"Rat-Ox-Dog-Horse-Monkey-Boar-Tiger!"
Madara's hands moved in a blur of seals as his chest swelled. A massive amount of chakra gathered in his throat before being violently exhaled.
"Fire Style: Great Fire Destruction!"
If Great Fire Annihilation was a sea of flames that submerged the enemy, then Great Fire Destruction was a colossal arrow of fire, its attack far more concentrated.
The condensed flames carried an aura of absolute power. Despite being a B-rank jutsu, under the support of Madara's immense chakra, its power was enough to blanket the entire island battlefield.
"Fire Style: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Makiya responded in kind. The sea of golden fire reappeared, crashing into the arrow of red flames.
A cold sneer played on Madara's lips. The young man's combat experience was still too shallow; he actually intended to use Great Fire Annihilation to counter Great Fire Destruction. When the chakra consumption was similar, the former stood no chance against the latter.
The fiery arrow was like a runaway truck, instantly plowing through the golden flames and continuing its charge toward Makiya without losing any momentum.
Makiya clapped his hands together. The golden flames in the sky suddenly coalesced, and a flying sword shot out from the sea of fire like a falling star, reaching Madara in the blink of an eye.
"Impressive control. Your self-created jutsu is indeed decent, but..." Madara tilted his head slightly, dodging the sword's trajectory with ease. "Too slow. You didn't think such a sluggish attack could escape the insight of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan, did you? If there were more of them, it might be worth looking at."
The sea of fire vanished, replaced by a dense cloud of flying swords hovering before Makiya, filling the sky above. "As you wish."
At Makiya's command, the mass of swords converged into a golden torrent, intent on drowning Madara completely.
As the swords cut through the sky, the watching Mist ninja trembled. The chakra contained within each sword was terrifying; if this move were directed at them, their entire frontline camp would be wiped off the map.
The Great Fire Destruction fell like a meteor, smashing accurately at Makiya's feet. A pillar of flame erupted, igniting the surrounding ground.
On the other side, Makiya's swords reached Madara. A thick root burst from the ground in front of him, transforming into a towering giant tree in an instant.
The swords slammed into the giant tree like nails hitting a steel plate, the sound of clashing metal echoing continuously. The tree produced by Wood Style was quickly shredded into scrap wood.
The remaining swords flew straight for Madara, their tips aimed at his vitals. Madara could feel the stinging sensation all over his body; every key point was locked on. The strikes were ruthless.
Instead of being alarmed, Madara was pleased. Hiding in the shadows of the ninja world didn't mean he hadn't watched Konoha, especially the Uchiha clan. Over the years, due to leadership and policy, the Uchiha had gradually lost their edge, always holding back. In the Warring States Period, they would have been weeping in their graves long ago.
"Uchiha Reflection!"
Madara formed a seal with one hand and summoned a massive gunbai to block his front. The fan, which looked like it was made of paper, was incredibly hard—a divine tool passed down through generations of the Uchiha.
The gourd-shaped gunbai stood before him as the flying swords slammed into its surface, erupting in bursts of golden fire.
A mysterious power surged across the gunbai's surface. The golden flames and swords were reflected back, colliding violently with the swords trailing behind them and triggering a series of massive explosions.
The impact lasted less than thirty seconds. Under Makiya's control, the remaining swords shifted direction, circling Madara at high speeds and enveloping him in countless streaks of golden light.
The three tomoe in Madara's eyes spun rapidly as he tried to track the trajectory of every sword. Though the gunbai had high wind resistance, he swung it with fluid grace, parrying the blades striking from every direction.
Makiya slowly walked out from the sea of fire. The raging flames didn't harm him in the slightest. A cloak of golden fire draped over his shoulders, making him look like a monarch of flames stepping out of a fiery hell.
He clenched his hand. All the swords stopped their rotation and simultaneously pointed at Madara in the center. Then, with a deafening whistle, a continuous barrage of explosions swallowed him.
Rumble!
The golden flames expanded outward with the shockwave, and magma was tossed high into the air by the blast before raining back down. The chain of explosions shattered all the rocks near Madara, leaving a massive crater.
As the dust settled, Makiya looked down into the crater, and a blue glow caught his eye.
"A decent attack." Madara stood with his arms crossed over his chest, looking arrogant. A blue, skeletal, half-bodied giant protected him firmly.
The skeleton's torso had been destroyed in the blast, but the remaining spine and arms were slowly regenerating under the infusion of Madara's chakra.
"This is Susanoo. To be able to crack my genjutsu, your eyes must also be the Mangekyo Sharingan. I wonder if Shisui and Fugaku taught you how to master its power."
Makiya looked shocked. "Susanoo? How... how can an old ghost of the Senju clan use such an unholy technique? Could it be that you..."
Madara nodded with satisfaction. "Have you finally realized? That's right, I—"
"Did you steal Madara Uchiha's eyes, you wretched Senju ghost?!" Makiya shouted in fury.
Madara: "...Enough. There is no point in playing dumb. Susanoo can only be wielded by those with Uchiha blood! Even if an outsider obtained these eyes, they could never manifest this technique!"
Makiya curled his lip. "That's not necessarily true."
Kakashi and Obito were prime examples. After getting two Mangekyo eyes, Kakashi successfully gained the ability to pilot a 'Gundam,' even unlocking the Perfect Susanoo with wings on its back.
As the flames burned fiercely around them on the scorching battlefield, Madara reached out toward Makiya.
Madara suddenly slung the gunbai onto his back and opened his arms toward Makiya, as if making a silent invitation.
"What are you trying to say?" Makiya frowned. From Madara's tone, it seemed like he was planning to recruit him.
'Dammit, what was this? Was he insulting my intelligence? It was as if he thought my IQ was on the same level as Obito's.'
'That is the ultimate insult!'
Unaware of Makiya's inner monologue, Madara looked up at the sky with a look of mock-benevolence. "The ninja world is plagued by endless war. Ninjas from every nation slaughter each other, and hatred spreads between people like a plague, never-ending. Don't you want to change all this?"
"Not really." Makiya rejected him flatly. Talking to someone with Chunibyo didn't require much finesse; it was better to be direct about his stance.
"Always so stubborn!" Madara believed he had seen through Makiya. A flat refusal wasn't a sign of cold-heartedness, but merely a way to mask the grand ideals in his heart.
Madara had gone through this phase himself—being too embarrassed to share his ambitions with others and hiding his grand plans within. He believed Makiya was in the same position, and while words and expressions could lie, actions wouldn't.
"I've heard a bit about what you've been doing in the Land of Hot Water. 'Seireitei,' was it? Searching the world for gifted children, building up a power base, and infiltrating other hidden villages... Your goals are as clear as day."
"Old man, if you're not going to stay home and wait to die, you could at least find something better to do than investigate me," Makiya said with a shrug. "You've probably misunderstood. I founded the Seireitei purely for fun. I have no other motive."
"There is no need to hide it. This is a grand ideal that only the Uchiha, the 'Clan of Love,' could conceive. It is not shameful!" Madara spoke like a mentor guiding a stubborn junior, slowly laying out his own plans and concepts.
"I have lived long enough to witness the clan conflicts of the Warring States and the Great Ninja Wars of today. Countless lives are born and vanish; some die heroically, others pointlessly. For a belief, for comrades, for the village, or simply for revenge—the reasons for slaughter vary, but the theme remains the same. This is the eternal cycle of the ninja world, one that will never end."
Madara's eyes burned with intensity as he looked at Makiya. "Join me, my talented successor. I have a magnificent plan that can end all conflict in this world forever."
Chunibyo was a simple yet terrifying disease. In an ordinary world, it didn't have much destructive power, affecting only a small circle of people. But in a supernatural world, it was different. When someone with this syndrome possessed god-like power, who knew what kind of mess they would make?
Especially the emotionally volatile Uchiha; the probability of them developing Chunibyo was extremely high. Furthermore, they were all stubborn, lacked communication skills, and loved to brood in isolation.
After seeing the Uchiha Shrine stone tablet that had been tampered with by Black Zetsu, Madara had brooded alone in a cave. Combined with Black Zetsu's ulterior motives, he came up with the Eye of the Moon Plan, determined to force all of humanity to go to sleep.
After Shisui's death, Itachi Uchiha had also brooded in isolation, racking his brains over the relationship between the clan and the village until he had a sudden 'stroke of genius': I'll just massacre the clan!
And so, he teamed up with Obito and wiped out the entire Uchiha clan, leaving only his younger brother, Sasuke.
Itachi's thinking was trapped in a dead end. Faced with the 'Trolley Problem' between his clan and the village, he chose to sacrifice the clan—minus Sasuke—for the sake of the village, which felt like a way to satisfy his own sense of martyrdom.
The best way to deal with a Chunibyo patient was to ignore them. Makiya gathered a massive amount of chakra once more, his golden flame cloak shining even brighter. He turned into a golden flash and charged at Madara.
Boom!
A dull thud echoed as Makiya's flame-wrapped fist slammed against the Uchiha gunbai. The massive recoil traveled up his arm and through his body, making him grunt.
In a golden flash, Makiya appeared at Madara's side. Fists, elbows, and knees—every part of his body became a weapon as he submerged Madara in a torrential rain of attacks.
Madara was also a close-combat master, a powerhouse forged in mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Combat was ingrained in his very instincts. Even if his Sharingan couldn't keep up, his subconscious reactions allowed him to intercept Makiya's strikes.
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