The Flying Thunder God mark hidden under the shadow moved at an agonizingly slow pace.
Mitsuki would have to wait a little longer.
He didn't mind chatting with Madara in the meantime—after all, neither could really do anything to the other right now.
Compared to Mitsuki, Madara's mood was actually rather good.
Ever since his battle at the Valley of the End, he hadn't fought this intensely in ages. Even though he was only controlling a clone from afar, it still thrilled him to his core.
But this stalemate couldn't continue forever. Mitsuki's arsenal of jutsu was vast—each technique more devious than the last—and many seemed perfectly suited to counter his own.
Coincidence? Madara wasn't sure. But he was sure that killing or capturing Mitsuki here was impossible.
If he wanted to deal with the boy, he would need to reclaim his Rinnegan and use Limbo: Border Jail.
The real problem now was how to retreat.
He didn't possess space-time ninjutsu. Evacuating with the Gedo Statue in tow would definitely draw pursuit—and with Shukaku backing Mitsuki, chakra exhaustion wasn't even a concern for him. Would he have to resort to that failsafe?
Before Madara could decide, Mitsuki sensed that the Flying Thunder God seal guided by Shadow Manipulation had reached position. The battlefield, which had been eerily calm for a few minutes, once again erupted into motion.
Mitsuki took the initiative. The five remaining Rasengan Orbs at his back scattered apart. With a deafening hum, each expanded, mimicking five enormous Rasenshuriken in perfect synchronization.
That's right — Mitsuki's Rasengan Orbs had never been limited to one technique at a time. That restriction had been deliberate misinformation he'd spread. Until now, none of his enemies had even been worthy enough to see through the ruse.
Madara frowned slightly. "That won't even scratch my armor… it's weaker than his fire release" he muttered. He assumed Mitsuki was targeting Susanoo's rear flank, perhaps trying to hit his true body through sheer volume of attacks.
With Mitsuki's level of chakra control, if even one Rasenshuriken slipped past Susanoo, he could precisely cut through the ground and detonate it inside Madara's hidden base. But bypassing Susanoo's defenses was no simple task.
Madara's Mangekyō Sharingan spun rapidly, calculating every possible angle of attack. Meanwhile, he summoned more wooden dragons around the hidden cavern, tightening his defenses. Susanoo raised its massive wooden blade, ready to strike down any incoming projectiles.
The battlefield simmered under intense heat — the flames evaporated the underground rivers that had burst open earlier, forming dense storm clouds overhead. The Land of Water was already humid and prone to storms, and now the sky churned with gathering thunder.
"Rumble…"A bolt of lightning flashed across the heavens.
Madara's pupils shrank.In that instant, Mitsuki vanished — not to any of the known Flying Thunder God marks scattered across the field.
He turned sharply—only to see Mitsuki standing directly above his hidden base. The wooden dragons roared and lunged upward, but it was far too late.
"Bzzzzz—!" The five Rasenshuriken were already descending, tearing through the soft soil and solid rock, plunging straight into the cavern where Madara's real body and the Gedo Statue resided.
A flicker of chakra—and Mitsuki vanished once again using Flying Thunder God. The wooden dragons clashed violently midair, splintering into a cloud of debris.
In the next heartbeat, Mitsuki reappeared beside another kunai marker. Forming a single seal, he triggered all five Raseshuriken simultaneously.
The explosion bloomed instantly—a blue tempest of chakra expanded to its limit in less than a second, swallowing the entire mountain in its wake. The howling wind turned into blades so fine they sliced everything at the molecular level, shredding everything trapped within.
Mitsuki glanced at the motionless Susanoo clone nearby—Madara's attention had clearly been forced elsewhere.Still, Mitsuki wasn't satisfied.
He looked up at the roiling thunderclouds above and rose into the air, standing atop a swirling sand current. Sliding his fingers along the Mistcutter's edge, he replaced the Fire Release coating with a Chidori layer.
Lightning rumbled violently in response to his chakra. The storm clouds twisted and pulsed as countless arcs of natural electricity converged, shaping into a colossal beast—a creature with antlers like a deer, eyes of a lion, the body of an elk, and the tail of a dragon.
Mitsuki raised his arm high, like a god casting judgment upon the earth, and brought it down.
"Kirin!"
A monstrous roar of thunder filled the heavens as the divine beast plunged from the clouds.A blinding column of lightning, hundreds of meters wide, bridged sky and earth in an instant.
Blue electric currents webbed across the ground for miles. Under the billions of volts unleashed, all matter was vaporized and atomized.
Minutes passed before the storm finally began to fade.
When Mitsuki descended, the world before him had changed beyond recognition. The land was scorched into a blackened shell—tens of kilometers turned into a lifeless wasteland. The mountain that had housed Madara's base was gone, replaced by a massive crater several kilometers wide.
Susanoo's complete form had vanished. Madara's clone lay shattered upon the ground, and from the dust emerged the pale remains of a White Zetsu.
"So it really was a clone," Mitsuki muttered.
Exhaling softly, he narrowed his eyes. As expected of an old relic from the Warring States…
Moments before the detonation, Madara had used Wood Expulsion to shield himself. When Mitsuki followed up with the enhanced Kirin, Madara had sensed the impending danger and — through some unknown means — vanished along with the Gedo Statue.
Mitsuki had come to the Land of Water not only to destroy Kirigakure but also to test his luck—to see if he could locate the aged Madara. And he had. But killing him? That had slipped through his grasp.
Next time, catching that ghost's tail wouldn't be so easy.
He sighed. "Guess I still need more training…"
Mitsuki realized something then. Ever since gaining Full Counter and Flying Thunder God, he'd grown overconfident .With the power of the Six Eyes, everything came too easily. Confidence was good—but arrogance could be fatal.
He decided it was time to reflect.