For Madara, all the actions and battles so far have only brought purely bad news.
After all, defeating Ruri is not something worth celebrating for him.
In his eyes, Ruri is merely a younger clan member whose will and ideals completely oppose his own.
To say it's worth celebrating to beat such a younger member is simply an insult to himself.
No, just being forced into this situation by a younger generation, even having his weapon taken away, can already be considered the greatest humiliation.
If he were in his prime, this level of Ninja wouldn't even qualify to catch his eye.
Regardless of the past or now, the only opponent he has ever acknowledged has always been one person.
That is the First Hokage, a man named Senju Hashirama.
Both an adversary and a close friend.
Even now, he has climbed to a higher realm by using the body of this opponent and friend.
Sitting in the new base, breathing softly, in a worse state than before, with sunken eyes and wrinkles on his face resembling dead, aged tree bark.
"As expected of Lord Madara, effortlessly thwarting the enemy's momentum. With this, we've managed to reverse the disadvantage on our side, haven't we?"
At this time, Afei recovered, his skin turning white, unlike the previous drained grayish-white color.
"Reverse disadvantage? Afei, are you joking with me?"
Madara turned his head, glancing at Afei, who was comforting himself.
"Uh? Lord Madara…"
"Up to now, almost all our trump cards have been exposed, if you call this reversing some disadvantage, Afei, I will redefine whether your brain has a problem."
In Madara's red Sharingan, a cold color appeared, his aura so intimidating and ruthless that it made Afei shiver.
"Haha, that, lord, Madara…"
Afei started retreating incoherently.
The feeling Madara gave him now was truly anger, not pretended calmness.
Could he directly beat him up into a pulp?
"Remember, Afei, this is your last chance. I only allow you to fail once."
"Y-Yes."
Afei bowed his head, cold sweat continuously streaming down his forehead.
It was the first time he experienced Madara's cold attitude.
"By the way, where's that White Zetsu just now?"
Afei hadn't noticed White Zetsu's figure who came back with him.
"Didn't notice that he got affected as well, but in that situation, it's hard for me to hold back. What, are you thinking of collecting his corpse?"
Madara calmly asked.
Afei dared not speak, too frightened to even breathe heavily.
If he dared to say anything displeasing, the outcome would definitely be flushed down the toilet into a pulp, no other outcome possible.
"Shall we retrieve all the 'tentacles' outside next?"
Afei referred to those White Zetsu who are gathering intelligence within the Five Great Nations.
"No need. Losing outside intelligence collection would make our situation more passive and would reveal our weakness. A declining king of the forest isn't worth fearing for the wolf packs, they'll only come more fiercely to tear at my blood and flesh."
Madara clearly knew his current predicament, the more it was like this, the less he can show weakness to outsiders, the consequences of doing so are severe.
The power he demonstrated previously should create a strong deterrent to buy himself time for respite.
This rare opportunity must be fully utilized to create a sense of awe in the enemy, even as a declining king of the forest still retaining formidable power, not to be casually challenged by anyone.
Therefore, maintaining the status quo is the best course of action.
People tend to retain some awe and fear towards the unknown existence.
Madara wanted to create this kind of vague image for the opponent's players hiding in shadows.
Mystery.
"Go. Don't let me down again this time."
After saying this, Madara closed his eyes.
"Yes."
Afei dared not linger here and quickly disappeared from Madara's sight, diving into the earth.
◎
In a high-end inn in town.
Ruri wrapped in a bath towel, hair piled up, lying in the hot spring, finally relaxing a bit.
Looking at the moon hanging in the night sky, she let out a long sigh.
"So that's the power of Susanoo…"
Recalling the legendary terrifying power witnessed in the underground cave, it still remains in her mind, replaying constantly.
It was excitement and joy she had never experienced before.
In the past, whether it be seeing Tailed Beasts or fighting with the Third Hokage, none could bring such joy derived from battle.
"Huh, seeing that power firsthand, how could my mood possibly calm down…"
Ruri's lips curled slightly, feeling happy without any sense of fear due to the strength of the enemy.
Instead, witnessing such power only made her more eager to expect surpassing the legend one day.
But she also profoundly understood one thing that, at present, no matter what, she cannot surpass that mountain.
Both means and strategies, in the face of such power, are utterly meaningless.
With these thoughts, Ruri got up directly from the pool and walked towards the changing room.
After getting dressed, she picked up the hard-earned spoils of the battle—Flame Circle Fan, and walked out of the changing room heading to the restaurant.