It felt as if something vital had been instantly drained from his body. A wave of intense weakness surged through him.
Uchiha Madara felt as though his body had turned into a dilapidated house, riddled with cracks and barely holding together.
His once-mighty chakra, his vast and unfathomable ocular power, and the last remnants of his life force were all leaking away uncontrollably into the surroundings.
His vision blurred, and a sharp pain radiated from his lower back, forcing him into a hunched posture.
His breaths came in ragged, wheezing gasps, like a broken bellows struggling for air.
The towering, awe-inspiring figure of his Complete Body Susanoo, which once loomed over the battlefield like an unshakable colossus, rapidly crumbled away.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan he had forcibly awakened was now deteriorating. Mangekyō... three tomoe... two tomoe... one tomoe... until it vanished completely!
"Hah... hah... coughcough..."
Before his Susanoo completely faded, Madara stumbled as he landed on the ground, desperately gasping for breath.
The battlefield was still thick with dust, making him break into uncontrollable fits of coughing.
One hand clutched at his seemingly fractured waist, while the other barely propped him up, preventing himself from collapsing entirely.
Beneath his long, graying hair, his eyes, once sharp and piercing, now carried a haze of age and exhaustion.
With great difficulty, he lifted his head toward where Yamanaka Shinno had been moments ago.
But his blurred vision made it impossible to discern his enemy's figure or expression.
"Damn it! There's no Flying Thunder God marker in that damn spot. This old bastard's battle instincts..."
The moment Madara showed signs of weakness, Shinno immediately recognized the perfect opportunity to strike.
But Madara's positioning was too precise—there were no Flying Thunder God coordinates in that area!
The numerous wood clones he had dispatched at the beginning of Flower Tree World Birth were now rushing back toward him with blinding speed.
Some clones sprang up on vines and branches conjured by Wood Release, readying their jutsu in midair.
"Tch, what a waste."
Shinno clicked his tongue. Seeing his window of opportunity slip away, he chose not to force an attack.
Madara's real body was already at its limit.
The real threat now was the dozen or so Wood Clones he had created before losing his trait.
Wood Clones could only last as long as their chakra held out.
If he got impatient now and let Madara's clones turn the tide at the last second, he'd be spitting blood from frustration!
"Cough! Cough! Cough!"
A violent coughing fit echoed across the battlefield, now gradually settling into an eerie calm.
Supported by his Wood Clones, Madara struggled to his feet.
With effort, he tore open the front of his robe.
The section of his chest where Hashirama Senju's face had been embedded was now withered and distorted. Though not completely gone, its power had weakened drastically.
Without the continuous life force provided by the Gedo Statue...
The Sage Body he had obtained from Hashirama's cells had also been severely diminished by an unknown force.
Even his Mangekyō Sharingan had degraded into ordinary eyes.
This feeling...
Standing at the edge of death once more...
How nostalgic!
"Heh... hah... hahahahaha!"
Madara let out a strange chuckle, which quickly grew into raucous, unrestrained laughter.
His left hand, still gripping his waist, slammed against his lower spine.
Through sheer mastery of his own body—honed through countless battles—he forcefully snapped his dislocated vertebrae back into place.
Pain? Weakness? Decay? Regret?
No!
Even if his life was nearing its end, he refused to show weakness!
He was Uchiha Madara!
One of the twin legends who, alongside Hashirama, ended the Warring States period, founded the shinobi village system, and shook the Five Great Nations!
The supreme Uchiha who manipulated Kirigakure, controlled the Tailed Beasts, and bent entire villages and calamities to his will!
From the moment he was born, his entire life had been one long battle!
Straightening his hunched back, Madara's hands moved into a slow, deliberate series of seals.
Every last ounce of power and potential within his body ignited like a blazing inferno the moment he completed the sequence.
Casting aside all hesitation, with no thoughts beyond this battle, he would see this broken body through one final dance!
Slap!
His bare right foot tapped the ground lightly.
Two White Zetsu emerged from the earth beside him.
One held out a small bottle containing a pair of three-tomoe Sharingan.
The other carried the scythe and Gunbai war fan that had been buried during the battle.
"The Sage Body's abilities have weakened. Even replacing my eyes has become troublesome."
Madara plucked out his near-sightless eyes and replaced them with the fresh pair.
A soft glow of healing chakra flickered in his palms as he swiftly reconnected the optic nerves.
A faint sense of rejection pulsed from his newly implanted eyes, making him frown slightly.
"Bastard..."
Shinno, seeing that Black Zetsu still hadn't shown itself, gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath before retreating into the thick, shimmering mist.
While Madara had been surrounded by his Wood Clones and laughing like a madman, Shinno had already summoned the Giant Clam with a summoning jutsu!
"Zetsu, you know what to do."
Madara's tone was indifferent as ever. The moment his words fell, he gripped his Gunbai and scythe, charging forward with his remaining Wood Clones into the dense fog.
As the mist twisted and shifted like a mirage...
Shinno and the Giant Clam's figures reappeared in an entirely different direction.
Madara's Wood Clones, their Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan spinning wildly, still locked onto Shinno and the Clam's true positions.
"Oh? That technique? You're proving to be quite the opponent! Hahaha!"
Though Madara's real body could no longer pierce through the Demonic Illusion: Mirage Genjutsu, his Wood Clones still could.
Shinno knew this well.
Against Madara in his prime—with his Eternal Mangekyō and Complete Body Susanoo—he wouldn't have dared to play this kind of game.
But now, Madara was running on fumes. The only way he could track Shinno and the Clam was through his Wood Clones.
If Shinno could just keep those clones occupied long enough...
If the Clam could divert enough attention...
Then he would have the opening he needed to end Madara once and for all!
"You've got this, buddy. First fight, and you're already facing an opponent of this caliber... If it gets too rough, just retreat."
Shinno patted the Clam's rough shell.
The Clam gave a slight quiver in response.
Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!
With a loud clap of his hands, Shinno conjured a cloud of chakra smoke.
Thirty clones appeared behind him instantly.
Fwoosh!
Before they even fully materialized, the clones flickered forward with Flying Thunder God, charging straight for Madara's Wood Clones.
A storm of high-powered Water Release techniques and Rasengans erupted across the battlefield!
The ground trembled with explosions.
Shinno clapped his hands once more, activating the Second Mizukage's ultimate secret technique...
Steaming Danger Tyranny!
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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