The howling blade wind tore through the air, the orange sword flash arriving in an instant.
Madara Uchiha would never show weakness. From his aged body erupted a torrent of Chakra. The Susanoo's arms abruptly lifted, each hand tightly gripping a blue light-sword.
The two swords crossed, forcefully blocking Shinji's heavy, powerful slash.
CLANG—!!
A tremendous roar shook the entire mountain forest. A violent shockwave sent dust and broken wood flying everywhere.
Two massive phantoms stood locked in a blade confrontation—one orange, one blue—deadlocked in a stalemate.
Blade edge and light-sword fiercely ground against each other, sparks flying.
Shinji pressed forward step by step, manipulating the Susanoo's longsword in continuous horizontal slashes, vertical chops, and thrusts—each strike carrying an overwhelming, crushing force.
Youth has the advantage in a fight. Madara Uchiha gradually felt his stamina waning, forced into a defensive posture, parrying and blocking in disarray.
The sweeping shockwaves leveled trees in swathes, the ground pitted with one savage crater after another.
This was the power of the Susanoo.
Shinji's Ocular Power burned wildly, his entire body's Chakra erupting without restraint.
With a low roar, he poured all his strength into his right arm. The Susanoo raised its longsword high, bringing it down with a world-shattering momentum in a full-force vertical slash.
"Shatter!"
Madara Uchiha gritted his teeth, also pouring everything he had, once again crossing the twin swords before him. The muscles formed of blue Chakra tensed to their limit.
BOOM—!
A deafening explosion rang out. Madara Uchiha's Susanoo swords shattered upon impact.
Yet the slash continued unabated, tearing through the bones, muscles, and meridians formed of blue Chakra.
The entire Susanoo was split cleanly in two from head to toe.
Madara Uchiha spewed a mouthful of blood, his body sent flying once more before crashing heavily to the ground.
He struggled to rise but could no longer muster the strength.
Shinji was about to press his advantage and activate Bottom Spring Fate.
But a sudden, searing pain shot through his eyes, as if scorched by flames.
He roared in agony, dropping to one knee, his entire body trembling uncontrollably.
Seeing Shinji in this state, Madara Uchiha instantly understood his predicament.
"Hahahahaha!"
"Still too green after all, can't even handle the Susanoo!"
"I'll remember you, Uchiha Shinji!"
Summoning his last ounce of strength, he shouted, "White Zetsu, get me out of here now!"
"As you command, Lord Madara."
In an instant, White Zetsu's figure emerged from around Madara.
These cockroach-like, seemingly unkillable monsters had crawled out from who knows where once again.
He lifted Madara's body and slowly sank into the earth, vanishing completely.
Shinji barely managed to support himself, gazing helplessly at the spot where Madara Uchiha had disappeared.
"So close!"
Leaning against a severed tree stump, he slowly closed his eyes, easing the tearing pain throughout his body.
Shinji reached into his Ninja Tool Pouch, pulled out two Military Ration Pills, and tossed them into his mouth without hesitation.
Feeling his Chakra gradually returning, Shinji slowly opened his eyes.
He blinked. His vision was somewhat blurry, as if he'd suddenly developed two hundred degrees of nearsightedness.
A chill ran through him. He raised a hand to wipe the blood from his face.
"The Susanoo consumes too much Ocular Power. Unless absolutely necessary, I must never use it lightly again."
Shinji warned himself inwardly.
Upgrading to the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan required a full eight hundred thousand Points.
He had no idea how long it would take to save up enough for the exchange.
Aside from that, the other path to restoring his Ocular Power was to transplant Hashirama Cells, just as Obito had done.
But where could he find Hashirama Cells? Surely he couldn't actually go dig up Senju Hashirama's grave?
It was likely that grave had long since been stripped bare by Danzo.
Besides, Tsunade was currently his nominal teacher—he truly couldn't bring himself to do something so low.
Suddenly, inspiration struck.
Shinji quickly turned his gaze to the right rear, where the chaotic aftermath of the battle lay. After the fight, not much of value remained there.
But there, several white bodies still lay.
White Zetsu corpses!
"Aren't White Zetsu cultivated from Hashirama Cells combined with Divine Tree Factor?"
"The Hashirama Cells inside might still be usable!"
His eyes suddenly lit up. Ignoring his still-unhealed injuries, he jogged quickly over.
He pulled five or six Sealing Scrolls from his Ninja Tool Pouch.
These had been prepared before leaving the village, and now they would come in handy.
He spread out all the scrolls and began moving the scattered White Zetsu corpses onto them, fitting as many as he could.
Half an hour later, Shinji slowly let out a long breath.
At least this battle hadn't been entirely without gain.
The only regret was failing to keep Madara Uchiha there.
If he could have stopped him completely, perhaps the Shinobi World would have seen fewer upheavals.
The entire battle had been extremely brief. His ability to barely suppress the elderly Madara hadn't relied on any brilliant tactics, but rather on the abundant Chakra and ample physical stamina of his young body, combined with the overwhelming, earth-shattering destructive power of Susanoo.
If he hadn't awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan, he would have stood no chance against Madara.
Shinji sighed softly. The fact that Madara Uchiha had personally come to intercept him meant Obito had already set out.
Time was tight.
He identified the direction, then moved, swiftly racing toward his target location.
...
Within the vast underground cavern.
White Zetsu emerged from the soil with Madara Uchiha, slowly landing on the ground.
Supported by White Zetsu, Madara staggered back to the stone chair and heavily sat down.
He gasped for breath, his face pale as paper.
"Damn that Uchiha Shinji!"
"If I weren't so advanced in years, how could I allow you to act so insolently!"
The moment he recalled Shinji's words, "Among the old men I've fought, you're the strongest," Madara's face darkened completely.
What kind of recognition was that?
He, Madara Uchiha, needed to be evaluated like that by a junior?
When had he fallen so low as to be compared horizontally with old men?
"Damn it!"
Having lived so many years, and weathered so many storms—aside from Hashirama—he had thought nothing in the world could easily stir his emotions anymore.
At this thought, an unnatural flush rose on his pale face from sheer rage.
And what had caused him to lose his composure like this was a junior from the Uchiha clan.
Madara Uchiha slowly lifted his eyelids and spoke in a low voice to the White Zetsu before him.
"Go keep an eye on Obito. Our plan must not fail."
He took a slight breath, his tone growing colder.
"That brat Uchiha Shinji hasn't fully mastered Susanoo yet."
"His current condition is extremely poor."
"He will definitely head for our target location."
A suffocating killing intent emanated from Madara Uchiha's entire being.
"Find an opportunity to eliminate him."
He had a strong premonition that if Shinji were allowed to grow, this person would inevitably become his greatest obstacle in the future.
Any variable that threatened the plan had to be eradicated in advance.
White Zetsu let out a strange laugh and bowed respectfully to Madara Uchiha.
"As you command, Lord Madara."
Watching White Zetsu's figure gradually fade into the darkness, Madara Uchiha slowly closed his eyes.
In the dead silence of the vast cavern, only his low murmur remained.
"Soon, very soon, I will see you again, Hashirama."