It was over in an instant.
The suddenly appearing Menma ignored the two of them, raising his eyes to look at the Yasaka Magatama flying toward him and raising a hand.
"Shinra Tensei."
Whoosh—!!!
Instantly, a terrifying repulsive force, accompanied by a violent gust of wind, swept backward. The Yasaka Magatama that had been flying toward him were all sent flying back uncontrollably, like kites with their strings cut.
The Wood Release clones ignored the returning orbs, focusing all their strength on resisting the repulsive force and the wind, trying not to be blown away. But their eyes were filled with disbelief, fixed on Menma.
Or rather, on the rings of patterns appearing in his eyes.
"That's... the Rinnegan?"
"There's a second pair of Rinnegan besides mine?"
The Wood Release clones found it utterly absurd. The Rinnegan required the fusion of the strongest Uchiha and Senju clans to obtain its power. Madara had only been dead for a few decades, and yet the shinobi world had already seen another Uchiha comparable to him?
Before they could even process this, the Yasaka Magatama that had been flying back began to explode. Intense bursts of fire erupted, rising one after another like mushrooms, forming a ring around the area and kicking up clouds of dust and smoke.
Beneath this dust and smoke, the forest—already shattered by meteorite fragments—was now completely destroyed. Everywhere were exposed rocks and cratered, scorched earth. And the Susanoo clones atop these rocks and scorched earth were also blown to pieces, missing limbs.
"Wow, that's amazing!" Naruto grimaced, a hint of fear in his eyes as he looked at the scorched forest around him. "Thank goodness Menma showed up suddenly, or I'd really be dead!"
Sasuke, standing beside him, also looked around at the scorched earth with a grim expression, not refuting Naruto's words. Clearly, if Menma hadn't suddenly appeared and used Shinra Tensei to push away these Magatama, the two of them definitely wouldn't have been able to block these Magatama as easily as they had blocked the sword's edge. While they wouldn't have been killed, they certainly would have been injured, perhaps even severely wounded.
"Just like in the original story, he's resurrected Madara at his peak strength?" Menma murmured, looking at the toppled Wood Release clones and Susanoo around him. "Then I'll use you to test my full power now..."
Unleashing a terrifying burst of chakra, Menma's form shifted in the blink of an eye. Nine enormous fox tails, blotting out the sky, bloomed like hellish red lotuses, then layers of jet-black scales covered them, reflecting a chilling light in the sunlight.
"You two, get out of the way," Menma said, his voice cold and flat. "This battle is beyond your control."
The moment the words left his lips, the ground collapsed under a powerful stomp, and Menma vanished from his spot. The next instant, he reappeared before the Wood Release clones and Susanoo.
His right hand, covered in Nine-Tails chakra and jet-black Susanoo scales, extended, piercing through the Susanoo of the Wood Release clone without any resistance and punching through its chest. Simultaneously, the nine fox tails behind Menma extended like lightning, stabbing toward the remaining nine Wood Release clones.
"Nine-Tails chakra covered by Susanoo... You're actually the Nine-Tails jinchuriki!"
The Wood Release clones, their brows furrowed, retreated rapidly. The four sword-wielding hands of their Susanoo slashed wildly, attempting to sever the attacking fox tails. However, the Susanoo swords only produced a few crisp clangs. They couldn't even leave a mark on the black scales covering the fox tails, let alone block them. The Susanoo surrounding them was easily pierced through by the fox tails like paper.
Finally, the nine Wood Release clones, along with their Susanoos, were impaled in mid-air by the nine black fox tails. Slowly, they turned into lifeless pieces of wood, and the blue Susanoo dissipated in the wind.
"It was over in an instant!"
Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance, once again realizing the immense power of Menma and the vast difference in strength between themselves and him. Then, instead of lingering to watch, they dashed toward the Konoha gates.
In the distance, Madara, perched atop Nagato, had witnessed the entire scene— Menma had instantly defeated ten of his Wood Release clones. His previously indifferent expression turned serious.
"I never imagined that besides Hashirama, such a powerful ninja would appear in the shinobi world."
Madara looked down at Nagato, who was pressed against the ground, his face flushed with excitement. "Looks like you weren't lying to me. This is the ninja you spoke of who also possesses the Rinnegan and is stronger than me, isn't it?"
Nagato smiled with satisfaction upon hearing Madara's question. "That's right. He is the true ruler of this shinobi world, the god who brought true peace! And you—you will soon be defeated and sealed away, then banished back to the world of the dead!"
"Hahaha!" Upon hearing this, Madara laughed loudly, as if he had heard something hilarious. "Defeat me, banish me back to the world of the dead? It seems your warm-up just now made you mistake my full strength!"
With that, Madara's smile abruptly stopped. He kicked Nagato away, then bent slightly, his legs bending. "Now I'll show you my true strength, show you why I, Madara Uchiha, can stand alongside Hashirama as the strongest!"
With that, the earth shattered, and Madara's body leaped into the air. Like a missile, he soared into the sky, heading toward Menma.
Menma sensed Madara falling from the sky and turned to face him.
BOOM!!!
A cloud of smoke appeared before Menma, accompanied by a deafening roar as it crashed to the ground. Then, a gust of wind flashing blue light dissipated the smoke. Finally, Madara, his face contorted in a maniacal laugh and his body radiating surging blue chakra and ocular power, appeared.
"This ocular power and chakra... you are only the second ninja, after Hashirama, who has ever stirred such excitement in me! So dance with abandon, please me! Perfect Susanoo!"
---
If this chapter was worth your time, a Powerstone helps others find it.
Want to read ahead, check Patreon
[email protected]/Rogue_Soul