Because the Deva Path Pain had been slain by Hoshiyomi, and because Hoshiyomi himself had suddenly flown high into the air, the people of Konoha temporarily lost track of Nagato's exact location.
However, it didn't take long before the massive disturbance in the distance showed them the way.
Watching the collision between the enormous shockwave and the blue-green sword energy, Minato and the others were left utterly stunned. Such terrifying power—what kind of monster had Lord Hoshiyomi run into?
By the time Minato and the others rushed toward the scene, Hoshiyomi was already standing atop the Grass Long Sword, Kusanagi Blade, facing Madara directly.
Seeing Hoshiyomi's familiar face, Madara ignored the attempts by Black Zetsu and Tobi to dissuade him. Using the Rinnegan's repulsive force, he slowly floated into the air, leveling his gaze with Hoshiyomi as he sighed:
"So I've been asleep for all these years, huh? Back then, you were so young. And now… you look about the same age as I am."
In truth, Madara had underestimated Hoshiyomi's age. After being revived through Rinne Rebirth, Madara had returned to his physical prime—around forty years old—whereas Hoshiyomi was already over fifty.
The reason Hoshiyomi appeared just as young was due to the effects of Sage Arts and the spacetime distortions caused by the Ryūmyaku.
Hoshiyomi had no interest in explaining any of this. He simply stared at Madara from afar and said:
"You shouldn't have done this. Your era is over."
Madara looked at Hoshiyomi with both admiration and overwhelming battle intent in his eyes.
"I've said it before—my era isn't over. I will usher in a new era."
Hoshiyomi casually glanced at the slightly evasive Black Zetsu behind Madara, then turned back to him and said:
"Are you sure about this? You're making an enemy of the entire shinobi world. That's not a wise choice. Believe me—you won't get the result you want."
"Wise?"
Madara murmured the word softly. The corner of his mouth slowly curled upward, the faint smile expanding until it turned into an uninhibited burst of laughter as he threw his head back.
Watching Madara laugh wildly, Hoshiyomi shook his head with a headache.
As expected—the leader of the Uchiha 'maniacal laughter quartet' had started again.
Hoshiyomi had no intention of being polite with Uchiha Madara. Seeing Madara laughing endlessly, he raised his hand and casually slashed out a sharp wave of sword energy. Madara immediately sensed it, and naturally couldn't keep laughing.
With a lift of his hand, Madara deflected the attack using Shinra Tensei, then looked at Hoshiyomi with clear displeasure, as if annoyed that his fun had been interrupted.
He was just about to move and teach Hoshiyomi a lesson when he suddenly smiled again—because within his perception, a large group of youngsters with passable strength were rapidly approaching.
"Looks like another group of little brats is coming," Madara said calmly.
"Since that's the case, let me see how strong today's shinobi world really is after all these years.
Gekko Hoshiyomi, you are not allowed to interfere. If you do, don't blame me for being impolite."
As he spoke, Madara suddenly raised his right hand, extending his index finger toward the sky, then forcefully swung it down in the direction Minato and the others were approaching from.
The moment Hoshiyomi saw that motion, his expression changed dramatically.
That gesture was—
Tengai Shinsei.
Sure enough, the next instant, a massive shadow appeared on the ground.
Those beneath it—Minato and the others—belatedly looked up, and then were plunged into utter shock.
A meteor.
A gigantic meteor, hundreds of meters in diameter, was falling straight toward them.
Seeing this colossal meteor, even Hoshiyomi's expression changed. At full power, he could shatter it with a single Sky-Piercing Draw Sword Slash —but he couldn't do that.
Doing so would undoubtedly provoke a madman like Uchiha Madara. If Madara truly went all-out against him, Hoshiyomi himself wasn't worried—but with his weak defensive capabilities, he couldn't guarantee the safety of Minato and the others below.
He couldn't recklessly trigger the Fourth Great Ninja War here.
If Madara were enraged at this moment, Konoha would be the first to suffer the consequences.
Hoshiyomi was no saint. He had no intention of sacrificing Konoha to protect the other great ninja villages, so no matter what, he would at least wait until the Allied Shinobi Forces were formed before considering a full-scale battle with Madara.
With that thought in mind, Hoshiyomi loosened his grip on the sword Mikazuki Munechika. Minato and the others were not weak—this was a good opportunity to see what they could really do.
When faced with such an enormous meteor, the expressions of Minato and the others all turned deathly pale.
Beside Minato, Shikaku swallowed hard and said with difficulty:
"Everyone, use your strongest offensive techniques. No matter what, we absolutely cannot let that meteor hit the ground."
Hearing this, everyone snapped into action and immediately brought out their trump cards.
Minato and Naruto exchanged a glance. Father and son simultaneously began forming Rasenshuriken.
Kimimaro took a deep breath and condensed a massive bone spear. From four huge bone-like exhaust ports on his shoulders, chakra roared forth unceasingly—this was a single thrust that concentrated all of Kimimaro's chakra.
Orochimaru summoned Triple Rashōmon as a defensive measure. Might Guy had already opened the Seventh Gate, with Daytime Tiger poised to strike.
Sakumo and Kakashi exchanged a look. The short blades in their hands began to glow, and with perfectly synchronized movements, a massive lightning dragon gradually took shape.
Pakura exhausted all her chakra to form five oversized Scorch Release orbs, while Haku reinforced the gaps between the Rashōmon Gates with thick layers of ice.
Jiraiya summoned the two toad sages, Fukasaku and Shima. Seeing the situation, they were already preparing to use the Sage Art: Goemon.
Itachi and Shin exchanged a glance and simultaneously unleashed Susanoo—one crimson, one silver. The sight of the two towering Susanoo made Uchiha Madara's eyes gleam with interest.
Under Madara's amused gaze, the shinobi of Konoha let out a roar and hurled their ultimate techniques one after another.
Kimimaro's bone spear struck first, but even with all its power, it only managed to pierce a short distance into the meteor.
That was enough.
The two Rasenshuriken that followed struck precisely where the spear had embedded itself. Relying on their terrifying cutting power, they successfully split the enormous meteor into four massive chunks.
Facing the four fragments:
Might Guy's Daytime Tiger shattered one.
Sakumo and Kakashi's lightning dragon devoured another.
Itachi and Shin each shattered one fragment with their respective Susanoo.
Meanwhile, Jiraiya's Goemon and Pakura's Extremely Steaming Murder went all out, melting the remaining large debris.
The leftover fragments were completely blocked by the Triple Rashōmon and the ice walls between them. Through the unrelenting efforts of Konoha's all-star lineup, Madara's Tengai Shinsei was finally dealt with perfectly.
Looking at the exhausted yet visibly exhilarated Konoha shinobi, Madara let out a silent chuckle. He refrained from being unreasonable and summoning a second meteor, instead flying down before them and speaking from above:
"Not bad. The new generation of Konoha finally isn't as useless as in the past. I quite admire you."
Author's Note:
It seems I didn't mention Shin's Susanoo earlier. Since the protagonist's side all has enhanced Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan-level abilities, Shin naturally needed a Susanoo as well. Its color is set to silver, and its weapon is an axe.
...
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