"Hiss—"
Seeing Shimoku's harmless smile, Lord Madara inhaled sharply again.
This kid had truly reached a level of shamelessness beyond comparison.
He'd already taken two Tailed Beasts from him, yet still had the nerve to ask for a gift?
If he himself had possessed such audacity back then... the position of Hokage wouldn't have gone to Hashirama in the first place.
Has the world really changed so much?
Is shamelessness now something to take pride in?
More importantly, he didn't even have anything decent left to give as a gift.
The next moment,
Shimoku raised his hand right on cue and pointed at Lord Madara's right hand.
Specifically, at that fan passed down through generations of the Uchiha Clan—the [Uchiha Flame War Fan].
Granted, there was no way the [Rinnegan]-possessing Lord Madara would give his eye to him.
But this fan—a powerful Uchiha relic with impressive abilities and deep symbolism—was definitely worth trying to obtain.
"Oh! You want this?"
Lord Madara feigned sudden realization and waved the war fan in his hand.
As an ancestral weapon passed down through the Uchiha Clan, the fan itself was indeed a treasure.
The fan symbolized the Uchiha clan crest—the traditional emblem of the clan (think family coat of arms)—and this particular [Flame War Fan] had been a sign of leadership carried by successive Uchiha Clan Heads during the Warring States Period—an era of constant conflict among powerful clans fighting for dominance.
Truly,
if he encountered a promising descendant—
one destined to lead the Uchiha Clan into the future—
handing over this symbolic heirloom wouldn't be unreasonable.
Unfortunately…
this little brat was just too annoying!
He talked way too much!
Not once did he show me, his own ancestor, the least bit of respect.
And had deliberately provoked him multiple times!
If he really handed over the fan to this brat so easily, Madara feared he wouldn't be able sleep out of sheer frustration that night!
"Ancestor, hand it over!"
"Under my leadership, the Uchiha Clan will only grow more glorious."
"You're just going back into hibernation anyway. What use do you have for this fan now?"
Shimoku mercilessly piled on the pressure,
making Lord Madara's eyelid twitch furiously.
In that instant,
he felt infinite gratitude toward the heavens for never having sired any real offspring in his lifetime…
Otherwise, he'd surely beat the crap out of someone like this kid himself!
Now he understood how Hashirama must've felt after getting married—how could anyone endure this kind of torment?
Just what kind of child was this? So infuriating!
"Ancestor, don't stay silent!"
"If you won't speak, I'll assume your silence means yes…"
"I'll just take that fan myself!"
Shimoku prepared to strike, ready for another fight if necessary!
With his current strength,
even without unleashing major techniques, he could suppress an injured Lord Madara.
After all, wearing the [Sealing Amulet (Legendary)] boosted his damage output by one hundred percent!
Who's afraid of whom here?!
...
However, just as Shimoku was about to make his move,
"Woosh—"
A sudden surge of spatial energy abruptly erupted beside Lord Madara.
The very next second,
that 'Mister Rentu' wearing the tiger-patterned mask appeared.
Without wasting a single word,
Obito immediately placed his right hand upon Lord Madara's shoulder and once again activated [Kamui].
Ready to teleport both Lord Madara and himself into the Kamui Dimension...
He had to move fast—
Seeing this, Shimoku hadn't expected Big Bro Tu to suddenly appear here.
Was it a premeditated plan?
Or had he rushed over for backup at the last moment?
But honestly, it didn't matter anymore.
The real issue was—how could he let Obito and Lord Madara leave so easily?
They hadn't even left a little welcome gift yet!
At the same time,
Without hesitation, Shimoku attacked, rushing straight for the two.
Shimoku clearly understood that when Obito's Kamui was absorbing or expelling objects, his body had to materialize, leaving him unable to dodge outside attacks. Furthermore, the absorption process required more time.
Several months ago, with a surprise attack plus a three-stage, eightfold boost from [Setsuna], he'd still barely interrupted Obito's Kamui at close range.
Now, his power had increased dozens of times over, and [Setsuna] had advanced to the sixth stage.
His speed far surpassed what it once was!
Now, a hundred meters meant nothing—he could cross it in an instant.
More than enough to interrupt Obito's teleportation!
0.02 seconds later—
Shimoku was halfway there, mid-charge,
when Lord Madara, who was in the process of teleporting, suddenly raised his hand.
With his right hand gripping the Flame War Fan, he fiercely hurled it directly at Shimoku.
"Boom!"
The Flame War Fan ripped through the air at supersonic speed. A sonic boom exploded behind it—a devastating strike.
Of course, such force barely registered to Shimoku.
Effortlessly, he caught the war fan.
However,
his offensive momentum came to a halt.
When he looked up again,
Obito and Lord Madara had already taken advantage of that brief opening to complete their teleportation, vanishing from the battlefield.
...
"They've escaped already?"
Shimoku sighed and squeezed the war fan in his hand, giving it a quick test swing.
This thing feels amazing in my hand.
Hey, it was crafted from a God Tree branch! No wonder it felt so damn good!
At the same time, a smile tugged at his lips as he murmured amusedly:
"Lord Madara's still as stubbornly tsundere as ever—cold on the outside, warm on the inside."
"In the end, he still gave me this war fan..."
Earlier, there were plenty of ways to stop Shimoku.
At the very least, those invisible Wheel Demonic Shadows could've easily restrained him, letting Obito successfully teleport away.
Yet Madara insisted on throwing out this war fan instead.
It was obvious—he wanted to give it away.
Hmph!
What a delightfully tsundere move!
Shimoku couldn't help shivering slightly at that overly sweet thought, inwardly teasing.
Although Lord Madara had departed,
the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path remained behind.
Would be a shame to waste it.
Shimoku intended to take this chance and carve off a large piece of it as experimental material.
After all, without the Tailed Beasts as its power source, the statue was practically just stone now.
Besides, even if it could still move,
such a single Demonic Statue wouldn't pose any serious threat against Shimoku—it was no stronger than a delicate young girl.
Totally helpless.
In the next second,
Shimoku activated Perfect Susanoo and drew out the spiritually transformed Dragon-Weaving Blade.
Then he plopped down beside the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
He fixed the demonic statue's arm in place and began sawing through it with rhythmic "heave-ho" grunts.
Although, truth be told, he could've just smashed the statue to bits with his fists.
But that would create too many fragments, which wouldn't be good for further research.
It was better to cut off a complete section with a blade—much neater.
Probably not like this...
Not even in its wildest dreams would this Demonic Statue of the Outer Path have imagined
That one day it'd be treated like a slaughtered pig, hoisted up by Susano'o and ruthlessly carved apart.
Who knows?
When this statue is eventually restored into the Ten-Tails one day,
Would it instinctively shudder at the memory of this scene?
...
A moment later,
Shimoku had completely sawed off the entire right arm of the demonic statue.
Then, he readied the Sealing Technique and sealed the entire arm away.
Next, he moved to saw off another arm.
However, just as he placed the blade on it,
"Peng——"
The entire body of the demonic statue exploded into a puff of white mist, vanishing from the spot.
Clearly, Lord Madara had once again employed the Summoning Technique,
Recalling it back to his side.
Originally, Shimoku could immediately follow up by using the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport there again.
But repeating a cat-and-mouse chase wouldn't serve much purpose.
After all, catching those two little mice wouldn't be easy.
Besides, those mice might've already laid traps just for him to fall right into…
Well then, he already had more than enough materials from the demonic statue.
He'll let them off this time!
Besides, after messing around for so long, the sky was almost dark.
It was time to head home—dinner awaited, followed by a hot bath.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>