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"Mr. Madara, I know you're furious right now—but please, don't be. Our battle was destined from the very beginning. If you think of it that way, doesn't it feel a little better?"
The words that came out of Rose's mouth were enough to almost make Madara Uchiha snap.
"Destined? You've got some nerve saying that!" Madara's anger twisted into a dangerous grin. The blue arm of his Susanoo gripped its sheathed blade, chakra humming violently until the sheath itself turned into a glowing blue katana.
With a sharp swing, the massive blade came crashing down toward Rose.
"Still not ready to give up, Mr. Madara?" she asked lightly.
The air rippled with violent chakra as the sword flashed down—
But just before it could slice her in half, Rose's figure vanished with a soft whoosh.
A heartbeat later, she landed gracefully on the back of the very blade that had just tried to cut her.
Even though Susanoo's movements were blindingly fast, she stood perfectly still on its edge, not even swaying.
"As expected of the Uchiha's legendary Susanoo. Great attack power, and honestly, pretty good style points too."
She paused, her tone suddenly shifting. "But I wonder… how's the defense?"
Her figure blurred again, darting straight toward Madara, who sat within the fully formed Susanoo.
Feeling danger close in, Madara quickly moved his Susanoo into a defensive stance.
One slash. Then another.
The twin blades of Susanoo danced faster and faster, but every time they came down, Rose slipped through the strikes by a hair's breadth. Her movements were infuriatingly close—almost taunting. Madara could feel his teeth grinding.
"Damn it, she's right there!"
Rose was closing in on Susanoo's forehead guard—the hardest, most well-protected part of the armor. Madara's hands flashed through a series of seals.
"Fire Style: Dragon Flame—"
"Too slow."
Her voice came from right in front of him.
Then came the sharp crack.
Crack!
Several jagged lines split across Susanoo's forehead protector.
"Not good."
Madara's expression darkened. He stopped his jutsu mid-way, his Rinnegan eyes blazing as he poured out every last drop of ocular power.
"Super—Shinra Tensei!"
A wave of repelling force erupted outward, focused entirely in front of him—
Boom!
At that exact moment, Susanoo's forehead guard shattered completely.
A monstrous shockwave exploded outward, smashing straight through the repulsion.
"This—this is impossible!"
The overwhelming air pressure crushed his Shinra Tensei instantly.
Gah!
Madara coughed up a mouthful of blood as the back of his complete Susanoo's head blew apart. His body was sent flying like a rag doll, tumbling through the air before slamming into the ground with bone-shaking force. The impact threw him rolling across the battlefield for hundreds of meters before he finally came to a stop, carving a shallow crater several meters wide.
"Cough… haah… cough—" Madara clutched his chest, blood dribbling from his mouth. His once-proud crimson armor was now cracked and scorched from the friction of his fall.
"The difference between us… is this big?"
He had never imagined that someone could just flick a finger, compress the air into a cannon of pure pressure, and obliterate his Susanoo—the same "strongest defense" hailed across generations of Uchiha.
If anyone had told him before that a full-body Susanoo could be blown apart that easily, he would've slapped them across the face on the spot.
But now…
"Cough…" Madara wiped the blood from his lips.
Thank goodness for Hashirama's cells. Without them, he probably wouldn't even be able to stand.
Total defeat.Not even a sliver of hope for victory.
Unless… unless he could truly master Hashirama's power, maybe—just maybe—there'd be a chance.
Dying in the arena didn't mean dying for real.
That was the one rule Madara had confirmed, and the only reason he'd gone all-out from the start.
Rose descended slowly from above, landing some distance away from him.
"Mr. Madara, are you ready to give up?" she asked calmly.
"Hmph. I, Madara Uchiha, have only ever known victory or defeat—never surrender!" He spat out the last bit of blood, straightened his back, and stood tall.
"I still have one last move. If you can take it head-on, I'll admit you're the strongest."
Rose smiled. "I'm not really into the whole 'strongest' thing, but… since you're asking so nicely, I guess I'll play along."
"I'll stay within your attack range. No teleporting away, promise. You can give it everything you've got." She gave him a reassuring look.
"That's… good." Madara's lips twitched into a prideful smirk.
Sure, maybe it was a little underhanded—but what choice did he have?
If she kept using that teleporting ability, even his biggest attacks would just swing at empty air. Like before, when she just jumped out of range and watched him struggle.
"Susanoo!"
Once again, the colossal blue warrior erupted around him.
"Oh? Falling back on Susanoo again? Trying to regain your pride where you lost it?" Rose said teasingly.
"Hmph. Enough talk. The real show starts now."
Madara pressed his hands together.
"Wood Style: Wood Human Technique!"
The ground shook violently. A moment later, a towering wooden giant rose from the earth, its body groaning like an ancient tree.
"Hashirama… lend me your strength!" Madara roared. "Susanoo—Beast Calamity Form!"
The blue chakra of Susanoo flowed outward, wrapping around the wooden giant like armor.
Rose watched the fusion form, the earth trembling under its weight. Her lips curved into a playful smile.
"Susanoo wrapped over a Wood Golem? Not bad. That's pretty creative."
"But… if I remember correctly, Mr. Madara, you don't know Sage Mode, do you?"
If memory served, Madara only got access to Sage Chakra after being reincarnated by Edo Tensei and stealing it from Hashirama.
"Hm? His life force… it's dropping fast."
"What is he doing?" Rose frowned slightly. She understood the basic rules of chakra, but the deeper mechanics were still a mystery to her.
Madara's black hair began to turn silver-white, his skin wrinkling visibly by the second.
"Arghhhh!"
The Susanoo-Wood Golem fusion stood complete—but Madara's life was draining away at a terrifying rate.
"This is my strongest technique—my ultimate form!"
The ground quaked harder and harder. Within a radius of several kilometers, the air itself grew heavy and distorted.
Madara brought his hands together again, gasping for breath.
"Sage Art—Beast Calamity: True Thousand Hands!"
"....."