Yagyu was stunned. He hadn't expected Uchiha Madara to say that.
He looked at Madara with some astonishment, then, a moment later, said teasingly:
"Aging Uchiha Madara!"
"Your imagination is truly vivid, and your thinking is sharp."
"If your guess is true, what will you do?"
Madara stared coldly at Yagyu, saying, "Although this is a world dominated by chakra, it doesn't mean there are no other powers besides chakra."
"Kid! Perhaps you've come into contact with a power system different from chakra, but this world is ultimately dominated by chakra."
"Do you know the origin of chakra? Do you know the truth of the ninja world? How much do you really understand about this despair-filled world?"
Yagyu casually raised his finger, a golden cross-shaped light rotating at the tip.
"Dancer of the Battlefield, are you going to lecture me on philosophy?"
"Ooh, scary!"
"So the Shura of the Ninja World from back then stopped being a butcher and switched to being a life coach?"
Yagyu spoke casually and fired a golden laser from his fingertip.
"Useless!"
"Although I cannot harm you, don't think you can defeat me either."
"Susanoo combines offense and defense; it is an absolute defense that can withstand all attacks."
Madara looked at the laser beam exploding outside his Susanoo and spoke calmly.
"Is that so?"
Yagyu drawled lazily, his body transforming into countless light particles and soaring into the sky, reassembling into his form in mid-air.
"Yasakani no Magatama!"
Golden light bullets appeared in Yagyu's hands, pouring out like an overwhelming tide, bombarding Uchiha Madara below.
Madara snorted coldly. His Susanoo became more solid, its powerful defense blocking the bombardment of golden light bullets.
The light bullets struck the Susanoo, only creating ripples on its surface, unable to destroy it completely.
Tobi cowardly burrowed underground, taking Black Zetsu and Nagato to Madara's feet.
With Madara using Susanoo to block the light bullets above ground, their location was actually very safe.
"I told you, it's useless!"
Seeing Yagyu stop attacking and descend from mid-air, Madara sneered.
"It really is!"
"As expected of Uchiha Madara, strong as a monster!"
"As expected of Susanoo, its defense is truly terrifying!"
"It seems if I want to defeat you, I can only wait for you to exhaust your life force."
"Based on your age, you don't have much time left to live, do you?"
"Restoring yourself to this youthful state must have come at a considerable cost, right?"
Yagyu landed opposite Madara and spoke casually, unconcerned about the situation before him.
"Did he do that on purpose?"
Konan looked at Yagyu in the distance with confusion. Yagyu's Yasakani no Magatama had destroyed the entire forest created by Madara.
The Wood Style vines that had previously hung them from the trees were also shattered by Yagyu's light bullet bombardment.
"Stop talking, let's go!"
Jiraiya looked anxious and spoke in a hushed voice.
Madara noticed their escape but didn't care.
Just a few ants; they were insignificant to Uchiha Madara.
"I will seal you away before my life force runs out."
Madara clapped his hands together, powerful chakra gathering in them.
As he opened his hands, a pitch-black sphere was launched, flying undisguised toward Yagyu.
"Chibaku Tensei (Planetary Devastation)!"
Madara unleashed the sealing jutsu of the Rinnegan. The small black sphere released a powerful gravitational pull, attracting all the broken wood and soil around it.
Carrying a massive amount of debris, the black sphere flew toward Yagyu, intending to get close and seal him.
"Chibaku Tensei? A nice ability."
"But every jutsu has a flaw."
"Unfortunately, I know what the flaw of Chibaku Tensei is!"
Yagyu spoke lazily and fired a thick laser beam, directly hitting the black sphere.
Subjected to such a fierce attack instantly, the black sphere shattered cleanly. All gravitational pull vanished, and the flying debris crashed to the ground.
Sfft!
The next moment, Yagyu's body was sliced directly in two.
It was as if an invisible attack had cut him in half at the waist.
"Hm?"
Yagyu rolled his eyes and quickly understood what was happening.
Limbo: Border Jail!
A pupil technique residing in the Rinnegan that only Uchiha Madara could use.
Limbo could create four shadows existing in an alternate dimension that could affect things in the physical world.
Without the Rinnegan or Six Paths Senjutsu, one couldn't detect the existence of Limbo shadows at all.
"That was close!"
Yagyu sighed faintly. His severed body turned into light particles and reassembled; he appeared completely unharmed in front of Madara.
"Did you discover my Limbo clone?"
Madara paused, speaking calmly.
As a Rinnegan technique, the clones created by Limbo were miraculous.
Unless one possessed the Rinnegan and Six Paths Senjutsu, no one could detect them.
Although Madara didn't know the prerequisites for detecting Limbo shadows, it didn't stop him from knowing their stealthiness.
Moreover, he deduced that Yagyu's body didn't maintain its light form constantly.
Maintaining a light form constantly would bring various inconveniences to Yagyu, and doing so surely came at a cost.
That was why Madara thought of using this move against Yagyu, hoping to kill him when his body wasn't transformed into light.
"Discover? Not really!"
Yagyu shook his head calmly. Being able to elementalize his body in time relied on his body's instinct.
The moment his body was attacked, elementalization activated automatically, preventing the subsequent force from destroying him.
Like a knee-jerk reflex, it was instinct.
"Didn't discover it?"
Madara scoffed, seemingly disbelieving Yagyu's words.
His four Limbo clones attacked again, rushing at Yagyu and blasting his body apart.
Countless light particles converged in the sky, and Yagyu's body floated in mid-air.
"Didn't discover it?"
Madara looked at Yagyu mockingly, believing Yagyu was lying.
"I didn't lie to you; it's instinct."
"It's not that I discovered them, but my body's instinct makes me turn into light when attacked."
Yagyu hovered in mid-air, explaining casually.
"Is that so?"
Madara stared into Yagyu's eyes, the pupil power in his Rinnegan boiling, and suddenly cast a genjutsu.
Yagyu's body stiffened, then quickly recovered.
Madara stomped on the ground, shattering the earth as he leaped into the air, charging fiercely toward Yagyu.
He reached out to grab Yagyu's body, terrifying pupil power surging in his eyes.
"Human Path?"
"A technique that can pull out the soul... Dodge!"
Yagyu sneered, his body transforming into light particles as he rapidly flew away.
The Human Path's ability was one that could actually threaten him.
Fortunately, Uchiha Madara's Limbo clones couldn't use the Rinnegan's abilities; otherwise, Yagyu would have been in real danger.
Madara attacked repeatedly, attempting to use the Human Path's ability to kill Yagyu.
However, Yagyu was as agile as a monkey, making it impossible for Madara to hit his target.
"Madara-sama, should we retreat for now?"
Black Zetsu, who was hiding, transmitted his voice to Madara. The two shared a telepathic-like connection.
In the original story, when Black Zetsu failed to attack the Daimyo and was cut in half by Terumi Mei, he used this ability to communicate remotely with the reanimated Madara.
"No!"
"I'm not going to live much longer anyway. I must deal with Yagyu before I die!"
Madara's tone was resolute.
Madara was already on his last legs, relying entirely on the Gedo Statue to pump life-force-filled chakra into him to prolong his life.
If Madara's body were a teacup, the life force within him would be the tea.
The passage of time had caused cracks to appear in the teacup, causing the tea inside to leak continuously.
Only by constantly refilling it via the Gedo Statue could Madara manage to cling to life.
Now, Madara had filled the teacup to the brim all at once, causing even more cracks to appear on the already fragile vessel.
Once this water leaked out, the teacup would be finished.
Refilling it again would be useless; the teacup would shatter completely.
"Black Zetsu, leave here immediately."
"The forces of Cloud, Rock, Sand, and Konoha are all nearby. Find a way to lure them here."
"They all possess decent sealing capabilities. If they can reap the benefits while we fight, they should be able to seal Yagyu away."
Madara pondered for a moment and decided to set up a contingency plan.
No matter what, he had to eliminate Yagyu, this stumbling block, before he died.
Yagyu knew too many secrets and would very likely obstruct his plans.