A special aura spread outward from Yuto's body.
It was just a black mark that had appeared on his forehead—
yet compared to the dangerous feeling he'd given off earlier, this new presence carried an added chill that made people's hearts pound.
Even more dangerous than before!
"Sennin Mode (Sage Mode)…!"
"This is Hashirama's ability?" Madara's brows knit slightly, surprise in his voice.
"I've been unsealed longer than you. It's not like I've been doing nothing," Yuto replied calmly.
Then Yuto turned his head slightly and looked at the still-dazed Konan behind him.
"You planning to join in too?"
Feeling that ferocious aura rolling off Yuto, Konan swallowed hard and instantly understood what he meant.
In a flash, Konan appeared beside Nagato's corpse, scooped up his body, and retreated into the distance at full speed.
Seeing that, Obito and Zetsu reacted as well, quickly pulling back to the outskirts.
Madara didn't care about Konan leaving at all. In Madara's eyes, only Yuto remained.
As for Konan—she wasn't even worth Madara's attention.
Not long after the three of them withdrew from the center of Madara and Yuto's battlefield—
A thunderous boom exploded above the forest.
A muffled roar like a sky-splitting thunderclap rang in the ears of the three who had already fled hundreds of meters away.
The next instant, everyone felt a quake-like tremor under their feet.
Rumble! Rumble!
Explosions kept coming in waves. Dust and debris sprayed outward, forcing the three of them to retreat even farther.
The violent collision sounds didn't stop. With every impact, a swath of trees was simply erased.
In a short time, what had been dense forest was carved into an open, flattened clearing.
Obito stared blankly toward the distant source of the noise, his voice trembling.
"So strong…"
With Kamui, Obito had never worried about his own safety.
But now—even at this distance from the battlefield center—he could still feel the ground shaking violently beneath him.
Against attacks that savage, his Kamui might let him evade for a while… but once the time limit ran out, he'd likely be cut down by those two in an instant.
This wasn't about whose ability was "better."
This was a true gulf in power.
Back at the battlefield center—
As the clash unfolded, both Madara and Yuto grew increasingly serious.
Rinnegan Madara's power boost had exceeded what Yuto initially expected.
Mangekyō Madara and Rinnegan Madara… were two entirely different tiers.
Especially with the Rinnegan's endless assortment of bizarre techniques—enough to make Yuto feel a deep, gnawing headache.
On the other side, Madara's expression was no different.
He'd thought that after awakening the Rinnegan, neither Hashirama nor Yuto would ever be his match again.
But now, Madara realized he'd still underestimated Yuto.
From the moment the fight began until now, he had started suppressing Yuto.
But Madara also knew this was only suppression—killing Yuto in a short time was simply impossible.
Unless he dragged it out and won by attrition.
Yet attrition was exactly where Yuto excelled.
Yuto's ability might be "single," but it was too pure—so pure that most of the Rinnegan's abilities were practically useless against him.
Maybe a massive-area attack like Tengai Shinsei (Heaven Concealed) couldn't be absorbed by Yuto—
but those attacks required far too long to form hand seals.
And with Yuto's speed and strength, Madara would never be given that kind of time.
Whooosh—!
Whooosh—!
A flood of Kongō Fūsa (Adamantine Sealing Chains) poured out from Yuto's body, instantly binding Madara.
A brutal tearing force surged through the chains, like they were about to rip Madara's body apart.
"Shinra Tensei (Almighty Push)!"
Madara's eyes widened slightly. A powerful repulsive force erupted from him, blasting every chain off his body and shattering them.
The instant the repulsion ended, Yuto was already in front of him.
Ferocious energy gathered around Yuto's fist, making his entire knuckles glow with a faint, wavering light.
BOOM!
That terrifying power slammed straight toward Madara's chest.
In that split second, Madara swung an arm—
and a massive Susanoo fist rose from him, colliding with Yuto's punch.
Another deafening boom exploded.
The Susanoo fist cracked apart and shattered, while Yuto's body also paused for a brief instant.
Madara let out a loud shout, exhilarated.
"Good! This is what a fight should feel like!"
Yuto didn't waste words.
The two immediately clashed again.
Only when another titanic explosion rang out at the battlefield center did both figures finally stop—
each stepping back several paces.
Madara and Yuto silently stared at each other. By now, both of them understood: there was no point continuing.
Madara had no confidence he could kill Yuto again… or seal him.
And while Yuto's strength currently wasn't quite at Madara's level, Black King's power was terrifying. In a sense, the longer the fight dragged on, the stronger Yuto would become.
More importantly, Yuto already knew most of Madara's Rinnegan abilities—Madara simply couldn't do much to him.
"This little test… is about over," Yuto said blandly, rubbing his fist.
"It is," Madara nodded, face calm—but a trace of irritation slipped into his voice, clearly displeased with the outcome.
If an outsider heard them, their jaw would hit the ground—after that kind of battle, they were calling it merely a "test."
When their exchange ended, the battlefield fell quiet.
After a long pause, Madara spoke first.
"After you revived… did you go to Konoha?"
"Good timing," Yuto said, looking back at Madara. "There's something I want to confirm with you too."
They were exchanging information.
Back in the Warring States era, when two forces couldn't finish each other off and still had intertwined interests, this was the tacit rule.
They fell silent again for a moment, then Yuto spoke first.
"I not only went to Konoha—I even secretly united the other four villages and almost wiped Konoha out… but in the end, Hashirama's Shin Sūsenju (True Several Thousand Hands) appeared."
Yuto stopped there. He knew Madara would understand what he meant.
A sharp light flashed in Madara's eyes. Yuto hadn't said much, but the information he'd revealed was plenty.
And the one thing Madara most wanted to know—he'd gotten it.
As for whether Konoha lived or died, Madara didn't care. In a way, after seeing the stone tablet altered by Black Zetsu, Madara's mindset had already risen beyond villages and nations—to the level of the entire shinobi world.
Then Yuto asked his own question.
"I want to know—after your fight with Hashirama ended back then… how badly was Hashirama injured?"
Madara's eyes narrowed slightly. The calm in him wavered—rarely—for the first time.
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