Thousands of miles away, the Flying Thunder God arrived in an instant!
Uchiha Madara thought it was only Ryoma's shadow clone and immediately lashed out with a kick!
But the moment Madara's foot struck Ryoma, the sheer power transmitted through his body made him freeze for an instant.
In that same heartbeat, Ryoma's fist flashed like light.
Bang!
A thunderous impact.
Madara was knocked back, sent flying upside down—yet he steadied himself in midair.
"So it's your real body? Hmph. Looks like your chakra is nearly spent."
Ryoma's kick didn't have the same overwhelming force as before. Just from this brief clash, Madara had already gauged his opponent's current limits.
To Madara, Ryoma daring to chase him down now was nothing short of suicide. The hunter and prey had switched places.
"I once said the only one who could stand against me was Hashirama. But now, it seems I must include you as well, Ryoma!"
Madara clasped his hands together, molding chakra.
Ryoma was undeniably strong—but with his chakra nearly exhausted, continuing to fight was nothing but a death wish.
"Since you insist on throwing your life away, I'll gladly send you to hell!"
With Madara at the center, a surge of violent chakra exploded outward, scattering flocks of birds into the sky.
"Complete Susanoo!"
Chakra surged around Madara, coalescing into an immense form. In moments, a towering armored giant nearly 100 meters tall stood in the heavens. Its visage resembled a monstrous tengu, wings outstretched, twin blades sheathed at its sides, radiating crushing might.
The world itself seemed to fall silent beneath its oppressive presence.
Madara's gaze locked on Ryoma. "What a pity. Your chakra falls far short of mine. Don't call me dishonorable—since you carry Hashirama's inheritance, I'll fight you with everything I have."
Without hesitation, Madara raised Susanoo's colossal blade and brought it crashing down.
Rumble!
The sword strike split the very earth, carving a massive chasm that stretched for thousands of meters.
But before Ryoma, a grimacing, fang-toothed wooden shield rose from the ground, blocking Susanoo's strike.
"Wood Release: Hōbi Technique!"
Madara froze for a moment, memories flashing back to the Valley of the End—Hashirama had once used this very technique to withstand his Susanoo's blows.
And now, Ryoma had replicated it.
"Heh… impressive. You've exceeded my expectations. But how many of my strikes can you endure?"
Susanoo's blade fell again.
Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!
Each strike stronger than the last.
By the third swing, Ryoma's wooden defense shattered.
"You're powerful, but the victor will be me!"
Susanoo's massive blade rose high, chakra surging with destructive force. The sheer sword aura split distant forests before the blade even fell.
Ryoma only smiled. "You think I'm out of chakra? Then I'll just add some more."
"System, activate Indra's Power!"
Ding!HosthasactivatedIndra'sPower!Ding! Host has activated Indra's Power!Ding!HosthasactivatedIndra'sPower!
According to the system, this granted Ryoma Indra's full strength—his chakra instantly surging to its peak.
But because he had not fully adapted, Indra's power and the Asura power from Hashirama's card could not yet merge into the Six Paths power.
The system displayed: [Six Paths Power Fusion: 1%]
Only 1%. At 100%, Ryoma's strength would rival the Sage of Six Paths himself.
Madara's eyes narrowed as he sensed Ryoma's chakra explode, thick and overflowing like liquid.
A brilliant aura enveloped Ryoma—purple chakra laced with streaks of gold.
"What is this?!"
Ryoma stepped into Sage Mode, his body bathed in purple-gold light. His voice was calm: "This… is Indra's power."
"Indra's power?!" Madara's face twisted in shock as he swung Susanoo's blade once more.
Boom!
The wooden shield manifested again, blocking the strike. The forests behind Ryoma were obliterated by the shockwave.
"This power…" Madara's body trembled, disbelief clouding his face.
"How? Why is your chakra still so abundant?!"
Ryoma chuckled. "Surprised, are you?"
He slammed his hands into the ground.
The earth split, and a towering Wood Golem rose, its size rivaling Susanoo.
"I don't believe it!"
Susanoo's great sword fell, but the golem caught the blade with both hands—barehanded.
Bang!
The impact should have leveled mountains, yet the wooden giant held firm.
"Impossible! How can he still have strength left?! His chakra… it feels even greater than before!"
Madara's confidence faltered. He had expected to crush Ryoma easily, yet instead, his opponent had only grown stronger.
The purple-gold aura surrounding Ryoma seemed even more terrifying than Hashirama's.
Before Madara could recover, Ryoma commanded the wooden golem to attack.
Its colossal fist swung down.
Rumble!
The punch slammed into Susanoo's chest—right where Madara stood.
His eyes widened as the massive fist filled his vision.
"I—!"
Before he could finish, he was smashed clean out of Susanoo's body.
Boom!
Madara cratered into the ground with bone-shaking force, dust and rubble erupting skyward. Susanoo's chest armor split with a jagged crack.
Bang!
Susanoo retaliated, its giant fists clashing against the wooden golem's strikes.
Steel and wood collided, shaking the heavens as the two titans brawled.
Madara staggered out of the crater, blood spewing from his lips.
"How… how is this possible?!"
He had barely risen before being sent crashing down once again.
Rumble!
Madara was smashed back into the crater he had just left, his body buried deep in the earth. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
Ryoma stood tall atop the wooden golem's head, his expression calm.
"Why? Why are you still this strong?!"
The clash between the wooden golem and Madara's Complete Susanoo was reaching its end.
Though the golem's arms had been severed, it struck one final kick, sending Susanoo crashing backwards.
The giant armored form slammed into a distant hill, shattering it to rubble with a thunderous crash.
Boom!
The chakra skeleton of Susanoo cracked and disintegrated, its fragments flowing back into Madara's body.
Gritting his teeth, Madara turned and fled.
"I can't win now… but at the bay between the Land of Fire and the Land of Water, the Three-Tails sleeps. If I absorb it, I still have a chance…"
The sea lay just ahead.
Ryoma gave chase, surprised that Madara had chosen to retreat yet again. But thinking it over, he realized it wasn't strange at all.
Madara was arrogant, prideful, always posturing before others—but he wasn't a fool. He knew when to advance and when to withdraw.
During the Fourth Great Ninja War, Madara had fought the Five Kage and a hundred thousand shinobi with contempt, his overwhelming power making such disdain feel natural. To others, it seemed unbearably pretentious.
Yet even then, he had openly praised Hashirama, earning the title of the "first Hashirama fanboy." Madara's character was straightforward: he mocked the weak, but he acknowledged true strength without hesitation.
So now, retreating in the face of Ryoma's power was simply another truth.
As he fled, Madara hurled Tailed Beast Bombs to slow Ryoma's pursuit. But these diversions meant little—Ryoma cut through them with ease.
Reaching the coast, Ryoma watched Madara leap into the sea.
"No way… is he really escaping underwater?!"
But then, the ocean erupted.
A colossal turtle-like creature surfaced, its body covered in jagged spikes.
"The Three-Tails?!" Ryoma narrowed his eyes.
Madara burst from the water, chains of chakra exploding from his body and binding the beast.
"Roooaaarrr!"
Isobu let out a furious cry, only to be subdued almost instantly by Madara's Susanoo.
In a single, desperate act, Madara sealed the Three-Tails into himself.
"Absorbed… the Three-Tails!"
Ryoma's face hardened. "So this is it… a last stand."
Sure enough, Madara turned back, eyes burning, and pressed his palms to the sea.
Waves rose violently as his body aged in an instant—black hair turning gray, youthful features withering into his old, wrinkled form.
Before him, the Gedo Statue appeared. Its body stirred with newfound power—four eyes open, nine tails thrashing, its roar deafening across the coast.
Now, with the chakra of the Two-Tails, Three-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Nine-Tails, the Gedo Statue had become a pseudo-Ten Tails.
From the Mist Village outpost on the opposite shore, terrified shinobi cried out.
"What is that?!"
"Hurry, report to Lord Mizukage!"
"Why is disaster always drawn to Kirigakure?!"
But Madara's gaze remained locked on Ryoma.
"Susanoo Armor!"
At the Valley of the End, he had once clad the Nine-Tails in Susanoo's armor, fusing overwhelming might with impenetrable defense.
Now, he wrapped the Ten Tails in Susanoo itself.
A monstrous armored form rose from the ocean, the Ten Tails encased in gleaming purple plating.
"With this, even your Wood Release won't break my defense!"
Madara had seen Ryoma summon True Several Thousand Hands in Konoha. But he refused to believe Ryoma could still use it here.
"If you can summon that again, I'll eat the Ten Tails myself!"
But in the next instant, his eyes nearly burst from their sockets.
Ryoma's hands flashed through seals, slamming into the earth.
Rumble!
Chakra surged forth like a tidal wave—purple and gold intermingled with Indra's might.
"Sage Art: Wood Release — True Several Thousand Hands, Top Transformed Buddha!"
The wooden giant rose, its towering form dwarfing mountains, a thousand arms fanning out like a divine storm.
The colossal Buddha statue shook the very land.
The cliffs crumbled, the great bridge collapsed into rubble, and the coastline itself was reshaped as the ground sank and heaved.
On the far shore, Mist shinobi screamed in awe and terror.
"The Thousand-Armed Buddha! Ryoma has summoned the Demon Buddha again!"
"Hurry, report to Lord Mizukage!"
"He truly is the Demon King of Konoha!"
The title spread like wildfire: Demon King Ryoma.
The Ten Tails clad in Susanoo still towered, but before the Buddha, its might seemed small.
Ryoma stood atop the wooden golem's head, gazing down on Madara with cold eyes.
Madara trembled, his voice faltering.
"You… you… How can this be?!"
The moment the Thousand-Armed Buddha appeared, Madara's will cracked.
"That chakra… so terrifying. Very well!" Madara's eyes hardened, his voice rising in defiance. "I admit it! Of all my opponents—even Hashirama—you surpass them all. None can rival you!"
"I, Uchiha Madara, acknowledge you as the strongest!!"
With a furious roar, Madara's Susanoo-Ten Tails raised a massive purple blade, condensing his life's will into a single strike.
Even knowing defeat was inevitable, he poured everything into that one swing.
A strike that burned his life itself.
Rumble!
The long chakra blade pierced deep between the legs of the Thousand-Armed Buddha statue—then jammed, stuck fast!
In the next instant, the Thousand-Armed Buddha seized the Ten Tails' body with one colossal hand. Behind it, a thousand fists surged forward and struck all at once!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The mighty Susanoo crumbled in an instant.
The incomplete Ten Tails' form was smashed apart in a storm of blows!
From within its collapsing body, the summoning technique unraveled, and the Uchiha sustaining the [Complete-Body Susanoo] spat out a mouthful of blood.
"I still lost… God was not on my side. If only I had gathered all nine Tailed Beasts… today would not have ended like this!"
"I will return! Next time, I'll become the true Jinchūriki of the Ten Tails!"
With his last ounce of strength, Uchiha Madara dispelled the summoning. The Ten Tails vanished in an instant—leaving only Madara, collapsing onto the beach.
Ryoma dropped from the Buddha's hand, and a familiar notification echoed in his mind:
[Ding! Option 1 complete. Reward obtained: SSS-tier character—Uchiha Madara (Edo Tensei).]
"Madara Uchiha… died just like that?"
Ryoma frowned in disbelief. But since the system had confirmed it, it must be true.
When Ryoma returned to Konoha with Madara's body, the village reconstruction was already in full swing.
As soon as the villagers spotted him, people surged forward in waves.
A sea of people!
Crowds filled every corner, gazes fixed on Ryoma as he walked through the village gates.
"Lord Ryoma!"
"Lord Ryoma has returned!"
"Is that Uchiha Madara he's carrying?!"
"A hero! The hero of Konoha!"
"Lord Ryoma!"
"Lord Ryoma is mighty!"
At the very front stood Konoha's current highest authority: Hiruzen Sarutobi, Uzumaki Mito, and the heads of thirty-five clans. Together, they formed the Provisional Supreme Council overseeing Konoha's reconstruction.
Even Team Minato—Kakashi, Obito, and Rin—were pushed far back by the sheer number of people.
"There are too many people!"
"So many came just to greet Teacher Ryoma!"
"Teacher Ryoma is incredible!"
Even Ryoma was taken aback; he had never seen such a massive gathering.
He laid Madara's body down and immediately asked, "Where is Kushina?"
The crowd parted quickly, and Uzumaki Kushina stepped forward.
When Ryoma saw her, he smiled, ruffled her hair gently, and said, "I'm back."
Behind them, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Uzumaki Mito, and the clan heads silently observed, their presence reduced to the backdrop of Ryoma and Kushina's reunion.
Kushina flushed as dozens of eyes fell on her. Embarrassed, she murmured, "Ahem… Ryoma, you should speak with Lord Hokage first. We'll talk when we're home…"
With that, she retreated shyly. After all, how could she not be embarrassed with so many people watching?
Ryoma then turned to Uzumaki Mito.
"Grandma Mito, I've brought back Uchiha Madara's body."
Hiruzen stepped forward, studying the corpse carefully.
"This really is Madara Uchiha… I thought he'd died forty years ago. All this time, he was alive, pulling strings from the shadows. With his body here, we may finally uncover the truth behind many mysteries."
"But secure the body immediately. We cannot risk him feigning death and escaping again, as he once did."
At Hiruzen's command, Minato Namikaze led a squad of ANBU to carry Madara's corpse away.
Then, Hiruzen turned his gaze toward Ryoma.
This young man had slain the Third Mizukage, quelled the chaos of Konoha's three great clans, and now brought back the body of Uchiha Madara. With such achievements, Ryoma's fame was destined to eclipse his own.
"Let us all welcome back Ryoma!"
...
TN:
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