Snow fell silently in the woods.
Ten meters separated Madara Uchiha and Heiyan, each instinctively tightening their grip on their weapon. In that confrontational atmosphere, battle was about to erupt at any moment.
In truth, Madara had long had the opportunity to strike first. When Heiyan previously fought experts from the Four Great Ninja Villages, he had already been present—hidden in the shadows.
He had held back for two main reasons: one, to gather intelligence on Heiyan's abilities while allowing those from the Four Great Ninja Villages to wear down his chakra; and secondly, more importantly, Madara wanted to wait until Heiyan brought out the Six Paths Meteor Hammer, confirming the stone tablet remained on him before striking to seize it.
Unexpectedly, Heiyan had never used the Six Paths stone tablet.
Throughout this process, Madara's patience had gradually worn thin. Now it seemed he would have to capture Heiyan first and then interrogate him ruthlessly to discover the whereabouts of the Six Paths stone tablet.
A howling wind swept through the woods, sending both men's clothes and long hair dancing in the air. Then—
Swoosh!
Their figures instantly vanished. When they reemerged, Heiyan was already slashing downward with twin swords, met head-on by Madara's blazing war fan. For a moment, metal clashed against metal, sparks flying everywhere.
They locked into a stalemate immediately. However, with his height and strength advantage, Heiyan appeared to be the dominant side pressing down, while Madara was the one being suppressed.
To the proud Madara, this was absolutely unbearable.
"Ha!"
With a fierce roar, he gripped the blazing war fan with both hands and shoved forward powerfully. The impact shattered Heiyan's pressure, violently knocking away the twin swords pressed against the fan's surface. At the same time, countless wind blades flew out from the fan, raining down fiercely toward Heiyan.
Heiyan's eyes narrowed. He activated Flying Thunder God within a small range once again, teleporting several meters behind Madara.
Trees shattered and crashed under the onslaught of the wind blades. Snow exploded into the air as pines toppled one after another.
"Fei Le Shen?"
Madara swiftly turned around, murder gleaming in his eyes. This jutsu always reminded him of his younger brother Izuna—the person closest to him, who had fallen victim to Tobirama Senju's Flying Thunder God Slash.
Meanwhile…
Swish!
Heiyan struck back, sweeping the Murakumo Sword across in a wide arc. The sword's blade extended instantly to fifty or sixty meters long, aiming to cut Madara clean across the waist.
A chill shot through Madara's heart. He didn't dare block directly, instead leaping up into midair barely dodging in time.
Where the Murakumo Sword passed, trees collapsed continuously, clearing a wide fan-shaped area straight through the forest.
This clash between them, still only an initial exchange, had already devastated a section of the woods.
Steel clashed three times with thunderous clangs as they leapt from the trees onto the snowy plains. Their explosive fight raged forward, leaving a trail of fiery sparks and destruction in its wake.
The Swords of Kusanagi in Heiyan's hands were naturally ultra-sharp, yet Madara's blazing war fan—crafted from genuine God Tree branches—was strong, flexible, and nearly impossible to sever even under the Swords of Kusanagi's edge.
Suddenly—
Whoosh!
Heiyan hurled the Murakumo Sword in his left hand high into the air. Then gripping the Murakumo Sword with both hands, he poured Heavenly Release (Qian) chakra into it and slashed downward powerfully.
From a distance, a forty-meter greatsword wreathed in lightning and glowing red crashed down upon Madara Uchiha.
Madara once again raised his blazing war fan to defend himself, but he clearly underestimated the power behind the strike.
Thud!
Madara bent forward, dropping to one knee. Cracks burst from beneath him like a spiderweb, spreading outward in all directions.
Boom!
That single blow indirectly caused the ground within a hundred-meter radius to sink several meters, forming a massive crater.
Kneeling on the battlefield, Madara burned with fury and rage. But before he could counterattack, another sharp sound cut through the air behind him.
Whoosh!
The Murakumo Sword soared through the sky, guided precisely by the Byakugan embedded in its hilt. It launched a lightning-fast ambush at Madara from behind.
Shit.
A chill ran down Madara's spine. This was his first encounter with sword techniques like Heavenly Sword — Ku no Taiga. Caught completely off guard, there was no way for him to dodge now.
Though he loathed admitting it, so far in this duel, he had lost.
Forget this. I'm done playing games.
Just as the Murakumo Sword neared Madara, his Rinnegan eyes suddenly flared wide, unleashing an intense wave of ocular energy. At the same time, his expression turned cold and emotionless—like a god standing above all mortals.
Buzzzzz.
The Murakumo Sword halted mere centimeters away from Madara, vibrating violently without advancing even a fraction closer.
[Shinra Tensei!]
Coldly, Madara uttered those words. The next instant—
Boom.
An explosive force erupted from his body. The Murakumo Sword bore the brunt of it, blasted backward violently. It tumbled dozens of times midair before finally plunging deep into the snowy ground.
The Heavenly Ruyi Sword was also thrown back by the immense force, nearly slipping from Heiyan's grip.
His Dual-Blade Style had been instantly nullified.
Up until now, during his battle against Heiyan, Madara Uchiha had finally unleashed the power of his Rinnegan for the first time. As the true wielder of this eye, the Shinra Tensei he released far surpassed that of the Deva Path of Pain from the original timeline.
This ends now.
Straightening his posture, Madara stood up coldly. He sheathed his blazing war fan, stretched out his arm toward Heiyan, palm open. Once more, he spoke with icy precision:
[Universal Pull!]
Vroom.
A tremendous gravitational pull crossed dozens of meters in an instant, targeting Heiyan and attempting to drag him toward Madara.
But Heiyan was prepared.
Before Madara cast his technique, Heiyan had already used Earth Release to amplify his own gravity hundredsfold, making his weight rival that of a mountain—far beyond the limit of Universal Pull's attraction.
Of course, only Heiyan's Sage Transformation allowed such a maneuver to be possible. For ordinary people, attempting this would be pure suicide—they would have been crushed under their own weight long ago.
As a result, an awkward scene unfolded.
Madara stood still, hand extended and voice cold, trying to pull Heiyan from afar. Yet Heiyan remained rooted in place, unmoved by the force.
Hmm?
Feeling that Heiyan would not budge, Madara naturally refused to give up. His tone grew colder still:
[Universal Pull!]
Before Madara's words faded, more ocular power erupted from his Rinnegan, transforming into continuous waves of gravitational force that surged toward Heiyan.
Yet Heiyan remained unmoved like a mountain. With arms crossed and eyes narrowed, he watched Madara with the kind of look one would give a complete fool, calmly enjoying the performance.
Universal Pull! Keep pulling! PULLHHH!
Provoked by Heiyan's gaze, Madara maintained a composed exterior while screaming wildly inside. Only when his raised arm began to stiffen did he finally realize—the technique had no effect on Heiyan.
In the end, Madara silently lowered his hand, maintaining an indifferent expression, pretending as if nothing had happened.
Now it was Heiyan's turn to strike back.
Shshshsh.
Heiyan's hands moved rapidly through a series of hand seals. Then, with a deep breath, he exhaled—a thick, bluish beam of laser fire erupted from his mouth, hurtling directly toward Madara Uchiha.
[Sage Art: Storm Release Light Fang]
Strictly speaking, this move was a counterfeit—though not comparable to the authentic Six Paths Senjutsu, its power was no joke and sufficient enough to destroy Madara's clone.
"Hmph."
Madara snorted coldly, neither dodging nor moving away. Once again, he extended one hand straight at the incoming laser beam, unleashing a powerful suction from his palm.
Of course, this time it wasn't Universal Pull.
It was the Blocking Technique Absorption Seal.
Chchch.
His palm acted like a bottomless swamp, absorbing the Storm Release laser entirely as it approached, effortlessly neutralizing Heiyan's Ninjutsu attack.
Indeed, jutsu were ineffective against the Rinnegan.
Heiyan wasn't surprised by what he saw. One major ability of the Rinnegan was absorbing chakra from ninjutsu techniques—be it Storm Release or even Kekkei Tota Ninjutsu, none could do any harm.
To most ninja, the power of the Rinnegan was essentially a game-changing advantage—a form of reality-altering superiority.
Furthermore, the Rinnegan's ocular power granted immunity to most genjutsu.
That meant then, there was only one choice left—close combat using Taijutsu.
With this thought in mind, Heiyan suddenly stomped hard against the ground, launching himself forward like a blur, charging straight at Madara Uchiha.
[Colossal Power!]
He raised his fist, channeling immense power into it. A fierce gust of wind roared as he hurled a devastating punch straight at Madara.
Shinra Tensei!
Unfazed by Heiyan's attack, Madara repeated his old trick. Holding his chest high and spreading both arms forward, he unleashed an immense repulsive force outward, in a display of overwhelming dominance.
Weng.
Sure enough, just as Heiyan's fist closed in within centimeters of Madara's face, it was halted by the Shinra Tensei's repulsion field, unable to advance even an inch.
However, just as Madara sneered, preparing to increase the pressure and send Heiyan flying—
Boom!
Heiyan's Immortal Sage Body experienced a second surge, pushing his physical strength to its absolute limit. He broke through the constraints of the repelling force with sheer brute strength.
Then, before Madara's astonished eyes, the fist crashed directly into his face.
"Waaah!"
Letting out a pained cry, Madara shot backward like a cannonball, flying over a thousand meters and tumbling end over end across the snow more than a hundred times.
Pengpengpeng.
He, this tumbling figure, sent boulders, trees, and heaps of snow flying all along his path. By the time he finally came to a stop, he was completely coated in mud and snow, looking utterly wretched—worse than a stray dog caught in a storm.
This body of Madara Uchiha's was ultimately just an Elephant Path clone with limited chakra reserves. In contrast, Uzumaki Heiyan's real clones possessed chakra quantities identical to the original, replicating the full strength from his true form.
Therefore, when they clashed head-on with brute force, it was always Uzumaki Heiyan who gained the upper hand.
"Uzumaki Heiyan!"
Madara Uchiha climbed back up from the ground, furious beyond measure. He ripped off the broken armor on his chest, spat out mud and snow, glared fixedly at the approaching Uzumaki Heiyan, and without hesitation, clapped both palms together.
Buzzzzz.
A black spherical mass formed between Madara's palms before swiftly rising halfway into the sky.
[Planetary Devastation!]
Boom!
The earth cracked apart, fragments soaring into the air. From that black sphere came gravitational pull tens—even hundreds—of times stronger than Universal Pull, sucking everything—including Uzumaki Heiyan—off the surface and into the sky.
Unfortunately for him, Uzumaki Heiyan clearly understood the weakness of Planetary Devastation—the moment it was weakest was precisely when it hadn't fully formed yet.
So—
[Sage Art: Heavenly Release – Demon Flash!]
Uzumaki Heiyan faced upward and exhaled sharply; a dazzling red beam of light shot straight into the sky, striking the black sphere dead-on.
Boom!
In a violent explosion, the black orb and crimson lightning annihilated each other simultaneously. The floating boulders began falling back down, crashing onto the land.
"How could this be?!"
Madara couldn't help but gasp softly, beginning to feel genuine panic inside.
What shocked him was how familiar Uzumaki Heiyan seemed to be with all techniques of the Rinnegan, effortlessly countering every move and continuously suppressing Madara throughout the battle.
At this point in the fight, Madara had practically exhausted most of his hidden trump cards.
His Fire Release was fearsome, but he never planned to use it—Uzumaki Heiyan's Water Release was simply too strong, bordering on Ocean Release.
Even in full Susanoo form, he wouldn't stand a chance against Uzumaki Heiyan's [Law of Heavenly Transformation: War God Xingtian]—especially with this Elephant Path clone's limited chakra reserves.
Now there was no choice left but to use *that* technique.
The Rinnegan granted Madara a specific technique far surpassing even Shinra Tensei or Planetary Devastation. Once unleashed, even if Uzumaki Heiyan knew about it, he would have absolutely no means of resistance—only waiting helplessly for death.
That very technique constituted Madara's greatest assurance of dominance across the entire world of shinobi.
Thinking thus, Madara's eyes darkened coldly as he charged fiercely toward Uzumaki Heiyan. When his opponent entered the range of his Dojutsu attack, the ocular power within Madara's eyes erupted like a volcanic surge, unrestrained and overwhelming.
[Outer Path—Samsara of Heavenly Cycle Technique!]
"!"
As Uzumaki Heiyan met Madara's gaze, a chilling sense of danger gripped him—his entire body stiffened in an instant.
"Haaaah!"
With a sharp cry, he decisively thrust both palms forward without hesitation.
Swishhh!
With a clear clinking of chains, from the center of both palms he shot out the Demon-Subduing Chain and the Celestial Binding Chain. Twisting and spiraling together, they formed a double-helix structure resembling DNA (a double-helix molecular structure).
At the very tip of these chains was the Six Paths stone tablet radiating Six Paths chakra.
[Six Paths Meteor Hammer]
Though nothing could be seen ahead, Heiyan knew that the assault from Madara's Outer Path had already arrived.
Therefore, gripping the end of the meteor hammer with both hands, Heiyan spun wildly like a spinning top. This created an impenetrable defensive barrier centered on himself.
Combining Sage Chakra with Six Paths power, this was Heiyan's ultimate weapon against Madara Uchiha.
The next moment, three dull thuds rang out in succession—bang! bang! bang!
Although invisible, Heiyan knew he had struck something.
It was one of the shadows summoned by the Outer Path.
In that instant, he felt first joy then shock.
Joy because his suspicion proved correct—the combination of Sage Mode and the Six Paths tablet could indeed counter Madara Uchiha's Outer Path—Edo Tensei.
Shock because he clearly remembered that a complete Outer Path—Edo Tensei should summon four shadows, yet he had only hit three.
The next instant.
Boom!
A force beyond imagination crashed into Heiyan. His Demon-Subduing Chain and the Celestial Binding Chain snapped immediately, and the Six Paths stone tablet fell to the ground.
He coughed up a large mouthful of blood and collapsed backward like a falling tower.
Thud.
Heiyan hit the ground, his face as pale as snow, nearly slipping into unconsciousness.
What terrifying strength. Even with his near-perfect Sage Transformation, he couldn't withstand a single strike from it.
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