When Obito arrived, he found Madara thoroughly enjoying himself. The old man was clearly having the time of his life.
Moments later, a vast sea of flames forced Obito out of the battlefield. All he could do was watch as the two colossal figures soared into the sky, leaving him standing helplessly on the ground.
The first time Susanoo is awakened, both Mangekyō Sharingan are required—that's the initial condition. Once that requirement has been met, however, it no longer matters. A single eye, or even no eyes at all, is enough to use it, provided the user has sufficient chakra.
When Obito awakened his Mangekyō, he only had one eye. The other was still with Kakashi.
Even so, throughout all these years, he'd never once considered taking it back. It was the gift he'd given Kakashi to celebrate his promotion to jōnin—a symbol of the friendship they once shared.
When it came to Kakashi... Obito had genuinely cared about him.
It wasn't long before Kakashi tracked him down.
"Obito, don't keep making the wrong choices. Come back to Konohagakure with me. Sensei will forgive you."
"Kakashi... what kind of idiotic nonsense are you talking about? There's no way I'm ever going back to that rotten, boring village."
"If... if you're doing all this to avenge Rin... then kill me. Rin... she... I was the one who killed her."
"I know. I was there. I watched you drive Chidori straight through Rin's heart."
At that moment, Kakashi finally understood part of the truth.
"So... those Kirigakure ANBU were all killed by you, weren't they? Then why didn't you kill me too?"
Obito sneered.
"Because you're worthless. You weren't even worth killing. Do you really think everything I've done all these years was just to avenge Rin?
"No, Kakashi. You're wrong. Revenge is meaningless. Even if Rin came back to life, what would it change? As long as the rules governing the shinobi world remain the same, Rin's tragedy will never truly end."
"So that's what you believe now... Then what's your ultimate goal?"
"You think I'm still the same idiot I used to be? I'm not stupid enough to tell you. Instead of worrying about that, maybe you should worry about the fire. If no one stops it, your precious Konohagakure is about to burn down."
Kakashi didn't even spare the spreading forest fire a glance. His eyes remained fixed solely on Obito.
He believed someone else would take care of the flames.
Sure enough, before the inferno could spread any farther, the surrounding forest suddenly burst into life. Trees grew at a speed that completely defied all common sense, pushing the sea of flames back.
The earth itself rolled over to smother the fire. Charred ground was buried beneath fresh soil. Towering trees erupted from the earth, restoring the forest, and even the grass beneath them sprang back to life.
It was as though the inferno had never existed.
Obito immediately recognized it as Wood Release.
It couldn't have been Yamato—he was already on the front lines.
That left only one possibility.
Higashino Makoto had stepped in.
The only question was whether the one in Konohagakure was his original body or just another clone.
Although Obito knew Makoto had, for some unknown reason, chosen not to interfere with his plans, he had absolutely no desire to face that bastard.
The guy was a damn monster.
Just thinking about him gave Obito a headache.
He had to get out of Konohagakure immediately.
Without hesitation, Obito activated Kamui to escape.
Through the reaction of his left eye, Kakashi sensed his intentions instantly. But instead of stopping him, he flashed forward with the Body Flicker Technique and allowed himself to be pulled into the Kamui dimension alongside Obito.
He couldn't let Obito escape.
Besides, he wanted to study the full capabilities of Obito's Mangekyō.
Inside the Kamui dimension, the two began their fated battle.
But Obito's overall abilities simply weren't on the same level as Kakashi's.
The Kakashi of this world had never earned the nickname "Mr. Fifty-Fifty." Even without entering the second stage of Standard Sage Mode, his extraordinary combat instincts and the physical enhancements gained through training with natural energy were enough for him to overwhelm Obito just as he had in the past.
He beat him into the ground without mercy.
Obito: "..."
What the hell...? I got beaten before I awakened my Sharingan... and now I've awakened the Mangekyō and I'm still getting my ass kicked? Then what the fuck was the point of awakening these eyes?!
...
High above the battlefield, the clash between the two Perfect Susanoo continued.
Every collision thundered across the land like bolts of lightning on a clear day, shaking the heavens with deafening roars.
Outside Konohagakure, the villagers looked up at the sky.
They couldn't see anything.
Yet the unease weighing on their hearts refused to fade.
At this point, Shisui was at a severe disadvantage.
Even after entering Constant Sage Mode, he was still no match for his clan's former leader.
Madara hadn't even needed to use the Rinnegan.
His eyes had remained in their Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan state the entire time.
Madara also had the advantage of being in an Impure World Reincarnation body. He had no need to worry about chakra consumption, nor did he care about the collateral damage their battle unleashed on the ground below.
Shisui, however, was different.
He was still alive. No matter how vast his chakra reserves were, they were still finite. On top of that, he had to constantly neutralize the destructive shockwaves from their clash.
Even though they were fighting high in the sky, the destructive power of a Perfect Susanoo far exceeded anything he had imagined. The slightest stray blast reaching the ground could carve out a massive crater.
If anyone happened to be nearby, they would be obliterated without leaving so much as a trace.
Madara didn't care.
Shisui couldn't accept innocent people dying because of his battle.
The problem was that the area surrounding Konohagakure was filled with towns and villages.
To ordinary people in the shinobi world, battles between beings like these were utterly hopeless.
A single careless swing from a Perfect Susanoo's blade could wipe an entire town of several thousand people off the map in an instant.
Those people would die without ever knowing which "godlike being" had brought about their end.
After yet another exchange of fists and weapons, Shisui's Susanoo was covered in countless cracks.
He didn't even bother wasting chakra to repair them.
As Madara charged at him once more, Shisui realized he could no longer afford to meet him head-on.
His Susanoo raised its massive spiral sword and unleashed a barrage of magatama-shaped chakra projectiles.
Yasaka Magatama!
Madara didn't even try to dodge.
His Susanoo folded its wings in front of itself and took every single attack head-on.
A series of earth-shattering explosions echoed through the sky.
Yet they achieved exactly what one would expect.
Lots of smoke.
No damage.
The universal law of "if there's smoke, there's no injury" was still in full effect.
Madara spread his Susanoo's wings once again and hovered in the air as he looked at Shisui.
"Young Uchiha... I acknowledge your strength."
"It would be a waste for someone like you to die. How about it? Join me. Together we'll reshape this world and correct Hashirama's mistakes."
Shisui answered without hesitation.
"The First Hokage-sama made no mistake. You're the one who strayed into evil. You betrayed Konohagakure. You betrayed the clan.
"The clan has only just managed to repair its relationship with the village. I will never allow anyone to destroy that."
"Fool."
Madara wasn't angry.
For someone as proud as he was, extending an invitation—and even bothering to explain himself—was already an extraordinary concession.
Since Shisui had refused, and was clearly poisoned by Konohagakure's Will of Fire, Madara had no reason to hold back.
To him, the concept of kinship had long since ceased to exist.
Madara's Susanoo raised its weapon and brought it crashing down toward Shisui.
Shisui was just about to lift his spiral sword to block it—
Then he suddenly stopped.
He abandoned all resistance, as though resigning himself to his fate.
Yet just before Madara's blade reached the true body inside Shisui's Susanoo...
It came to an abrupt halt.
Beneath the enormous blade stood a lone figure, tiny compared to a Perfect Susanoo.
With one hand raised, Makoto had stopped the weapon.
The two never actually made contact.
Makoto had halted it entirely through his control over repulsive force.
Catching a Perfect Susanoo's sword barehanded?
Only an idiot would do something like that.
Showing off was one thing, but there was no point flexing so hard that you ended up embarrassing yourself.
"So?" Makoto asked. "Had enough fun yet?"
Shisui gave a wry smile.
"It wasn't bad. I just didn't expect a Perfect Susanoo to unleash that much raw power. I almost dragged the nearby civilians into it."
"Don't worry. I've been watching the whole time. I wasn't about to let something like that happen."
Madara withdrew his weapon and looked proudly at the newcomer.
"So... you're Higashino Makoto of Konohagakure. The so-called second God of Shinobi after Hashirama?"
Makoto looked curiously at the man before him—
The Shura of the Shinobi World...
The Battlefield Rose...
Konoha's Dancing King...
One of Konohagakure's founders...
Senju Hashirama's soulmate...
The man had so many titles there wasn't enough room in the sky to fit them all.
"That's me," Makoto replied. "Madara-senpai, I've heard your name for a long time. I didn't expect the first thing I'd see after arriving would be you beating up Shisui. Did you just get back from the Pure Land in a bad mood?"
Madara ignored the jab and asked instead, "Are you the original... or a clone?"
"My apologies. Things are quite busy on the front lines, so the one staying in Konohagakure is only a clone."
"How disappointing."
Madara's voice dripped with contempt.
"So this so-called second God of Shinobi is nothing more than an arrogant fool. You dare face me with nothing but a clone? Ignorant brat... you don't measure up to even a fraction of Hashirama."
With those words, Madara brought his blade crashing down once more, intending to cut down both Makoto's clone and Shisui in a single strike.