The Adamantine Sealing Chains, infused with Sage chakra, each strike caused fine cracks to appear on the surface of the ordinary Susanoo.
Uchiha Madara's expression remained calm as ocular power rapidly surged from his Sharingan.
In an instant, two massive chakra blades appeared in Susanoo's hands.
Susanoo swiftly wielded the two long blades, blocking all the Adamantine Sealing Chains.
Uchiha Madara stomped on the ground, retreating backward to escape the attack range of the chains.
Seeing this, Yuto raised an eyebrow slightly.
Given Uchiha Madara's personality, he wouldn't refuse a fight.
The current situation suggested that Madara had come not only for Hashirama Senju but for other reasons as well.
"A battle without a victor holds no meaning to continue fighting."
After moving out of Yuto's attack range, Uchiha Madara crossed his arms and looked at Yuto calmly.
Yuto narrowed his eyes slightly, a cold smile on his face.
"If it's meaningless, then you have no reason to block my path here. Speak quickly, I have no interest in riddles with you."
Hearing Yuto's mocking words, Uchiha Madara didn't take offense and spoke indifferently.
"Amegakure."
Amegakure?
Yuto raised an eyebrow, the impatient look on his face fading somewhat.
"That little girl named Konan has been quite active lately. In that case, I'll leave Amegakure to you."
Uchiha Madara said in a flat tone.
A mere small village was nothing to Uchiha Madara.
A surprised look flashed deep in Yuto's eyes; he hadn't expected Madara to give up Amegakure, the Akatsuki's base, for Hashirama Senju.
As for calling Konan a little girl, Yuto didn't mind much. Given Madara's age, it wasn't wrong.
This meant Uchiha Madara was planning something soon.
"Not enough." Yuto still wore a cold smile, looking at Uchiha Madara calmly.
Uchiha Madara frowned, looking deeply at Yuto. "Your demand."
"The Demonic Statue of the Outer Path."
Yuto's lips curled slightly as he slowly spoke these four words.
Boom!
A sharp aura suddenly erupted from Uchiha Madara, his face showing undisguised killing intent as he stared at Yuto.
"Nagato? I should have destroyed his body back then."
"Yuto, do you really think I can't deal with you?"
Uchiha Madara looked at Yuto with an exceptionally cold expression.
In Madara's view, the information about the Demonic Statue had obviously been leaked to Yuto by Nagato.
Though Madara had schemed against Nagato, if Nagato wanted revenge and to realize his wish for peace, he would need the Demonic Statue's power.
So Madara hadn't expected Nagato to leak such important information about the Demonic Statue.
As for Nagato's sudden resurrection, Madara had already obtained specific information from White Zetsu.
Who would have thought that a small Sunagakure would invent a forbidden jutsu like "One's Own Life Reincarnation."
This forbidden jutsu was merely a one-for-one technique in others' hands, but under Yuto's special bloodline limit, it became a true resurrection jutsu.
However, there was a way to counter this jutsu - simply destroy the corpse.
"In that case, shall we fight again?" Yuto shrugged nonchalantly, a powerful aura beginning to rise from his body.
Uchiha Madara's expression grew darker; the Demonic Statue was his bottom line, and he wouldn't allow any problems with it.
The only thing Madara was relieved about was that Nagato only knew the Demonic Statue could devour the chakra of the nine tailed beasts to evolve into an ultimate weapon.
Two terrifying auras clashed in the air, making the surrounding area feel oppressive.
"I want a limb torn from the Demonic Statue."
At that moment, Yuto suddenly spoke again.
From the beginning, Yuto hadn't intended to take the complete Demonic Statue; without the Rinnegan, even if given to him, he couldn't use it.
Given Uchiha Madara's personality, if he had made this request initially, Madara would never have agreed, so Yuto started with an outrageous demand.
Sure enough, seeing Yuto back down, Madara's sharp aura paused.
"Acceptable."
Uchiha Madara was silent for a moment, then nodded.
Without hesitation, the Sharingan in his eyes evolved into the Rinnegan, and his hands quickly formed seals before slapping the ground.
Summoning Jutsu!
With a "boom," a humanoid creature with a withered wood-like body and nine eyes appeared before Yuto.
Yuto widened his eyes, looking at the Demonic Statue before him with a shocked expression.
This was Yuto's first time seeing the true Demonic Statue.
Though it looked like withered wood, Yuto could feel a surging vitality from the statue.
"Sure enough, the withered wood from Takigakure can't compare to the real Demonic Statue."
Yuto muttered to himself while looking at the statue.
Meanwhile, after summoning the Demonic Statue, Madara moved without pause, flashing to its feet.
Madara raised his arm and slashed at the Demonic Statue.
With a crisp sound, Madara cut a rectangular piece of withered wood about half a meter long from the statue.
Though this half-meter piece looked large, compared to the Demonic Statue's massive form, it was insignificant.
With a cold expression, Madara casually tossed the wood toward Yuto, saying:
"I hope you keep your word."
With that, white smoke rose, and Madara vanished along with the Demonic Statue.
Looking at the wood piece radiating special vitality, Yuto smiled.
He had thought it would take more effort, but it turned out simpler than expected.
What a pity!
Yuto raised his head to look toward Konoha, a hint of regret in his eyes.
Hashirama Senju, I'll leave your life alone for now.
Withdrawing his gaze, Yuto turned toward Kirigakure.
Three days passed since the deal with Uchiha Madara.
In a sparsely populated area on the southern edge of Kirigakure.
A small barrier covered the entire area, and Yuto was inside this barrier.
The barrier's purpose was to prevent Madara from leaving any traps on the wood.
During this time, Yuto had been studying the wood from the Demonic Statue he'd obtained from Madara.
Through the Asura incident, Yuto became increasingly convinced that strength was fundamental; strategy was merely auxiliary.
Moreover, as the one who attacked Asura, Yuto was certain Asura hadn't died.
If Asura, who never appeared in the original story, had emerged, then Indra or even the Sage of Six Paths might appear early - not impossible.
Asura and Indra were one thing; though terrifying in strength, they were merely chakra transmigrants, and even if resurrected, their power would surely be less than before.
But the Sage of Six Paths was too strange - dead for a thousand years yet still able to grant Yang and Yin powers to Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha.
Even stranger, this granted power could re-seal Kaguya Otsutsuki.
The Sage of Six Paths was dangerous; at least Yuto had no confidence against him now.
What gave Yuto a headache was that he had to face the Sage.
If Hashirama Senju's peace ideology was this world's orthodox thought, then Madara's ideas were wishful thinking.
Of course, regardless of how wishful Madara's ideas were, there were still supporters in this world, like Obito Uchiha.
As for Yuto's ideology of unifying the entire ninja world for peace, to Hashirama Senju and the Sage of Six Paths, this was likely heresy.
Against heresy, the correct response was to strike hard.
Yuto looked at the half-meter piece of wood, rare surprise and excitement in his eyes.
Three days had passed, yet the wood from the Demonic Statue still maintained its special vitality.
This was strange, but Yuto knew it came from the Ten-Tails' near-immortal nature.
Under Yuto's curious gaze, Shukaku's one-tail chakra slowly emerged from his body and poured into the wood.
The moment this violent tailed beast chakra appeared, it was absorbed by the half-meter wood.
After absorbing Shukaku's violent chakra, the wood's surface remained withered, but Yuto could clearly feel its aura had changed.
However, this change wasn't obvious.
Thinking of this, Yuto had a thought, and his chakra rapidly converted, the three-tails' chakra emerging.
With an expectant look, Yuto input the three-tails' chakra into the wood.
The mutually repulsive and violent tailed beast chakra became quiet once absorbed by the wood.
Seeing the wood's aura grow stronger after absorbing two tailed beast chakras without damage, Yuto smiled.
His hypothesis was correct!
Hey everyone,
I need to tell you what's actually happening.
I just got hit with mass cancellations. On top of being buried in academics until the 9th. I'm in deep financial trouble right now—like, genuinely don't-know-how-I-cover-next-month trouble.
I want to do more for you. I have another Naruto fic ready to drop the moment this academic hell ends. But I can't keep creating if I can't survive.
I'm not powerless about the work—I know I can deliver for you. But I'm powerless to stop the bleeding alone.
If you've ever thought about supporting, this is the moment. Not "someday." Now.
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