"Complete Body Susanoo!" ×2. Two colossal violet giants appeared before the Allied Shinobi Forces. As Musashi and Madara's duel hit a boil, the level of ninjutsu they used climbed higher and higher.
Even a technique on the level of Complete Body Susanoo was unleashed. Unlike ordinary Susanoo, the complete form was stronger and more fully evolved.
Though both were Complete Body Susanoo, Musashi's and Madara's looked nothing alike.
Uchiha Madara's complete form resembled a tengu, signifying boundless destructive power, with a great pair of wings on its back and a sharp katana in hand.
Musashi's complete form looked more like an armored warrior. In height, Musashi's Susanoo was slightly smaller than Madara's.
In truth, Musashi's overall strength was indeed a bit below Madara's.
"Huff… Huff… I hate to admit it, but as I am now I really can't beat this guy. No wonder he's one of the late-game big bosses of the Naruto world. If not for Black Zetsu and Kaguya, this guy would be the final boss for sure. Heh… and he hasn't even shifted to Six Paths. Even in an Edo Tensei state, Madara alone is enough to keep me from winning. Just how did the true body take down Hashirama? As expected of the real me… But this here is my battlefield." After several bone-crunching clashes between the two Complete Body Susanoo, Musashi panted, speaking between breaths.
"I told you—you're a decent reserve, but I'm stronger. One last chance. Join me. Or die." Arms folded within his Susanoo, Madara looked down and spoke.
"Tch. If I hadn't sensed Obito bringing those eight Edo Tensei jinchuriki and sent Sasuke and Naruto to handle them, we'd have already ganged up on you. Once they finish those Edo Tensei, we'll see how cocky you are." Musashi ignored the offer and answered with action.
The two giants slammed into each other again.
"Are the other Kage just going to watch? Even if you're not as strong as Madara, at least lend a hand. Damn it—if I'd known, I wouldn't have shown off for this spotlight." Face dark, Musashi silently griped as he controlled his Susanoo.
"Looks like the Sixth Hokage is nearly at his limit. Madara really is a monster—terrifyingly strong," the Tsuchikage said, hovering in midair, spectating from not far away.
"Madara is a monster, but the Hokage fighting him like this is no slouch either. Much as I hate to admit it, I'm worse than both of them," the bearded Raikage said beside the Tsuchikage.
"If the Hokage falls, we'll have to face Madara head-on. And we're allies. Let's move, elders," said the gourd-bearing Kazekage, Gaara.
"Damn it—where did that Mizukage run off to?"
"Forget her. The Hokage's running out of time."
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!" "Lightning—Savage Horizontal Thousand-Blade Dance!" "Sand Waterfall Spear Funeral!"
Just as Musashi was about to buckle again, the other three Kage's attacks finally reached Madara.
"Susanoo: Absolute Defense!" Madara's tengu Susanoo thrust out its right hand, and a deep-purple shield blossomed before him, nullifying the three Kage's strikes on contact.
"Crashing my fun, are we? A few little bugs looking to die?" Madara's cold gaze bored into the three Kage as they emerged.
"Ninja Art: Multiple Wood Shadow Clone Technique!" As if toying with them, Madara split into twenty clones. Musashi and the three Kage each faced five, while Madara's true body stood atop a high crag, looking down on the four of them.
"Numbers bullying the few? Go warm up with them. Tell me—do my clones have Susanoo? Or not?"
While the four Kage squared off against Madara, Sasuke and Naruto faced the Edo Tensei jinchuriki unit led by Obito.
Even they were forced back step by step—at first. But with Naruto in fully matured Kurama Mode and Sasuke wielding the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, the tide turned.
Even when the Eight-Tails cut loose on the other side, it didn't change much. Kurama Mode Naruto with the Flying Thunder God wasn't a simple one-plus-one.
And Lightning-Style taijutsu Sasuke was just as nasty—on top of the Eternal Mangekyō.
"Found you! Nyah~"
"So you're the enemy? Ugly as sin." Elsewhere on the battlefield, the long-vanished Pitou, leading Youpi, the miniature Meruem, and the puppet Fourth Mizukage, found the Alliance's last major foe—Orochi-Kabuto.
It was Youpi who spoke, to the already white-snake-transformed Kabuto.
"…" Kabuto gave Youpi a blank look. You've got a lot of nerve calling me ugly, you red-skinned freak.
"Heh. I thought you were strange before; seeing you now, I'm certain. I don't know how you did it, but that woman's a puppet, right? Same principle as Edo Tensei." As Kabuto spoke, the markings and shadows on his face deepened; his ears and back bulged.
"Sage Mode!" Sensing danger from Youpi, Kabuto snapped into Sage Mode in an instant. He knew that with a misstep here, he'd be dead.
"Oh? Interesting. Let me show you my strength, then." Sensing Kabuto's transformation, Youpi grew excited. His muscles began to morph.
With his magical beast genes, Youpi prepared to fight.
"Across the sea, those shinobi are tearing into each other. Pity. The King says it's not time to attack yet. Blood and experts… just thinking about it is exciting." In the Land of Water, around Kirigakure, countless Chimera Ant warriors and soldiers had assembled.
They stood ready, awaiting the command of their King, Meruem.
Countless masters and elites had gathered—these were the Chimera Ants' combat units. The faith corps, meanwhile, had fanned out to infiltrate the villages and spread their gospel while the Alliance and Akatsuki under Obito clashed.
The bio-modification research division continued to expand the Chimera Ant army's numbers and test different combinations, optimizing the modified genomes. By the time the Alliance returned to their villages after the war, the Chimera Ants would give them a surprise.
Assuming they returned alive.
"So-called Kage—how weak. Shinobi have really fallen; not a single eye-catching existence among them. The only decent one is a junior from my own clan. Laughable." Madara watched like a spectator, as Musashi and the other three Kage fought his wood clones.
Though the Raikage, Tsuchikage, and Kazekage weren't weak, the gap with Madara was too great. Even against clones, they were outmatched.
"Stop playing, junior. Let's finish what we started," Madara said impatiently to Musashi.
"As you wish. Demon Blade: Iai Slash!" A wicked gleam flashed across Madara's five wood clones. A beat later—bang—the five clones turned into chunks of wood. "Impressive swordsmanship. I didn't expect you'd refined your blade to this point. You're the second after Hashirama worthy of my seriousness." Wait—Madara's skin suddenly began to slough off on its own.
A sign Edo Tensei was about to release!
If even the true body was destabilizing, the clones were done for. The remaining fifteen wood clones popped into wood. The three Kage's crisis was averted.
"Looks like Pitou's group took care of Kabuto. But now's no time to relax. Madara can break free of mass Edo Tensei releases. This instability is only temporary." Unlike the other three Kage, Musashi knew what Madara was.
"Huff… Finally finished off those eight. I'm beat," Sasuke and Naruto said on the other side, their crisis ended as well.
Though the Nine-Tails was the strongest of the tailed beasts, facing the other eight at once had even Naruto gasping.
"So Kabuto failed? Tch. Saw that coming. So what if he gained Orochimaru's power? Trash is still trash." The spiral-masked Obito slowly drew the Uchiha clan's iconic weapon from his back—an enormous war fan.
"Looks like it's up to me. Come—Gedo Statue!" A humanoid horror, bark-like and hideous, burst from the earth.
With craggy mountains piled across its back and a forehead bristling with eyes, it was grotesque to the extreme.
Yet any competent shinobi could sense the boundless chakra roiling inside the thing.
"I'll capture the Nine-Tails myself!" Obito stood atop the Gedo Statue and drove it toward Naruto, who had yet to exit Kurama Mode.
"Over my dead body! Flying Thunder God Technique!"
"You take me for a corpse? Amaterasu!" Before Obito's attack landed, Sasuke moved first. Black flames blossomed across the Gedo Statue.
(End of Chapter)
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