The ground churned violently as thick tree trunks burst through the earth, transforming into a dense forest sea.
The twisting trunks creaked and groaned, sending chills down spines.
Danzo's expression was no longer calm and composed.
He knew the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha had a special relationship, but why did Madara possess the First's Wood Release kekkei genkai?
The trunks whipped forward, smashing toward Danzo.
He swung his vacuum blade, slicing through the oncoming wood.
Yako had already avoided Danzo, rolling and leaping around the perimeter of the Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands, dodging the assault.
The dense trunks blocked sightlines; neither Danzo nor Madara paid attention to the small pawns on the edge.
A Yamanaka Root ninja, too close to Danzo and fiercely protective, was crushed by the twisted trunks, his abdomen caved in.
Unable to move, he used Mind Transfer Technique on Madara before dying.
Madara didn't even glance at the Yamanaka; such a minor mental attack was nothing more than a breeze to him.
Another Root ninja, farther from Danzo, escaped the Wood Release's radius like Yako.
This Root was from the Aburame clan, releasing swarms of insects resembling tree canopies to gnaw at the wooden trunks, trying to relieve pressure on Danzo.
Madara tilted his head, eyeing the Aburame ninja with some surprise at their strength.
A flower bloomed amid the Wood Release trunks, releasing pollen poison smoke.
The insects died en masse on the trunks, leaving clusters of carcasses.
The Aburame switched through three different parasitic insects, none withstanding the pollen's toxicity, dying miserably.
Yako vigorously attacked the Wood Release trunks with Earth Spear Technique, building a grand display that pushed farther and farther out.
Madara's frail, winded figure belied his enormous chakra reserves.
Standing atop the rainbow bridge of trunks, he looked down on Danzo.
Danzo formed hand seals and unleashed: "Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
A high-pressure wind ball blasted from his mouth, shattering numerous wooden trunks of the Wood Release.
Wood debris scattered wildly in the rainy night.
Madara's eyes brightened with interest toward Danzo.
"Didn't expect your Wind Release to be mediocre," Madara sneered. "How will your Wind Release deal with this?"
Just then, a giant wooden statue emerged from the ground.
The wooden figure swung a fist toward Danzo.
Danzo used Vacuum Sphere again, but the wooden figure's strength was far greater than expected.
Its fist's surface cracked thinly before breaking through the Wind Release and smashing toward Danzo.
Danzo barely dodged the strike at the last moment.
He shifted tactics, no longer resisting head-on but swiftly leaping through the forest toward Madara.
He believed Madara was old and weak now, maybe barely holding on like Uzumaki Mito—an arrow fired to the limit.
This was no time to ponder why Madara wielded Wood Release; he had to kill the aging Uchiha first.
Once Madara died, everything would end.
Danzo had long sought mastery of Wood Release but never succeeded; perhaps Madara held the secret.
If Madara could wield Wood Release, why couldn't he?
Danzo's Sharingan spun wildly as he dodged trunks and vines along the way.
The trunks multiplied and grew; Danzo activated Mangekyo Sharingan.
"Susanoo!"
A verdant green Susanoo skeleton appeared around Danzo.
Upon seeing the green Susanoo, Madara's voice rang out again:
"That fool Tobirama raised you worthless brats to use Susanoo against me?
Those Uchiha idiots, toyed with by Konoha, couldn't even guard their Mangekyo."
Madara snorted coldly and finally raised his hand.
Until now, he had not directly acted in battle, only shouting commands.
Now, Madara formed seals—a sign he was taking things seriously.
"Wood Release: Wood Dragon Technique!"
A wooden dragon erupted from the Wood Release forest, shrieking as it charged Susanoo.
The dragon wrapped around Susanoo, consuming chakra.
Susanoo's newly grown muscles receded and vanished, leaving only the skeleton.
Blood streamed from beneath Danzo's right eye.
The Mangekyo Sharingan drained immense chakra, and with the dragon's devouring, Danzo's right eye ached sharply.
His vision blurred suddenly—had only two uses of Mangekyo exhausted his body?
Susanoo vanished as the wooden dragon instantly released its grip, disappearing into nothing.
Wind Release lifted Danzo, who leapt free from the dragon's coils.
In midair, he formed seals and unleashed: "Wind Release: Vacuum Spheres!"
The wind chakra burst from his mouth like bullets, firing short bursts like a machine gun.
The wind beams had terrible piercing power, racing toward Madara.
Madara raised his hand, countering with:
"Wood Release: Wood Spear Insertion Technique!"
On the rainbow bridge below him, dozens of wooden spears shot out.
Danzo's Vacuum Spheres were intercepted one by one by the spears.
Several spears pierced Danzo's body, exploding inside his abdomen and piercing out his back.
Danzo became a porcupine of spikes; his internal organs were surely destroyed.
Yako's eyes fixed tightly on Danzo.
A sudden blur—Danzo vanished as if never there.
The wooden spikes fell from the sky, dripping with red blood and green bile—proof Danzo had indeed been impaled.
Below the slope, Danzo circled around behind a trunk and fled swiftly.
Yako cursed silently—no heads-up before running off.
From the side, Yako saw Danzo's right eye Mangekyo—like a dead white fish eye.
Uchiha Kagami's precious Mangekyo had become a disposable Izanagi for Danzo.
Yako and the Aburame ninja hurried to follow.
Madara, standing on the slope, showed no intention to chase, looking down disdainfully at the fleeing figures before turning back into the cave.
Yako guessed that transplanting the Rinnegan to Nagato still required finishing touches.
Nagato was far more important than any low-level Konoha fodder.
After fleeing far, Yako felt no relief—only increased tension.
Big trouble was brewing.
Trailing the Aburame ninja, who in turn followed Danzo, Yako dared not make a sound—no stepping on puddles, no crunching leaves—fearing any noise might provoke Danzo's wrathful murder.
Yako's mood was thirty percent joy, seventy percent regret.
Joy that old bastard Danzo had taken a beating, losing a Mangekyo Sharingan before Madara.
Danzo's fresh Mangekyo wasn't even warm in its socket before Madara crippled it.
Regret that Madara was so disappointing.
All that posturing and mockery, yet he couldn't even kill Danzo.
Why bother transplanting the Rinnegan late and settling for a regular three-tomoe Sharingan? What use is that?
Couldn't even kill Danzo—he was a loser, a big loser, doomed to fail forever.
Not just Yako—the Aburame ninja ahead also trembled with fear, no better than him.