"Think back, Big Brother. Remember the Mū who vanished right after releasing that white pillar of light? He never reappeared."
"The one in the open pulled Madara forward, dragging him into the trap. The one in the dark prepared everything, planting the explosive tags while waiting for the right moment."
Hashirama's eyes widened as the analysis sank in. He nodded repeatedly.
"So that's it… But why didn't Madara notice?"
"Because even Madara didn't expect traps laid in advance," Tobirama replied evenly. "Mū stayed in his sight the whole time, so Madara never looked deeper."
To Tobirama, Madara's flaw was obvious.
Arrogance.
"Could it be… Madara might actually lose?"
Hashirama asked, startled.
"Not yet, Brother," Tobirama shook his head.
"Madara hasn't released his Perfect Susanoo. But… at this range, I'm not sure he'll have time to activate it before the tags go off."
Tobirama's eyes gleamed with sharp calculation.
'Mū… could you really pull this off?'
Ninjas were high attack, low defense.
Even Kage-level shinobi could be cut by a kunai.
Even with Rinnegan, a stray kunai could blind you if it hit the right spot.
Obito himself had needed Truth-Seeking Balls to shield against explosive tags.
If Madara was bound inside Chibaku Tensei, with no space to maneuver.... If his Susanoo didn't activate in time... Then yes, close-range explosive tags could break through his defenses.
And Madara's flesh didn't have rapid regeneration.
---
Inside the massive sphere, Madara remained calm as ever.
"So this is your plan? To trap me… then buy yourself time to escape?"
From his perspective, it made perfect sense. Why else build such a massive construct? Not to impress anyone, but to stall him long enough for Mū to flee.
Madara chuckled darkly.
"But I'd rather see the despair on your face when I unveil the Perfect Susanoo!"
His eyes glittered with excitement.
Yes, what better moment?
To wait until an enemy gave everything, thinking victory was theirs… and then, to reveal true power.
To crush their hope in an instant, leaving them broken and hopeless.
That was the thrill he sought. That was why he hadn't yet unleashed his full form. Only a worthy opponent deserved to witness it.
Because to Madara, genius wasn't enough.
Genius was merely the threshold to stand before him.
But Mū… Mū was something more.
Not just a genius. He had seen the sky itself.
Mū held the memories of a reader who had witnessed the end of the story where super-Kage became fodder, where Six Paths figures walked like gods, and where Perfect Susanoo was no longer invincible.
---
"Wait…"As Madara prepared to activate his Susanoo, something felt off.
His senses sharpened.
And then his face stiffened in shock.
The rocks forming the sphere… every single one of them contained explosive tags.
Not just a few. The entire structure.
Even his own armor, his own body, tags were plastered across him.
"When… when did he plant these?!"
Madara's heart lurched.
Mū had been in his sight the whole time. When could he possibly have prepared this many seals?
Outside, Mū stared up at the Chibaku Tensei he had created. His hands flashed through seals.
"Now!"
WHOOOOOM!!!
The world erupted in blinding white light.
A chain reaction of detonations filled the sky.
The earth quaked. Mountains trembled. The heavens themselves seemed to split apart.
The world turned to thunder.
Mū collapsed to his knees, closing his eyes. He didn't flee.
Success or failure, his goal had been achieved.
There was no need to run.
Instead, he focused his remaining strength on sensory perception, locking onto the storm above.
"…I knew it. Madara wouldn't fall for something this simple."
The explosions died out. Silence lingered.
Then, a colossal surge of chakra tore the night apart, bursting skyward.
A mad, arrogant laugh echoed through the heavens.
"Hahahaha! Wonderful! Absolutely magnificent!"
"You almost had me, Mū! Almost!"
Mū's head snapped up.
In the sky above, towering over the earth itself, a Perfect Susanoo stood, its blade raised, a war god descending from the heavens.
The complete form of Uchiha Madara's might.
Inside the cockpit of Susanoo, Madara stood, his clothes blasted to tatters by the explosive tags. His torso was bare, only a pair of trousers left.
Yet his stance remained unyielding, arms crossed, crimson Sharingan eyes burning with madness.
"I will… fight again!!!"
His roar echoed across the sky.
But then, another voice cut through.
"Stop this, Madara!"
Hashirama descended, clad in his traditional robes, Tobirama at his side.
"What are you doing here, Hashirama?!" Madara snarled, fury boiling.
He hadn't interfered earlier, yet now, just as Madara unveiled his Perfect Susanoo, ready to unleash its full might, Hashirama leapt in to spoil it.
"Madara! Enough! For the sake of the village, stop. Lord Mū is an old friend of Konoha!" Hashirama pleaded, pointing toward him.
The Senju leader could no longer sit idly by. The battle had grown too fierce, threatening the fragile peace.
Madara froze, his eyes narrowing.
'Old friend?'
Konoha's only been around a few years. Since when do we have "old friends"?
"Madara, I only feared you might kill him," Hashirama added earnestly.
Madara's fury erupted.
"Afraid I'll kill him? Did you not see just now, I was nearly erased by that white jutsu of his?! And you say you're worried about him hurting?!"
Tobirama's brow twitched sharply, while Hashirama stood in silence, unable to answer.
Madara's cold gaze flicked toward Mū, who lay collapsed on the ground, utterly drained of chakra, his body spent.
"Hmph."
Seeing Mū in such a state, while he himself still stood tall, Madara felt vindicated.
Look at the difference.
Mū had given everything, yet all he had managed was to force Madara to reveal the Perfect Susanoo.
If not for his own moment of carelessness, even that much might not have been achieved.
---
"Mū-sama, are you injured?"
Hashirama hurried to his side, channeling healing chakra into him, his face heavy with guilt.
Mū's expression tightened. 'Do I look uninjured to you?'
"I almost died, and you're asking if I'm injured?"
"On behalf of Konoha, as its Hokage, I apologize to you, Lord Mū!"His voice brimmed with sincerity, his posture humble.
Madara's brow furrowed, disgust flashing across his face.
---
Mū coughed harshly, then let out a weary sigh. His words came smooth and deliberate, carrying the weight of accusation.
"I came to Konoha because I believed this was a village of peace. I traveled far, hoping to build friendship, to forge cooperation."
"But what did I receive? A display of force. A hidden hand waiting in the shadows. Only when I was nearly finished did you emerge, one playing the benevolent face, the other the cruel one."
"Tell me, that isn't suppression? Isn't that bullying?"
His voice was calm, but laced with biting scorn.
Hashirama's face paled.
"This… This has never been our intention, Mū-sama! Never!"
"Ha!" Mū barked a bitter laugh. "Then what do you call it? Sending someone to fight me openly, while you hid until the last moment? To lecture me after I bled out my strength? If this isn't intimidation, what is it?"
"I… I…"
Words failed Hashirama. His expression twisted with guilt, his heart sinking under the weight of shame.
For all his optimism, he was deeply sensitive to the feelings of others. And now, he couldn't deny it.
From Mū's perspective, it truly did look like Konoha had conspired to humiliate him.
The realization tore at him.
'Damn it… I didn't mean for it to seem this way. But to him, I look like a hypocrite. Even if I swore otherwise, who would believe me?'
But then, an idea struck him. There was one thing that could prove his sincerity.
A gesture beyond words.
In the Warring States Era, the strong bowed to no one. Not to gods, not to heavens, not even to the earth. Only to their parents, and to nothing else.
'But what if… he bowed here? What if he staked his pride as a shinobi on this apology?'
Perhaps then Mū would believe him.
And so, with a sharp sound, Hashirama dropped to his knees before Mū, bowing his head low.
The Senju leader, pillar of the shinobi world, founder of Konoha, prostrated himself in apology.
Even Tobirama and Madara stared, eyes widening in disbelief.