Chapter 100: Madara's Approval!
[The New World - Open Sea Battlefield]
"As you wish!"
Madara smiled proudly from within the crystalline forehead of the spectral giant.
The four-armed Susanoo—now fully armored in its Second Stage—roared silently. Blue chakra surged, condensing into new shapes. In its lower hands, two wavy-bladed kris swords materialized. In its upper hands, massive chakra shuriken formed, spinning with lethal intent.
It was no longer a single greatsword. It was an arsenal of destruction.
"Dance for me!"
The next moment, both men moved simultaneously.
BOOM!
The golden-red stream of light and the deep-blue giant god violently collided between the sea and the sky.
Swords and spears clashed. The sound of explosions echoed through the clouds like thunder. Each collision caused the sky to distort and the sea waves to roll back in terror.
Suzaku pushed his speed to the extreme. He was a blur of crimson motion, flashing around the enormous Susanoo like a firefly buzzing around a mountain.
The Fire-Tipped Spear stabbed, parried, and swept. Each strike landed precisely on the joints of the Susanoo, seeking a weakness.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
His fighting style was wild yet precise, combining the foresight of Observation Haki with the fluidity of his Vermillion Bird bloodline. He demonstrated the principle of "speed is absolute weight" to the fullest.
Uchiha Madara, however, was not a static target. Relying on the absolute defense of his Susanoo and the coordination of his four arms, he fought steadily and surely.
His combat experience—honed in the blood-soaked Era of Warring States—was immensely rich. He quickly adapted to Suzaku's blinding speed.
The insight of his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan allowed him to track Suzaku's movements frame by frame. His eyes darted left and right, predicting the trajectory.
There.
With his four arms swinging in a coordinated dance of death, he integrated offense and defense perfectly.
WHOOSH!
A single powerful, heavy slash from the Susanoo's lower blade caught Suzaku mid-air. Suzaku parried, but the sheer mass of the attack forced him back, skipping across the water like a stone.
The residual shockwaves of the battle began to truly display their destructive power. Waves rose ten meters high.
The heavy cruiser Pola had already retreated to a safer, more distant position after the ship girl sensed the catastrophic energy levels.
On the deck, everyone watched, mesmerized.
"So... so powerful..."
Nami gripped the ship's steel rail until her knuckles turned white. Her face was pale; merely observing a battle of this level made it difficult for her to breathe. The air pressure alone was suffocating.
Akame stood beside her, tightly grasping Murasame at her waist. Her crimson eyes flickered with a strange brilliance—a mix of fear and admiration.
She could sense that both the man named Uchiha Madara and Suzaku possessed a power far exceeding her previous understanding of "strength." In her world, a Teigu user was strong. Here, these men were walking natural disasters.
Albedo and Ulquiorra were relatively calm, but their eyes were fixed on the battlefield, analyzing Madara's fighting style.
"That blue giant's defense is quite astonishing," Ulquiorra commented indifferently, his gaze focused intently on the Susanoo armor. "The energy density is high. It changes form fluidly."
"Hmph. He's just relying on a hard shell, that's all. It's still inferior to my magical defense," Albedo scoffed dismissively, folding her arms. But a hint of grudging acknowledgment lay deep in her eyes.
"However," she admitted softly, "to be able to fight Lord Suzaku to this extent... he must have some skill. He is qualified to submit to Lord Suzaku! A worthy servant."
On the battlefield, the fierce fight entered a new phase.
Suzaku launched himself forward again.
"Take this!"
The tip of his Fire-Tipped Spear glowed white-hot. He thrust forward, unleashing a concentrated beam of golden-red high-temperature flames.
Madara didn't dodge. He pulled out his Gunbai (War Fan) within the Susanoo.
"Uchiha Reflection (Uchiha Gaeshi)!"
The fan glowed with chakra. It absorbed the impact of the flame beam instantly.
Then, with a swing of the fan, Madara reflected the spear's attack force back at Suzaku, amplified by wind chakra!
BOOM!
Suzaku was caught off guard. He was hit by his own power, sending his figure flying backward. He tumbled a few times in the air before stabilizing, the flames on his body flickering violently.
"An interesting ability!" Suzaku laughed, wiping soot from his cheek. He wasn't angry; he was thrilled. "Reflecting energy? Good trick! Then try this!"
He took a deep breath. The air around him shimmered.
FWOOSH!
The Vermillion Bird Wings behind him suddenly closed forward, wrapping around him like a cocoon. Then, they snapped open, gathering endless flames toward the wing tips.
"Vermillion Bird Wings: Flowing Fire Heaven Flight!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Countless solidified, golden-red flame feathers detached from his wings. Like a sudden storm of arrows, they shot toward the Susanoo, covering every corner of its body!
Each flame feather contained terrifying high temperature and penetrating power.
"A mere parlor trick!"
Madara scoffed. He manipulated the Susanoo's four arms. The weapons danced like a windmill, forming an impenetrable defensive net of blue chakra.
Clang! Clang! Boom!
The Susanoo blocked and shattered most of the flame feathers.
However, the sheer number and density of the attack were too great. There were always some that slipped through the net. They struck the Susanoo's armor, exploding in bursts of dazzling and dangerous sparks.
Crack.
Though they failed to directly breach the defense, they caused a slight disturbance in the Susanoo's energy fluctuations.
Just as Madara focused on defending against this saturation attack, Suzaku moved.
He utilized the extreme acceleration generated by the flame jet of his wings.
ZOOOM!
His ultimate speed made him seem to appear out of thin air directly above the Susanoo's head—in Madara's blind spot.
"Got you!"
Suzaku tightly gripped the Fire-Tipped Spear with both hands, raising it high above his head.
All the flame energy in his body, along with the ethereal yet truly existing Conqueror's Haki (black lightning), frantically converged on the spear tip.
The spear shaft became intensely bright, as if he were holding a miniature sun.
"Hakoku: Flame Meteor!"
This was a technique he had devised by observing the Giant Race's combined technique, "Hakoku," and incorporating the experience of taking Garp's Haki-infused strike.
It involved condensing all his power, mass, and will into a single point to unleash a penetrating strike from the heavens!
This spear strike was no longer merely a physical or flame attack; it contained his will and spirit!
Uchiha Madara sharply raised his head. His Sharingan contracted violently.
Danger!
In his perception, the threat level of this spear strike far surpassed all previous attacks. The energy condensed at the spear tip was secondary; what was more terrifying was the "Will" that seemed intent on piercing his very soul.
"Bring it on!"
Madara roared. The four arms of the Susanoo simultaneously raised upwards. Its enormous chakra burst forth without reservation.
"Yasaka Magatama (Eight Slopes Magatama)!"
Three Tomoe-shaped energy projectiles appeared in the Susanoo's hands, tethered by chakra strings.
This was a long-range attack belonging to the Susanoo that acted like shuriken, but hit like meteors.
Everything happened extremely fast.
The Magatama spun, carrying infinite power, and flew upward toward Suzaku.
The next second, Suzaku transformed into a meteor of golden fire. He violently crashed into the rapidly approaching Magatama energy balls!
BOOM!!!!!!!!
The sound this time surpassed the sum of all previous sounds.
A terrifying energy storm expanded outward in a spherical shape from the point of collision.
The clouds in the sky were completely torn apart, revealing the deep, unsettlingly blue firmament of space behind them.
The sea below was forcefully pressed down. A massive hemispherical depression, over a thousand meters in diameter, formed in the ocean. The surrounding seawater rose up, forming a ring-shaped tsunami hundreds of meters high, roaring out in all directions!
Even though the Pola was far away, it was violently rocked by the shockwave.
"Shields!" Ram shouted, casting a wind barrier to protect the ship from the tidal wave.
The light dispersed. The energy storm slowly subsided.
On the sea surface, Uchiha Madara still stood within his Susanoo.
But there was a scorched and penetrated hole on the Susanoo's shoulder armor! Golden flames were still stubbornly burning at the edge of the hole, hindering its repair.
Suzaku, meanwhile, hovered not far in front of the Susanoo. He was slightly panting, sweat beading on his forehead. But his eyes were still bright like fire.
The light on the Fire-Tipped Spear had dimmed slightly, but his fighting spirit had increased rather than decreased.
"Hmph."
The Susanoo slowly dissipated, revealing Uchiha Madara's main body within.
He stood on the gradually calming sea surface. His black hair was slightly disheveled, and his breathing was somewhat ragged.
He lowered his head and looked at the scorch marks on the front of his armor, caused by the residual flames that had pierced his defense.
When he looked up at Suzaku again, the arrogant and haughty expression on his face had completely subsided.
He remained silent for a moment, his scarlet Sharingan staring deeply at Suzaku, as if trying to see through him from the inside out.
After a long pause, Uchiha Madara slowly spoke. His voice returned to its initial calmness, but now it carried the weight of acceptance.
"You didn't rely on trickery," Madara said. "You used absolute power and will to directly shake and even break through my Susanoo defense... and even injured me."
He paused, then continued.
"The 'Haki' you mentioned earlier... I think I'm starting to understand it. It is not just energy. It is a path that turns one's own will into tangible power. A physical manifestation of the soul."
Suzaku regulated his breathing and smiled. "It seems you've found the way. As expected of a combat genius. You learn fast."
Madara ignored the compliment. He changed the subject, his gaze sharp as a blade.
"The 'Immortality' you mentioned before..."
Madara stepped forward on the water.
"It's not just an empty promise, is it? A check you can't cash, used to recruit me?"
"Of course not!" Suzaku nodded affirmatively.
"I know at least two viable methods. The Ope Ope no Mi's Perennial Youth Operation... and others beyond this world. The prerequisite is that we need enough strength and influence to acquire them."
Uchiha Madara closed his eyes. He seemed to be digesting the gains from the battle and weighing Suzaku's words against his own ambitions.
A few seconds later, he suddenly opened his eyes. The scrutiny from before was gone, replaced by the determination of someone who had found a new goal—a new dream.
"Very well," Madara said in a deep voice.
"This world... is more interesting than I imagined. And you, Suzaku brat... you possess sufficient capacity and strength to lead."
He stepped forward, extending a gloved hand—not to strike, but to seal a pact.
"Regarding the establishment of our ideal homeland... regarding the path to eternity... I will tentatively believe you this once!"
"So, from now on," Uchiha Madara said with a hint of his trademark arrogance returning.
"I, Uchiha Madara, will begin acting with you. Do not bore me."
Suzaku looked at the legendary shinobi who had finally set aside his pride and chosen to agree. A genuine, triumphant smile spread across his face.
He extended his hand and grasped Madara's forearm.
"Welcome aboard, Madara!"
Suzaku grinned.
"Let's turn this world upside down together!"
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