third stage?" Yimopu staggered backward repeatedly, then fell onto his backside.
The scorching sand beneath him did not make him leap up immediately because he could not bear it.
Compared with that pain, he had already lost the ability to think.
And his Heroic Spirit, despite still keeping his ability active, felt despair once again.
Against such overwhelming power, he had no chance of victory.
"Next is the fourth stage," Madara spoke again.
The giant grew taller once more!
At the same time, a layer of armor formed entirely from pure energy appeared over its body!
Only now was it truly a giant worthy of the name!
The viewers quietly watched the livestream without a word, immersed in that indescribable visual impact!
"Finally, Perfect Susanoo."
This was the final stage, and Susanoo's true form!
In this form, Susanoo reached a height of eight hundred meters!
At the same time, a pair of wings grew from its back, granting Madara the ability to fly!
This supremely powerful [war god] form was enough to contend with the strongest of the Tailed Beasts, the Nine-Tails!
Furthermore, only members of the Uchiha Clan who had awakened the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan and possessed vast amounts of chakra could manifest this form!
This ultimate power could easily redraw maps, cleave mountain peaks, and sever rivers!
Honestly, Madara did not even need to use this power. His second- or third-stage Susanoo alone would have been enough to sweep the field.
Lin Xiaoran simply felt that, since Madara so rarely had a chance to come out, it would be a shame not to let him show off. And it would keep everyone from thinking that she, Lin Xiaoran, was easy to bully!
"So standing here feels this wonderful!"
Lin Xiaoran and Madara stood inside the gem in Susanoo's forehead. Being in this position gave Lin Xiaoran the illusion that she possessed everything!
As though all of heaven and earth lay within her grasp!
Overwhelming power really did make it easy to lose oneself!
It felt amazing!
"It's only Susanoo. This is not the pinnacle of power."
Long ago, when Madara had first stood here, he had felt just like Lin Xiaoran did, believing himself invincible in the Shinobi World!
He had believed he could lead the Uchiha Clan to end the wars, bring peace to the Shinobi World, and give every child a safe, carefree childhood, with no need to go to the battlefield again!
But he had discovered that, even with such tremendous power, his lifelong rival, Hashirama Senju, was actually every bit his equal!
In the end, he had failed.
Then the two had agreed to cooperate, pacifying the Shinobi World together and founding Konoha Shinobi Village.
He had thought his childhood dream had come true.
But everything that followed was not as he had imagined.
On top of that, he had seen the stone tablet in the Uchiha Clan Compound and learned about the origins of the Shinobi World and the legend of the Sage of Six Paths.
From then on, he had changed, and he had left Konoha.
Madara looked down at Yimopu and his Heroic Spirit and thought, Now that I've awakened the Rinnegan, I shouldn't lose to Hashirama Senju again, should I? Surely he'll acknowledge me.