Chapter 527: The Emperor's Faction
Blades of fire sliced through the air.
Each time Madara teleported, Susanoo's twin swords swung with ferocity. Wind and fire erupted from the blades, creating a blazing effect. One moment he was in front of Aizen, the next behind him.
In mere seconds, Madara and the Nine-Tails flashed countless times. To onlookers, Aizen appeared surrounded by towering warrior gods wreathed in purple, fluid flames. This was Madara's newly developed technique: Reverse Summoning: Flying Thunder God.
Someone had once told Madara that the Summoning Technique held untapped potential. After battling an apostle and earning enough reputation points to upgrade his Summoning to S-rank, the path became clear.
Typically, the Summoning Technique brought a beast to the user, or the user could reverse-summon themselves to the beast. Madara wondered if he could apply this to chakra for reverse summoning.
This idea required exceptional spatial perception, which Madara possessed thanks to his summoning ability's strong spatial affinity. While resting by the lake earlier, he hadn't forgotten to experiment, driven by the pressure Aizen exerted. With the stable chakra of the Gunbai as a foundation, Madara perfected the move, named Reverse Summoning: Flying Thunder God by someone in advance.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Using Susanoo for the first time in this manner, Madara struggled with the rapid angle shifts, his attacks initially lacking fluidity. But as time passed, his movements grew smoother.
Rumble!
Bang! Bang!
The wind roared, and flames surged. The area where Aizen and Madara clashed became a maelstrom of fire and wind, like a towering tornado of flames spiraling into the sky.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Despite the high-frequency attacks from multiple angles, which would overwhelm most opponents, Aizen parried each strike with his Zanpakutō. Sometimes advancing, sometimes retreating, sometimes raising his blade, he stood his ground effortlessly. No matter how swiftly Madara teleported, Aizen remained unscathed.
Though Madara couldn't land a hit, Aizen was quietly impressed.
Spatial traversal—akin to a flash step. Was it due to the black-and-white magatama orbiting him? A smile curved Aizen's lips. Such a technique was remarkable, but without sufficient personal strength, it was meaningless against a true powerhouse.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Rumble!
As Madara adapted to this attack pattern, the roaring flames and wind intensified.
Aizen began to focus more energy, though the assault still didn't truly challenge him. He could use the Flash Step, if needed.
But against an opponent of equal caliber, waiting and reacting was optimal. Madara, while formidable, wasn't yet on Aizen's level, though Aizen held unique expectations for him.
"Anything more?" Aizen's voice echoed calmly through the fiery vortex. "If this is all, it won't pressure me enough."
Madara, teleporting at high speed, heard Aizen's composed tone. His Eternal Mangekyō glowed faintly red with irritation.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Silently, Madara increased the frequency of his teleports. The massive flame tornado scorched the ground black and surged skyward. The shockwaves even disturbed the central golden sphere's seal nearby.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Waves rippled from the sphere, but few remained in the area. Those who stayed were the sea's mightiest, unfazed by the attack's aftermath.
Still, they gazed solemnly at the colossal figure looming in the flame tornado's center.
"That guy's power is incredible," one remarked. "Such a massive form, yet it moves so fast, completely altering its trajectory."
"Is that spatial teleportation?" another asked.
In the central area, members of the Tarot Totem, the Dark Curtain's most violent organization, gathered. The speaker was Chariot, a member of the Emperor's faction. A young man with a delinquent vibe, he wore a black suit and cool sunglasses, but his red, fluffy hair covering one eye gave him a peculiar, almost comical look.
The other members kept their distance, except for one man standing close. Chariot, analyzing Madara's battle, deduced, "That must be it."
The man beside him, dressed regally like a king, nodded and said, "That should be the case." He was Chariot's partner and the leader of the Emperor's faction, codenamed Emperor.
The Tarot Totem comprised four factions. The weakest were the neutral Hermits and Shinigami factions. The strongest was the Time King faction, devoted to the god Dio. The Emperor's faction, led by the ambitious Emperor, maintained a vague allegiance to the Dark Curtain and Dio. Their loyalty was perfunctory, flawless yet detached.
This stemmed from Dio's hands-off approach and a deeper truth: the stand orb, the source of their power, wasn't created by Dio. It originated from a goddess who delivered it to the Dark Curtain. This knowledge made some members, led by Emperor, question Dio's supremacy. While the world hailed Dio as the God of Stands, Tarot Totem members preferred to call him the God of Time.
(End of this chapter)