Yako dodged another charge from the wood dragon and retreated farther from Nagato.
He glanced toward Uchiha Madara.
Madara was simultaneously fighting the Uchiha head-on while controlling the wood dragon from the side to pressure Yako — and the man was already over seventy years old.
Chakra was formed from the fusion of physical energy and spiritual energy.
Shouldn't Madara's physical energy have weakened with age?
Shouldn't his mental energy have declined as well?
Until Madara began to show signs of fatigue, Yako could only grit his teeth and keep pushing forward against the wood dragon.
After tanking a strike from Spiral White Zetsu's Spiked Stakes Technique, Yako formed a seal.
Water Severing Wave surged out.
The high-speed water line sliced through one of the dragon's claws, then cut halfway through its massive body.
But the wood dragon's tough structure drained much of the technique's power.
The first time he had faced Madara, using Sarutobi Hiruzen's inferior version of Water Severing Wave, he had only managed to cut through one-third of the dragon.
Now, after obtaining the proper version from Orochimaru, he could slice halfway through it.
Still, the severed sections regenerated. The missing claw regrew almost instantly.
Wood Release possessed overwhelming vitality — a bloodline ability built upon life force itself.
For now, the only viable strategy was to keep draining Madara's chakra until an opportunity arose to seize Nagato.
White Ram Squad and Blossom Deer Squad performed excellently.
With the Ten Seal activated, they maintained distance while launching continuous combination techniques against Deep Forest Emergence, clearing back the encroaching Wood Release.
Wind and Fire combination techniques.
Lightning and Water combinations.
One twisted tree after another was destroyed.
The reconnaissance team led by Hyuga Ketsu watched Fox Squad Leader weaving through the battlefield, clashing with the wood dragon and spiral White Zetsu. Watching the two ANBU squads unleash powerful coordinated techniques, their admiration for ANBU grew.
As expected of the Hokage's direct forces — their combat performance was outstanding.
Meanwhile, on the main battlefield, the Uchiha were struggling.
Madara stood inside a hollow halfway up a massive tree. Every Great Fireball launched toward him was blocked by the trunks grown through Deep Forest Emergence.
Uchiha-style shuriken techniques — steel-wire-linked projectiles weaving through the trees — were ultimately intercepted by branches.
Madara knew Uchiha techniques too well.
His three-tomoe Sharingan constantly captured their movements, predicting every action with terrifying precision.
Uchiha Gogo and Uchiha Tōka stood back-to-back, breathing heavily.
Both had poured their chakra into Fire Release, barely maintaining a stalemate against the surrounding tree trunks without advancing even an inch.
Their chakra reserves were draining rapidly.
Wood Release's flexibility was overwhelming. Branches grew freely and unpredictably, making them extremely difficult to counter.
As they struggled, Gogo suddenly noticed a thin branch sprouting from a recently shattered trunk nearby.
What could such a tiny branch possibly do?
A vivid red flower blossomed upon it.
Rain fell onto the bud. Pollen formed a thin membrane on its surface, allowing droplets to slide off perfectly intact.
The next instant — the bud exploded.
Reddish-brown pollen burst outward.
Gogo's heart tightened.
Is that dangerous?
In the midst of such intense combat, why would Wood Release produce flowers?
Rain quickly knocked the pollen downward. Its spread seemed limited.
He relaxed slightly.
The pollen fell to the ground, seemingly harmless.
Then a raindrop landed on his eyebrow.
The water spread across his eyelid — and his vision turned red.
The rain contained pollen.
He looked up.
At some point, the trees had connected overhead, forming towering arches high above.
Those arches were covered in crimson flowers.
The blossoms burst open, dyeing the rain red with pollen.
The pollen seeped into skin.
Gogo felt numbness spread across his flesh — first the skin, then the muscles.
His muscles stopped responding.
He collapsed slowly into the mud.
Fully conscious… but unable to move.
He saw his younger brother Tōka collapse nearby, poisoned as well.
To the side, their teacher Uchiha Dōma was still moving.
Dōma stabbed a kunai into his own thigh, using pain to maintain clarity.
Gogo felt a flash of regret. Why hadn't he thought of that?
Dōma rushed over, grabbed both brothers by the shoulders, and hurled them outward with all his strength.
Gogo hated himself for being so weak — unable to move at all.
Their teacher was stronger. Yet instead of escaping himself, he gave them the chance to live.
Gogo's mouth was numb. He wanted to shout… but no sound came.
The only thing he could move were his eyes.
He stared desperately at his teacher, willing him to escape the terrifying forest and the rain of poison.
But several tree trunks surged toward Dōma.
He was already at his limit. The toxin had seeped deeply into him — pollen-laced rain entering through the wound in his leg.
The poison spread through flesh and blood, paralyzing his thigh.
Two tree trunks wrapped around his waist.
His pelvis shattered instantly.
"No!"
Gogo watched in agony.
The air filled with the cracking sounds of bones breaking — like a beast crushing its prey.
Blood vessels flooded his eyes, converging into the crimson of his Sharingan.
Inside the hollow halfway up the tree, Madara slowly turned his head toward him.
"Hm? Some talent… but not enough. Let me help you. Without me, you'll never cross that final threshold."
Madara's interest was piqued. His hands formed seals, precisely controlling the trees.
The two trunks crushing Uchiha Dōma's pelvis climbed upward like twin serpents, grinding apart his abdomen.
Gogo's eyes widened further, veins thickening.
He could accept his teacher dying in battle…
But not like this.
Bones crushed piece by piece. Ground down slowly.
"AAAH! Sensei!"
More trunks appeared, crushing Dōma's chest.
Through the gaps, Gogo saw a broken rib protruding.
Rain washed the blood from the bone, leaving it pale and lifeless.
Finally, two trunks wrapped around Dōma's head.
His skull burst like a watermelon.
A three-tomoe Sharingan squeezed through the branches, still attached by strands of flesh and nerve.
"No… no!"
Madara clicked his tongue inwardly.
Pathetic. Even this isn't enough to awaken the Mangekyō?
He formed another seal, casting a genjutsu.
Powerful ocular power pierced through the gaps in the trees and directly into Gogo's eyes.
Uchiha Dōma's slow, brutal death replayed again and again within Gogo's vision.
"No!"
On the side battlefield, Yako saw the Flower Tree World Bloom and noticed Madara using several techniques in succession. He wasn't sure what Madara was doing.
Madara lowered his hands, breathing slightly heavier.
For someone who loved maintaining a domineering image, losing composure meant one thing —
his chakra was finally being drained.
Maybe this is the chance, Yako thought.
He suddenly abandoned the wood dragon and Spiral White Zetsu and charged straight toward Madara.
"White Ram! Blossom Deer! Hold them back for me!"
Midair, Yako formed seals and unleashed his own technique.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"