At the same time, the Land of Fire, Kirigakure front line.
A flash of yellow light desperately rushed towards the Land of Grass. It was Minato!
He clutched the cryptic message delivered by Mount Myōboku's communication toad, his eyes filled with worry: "Teacher, you must be careful!"
"...Roar, roar, roar—"
The Gedo Statue revived immediately, letting out an earth-shattering roar, then clasped its hands together, protecting Ryou and Madara in its palms like a Thousand-Armed Kannon.
Jiraiya's Super Big Ball Rasengan hit the Gedo Statue, Orochimaru's Kusanagi sword, and Tsunade's monstrous strength all struck the Gedo Statue.
An attack powerful enough to destroy a small Village had no effect on the Gedo Statue. The Gedo Statue seemed to be enraged, releasing a surging shockwave.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru were all sent flying far away by this shockwave.
The next second, the Gedo Statue's clasped hands separated, and a suffocatingly immense Chakra surged out, condensing into streaks of radiant flames.
"Hahaha... this feeling, this feeling!"
"Hashirama, I'm back!"
Madara's ink-black hair cascaded like a waterfall, his brows sharply arched, and rebellious flames burned in his eyes. His entire body exuded a vibrant, almost scorching, energy.
He even took the time to change into his Sengoku armor.
This was a traditional Dō-maru style Ninja armor, predominantly crimson, with a rectangular crimson chest plate in the center, secured by black cords at the edges.
The shoulder and side plates were all red, and beneath the armor, a dark brown long robe was worn, with a loose hem for ease of movement.
Ryou lay next to Madara, feigning death, secretly opening his eyes for a peek. When did Madara put on his armor?
Ryou hadn't even noticed.
He suddenly noticed the pitcher plant next to Madara, Black and White Zetsu. They had detached from Madara's body.
Madara's gaze shifted over, and Ryou quickly resumed feigning death.
"This is bad!"
After stabilizing his body, Orochimaru stared blankly at the youthful Madara. This was truly troublesome.
Run, quickly run!
Unfortunately, he wasn't the fastest to escape.
"Orochimaru, I'll take my leave first. I won't hold the past against you. I'll burn incense for you every New Year and festival. Hahaha—"
Manda immediately reverse-summoned himself and escaped.
Orochimaru cursed: "Bastard!"
None of Jiraiya's toads ran away. What was the difference between this Manda and Ryou's timid Hamster?
He had failed as a person, and he had failed with his Summoned Beasts. Orochimaru felt that he had been left too far behind by Jiraiya.
Should he still run?
Orochimaru looked at Jiraiya and Tsunade, suddenly hesitating.
Tsunade and Jiraiya would never run. If he ran now, he would truly be unable to face them again.
Orochimaru still had a little sentiment for their bond.
Tsunade explained to Jiraiya: "Jiraiya, I used 100% of my strength in that punch. I definitely killed Ryou, I'm certain!"
Jiraiya nodded: "Tsunade, I believe you. It might be due to Ryou's forbidden jutsu!"
"In any case, things are troublesome now!"
Even with Sage Mode and the help of the two Sages, Jiraiya felt he had no chance of winning.
Madara's Chakra was too astonishing, already surpassing that of an ordinary Tailed Beast.
Moreover, his aura was too formidable. Facing him was no different than facing a Tailed Beast—no, he was even more terrifying than a Tailed Beast.
"Little Jiraiya, listen to me..."
Sage Fukusaku suddenly had something to say, and Jiraiya and Tsunade listened intently.
Madara kicked Ryou: "Stop feigning death. Why do young people these days love feigning death so much?"
White Zetsu saw this and summoned a White Zetsu clones in front of Ryou. Ryou reached out his hand to the White Zetsu clones.
Chimera Technique: Plunder Rebirth!
In a blink of an eye, Ryou was restored to his youth, fully revived.
As soon as he revived, he bowed his head in obeisance: "Congratulations, Ancestor, on regaining your youth! Now, unifying the Ninja World is unstoppable! The entire Ninja World will be ours, the Uchiha's."
Madara plucked out his blind Sharingan and then touched Ryou's eye sockets with his palm.
Ryou had a bad premonition. Could it be that Madara was constructing something?!
With a whoosh, before Ryou could react, his eyes were taken by Madara.
"Uchiha Madara, you motherfucker! Give me back my eyes! You're stealing them even before they're awakened, are you even human?!"
Madara stepped on Ryou's chest, like stepping on an ant by the roadside.
Then Madara used Yin-Yang Release to place Ryou's eyes into his own eye sockets.
He even said with disdain: "I've never seen such a poor Uchiha bloodline?"
"You old geezer, you're discarding me after I've served my purpose! I'll fight you to the death!"
Ryou huffed, clawing and biting at Madara like a mad cat.
Ryou's curses reached Tsunade and the others' ears. Tsunade and the others looked over.
"Is it infighting? It seems Ryou and Madara aren't on the same page!"
"Ryou's eyes were taken. Now that Uchiha Madara has regained his sight, he'll be even harder to deal with."
Sage Fukusaku said: "Don't get distracted, listen to us. Uchiha Madara is not at his peak yet."
Orochimaru felt Madara's shocking Chakra. Orochimaru had only ever seen such terrifying Chakra in one person.
The White Snake Sage of Ryūchi Cave!
"Uchiha Madara isn't at his peak yet?! What a joke!"
Sage Fukusaku nodded: "You all saw it before, Madara only had one eye, and it was a three tomoe Sharingan."
"But according to Mount Myōboku's records, Madara's eyes were the Mangekyo Sharingan that never lose sight. This was his trump card to contend with the First Hokage."
"Mangekyo Sharingan?"
Orochimaru felt like this world was going crazy, becoming unrecognizable to him.
Sage Fukusaku introduced: "The Mangekyo Sharingan is an evolution above the three tomoe Sharingan. During the Warring States Period, Madara and his younger brother Uchiha Izuna both obtained the Mangekyo Sharingan."
"Relying on the Mangekyo, the Uchiha brothers killed anyone who stood in their way, even Buddhas. At that time, only the Senju brothers could stop them."
"I don't know where Madara's Mangekyo went? But he is not in his peak state right now."
"You must eliminate him now. If Madara regains his eyes, it will be the end of the Ninja World."
The Sannin looked at each other, not knowing what to say.
What a mess this was!