"No, Lord Mu! Your chakra's depleted. How can we leave you alone to face him?"
"That's right! We'll protect you!"
"Lord Mu, we'll use our lives to hold him off. You are the pillar of Iwagakure. You cannot be allowed to fall!"
The anbu ninjas stood resolute, eyes blazing with determination. Even in the face of Madara, they were ready to lay down their lives if it meant giving Mu even a single chance to survive.
Mu's heart stirred.
Their power was limited, but their loyalty, their belief was genuine.
'Still… I have a clone. If I really wanted to escape, it'd be easy.'
"Hmph. Did I give you permission to leave?"
Madara's cold eyes glowed, his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan spinning slowly. In an instant, Susanoo roared to life around him, its overwhelming chakra suffocating the battlefield.
The anbu froze where they stood, bodies locked by sheer pressure.
Only now did they truly understand.
'So this… this is the kind of opponent Lord Mu faced before.'
They had thought the Nine-Tails was overwhelming.
But compared to this, it was laughable.
They once believed their sacrifice could buy their master time. Now they realized, they wouldn't last a heartbeat.
This was the man called the Nightmare of the Ninja World.
And for Mu to fight him evenly… it was more terrifying than they had ever imagined.
Ōnoki clenched his teeth, his small body trembling. He forced himself not to falter as he had the last time.
Some anbu, desperate to break through their fear, even raised kunai to stab themselves, hoping pain might wake them from paralysis.
Clap!
Mu caught one's wrist before the blade could pierce flesh.
"Don't harm yourselves. Don't be afraid…"
His voice was calm, steady. He channeled what chakra remained to push back against Madara's crushing presence.
Then he stepped forward, past the trembling anbu, planting himself directly before Madara.
"I, Mu, will never stoop so low as to hide behind my subordinates and disciples."
His words rang out clear and bold, echoing across the battlefield.
He stood tall. Fearless.
Like the first time he faced this monster.
Tears welled beneath anbu masks.
They were shadows, faceless, forgotten, executioners in silence.
No one remembered their names. No one would mourn if they died.
But when their master stepped in front of them to shield them, they could not hold back their grief.
"Pathetic," Madara sneered.
"Today, there is no Konoha. No Hashirama to intervene. This time, you die."
The difference from their last clash was palpable. Then, he had underestimated Mu, had held back for fear of collateral damage, had been checked by Hashirama.
But not today. Today, he would start by breaking bones.
"Come. I, Madara, will not take advantage of your weakness. Restore your chakra… and then we'll fight properly."
His voice was cold, arrogant. Yet it carried a warrior's pride.
He would not sully his victory by striking down an exhausted foe.
…Well, unless that foe was Tobirama. If Tobirama lay bleeding before him, Madara would cut him down without hesitation.
But this man, Mu deserved a fair fight.
Mu exhaled slowly, forcing calm into his tone.
"Very well. I'll stay. But my people, let them leave."
Madara nodded dismissively. "Insects. As long as they don't get in my way, I won't waste my time crushing them."
Then his gaze snapped to Kurama, still bound by seals and restraints.
"The Nine-Tails is not yours. It belongs to me."
At that, the fox snarled in outrage. 'When did I ever become someone's possession?!'
But one glance from Madara's Sharingan turned that roar into silence.
Kurama's body stiffened, his will crumbling as his pupils dissolved into the red and black of the Sharingan.
The wooden spikes pinning him shattered apart, flung away.
In the next instant, the mighty beast crouched low, submissive, beneath Madara's feet.
Mu inhaled sharply. His eyes slid closed as he began to focus, drawing in chakra as fast as his battered body allowed.
The anbu obeyed his order, retreating.
Ōnoki paused only for a moment. His teacher's gaze locked with his, deep, unreadable, carrying both warning and promise.
Joy flickered in the boy's heart. Then he too withdrew, leaving the battlefield behind.
Every second bought was another step toward recovery.
For several minutes straight, Madara's eyes never left Mu.
He knew better than to relax. This bandaged man's techniques were strange, full of tricks.
'They should have gotten far enough by now...'
Mu did the math in his head.
By this time, his subordinates and disciples should be well beyond Takigakure's borders.
"Time to end this."
He rose to his feet and fixed Madara with a solemn stare.
Madara's lips curled in anticipation. 'This time, I'll finish you. Once and for all.'
Mu drew in a sharp breath. His gaze flicked past Madara.
"Huh?! Lord Hashirama, you came too?"
Madara froze.
The mention of that name struck straight into his chest. For a moment, he believed it.
'Hashirama… did he follow me here? Could he really not leave me behind?'
He spun around.
Behind him stood nothing. Just a lonely tree.
Madara's face darkened instantly.
He turned back, only to see Mu already shooting into the sky, fleeing at full speed!
"You bastard!"
Madara roared. His rage summoned forth dozens of Yasaka Beads, which he hurled in a furious barrage.
Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!
Then, without hesitation, he vaulted onto Kurama's back and gave chase.
Mu weaved through the storm of spinning magatama, flight keeping him just ahead. He glanced back, too late.
"Tailed Beast Bomb!"
For the first time, Madara commanded the Nine-Tails to unleash a Tailed Beast Bomb.
Boom!
The black orb detonated like a cannon blast, the shockwave smashing Mu from the air and slamming him into the ground.
In a flash, Madara was upon him. His fan shifted into a scythe, slicing downward.
Blood sprayed. Mu's arm was severed clean.
"Hahaha! What's the matter? No struggle? Where's that fancy white jutsu of yours? Why not use it?"
Madara's voice dripped with contempt as he leveled his fan at the fallen man.
Mu's expression didn't waver beneath the bandages. He simply stood motionless, face unreadable.
"Then it's over."
The scythe swung again, this time, cleaving straight through his neck.
The body slumped to the ground, headless.
Madara frowned.
'Too easy.'
'Is it a clone? No, the corpse is solid, real.'
"Why didn't he fight back?"
The ease of the kill left an uneasy taste.
Victory should've been a clash of wills, a storm of jutsu, not like this.
He stared at the body for a long time before finally snorting.
"…Pathetic."
Madara turned away, taking Kurama with him.
---
Within the Land of Earth, deep in the forest, Mu moved swiftly through the trees, leading the anbu and Ōnoki.
The moment he felt the death of his split-body, pain stabbed his chest.
But the clone had fulfilled its mission. It had drawn Madara away.
He hadn't chosen to fight this time for one simple reason: there was no point.
Without Hashirama present, with his chakra low, and with Sage Mode's limit closing in, forcing a final clash would've only ended in mutual destruction.
And Mu valued his life too much for that.
More importantly, he knew the future.
Still… this wasn't finished.
Madara had taken the Nine-Tails. That humiliation would not be left unanswered.
"Teacher, what about the Nine-Tails? We fought so hard to capture it…"
Ōnoki's voice carried a sting of bitterness. The beast his master subdued was stolen right before his eyes.
"Don't dwell on it. This isn't over."
Mu's tone was sharp, his eyes narrowing. "Return to the village. Assemble fifty more elite shinobi."
Ōnoki blinked. "And you, teacher? What are you planning?"
Mu's gaze gleamed cold.
"I'm going to find Tobirama."
Taking down Madara alone might be impossible.
But with help, with the right allies, even the ghost of the Uchiha could be brought down.
'Madara… you bastard. I'll see you dead if it's the last thing I do. I'll step down as Tsuchikage if I must, but I'll drag you down first.'
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