On the battlefield, Hayashi looked down at Uchiha Madara.
In terms of sheer size, Hayashi's Perfect Susanoo stood roughly half a head taller than Madara's.
Madara's, however, possessed four arms and two faces, giving it an even more fearsome appearance.
That slight difference meant nothing.
This was a clash between two warriors at the absolute peak.
Madara's shorter Susanoo drew its pair of wavy, tapered swords, while Hayashi's Susanoo casually tore free its enormous spiral blade.
The four-armed Perfect Susanoo leaped into the sky.
Hayashi gripped the massive spiral sword, spread his Susanoo's wings, and descended from above.
Neither of them relied on elaborate techniques.
They chose the simplest and most direct approach.
A head-on collision.
Madara's twin blades slammed into Hayashi's Susanoo, grinding against its chest armor inch by inch.
At the same time, Hayashi's spiral sword pierced Madara's armor, driving more than a meter into its chest before shattering under the immense force.
The three colossal chakra weapons disintegrated into clouds of chakra.
The two towering giants immediately abandoned their swords.
Left fist met right fist.
The collision shook the heavens.
For a brief instant, both Perfect Susanoo remained completely motionless, as though the laws of physics themselves had frozen.
Only the crimson armor hanging from Madara's Susanoo and the cloak worn by Hayashi's Susanoo rippled violently in the shockwave.
Madara's numerical advantage soon became apparent.
After their first exchange, the remaining three arms of his Susanoo struck in rapid succession, unleashing a relentless barrage of punches.
Forced onto the defensive, Hayashi quickly formed hand seals.
Wood Release erupted.
Using both Wood Release and Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation, enormous wooden arms emerged from the battlefield and intercepted Madara's attacks, meeting fist with fist.
The earth trembled violently for miles in every direction.
Clouds churned overhead as devastating shockwaves spread across the battlefield.
Madara's Susanoo landed heavily on the ground.
The instant it stabilized, another punch shot toward Hayashi.
This attack was completely different.
To ordinary eyes, it appeared to be a single strike.
But through Hayashi's Rinnegan, the truth was obvious.
Four Perfect Susanoo were charging toward him simultaneously.
Madara's Rinnegan possessed the unique ability known as Limbo: Border Jail.
It created invisible shadow clones that existed in a separate plane.
These shadows could defend the original body or launch surprise attacks, and each possessed strength equal to Madara himself.
During the Fourth Great Ninja War, after Madara regained his own Rinnegan, a single use of Limbo: Border Jail had effortlessly overwhelmed the Nine Tailed Beasts.
Its terrifying power spoke for itself.
More importantly, those Limbo shadows could also manifest Perfect Susanoo.
Each Perfect Susanoo possessed the power to devastate the world.
Now there were four.
The four colossal warriors surrounded Hayashi from every direction.
Originally, Madara had possessed four Limbo shadows.
One had already been sealed by Hayashi using Wind Release: Magnet Release Rasenshuriken, leaving only three.
Even so, together with Madara's original body, they were more than enough.
Madara spoke coldly.
"Limbo: Susanoo: Hell."
Sixteen colossal fists moved at once.
An overwhelming barrage of fist aura erupted into the sky, ripping countless massive earth dragons from the ground as they surged toward Hayashi.
Hayashi's Susanoo spread its wings and took flight.
Crossing his arms before his chest, Hayashi formed another series of hand seals.
Wood Dragons burst forth one after another, twisting through the battlefield to intercept the incoming attacks.
Using the combination of Snake Sage Mode, Sage Art: Inorganic Reincarnation, and Wood Release, Hayashi successfully blocked the endless storm of fist aura.
But there was no pause.
Several enormous earth dragons formed from sand and stone charged through the opening, each infused with Sage Art Lightning Release.
Standing within his Susanoo's forehead, Hayashi formed another seal.
A Scorch Release Rasenshuriken shot forward and slammed into the neck of one earth dragon.
The giant construct exploded into a rain of sand.
Immediately afterward, Madara unleashed Sage Art: Great Fire Annihilation.
He never stopped advancing.
Step by step, he walked across the battlefield while his Susanoo continuously launched devastating punches toward the sky.
Blue fist aura, massive earth dragons, and countless Six Paths Sage Arts combined into an uninterrupted torrent of destruction aimed at Hayashi's airborne Susanoo.
Hayashi inhaled deeply.
His Rinnegan shone brilliantly.
A dense crimson chakra, carrying an overwhelming aura of violence, emerged from the center of his forehead.
Tailed Beast Chakra spilled from his body.
It swirled around him as though living beasts were circling their master.
Moments later, the gigantic form of the Nine Tails materialized around his Susanoo.
The fox wore Susanoo armor.
Behind it, nine massive tails of different forms spread across the sky.
"Majestic Attire: Susanoo."
"Tailed Beast Fusion."
The nine tails merged into one before separating again, sweeping across the battlefield like countless blooming flowers.
The spectacular battle continued for nearly half an hour.
The battlefield itself expanded by more than ten miles.
Everything in its path was reduced to ruins.
Far from the fighting, the Shinobi Allied Forces had already become numb to the sight.
Each stage of this war had surpassed the last.
Compared to the battle before them, the exchanges of C-rank and B-rank ninjutsu between ordinary shinobi felt almost laughable.
Despite their shock, no one dared stop retreating.
The invisible shockwaves alone were enough to kill.
Even as they withdrew, they could not resist turning back again and again to witness the battle unfolding in the distance.
Black Zetsu silently observed everything.
For over a thousand years, he had never witnessed a battle on this scale.
Even the legendary conflict between Indra and Asura had not reached this level.
Neither of them had possessed the Rinnegan.
Watching the immense battlefield carved apart by human power, Black Zetsu muttered to himself,
"Hayashi awakened the Rinnegan without anyone noticing."
"He also possesses Tailed Beast Chakra, and even I failed to detect it."
"That disturbance on the moon... it must have something to do with him."
A trace of frustration crossed his expression.
"Damn it."
"It looks like Uchiha Madara is going to lose."
Black Zetsu had always prepared multiple plans to resurrect Kaguya.
If Madara failed, then another plan would have to take his place.
With that thought, his body slowly sank into the earth.
He no longer paid attention to the battle.
The outcome unfolded exactly as he had expected.
Madara unleashed the full might of Limbo: Border Jail.
He summoned multiple Perfect Susanoo.
He combined them with Six Paths Sage Arts and countless powerful ninjutsu, executing flawless combinations without leaving an opening.
Even so...
Hayashi blocked every seemingly endless assault.
Most importantly, Hayashi's Rinnegan allowed him to perceive every Limbo shadow.
Madara, meanwhile, still had no idea what Hayashi's own Rinnegan ability was.
Hayashi still possessed an unrevealed trump card.
Madara disliked that feeling immensely.
It reminded him of fighting Hashirama.
Back then, no matter what technique he used, Hashirama always seemed to have the perfect answer waiting.
Madara slowly narrowed his eyes.
"In that case..."
"This will be my strongest attack."
His hands blurred as he rapidly formed seals.
His two-faced, four-armed Perfect Susanoo mirrored the movements, though its hand seals differed from his own.
At the same time, the three Limbo shadows and their Perfect Susanoo began forming seals as well.
Madara's expression turned completely cold.
"Sage Art: Limbo: Thunder Cage Border Jail: Heaven Drop!"
=≠=
Want to read ahead?
Get access to chapters before they are released on Webnovel through Patreon.
Patreon: _Zeph