With a few swift slashes, Mitsuki sent several blazing waves of fire chakra through the air, reducing the trees lunging toward him to ash. He ignored the hallucinogenic pollen that could trap one's mind with a single breath and raised the Mistcutter above his head. The vast chakra of Shukaku poured through his body, transmuting into Flame Release energy that flooded the blade.
Dark purple flames rippled along the sword's edge, layering over and over until the weapon swelled to a colossal size—tens of meters long. Mitsuki swung the massive fiery blade, spinning in midair as he unleashed a circular arc of burning chakra that expanded outward.
Everything within the range of his strike was reduced to ash in an instant. Even the dense forest dozens of meters away could not escape the fate of being carved apart. The fiery arc tore through several kilometers of Wood Release constructs, igniting the severed trunks and preventing them from regenerating.
The inferno surged skyward, consuming all the pollen that filled the battlefield. Mitsuki looked upon his handiwork with satisfaction and nodded.
"The chakra of Shukaku really is convenient... if I had to refine this much on my own, I'd be drained dry long before achieving this."
"Now then," he murmured with a faint smirk, "how will you respond, Madara-senpai?"
Madara's expression remained composed even as his sea of trees was annihilated. His fingers continued to weave seals. Since ordinary Wood Release proved useless, he turned to a higher-tier technique.
"Wood Dragon Technique!"
The ground trembled once more. From the shattered trunks closest to Mitsuki, five wooden dragons surged forth. Rather than being burned, the flames of Flame Release were absorbed into their bark.
Though Mitsuki lacked the Wood Release bloodline, he knew its secret techniques well. The Wood Dragon Technique carried sealing properties — it could absorb chakra and bind massive enemies, restricting their movement.
Mitsuki slashed with several arcs of fire chakra. As expected, they left only shallow cuts on the wooden dragons—nothing like the devastating results from before.
If the Wood Dragon had appeared, then the Wood Human Technique would surely follow. Its hardness far surpassed even that of the dragon.
Madara hadn't expected to be pushed this far by a younger generation, but by now he had analyzed all of Mitsuki's moves. He only needed to ensure his opponent couldn't escape.
As the dragons coiled around Mitsuki, Madara clapped his hands.
"Wood Human Technique!"
From beneath Susanoo's feet, a gigantic wooden humanoid rose up. But unlike Hashirama's creation, Madara shaped his to merge with Susano'o, forming a full suit of wooden armor over it.
Encased in wood, Susanoo drew a massive blade from its side and struck down at Mitsuki with pure, overwhelming force.
At that, Mitsuki couldn't help but mutter, "As expected of the power that once pacified the Warring States Era... Wood Release really is tough—definitely harder than Shikotsumyaku."
BOOM!
Susano'o's slash smashed into the ground. The already shattered earth split apart, opening a deep ravine. Hidden rivers burst from the depths, erupting to the surface under the impact.
The strike's force was immense—enough to splinter the wooden blade itself. Controlling Susanoo, Madara plunged the broken sword into the ground. When he drew it again, it had already regenerated.
"So, you flew away, huh?" he murmured.
A sharp whoosh—Mitsuki reappeared beside a severed tree stump. During their earlier exchanges, he had quietly scattered several Flying Thunder God kunai throughout the area.
But Madara's sensory ability was impeccable. The moment Mitsuki teleported, the five wood dragons moved in unison, homing in on him with deadly precision.
On Mitsuki's shoulder, Shukaku—who had been forming hand signs with his claws to refine chakra—spoke up:
"Use that jutsu, partner."
Mitsuki nodded. He had been thinking the same thing. Forming the Magnet Release hand seal, he gathered sand beneath his feet. Waves of sand surged upward, forming a vast field around him.
The five wood dragons sank into the shifting sand, their movements slowed dramatically. Mitsuki then manipulated the sand to create enormous serpents that coiled around them. Black sealing patterns, shaped like writhing tadpoles, spread across their bodies.
"Magnet Release: Eternal Seal of Gold!"
As the sealing formula expanded, the wood dragons finally fell silent. The sand engulfed them, dragging them underground for a secondary sealing.
At this point, both Mitsuki and Madara paused, realizing something strange—neither could truly harm the other.
Mitsuki lacked a single decisive jutsu that could pierce Madara's wooden armor. With Susanoo fully protected, striking at the true body was impossible. Madara, on the other hand, could not unleash his massive Susanoo techniques without risking friendly fire — and with Mitsuki's Flying Thunder God, hitting him at all was a nightmare.
The battlefield remained engulfed in silent flames, underground rivers bursting to the surface. Desert, water, giant trees, and fire all coexisted in chaotic balance — a landscape permanently altered by the clash of two superhuman shinobi.
From above, Madara's voice echoed:
"Not since Hashirama has anyone fought me to such a level. I, Madara Uchiha, acknowledge your strength, Mitsuki."
Mitsuki looked up and smirked. "Still love preaching, huh? I call you 'senpai' once and you really start acting like one?"
A direct assault was pointless. Mitsuki didn't want to risk using Myō Release, his unfinished trump card, on a mere clone. That left only one option—stealth. A true ninja never fought fair.
When he had performed the Magnet Release seals earlier, he had secretly woven in several others, activating a technique he'd never used before:
"Shadow Manipulation."
Its principle was simple—it merely hid the formula of a jutsu. But in Mitsuki's hands, the potential was endless.
Right now, he had concealed a Flying Thunder God mark within the ground itself, moving it slowly toward Madara's real location.
The Flying Thunder God Technique had incredible depth. When Minato showed Mitsuki the Moving Seal variant, he immediately envisioned using it in tandem with this concealment method — hiding the mark, letting the enemy focus on visible kunai, and then teleporting to the hidden sigil for a fatal strike.