It felt as if something vital inside his body had been instantly drained away, and an intense sense of weakness immediately flooded his heart.
Madara Uchiha felt his body, at this moment, become like a crumbling house riddled with cracks, the wind howling through.
His tremendous chakra and seemingly infinite ocular power, along with the final traces of his life force, all dissipated uncontrollably into the air.
His vision gradually blurred, and blades of pain lanced through his waist and back, forcing him to bend over once again.
With each labored breathing, each inhale rasping like a broken bellows—
The Perfect Susanoo, which had originally stood between heaven and earth like a towering pillar of divine might, began to crumble away before vanishing entirely.
The Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan he had forcibly activated was also rapidly degenerating—Mangekyō, then three tomoe, two, one, until it completely vanished!
"Ha… haa… ha… rasped… choked…"
Before his Perfect Susanoo fully disappeared, Madara staggered onto the ground, desperately gasping for air from his surroundings.
The cloud of dust spreading across the battlefield only caused him to break into continuous coughing fits.
One hand clutching his probably broken waist, the other barely supporting himself against the ground, refusing to kneel down.
Underneath Madara's head of long, silver-white hair, his eyes revealed a dim, aged cloudiness.
He lifted his head with great difficulty toward where Kei Yamanaka had previously been.
Yet his blurred vision gave him no chance to make out the enemy's form or expression.
"Damn it! No Flying Thunder God marker there! This old fox's combat instincts…"
At the very instant Madara showed signs of weakness, Kei Yamanaka immediately realized this was the perfect opportunity to strike.
However, the opponent's positioning was simply too clever—the area contained absolutely no Flying Thunder God coordinates!
Right when Bloom of the Forest Tomb emerged, more than ten Wood Clones scattered in all directions, their Body Flicker Techniques pushed to the limit.
Rushing swiftly back to regroup around the main body!
Some even vaulted skyward, springing from wooden vines created by Wood Release, their hands already weaving ninjutsu seals.
"What a shame!"
Kei pressed his lips together, recognizing the opportunity had passed and deciding not to push forward recklessly.
Now, Madara's real body was already at the end of its strength.
Surprisingly, the true threat now came from these dozen or so Wood Clones released before Madara had his skills stripped away.
Wood Clones would eventually run out of chakra anyway.
If he rushed in now and let those clones turn the tide—
He'd end up spitting blood on the spot!
"Cough… cough… cough…"
Violent coughs rang out across the battlefield as the dust finally began to settle.
Protected by more than ten Wood Release clones, Madara painfully rose from the ground.
Struggling, he ripped open the front of his robe.
The face of Hashirama Senju that had once existed there had already withered and distorted—it hadn't fully vanished, but its power had drastically weakened.
Without the Outer Path Statue constantly supplying life force,
The Sage Transformation gained after implanting Senju cells had also weakened significantly due to unknown forces.
Even the Mangekyō Sharingan had reverted to a normal eye.
This feeling of nearing death...
Feels nostalgic!
It's been a while!
"Heh... Hahahaha! Ha ha ha ha!"
Madara Uchiha let out an incomprehensible low chuckle, which soon grew wilder and more unrestrained.
His left hand, supporting his bent waist, suddenly slammed down hard on his lower back.
Thanks to his perfect control over every muscle and bone honed through countless battles, he forced the misaligned vertebrae back into place.
Pain? Weakness? Despair? Regret?
No!
Even if his life was about to end, he would never allow himself to display such an embarrassing appearance!
He is Madara Uchiha!
The man who stands atop the ninja world, co-founding with Hashirama Senju the hidden village system that ended the Warring States Era and went on to dominate the five nations as one of the legendary Warring States Rivals!
The supreme Uchiha who manipulated the Hidden Mist Village, tamed the Tailed Beasts, and controlled both villages and natural disasters at will!
A warrior born for war, who has never ceased fighting since birth!
The bent figure slowly straightened up once again.
[Forming Hand Seals]
With both hands, Madara Uchiha began forming seals.
Every last bit of remaining potential and strength within his body transformed, the moment the seals completed, into a blazing flame of life.
Abandoning all hesitation and doubt, treating this fight as the final dance of his broken body, he simply wanted one more exhilarating battle!
"Clap! Clap!"
The bare tip of Madara's right foot lightly tapped the ground.
Two White Zetsu rose from the earth beside him.
One presented a small bottle containing a pair of three-comma Sharingan eyes.
The other carried the kusarigama and Uchiha war fan that had just been buried underground.
"The Sage Transformation's power is weakened. Even changing my eyes has become quite troublesome."
Madara removed the nearly visionless eyeballs from his sockets, replacing them with the new ones.
A glow from the Mystical Palm Technique lit up his palm, quickly connecting the optic nerves.
A faint sense of rejection emanated from the eyes, causing him to slightly furrow his brow.
"Damn it!"
Kei Yamanaka growled under his breath when he saw Black Zetsu didn't even show his face, swiftly retreating back into the dense mirage mist with a light step.
While Madara had been laughing wildly, trapped inside Wood Clones, Kei had already summoned Shin the Giant Clam using his Summoning Technique.
"Zetsu, you know what to do with my will."
Madara spoke emotionlessly, and as soon as his words fell, he gripped the Uchiha war fan and kusarigama, rushing forward with over ten Wood Clones into the dense mist ahead.
The mist distorted the surrounding light and shadows.
In an instant, Kei Yamanaka and his summoned beast Shin reappeared in a completely different direction.
The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan in the eyes of Madara's multiple Wood Clones continued rotating, still locked onto the location of Shin and Kei's real body.
"Another trick from your mustachioed ally?" Madara laughed loudly. "I'm beginning to think you're quite the opponent!"
Madara's own three-comma Sharingan had already lost the ability to pierce through this "Demonic Illusion: Mirage Castle" technique, but his clones still could pierce through it.
Kei was well aware of that.
Earlier, facing Madara Uchiha with the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and in his Perfect Susanoo form, he hadn't dared to charge in recklessly like this.
But now, Madara was nearing the end of his strength. He could only rely on Wood Clones to detect Shin and his presence.
Once those Wood Clones were occupied, as long as Shin could draw enough attention, he would definitely find an opening to eliminate Madara Uchiha, who was no longer in his prime condition!
"It's tough on you. Your first battle already involves such a powerful opponent. If you can't handle it, just retreat directly."
Kei Yamanaka patted the slightly coarse shell of Shin gently.
Shin also gave a slight tremble in response.
[Multiple Shadow Clone Jutsu!]
With a clap of his hands, Kei unleashed a burst of chakra mist. More than thirty shadow clones appeared behind him.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The moment they appeared, the shadow clones activated the Flying Thunder God Technique and rushed toward the Wood Clones.
A barrage of powerful Water Release techniques and Rasengans tore across the battlefield.
The thunderous explosions echoed across the entire battlefield!
Kei performed the Shout-to-Summon, unleashing the ultimate secret technique of the Second Mizukage, Gengetsu Hozuki.
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