[Hashirama Senju: "Madara, why do you love bullying kids?"]
[Madara Uchiha: "Kids? They're the Five Kage, Hashirama."]
[Obito Uchiha: "Madara, you show off… but you're not Sasuke."]
[Neji Hyūga: "Sasuke shows off without the strength—always gets slapped. Madara's flex suffocates you. You can't even think about resisting."]
[Sasuke Uchiha: "Enough. You've angered a lion. If I feel like it—"]
[Fugaku Uchiha: "Sasuke, learn from Naruto for once. Stop posturing all day."]
[Sasuke Uchiha: "…"]
[Boruto Uzumaki: "Master Sasuke's the strongest—one-armed he could beat Madara!"]
[Madara Uchiha: "Heh."]
Tension drew taut.
Each Kage now faced five Madaras alone. This wasn't a story—they were really being asked to stand against the impossible.
Arms folded, Madara looked down from on high. "Answer me. Should they use Susanoo, or not?"
His voice cut like ice. The Five Kage came back to themselves—anger strangled behind their teeth.
"With your meager skill, you can't even answer?" His smile thinned.
The Raikage's fists trembled. On any other day he would have swung first… but before Madara, even fury felt small.
From the gallery, shock had calcified into numbness.
"I'll answer for you," Madara said.
Deep blue light boiled over the clones.
"Don't tell me—" Mei's brows pinched.
"Bastard!!" the Raikage snarled.
The earth shuddered.
Twenty-five blue giants rose, looking down like gods at insects. Against them, the Kage were specks.
"So—use them?" Madara asked softly.
"One against five…" the Raikage swallowed.
"Five-on-one," someone breathed.
"No," Ōnoki said quietly. "Twenty-five against five."
"Any bright ideas, Lord Tsuchikage?" Mei asked.
"Mutual cover. Mutual aid," Ōnoki answered. "Don't forget—we are the Five Kage."
Their spines straightened.
Whoosh—
They vanished, each breaking toward five Susanoo at once.
Madara watched their struggle with bored disdain.
[Sarada Uchiha: "Our Uchiha ancestor is… terrifying."]
[Shisui Uchiha: "So this is Madara's power… I actually thought I might beat him once."]
[Itachi Uchiha: "Is Lord Madara the strongest Uchiha?"]
[Fugaku Uchiha: "Have some pride, Itachi. Right now the only Uchiha not 'counted' is Sasuke."]
[Sasuke Uchiha: "Heh. When my tally plays, you'll all cry—if I feel like it."]
[Deidara: "Sky's cleared. Rain stopped. Sasuke thinks he's him again."]
[Hidan: "Then the wind blew, rain fell, and Sasuke limped home."]
[Boruto Uzumaki: "…"]
They knew they couldn't win—and still they chose to fight.
For the alliance. For time. For everyone watching.
Eyes burned across the nations.
[Boruto Uzumaki: "I'm… crying."]
[Sarada Uchiha: "They're risking everything to protect us."]
[Iwabe Yuino: "I want to be Hokage. I'll learn this spirit first."]
[Ōnoki: "Well said."]
Time bled away.
Mei's legs buckled; a Susanoo's fist caved the air where she'd stood.
Gaara's sand speared in—a cradle of grain caught her before the ground did.
It cost him.
He ate a blow, skidding across the sand until he slammed down beside her. The two stared up at ten Susanoo and felt their stomachs drop.
"Too strong… how do we beat this?" Mei's eyes shone wet.
She regretted every earlier quip about Madara.
"If this keeps up…" Gaara's voice rasped.
Elsewhere, blades had punched through Tsunade from crown to heel. It hurt to look—
—and still she fought, knuckling one Susanoo to the dirt before four more surged in.
The Raikage traded thunder for thunder, breath growing ragged.
"Hokage, you're reckless. Even if you don't die, you'll burn out at this pace!"
"No choice," Tsunade shot back. "This is a battle we stake our lives on."
He glanced—and that heartbeat cost him. A Susanoo closed its hand around him—
Sharingan light flooded his vision. Genjutsu snapped shut.
He hit the earth.
He'd always looked down on the Sharingan—
—turns out he'd only ever looked down on the weak Uchiha.
The blade fell—
—and Ōnoki yanked him clear, pinning a Susanoo with Heavy-Weight Rock as he broke the illusion.
"Forgive me, Lord Tsuchikage…" A gritted his teeth.
"Experience will tell," Ōnoki said.
Madara hovered sovereign above it all. "Heavy-Weight to pin Susanoo. Rescue the Raikage. Noted."
The Five Kage were toys in a giant's hands.
[Himawari Uzumaki: "Dad… can you beat Madara?"]
[Naruto Uzumaki (teen): "Hard to say."]
[Inojin Yamanaka: "Lord Madara is… absurd."]
[Wasabi Izuno: "Who were the 'gods' saying Madara was weak?!"]
Despair gnawed at resolve.
Ōnoki steadied them. Tsunade forced chakra into his palm; the others dragged breath back into their lungs.
"We can't fail the name we inherited," someone said hoarsely.
They stood shoulder to shoulder, torn and bleeding, and stared up at Madara in the sky. Across the world, people swallowed hard. This is why we're still here… because they stood.
Far away, the twenty-five giants stepped into formation.
Ōnoki raised both hands—preparing Dust Release to erase them all.
Tsunade poured more chakra in, teeth bared.
Madara's eyes dipped, amused. "So the problem is Ōnoki… Break his will entirely, then."
A new idea lit there.
Unveil it.
Complete-Body Susanoo.
Shatter them.
The frame held, humming on the edge of doom.
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