BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
The battle between Hoshiyomi and Madara raged fiercely, with the constant clashing of the Mikazuki Munechika against the massive chakra blade echoing through the air.
The two swords were completely mismatched in size — one a slender katana, the other a towering blade of pure chakra.
At first glance, the fight should have looked absurd.
But to White Zetsu, there was nothing funny about it. The power both combatants wielded had already transcended any concept of size or proportion.
Though Hoshiyomi's Mikazuki Munechika looked tiny compared to Susanoo's gigantic sword, the power contained within it was in no way inferior.
Each time the blue-silver blade of Mikazuki Munechika collided with the blue-purple sword of Susanoo, the resulting explosion tore through the air — the product of ultra-dense chakra compressing and colliding against itself.
If one looked closely, they could see the very space around the collision trembling, as though the combined power was strong enough to tear cracks in reality itself.
After another fierce clash, the two finally separated. Hoshiyomi flipped twice in midair before steadying himself and landing, his sword digging into the earth to brace his fall.
The moment his feet hit the ground, he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Even with the Seventh Gate open and a chakra cloak buffering some of the shock, Hoshiyomi's body was still flesh and blood. He couldn't completely neutralize the recoil of those colossal impacts.
Though he had used advanced techniques to redirect most of the force and shield his vital organs, some internal damage was inevitable.
After spitting out the blood, he finally felt his chest ease up.
At first glance, Hoshiyomi might have looked worse off — but Madara wasn't exactly faring well either.
In terms of raw power, Perfect Susanoo clearly had the upper hand.
But Hoshiyomi was a master swordsman, and his training wasn't just for show.
To him, redirecting an opponent's strength and countering with minimal effort was second nature.
Through this mastery, he had nearly erased the difference in their power.
The recoil from each clash that shook Hoshiyomi also reverberated through Susanoo's enormous body.
Unlike Hoshiyomi, Susanoo couldn't dissipate that force efficiently, and the repeated impacts had already cracked and damaged its massive wrists.
If Madara hadn't been constantly using his ocular power to repair the damage, Susanoo might have already dropped its sword entirely.
Still, Madara wasn't the type to admit defeat — ever.
Seeing Hoshiyomi spit blood, he smirked and said proudly:
"Gekko Hoshiyomi, no matter how strong you are, you're still bound by the limits of flesh.
Without Hashirama's Wood Release to protect you, trying to withstand my blade will only end like this."
Hoshiyomi looked up at the old, smug Uchiha and could only sigh internally:
"Didn't someone just say, 'Let's see if you can take one strike'? Guess that changed fast..."
But Hoshiyomi wasn't the type to take trash talk quietly.
Even when he was losing, he always had a few words to throw back — and now was no different.
He raised his head toward Madara, standing inside the massive Susanoo, and shot back:
"Don't make that face like you're already above me.
I was just testing the limits of my swordsmanship.
Your crude swings might look flashy, but I could counter them in a hundred different ways."
Madara's expression twitched in irritation.
Even though he respected Hoshiyomi's strength, being told his swordplay was "crude" struck a nerve.
"Oh? Is that so?" he sneered.
"Then let's see how you plan to deal with this."
As he spoke, Madara made Susanoo assume a iaido stance — one hand on the hilt, the other ready to draw.
In the next instant, Susanoo's massive sword flashed from its sheath, unleashing a blade of sword energy so powerful that the sheer pressure split the air and sent violent gales tearing through the forest.
It was the same attack Madara had unleashed against the Five Kage in the original story — an attack capable of flattening entire mountains.
Even Hoshiyomi didn't dare meet that head-on.
With a single step, he activated his Dance of the Startled Swan, his figure vanishing in an instant.
By the time the colossal wave of sword energy tore through the air, Hoshiyomi had already reappeared thirty meters away, having easily evaded the attack.
Watching the wave of sword energy slice through the distant mountains and shear the entire peak flat, Hoshiyomi couldn't help but swallow hard.
Not choosing to counter or rely on Shunpo earlier had definitely been the right call.
That strike's power was nearly on par with his own Ultimate — Narute Transformation.
Still, just because the attack was powerful didn't mean Hoshiyomi respected it.
To him, it lacked any refinement or artistry — it was pure brute force, nothing more than overwhelming the enemy with raw might.
Thinking that, Hoshiyomi slowly sheathed his blade and said calmly:
"Your sword energy is far too crude.
Let me show you what true sword energy really looks like."
As he spoke, he extended two fingers in a sword gesture, summoning his Grass Long Sword, Kusanagi Blade
Stepping onto the sword, he rose swiftly into the air until he was level with Susanoo's massive torso, and said:
"Watch closely. This is what real sword energy means."
He sheathed his blade once again.
At the same time, he activated Nature Transformation, transforming all the chakra within his body into Wind Release chakra, the element with the greatest piercing power.
Because of the immense amount of converted Wind chakra, even the aura of energy around his body began to glow with a greenish hue.
"Sky-Shattering Sword Draw Slash!"
Taking a deep breath, Hoshiyomi drew his Mikazuki Munechika with a ringing clang, and a massive emerald-green ring of sword energy burst forth, hurtling straight toward the colossal Perfect Susanoo.
There was nowhere for the gigantic Susanoo to dodge — but Madara didn't intend to dodge anyway.
In his eyes, just because Hoshiyomi could slice apart an ordinary Susanoo didn't mean he could cut through a Perfect Susanoo, especially one armed with such an indestructible chakra blade.
Confident in this, Madara made no attempt to fly or evade.
Instead, he raised his sword, gripping the hilt with one hand and bracing the blade with the other in a perfect blocking stance.
BOOM!
In the blink of an eye, Hoshiyomi's Wind Release Sword Draw Slash slammed into Madara's chakra sword.
The instant they collided, terrifying waves of chakra pressure exploded outward, shaking the surrounding air.
As the force surged against him, Madara's expression darkened.
The last time his ordinary Susanoo was shattered too quickly — he hadn't truly experienced the strength of this attack.
Now, facing the enhanced Wind-element version head-on, he finally understood just how terrifying this technique was.
To his disbelief, the towering Perfect Susanoo under his control was actually being pushed backward by the sheer power of the sword aura.
It didn't retreat by choice — the force of the slash literally slid it dozens of meters back, gouging the ground beneath its feet before the sword energy finally dissipated into the air.
When the shockwave ended, Madara instinctively made Susanoo lift its chakra sword to inspect it — and his pupils shrank in surprise.
That supposedly indestructible blade, which had endured countless clashes unscathed…
was now covered in cracks.