Chapter 284 – The Terror That Is Hatake Yusuke
"What kind of match?" Uchiha Madara asked, clearly confused.
"How about a height comparison?" Yusuke said with a bright smile curling at the corner of his lips.
The moment he heard that, Madara's face darkened completely.
After all, Yusuke stood well over one meter ninety, while Madara was only around one meter seventy-five.
"Why don't you just tell me to surrender outright?" Madara muttered inwardly.
The man standing before him—despite sharing Senju Hashirama's mischievous nature—was far more malicious than Hashirama ever was.
"If that's too hard, then how about a dessert-eating contest?" Yusuke continued casually.
"Bastard!" Madara finally snapped.
All the calm and calculation he had built over decades collapsed entirely in front of Yusuke.
"Madara-senpai, don't be so angry. You're already dead—why be so ruthless? Let me think it over properly," Yusuke said earnestly.
On the other side, Hatake Sakumo had completely lost the ability to hold himself back.
"Let go of me! Shinku! That unfilial brat! Today I'll wash away the shame of the Hatake family! He's trampling all over our family's dignity!" Sakumo roared, his face twisted with fury.
If it weren't for Shinku and the other ninja restraining him, Sakumo would have already rushed forward.
"Sakumo, calm down. This is a war. Sure, his method is… questionable, but if we can resolve it without bloodshed, isn't that the best outcome?" Shinku tried to soothe him.
"That's right, Sakumo-sama, please don't act rashly!" the other ninja joined in persuading him.
Although they were just as stunned by Yusuke's behavior, at the very least, it was buying them time and allowing everyone to breathe.
"That disobedient brat! He clearly has the strength to defeat Uchiha Madara, yet he wants to win without bloodshed! It's infuriating!" Sakumo shouted, his face burning red.
In this massive war, they had fought with everything they had, nearly wiped out by Uchiha Madara.
And yet, even though his own son clearly possessed the power to end it, Yusuke was acting half-heartedly and proposing absurd ways to decide victory and defeat.
It was no different from mocking all of them as fools—especially since Sakumo himself was among them.
Yusuke heard his father's shouting, but he ignored it.
He figured he could just apologize once he got home.
"So, what do you think, Madara-senpai? Have you decided yet?" Yusuke asked, looking at Madara expectantly.
"Bastard! Damn brat—die!"
Madara reactivated his gigantic Susanoo and swung its blade straight toward Yusuke.
The massive sword stopped less than a centimeter from Yusuke's body.
However, due to the overwhelming size of Susanoo, to everyone watching, it looked as though the giant had halted its attack right before cleaving Yusuke in two, refusing to advance any further.
Tsunade, however, immediately understood what was happening.
She knew that with this ability, no matter how powerful Uchiha Madara was, it was impossible for him to harm Yusuke even slightly.
"What's going on? Why did Madara stop his attack?" the Tsuchikage asked in confusion.
"Damn it… that ability again," the Raikage muttered darkly.
In earlier battles, even when facing Uchiha Madara, the Raikage would charge in without hesitation.
Even knowing he couldn't win, he never felt fear.
To be honest, he was a truly reckless fighter.
Madara was stronger, and he acknowledged that he wasn't a match—but at the very least, he could make Madara suffer a little.
Yusuke was different.
Even if the Raikage fought until his last breath, he wouldn't be able to touch a single strand of hair on Yusuke's head.
That sense of utter despair was what finally broke the Raikage mentally—a man who feared nothing.
That was why he repeatedly restrained himself when facing Yusuke.
"It's not that Madara stopped his attack, Tsuchikage-sama," Nara Shikaku said calmly.
"He simply can't touch Yusuke."
"Can't touch him? Is there some kind of barrier around his body?" the Tsuchikage asked.
Though he was no longer in his prime, his caution remained sharp. He wanted to understand Yusuke more clearly.
"No. It's a matter of distance. The explanation is a bit complicated," Shikaku replied.
"The Limitless Technique—also known as the power of stopping," Tsunade explained.
"The closer an attack gets to him, the greater the resistance becomes. It's not Madara's movement that's stopping, but the resistance becoming too great."
"Of course, Hokage-sama's explanation isn't entirely complete," Shikaku continued.
"Simply put, there exists an infinite distance around Yusuke's body. It looks incredibly close, but in reality, it's infinitely far away. That distance is endless. No matter the attack, it will never truly reach him. It will only keep getting closer—without ever arriving."
"So… this is true absolute defense?" Gaara murmured.
"That's right. And this technique is active automatically, without pause," Tsunade said.
"In its automatic state, it evaluates the power, mass, speed, and danger level of approaching objects, then decides whether to stop or repel them. That's why he's invincible."
After hearing the explanation of Yusuke's ability, no one felt relieved.
Instead, the pressure in the air only grew heavier.
A passive defense that remained active twenty-four hours a day—even while sleeping—making him impossible to injure.
It was completely unreasonable.
And yet, at the same time, they felt a trace of relief.
At least for now, Yusuke was an ally, not an enemy.
Inside Susanoo, Madara realized that no matter how much strength he poured into it, he couldn't advance even a fraction.
With his Sharingan, he could clearly see the gap between himself and Yusuke.
After that, Yusuke patiently explained his ability in even greater detail to everyone present.
Madara was left utterly speechless.
This power—after all he had seen in the world—still made him feel helpless.
However, he already had a plan: Infinite Tsukuyomi.
He didn't believe Yusuke could withstand Infinite Tsukuyomi.
And he was confident that once he became the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki, he would be able to neutralize that limitless power.
The problem was… setting aside becoming the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki, he hadn't even fully revived yet.
And the man standing before him now… was someone he clearly could not defeat.
"Ah, you're really impatient, Madara-senpai," Yusuke said helplessly.
"If you're done attacking, then I'll respond with something appropriate," Yusuke added with a faint smile.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
"Even stronger than the attraction and repulsion of the Rinnegan…" Madara muttered, frowning deeply.
"Hollow Technique: Purple."
The two energies merged, and Yusuke slowly released them forward.
Susanoo collapsed instantly upon contact.
Madara activated the Rinnegan's power once more, but it was completely ineffective.
The overwhelming energy slammed into his body, tearing it apart bit by bit.
"What a terrifying attack…" Sakumo showed a shocked expression for the first time.
"Indeed. Judging purely by the scale of destruction, it may not compare to techniques that resemble natural disasters," Shinku said quietly.
"But the aura of annihilation carried by this attack is far more frightening."
"Tsuna, do you know what kind of technique this is?" Sakumo asked, turning toward Tsunade.
"This is a technique derived from Limitless, combining infinite repulsion and infinite attraction," Tsunade explained.
"I don't fully understand the exact principles myself, but this energy can destroy everything in its path—its dominance surpasses even Dust Release."
Ōnoki, standing beside her, simply nodded.
His Dust Release could disassemble massive objects into atomic particles.
But Yusuke's power… went even further.
It destroyed the atoms themselves.
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