Madara's calm gaze sharpened, his expression turning serious in an instant. "Let's see if you can survive this."
His hands blurred through a rapid series of hand signs, precise and flawless. In the next moment, he brought his hands to his mouth, inhaling slightly.
"Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku!!"
A massive wave of flames erupted forward, roaring across the battlefield like a living inferno.
The heat was overwhelming, rain evaporated instantly upon contact, turning into thick steam that hissed through the air.
The fire spread wide, swallowing everything in its path as it surged straight toward Naruto and the shinobi behind him.
Naruto didn't move.
'This is why I asked them to leave,' he thought, shaking his head slightly.
As the flames closed in, he stepped forward and spread his arms, hands open.
The fire reached them.
BWOOOOSH—
It stopped.
An invisible barrier formed in front of Naruto, the flames crashing against it and splitting apart, unable to pass. The sheer force of the impact pushed water and steam outward, swirling violently around them.
The shinobi behind him froze, eyes wide as the inferno raged just meters away, yet not a single ember touched them.
Naruto stood firm, unmoving, his arms still outstretched.
The flames bent and parted around the unseen wall, spilling off to the sides before dissipating into smoke and steam.
"…What—"
"That's wind chakra," one shinobi said, staring in disbelief.
"…And he didn't even use hand signs," another added quietly.
The heat faded. The steam thinned. Naruto lowered his arms slowly, exhaling as if it had taken almost no effort at all.
Then!!
He dipped his body slightly.
Madara's leg cut through the space above him a split second later, fast enough to slice through the lingering steam. Naruto watched it pass just over his head, his eyes tracking it calmly.
In the same motion, he twisted his body and kicked at Madara's supporting leg.
Thud!
Madara's footing broke.
For the briefest moment, the legend tilted, his balance slipping as he began to fall back. Naruto didn't hesitate.
He raised his leg high and brought it down in a sharp axe kick, aiming straight for Madara's chest. Madara's hand shot up.
He caught Naruto's leg mid-air. The impact cracked the ground beneath.
Using Naruto's own momentum, Madara pushed him off to the side, forcing distance between them. Naruto flipped once as he landed, boots skidding across the wet ground before he twisted and rose smoothly back to his feet.
Rain continued to fall between them.
"You're fast," Madara said, his expression slowly shifting into something else, almost excitement forming beneath his calm.
"I get that a lot," Naruto replied, a grin spreading across his face.
Around them, the other shinobi could only stare. To them, it had all happened in an instant.
"Did something happen while I was yawning?"
"Same… I blinked and now Madara's over there."
Madara's expression hardened slightly as he heard them, a faint frown forming.
"Let's go somewhere… where we won't be interrupted," he said.
Naruto cracked his neck lightly.
"Took the words right out of my mouth."
The next second the two vanished.
Leaving just empty space where they once stood. The rain continued to fall over the silent battlefield.
The Shinobi Alliance stood there for a moment, processing what had just happened.
"Let's all go help with the other Madara!"
"Yeah!!"
They had completely taken care of all the White Zetsu, with the help of Naruto's clones, of course. Across the battlefield, the last of them fell, dissolving into the ground or collapsing into lifeless husks. Smoke, steam, and rain mixed in the air as shinobi from every squad regrouped.
No one stopped.
"All units—move!"
They surged forward together, sprinting across broken terrain, through mud and shallow water, all heading toward the main battlefield where Obito and the others were. The sound of hundreds of footsteps echoed, chakra flaring as they pushed ahead with renewed momentum.
Meanwhile.
Far away from the chaos.
Naruto and Madara came to a stop, each standing atop separate rocky pillars rising from the scarred earth. Wind howled between them, rain falling steadily as their hair shifted with the current.
For a moment, neither moved.
Naruto glanced around briefly, then back at Madara.
'We arrived at the Solo Leveling Season 3 screening… I'm kidding,' he thought, a faint smirk tugging at his lips.
Madara's eyes narrowed slightly, studying him.
"You've tamed the Kyuubi!?" he asked, his voice sharp, carrying easily across the distance.
Naruto tilted his head.
"Tamed? No… he and I became really good friends. Ain't that right, Kurama?" he said casually.
A flicker of chakra formed above his head—
Kurama appeared in a small, compact form, sitting there with a lazy grin.
"Yep."
Madara chuckled lowly, shaking his head.
"Kurama? That's the Kyuubi's name? Who knew such a ferocious beast had something so… human," he said, amusement clear in his tone.
Naruto's eyes sharpened slightly.
"Well, you did enslave him with that Sharingan of yours," he said. "But even with that, you never beat Hashirama."
He smirked. "After I beat you… I might go challenge him next."
Madara's expression stilled for a second, then slowly shifted into a grin.
"You're quite cocky, aren't you, brat?" he said, stepping forward slightly on the pillar's edge. "No matter… I prefer to use my hands to talk sense into people."
Naruto rolled his shoulders, chakra beginning to rise around him.
"Then let's get to it, old man."
He leaped high into the air.
In the blink of an eye, Naruto formed a Rasenshuriken in his palm, the spinning mass of chakra screaming as it took shape and hurled it forward without hesitation.
Madara's eyes narrowed.
He leaped back just as it reached him. The Rasenshuriken slammed into the pillar.
For a split second silence.
SHRRRKKK—BOOOOM!
The pillar was sliced clean in half before the attack erupted into a violent explosion, shredding rock into dust and sending shockwaves tearing through the rain-filled air.
Debris rained down. Naruto was already moving.
He landed below in a low stance, then burst forward, sprinting across the shattered ground at blinding speed, water and rubble kicking up behind him.
Madara touched down lightly a short distance away, cloak settling around him. His hands moved instantly, weaving signs with flawless precision.
"Mokuton: Deep Forest Emergence!"
The ground trembled. Then exploded.
Massive trees burst forth violently from the earth, thick trunks tearing through stone as an entire forest surged forward in seconds. Branches twisted like serpents, roots ripped through the ground, and towering trunks shot toward Naruto from every direction.
They came fast. Too fast for a normal shinobi to react.
The forest swallowed the battlefield as it rushed to crush him. Naruto launched himself upward, the ground cracking beneath his feet as he shot into the air. His body twisted mid-flight as chakra gathered rapidly in his palms.
Small Rasengans formed.
Not one but several. Each one compact, spinning violently with condensed chakra, their sharp hum cutting through the air as he angled his descent.
He dropped fast not toward the front but behind him
Madara turned the instant Naruto entered his range, reacting with perfect timing as his arm came up to intercept. Naruto landed just behind him, feet sliding slightly as their movements collided immediately.
No pause.
Madara's fist drove toward Naruto's face.
Naruto slipped to the side, the strike grazing past him as he stepped in close. His shoulder brushed against Madara's chest as he rotated, his own fist snapping toward Madara's ribs.
THUD
Madara absorbed it, barely shifting as his knee came up in response. Naruto blocked low, the impact forcing him back half a step, but he didn't disengage.
He stayed close, too close. Their arms blurred between them, strikes exchanged in tight, controlled bursts. Madara's precision was flawless, every movement efficient, every counter immediate. Naruto matched it, weaving through each attack with fluid motion, his Sage-enhanced senses guiding every adjustment.
A punch from Madara. Naruto tilted his head, letting it pass.
A counter from Naruto. Madara deflected.
They circled half a step, feet grinding against the ground as neither gave space.
Then suddenly, Naruto changed the rhythm. Between strikes, his hands moved fast but very subtle. One Rasengan pressed against Madara's side.
Another against his back. A third brushed against his arm during a clash. Each one placed with precision, hidden within the flow of combat, masked by the constant exchange of blows.
Madara's eyes narrowed slightly.
He noticed but not fast enough. Naruto twisted away suddenly, breaking the close-range exchange as he leaped back, creating distance in a single motion.
For a brief second, stillness then!
BOOOOM!!
The Rasengans detonated simultaneously.
The explosion erupted point-blank around Madara, compressed blasts of spinning chakra tearing outward in all directions. The ground shattered beneath him as the force expanded, dust and debris thrown violently into the air.
The shockwave rippled outward across the battlefield.
Naruto landed a short distance away as he steadied himself, eyes locked on the explosion.
A slow grin spread across his face.
'…I learned that from Goku,' he thought, watching the aftermath closely.
TO BE CONTINUED