Chapter 258: What's Concentrated Is the Essence
The two Perfect Susanoo clashed back and forth, their battle completely annihilating everything within dozens of kilometers.
Yet neither could decisively overcome the other.
Blades capable of easily severing mountain peaks left only fleeting scars when striking the crimson Susanoo.
Thrusts that could casually pierce the skies created only meter-wide holes when impaling the blue Susanoo.
After another ineffective attack, Madara decisively withdrew, regarding Yasushi with appreciative eyes.
"Excellent. Your performance is flawless."
"It seems I'll need even more chakra to breach your defense!"
While speaking, Madara formed hand seals and clapped into empty air. Summoning arrays composed of glowing runes unfolded in midair.
"Come forth, my Nine-Tails!"
A gentle breeze passed. His summoning formation remained utterly empty—not even a single Nine-Tails hair appeared.
"Hahaha..." Yasushi across from him burst into wild laughter, pointing at Madara mockingly: "Madara, I forgot to tell you—the Nine-Tails is dead! It hasn't resurrected yet!"
"Is that so?" Madara straightened without the slightest embarrassment. His gaze shifted, landing on Shukaku observing the battle from a distance.
"Without the Nine-Tails, the One-Tail will suffice."
"Come here, little tanuki!"
Light flashed in Madara's Rinnegan. Shukaku's eyes likewise transformed into spiral patterns. It walked woodenly toward him.
Madara strode forward, reaching Shukaku's side. He pressed one hand against the Tailed Beast's body. The chakra armor covering his Perfect Susanoo detached like shedding skin, transforming into energy blocks that gradually covered Shukaku's form through his enormous hand.
In the blink of an eye, the blue Perfect Susanoo vanished. In its place appeared a colossal tanuki wearing energy armor.
The tengu-style mask from the blue Susanoo settled atop Shukaku's head, covering it completely.
Madara stood at the mask's center, looking up toward Yasushi.
"Hahaha..." Yasushi suddenly pointed at Madara, laughing uproariously. "Madara, why are you shrinking as the fight continues?"
"Your form was so massive just moments ago. How'd you become a little dwarf?"
In terms of size, the Perfect Susanoo's height far exceeded Tailed Beasts. Though Madara's power increased by draping Susanoo over Shukaku, his overall size had diminished considerably.
"Hmph!" Madara crossed his arms, completely unfazed by Yasushi's mockery. Instead, he sneered a warning: "Boy, don't say I didn't warn you—what's concentrated is the essence."
"Susanoo's power isn't determined by height but by the chakra quantity infused."
"The more chakra infused, the stronger Susanoo's offense and defense."
"And Armored Susanoo's power far exceeds Perfect Susanoo."
"Hahaha..." Yasushi continued laughing loudly, but oil paint-like shadows suddenly appeared at his eye corners, brow tips, and across his cheeks.
"Since you've revealed another trump card, naturally I must raise the stakes as well!"
As Yasushi spoke, strange runes surged from his body, merging into the crimson Susanoo—adorning it like tattooed patterns.
"That appearance... Is it Sage Mode like Hashirama's?"
Madara's sharp gaze immediately identified the key change. His interest in Yasushi's capabilities intensified.
"Come! Let me witness your Sage Mode's true power."
Madara's body bent slightly, one hand positioned as though grasping a sword hilt.
Clouds descended suddenly with his movement. Fragmented chakra energy arcs danced between his fingertips. The air filled with suffocating tension portending imminent storm.
His Armored Susanoo below likewise sheathed its left blade, drawing its right blade back—mirroring his drawing stance.
Water-like luster rippled across the deep blue chakra armor. Shukaku's earthen-yellow chakra surged through the armor's gaps.
The scabbard and blade edge grinding together produced dragon-like roars. Gravel within a hundred-meter radius defied gravity, floating upward.
On Yasushi's side, the crimson Susanoo stood with feet positioned forward and back, gripping the spear at its waist while bending at the waist—likewise gathering power.
Sage Mode chakra flowed from the crimson Susanoo's body toward the spear tip, condensing into blinding golden radiance. The earth beneath cracked silently into spiderweb patterns of deep fissures.
The battlefield immediately fell silent. Air ceased flowing. Dust descended slowly.
Time lost its measure in this moment. Scattered dust froze like crystalline amber. Only two auras climbing toward their peaks continuously collided in the void, sparking intermittent flashes.
Even the chaotic chakra currents generated by fierce combat slowed, as though fearing to disturb the decisive strike of both combatants.
After a moment of profound silence, both simultaneously roared, explosively unleashing their attacks.
Madara's slash transformed into blue lightning. Yasushi's charging spear thrust evolved into a golden tempest sweeping the plains.
In an instant, their attacks crossed paths, striking each other's bodies.
Tremendous energy collided together. First came absolute deathly silence—then an explosion like divine war drums.
As though heaven and earth shattered, blinding white light instantly enveloped the entire field. Ear-splitting roars threatened to tear souls from bodies.
Within the intense light, crimson and blue Susanoo armor fragments could faintly be seen scattering through the air. Each piece carried force sufficient to level mountains, carving bottomless trenches across the ground.
Behind both Susanoo, canyons spanning the battlefield were forming.
The collision-generated shockwave expanded outward in rings. Where it passed, rock strata churned like waves. Everything was destroyed and swept away.
Both sides' expressions turned deathly pale. Hashirama had no choice but to intervene, once again summoning Wood Release forests as buffers to barely protect the Konoha shinobi behind him.
Takumi Village suffered worse. Relying purely on Seimei's chakra absorption ability, they barely prevented the village behind them from total destruction.
But the boulders and trees mixed within the storm couldn't be absorbed. He could only allow those physical objects to crash into the village, leaving it completely devastated.
"Too absurd! We deliberately chose a battlefield dozens of kilometers away. How did we unknowingly get pushed back here again?"
Seimei sweated profusely, expression tense, terrified Yasushi might lose.
He'd just been resurrected—he definitely didn't want to immediately return to the Pure Land.
Everyone watched the battlefield's center tensely, eager to know who would claim ultimate victory.
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