Qianyu's maneuver was so utterly off the wall, it left Madara Uchiha—a man who had weathered a lifetime of battlefields and countless storms—stunned for a solid two and a half minutes.
"Hmph. Spit it out, brat. What do you want from me?"
Finally regaining his composure, Madara snorted coldly, his gaze settling on Qianyu.
"Senior Madara, I want to achieve what you could not back then. I want to become the first Hokage of Konoha to hail from the Uchiha clan."
"I have a dream. Under my rule, no one in Konoha will look at the Uchiha with strange eyes. Every clansman will be able to hold their head high, enjoying equal rights and responsibilities alongside every other villager."
"But with my current strength, I can't achieve that. So, I seek your help." Qianyu proceeded to spin a magnificent yarn.
"Heh. You've got quite the nerve, kid. Scheming right to my face."
Madara wasn't angry. If anything, his estimation of Qianyu rose a notch.
It was no exaggeration to say that even the current Five Kage would struggle to remain calm in his presence. Yet not only was Qianyu completely unruffled, he even wanted to borrow his power. This guts alone far surpassed the ordinary.
'This boy… he might be useful to me.'
Learning that Qianyu "needed" something from him actually put Madara at ease. In this world, relationships built on mutual interest were the most solid, the most enduring.
"I have no obligation to help you. If you want my assistance, prove your worth first."
After a moment of contemplation, Madara spoke, his voice icy.
In Qianyu, Madara saw a glimpse of his younger self—the same burning ambition, the same reckless daring. That's why he decided to give Qianyu a chance.
But even to become a pawn of Madara Uchiha, not just anyone was qualified. Trash wouldn't even catch his eye.
"Alright. What would you have me do, Senior? How do I prove myself?" Qianyu asked with a cheerful grin.
If he could win over Madara Uchiha with wits, that was definitely preferable to using force. Not that he was scared. It was just… unnecessary, right?
"See that man before you? Survive his hands. Kill him."
Before the words fully left Madara's lips, his form rippled like water, reverting once more to the appearance of the Third Mizukage.
"So… kill the Third Mizukage, who is being controlled by you?"
Qianyu's smile vanished, his expression turning serious.
Little was known in the shinobi world about the Third Mizukage. The man was like a ghost. No one had ever seen him fight. Or rather, no one who had seen him fight had lived to tell the tale.
Regardless, as the leader of a Hidden Village, his strength could not be underestimated. And now the one piloting this account was a god-tier smurf… How the hell was he supposed to fight this?!
"Wind Style: Rasengan Shuriken!"
Qianyu's figure shot skyward. No honor among thieves—he went straight for a sneak attack.
He opted for the faster-forming, standard Wind Style version, hurling the screeching vortex of chakra towards the Third Mizukage.
Whoosh!
Long before the Rasengan Shuriken arrived, the Mizukage's body dissolved into streams of water, scattering apart.
In Madara's eyes, the projectile's trajectory was painfully obvious. Predicting and evading it required zero effort. He simply flowed away from its path.
"Water Style: Ten Thousand Piercing Fangs!"
The scattered streams of water spiraled upward toward the airborne Qianyu. Chakra molded them into dense clusters of watery spikes, shooting at him like thousands of steel needles.
"Substitution Jutsu!"
Wary of being grabbed by Madara, Qianyu didn't disperse his form to dodge. He opted for the swap without hesitation.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
The substitute in the air was instantly turned into a pincushion by the whistling water needles. Qianyu's real form materialized on the ground alongside the reforming Mizukage.
"Paper Dance: Shower!"
Qianyu's wings flared once more. Sharp, chakra-infused paper seals shot forth like arrows, spiraling towards the Third Mizukage.
Slice! Slice! Slice!
Facing the incoming barrage, the Mizukage didn't move. Where the paper touched his body, it instantly turned liquid. Sheet after sheet passed right through him, dealing exactly zero damage.
"Does this guy have Hōzuki clan blood? His body can liquefy at will?!"
Qianyu muttered to himself, planning to use the Paper Dance to gain altitude and create distance.
"Wait… What's going on?!"
But then, his pupils constricted. He suddenly found he couldn't control the Paper Dance. A bizarre force had severed his connection to the paper seals.
"Water Style: Rain-Severing!"
The Third Mizukage formed a hand seal. It was a secret technique designed to weaken all ninjutsu and chakra except Water Release. In his hands, it directly greyed out over half of Qianyu's available skills.
"Water Style: Water Pellets!"
Seizing the moment of Qianyu's hesitation, the Mizukage raised an arm, firing a barrage of high-pressure water blasts at him like shotgun pellets.
"Water Release chakra isn't restricted… Water Style: Water Trumpet!"
Qianyu's mind raced, grasping the situation. He clapped his hands together, meeting water with water. A rapidly spinning waterspout erupted skyward, sweeping away the incoming pellets.
'That's… that bastard Tobirama Senju's jutsu?!'
The Third Mizukage's face instantly darkened. He directly channeled Water Release chakra to reinforce his arms, morphing his hands into watery blades as he charged at Qianyu.
"Huh? What's got this old fossil so worked up all of a sudden?"
Qianyu was baffled. What had stimulated Madara to abandon his steady, defensive style and just… charge?
"Water Style: Surfing Strike & Water Blade!"
Not understanding why, Qianyu promptly retaliated with two more of Tobirama Senju's water techniques. He rode the wave created by his previous jutsu, gliding swiftly across the water's surface, while also forming a water blade of his own for a counter-attack.
'Is this little shit deliberately trying to piss me off?!'
At the sight, Madara's irritation surged.
In response, the Third Mizukage's assault grew even more frenzied. The water blades in their hands became near-blurs, sending sprays of water flying in all directions.
Fortunately, Qianyu's foundation in Water Release was solid. He'd shamelessly copied every water technique Old Man Kousuke knew. It was just enough to let him hold his own.
"This is hilarious. Two 'Uchiha' duking it out with Water Release… and both using it like pros," Qianyu quipped to himself.
After a prolonged exchange…
As the Third Mizukage poured more chakra into his Water Release attacks, Qianyu keenly sensed the weakening grip of the Rain-Severing technique on him.
"Storm Release: Thundercloud Wave!"
Seizing the moment, Qianyu forcefully broke free from the technique's restraint. He raised a hand, summoning a mass of black thunderclouds. Rolling lightning followed his pointed finger, lancing towards the Third Mizukage.
"Water Style: Rain Curtain."
The Mizukage remained unflustered, forming seals to conjure a flowing shield of water before him to block the incoming lightning.
"Who uses water to block electricity… What the hell?!"
Qianyu started to mock Madara for his poor grasp of physics, but the torrent of lightning struck the watery shield… and vanished without a splash. It was simply absorbed.
As Qianyu questioned his reality, a long-forgotten fact surfaced: water conducts electricity… but pure water is a terrible conductor.
'Dammit. This bastard's control over Water Release is so precise he can purify it on the fly?! Old Man, you're so meticulous your… oh, right. My bad. Forgot you're perpetually single.' Qianyu grumbled inwardly.
"Is this all you've got? How dull. You can't even handle a weakling like this."
As if reading his thoughts, the Third Mizukage across from him offered a mocking grin, the provocation clear in his voice.
Even fighting through a puppet, the long-absent act of "instructing" a junior still sent a familiar, thrilling heat through Madara's veins.
"Goddamn it, that's infuriating!"
The Mizukage planted his hands on his hips, radiating the vibe of 'I love how much you hate this, yet can't do a thing about it.' It made Qianyu's liver ache with frustration.
"Hmph! It's not your real body here. I refuse to believe I can't deal with you!"
After a moment's thought, Qianyu decided. Before the opponent could use Rain-Severing again, he'd leverage his massive chakra reserves. Go straight for Lava Release. Melt him. Evaporate him.
"Five-Tails! Lend me your strength!"
Qianyu called out towards his seal-space, not waiting for a reply before starting to draw on the power. His entire aura instantly turned ferocious.
Revealing the Five-Tails served two purposes: proving his genuine ambition to overthrow Konoha, and demonstrating his capability to capture a Tailed Beast. Recruiting him would be like getting a free Tailed Beast thrown in. Qianyu was certain Madara would be tempted.
"This kid… subdued the Five-Tails?!"
Just as Qianyu predicted, Madara's expression shifted to one of genuine shock. For a moment, he was even distracted.
Separated from his true body, he truly hadn't sensed that a Five-Tails was sealed within this half-Ōtsutsuki.
"Lava Release—Chakra Mode!"
Qianyu roared, transforming into a blazing meteor as he charged the Mizukage. Lava Release chakra and Five-Tails chakra erupted from him like they were free.
"Magma Fruit: Volcanic Eruption!"
Qianyu's assault was all about chakra suppression. In an instant, he unleashed a tidal wave of molten rock, crashing towards the Third Mizukage like a raging sea of fire.
"Water Style: Water Wall!"
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Madara snapped back to focus. A towering wall of water rose between them.
Sizzle—
But mere moments later, the Water Wall was consumed by the searing magma, dissolving into steam. And Qianyu was right there again, sticking to the Mizukage like glue, radiating heat and light.
(You are like that one fire~ A blazing flame~ Warming me~)
What had been a thrilling battle of wits and counters, a clash of titans, was forcefully bent by Qianyu into a brainless contest of who had the bigger chakra pool.
'So similar…'
Looking at Qianyu's somewhat goofy, determined grin, Madara felt a pang of disorientation.
Qianyu was clearly an Uchiha descendant, yet he gave off such a strong… Hashirama vibe. Especially their fighting styles. They were practically identical.
Both he and that bastard Tobirama had always despised Hashirama's mindless, brute-force approach to combat. And yet, neither of them had ever been able to do a thing about it.
'It seems I'll lose to this kid after all,' Madara thought quietly.
Qianyu clung to him like stubborn glue. Couldn't shake him off. Couldn't outlast him. Defeat was inevitable.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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