"Th..this is Uchiha Madara? He is terrifying!"
Hōzuki Mangetsu, still locked in battle with Kisame Hoshigaki, was drenched in cold sweat. The so called Uchiha Madara's strength was completely unreasonable.
That brief moment of distraction cost him.
Kisame slipped past his guard, forced him back with a single strike, and tore Samehada from his grasp.
Buzz!
Samehada trembled in Kisame's hand, as if it had finally returned home.
Kisame ran a hand along the blade, his shark like grin widening. "Miss me that much? Heh, good to see you too, Samehada."
He swung the blade onto his back with ease.
"Alright, Lord Madara, Samehada is back, we can leave now," Kisame called out casually to Obito Uchiha.
"Leave? Why the rush?"
A new voice suddenly cut through the air.
Everyone froze.
Their heads turned sharply toward the source of the sound.
A completely unfamiliar Mist shinobi stood among them.
No one had sensed his arrival.
That alone made it clear, this was no ordinary ninja.
"Kisame Hoshigaki, I came here for you."
The man spoke calmly, walking forward as if the battlefield meant nothing to him.
Yagura Karatachi, Mei Terumī, and the others looked on in confusion and disbelief.
Was this guy insane?
Had he not seen what kind of monster stood behind Kisame?
"Oh? You are looking for me?" Kisame tilted his head slightly, amused. "What do you want?"
The man stopped a few steps away.
It was Ryūjin Uchiha.
"To recruit you," Ryūjin said flatly. "I like how you fight. Work for me."
Silence fell.
Kisame paused.
Everyone else looked at him like he had lost his mind.
Recruiting someone right in front of Uchiha Madara?
"Appreciate it," Kisame replied, gripping Samehada again, "but I already serve Lord Madara."
Ryūjin glanced at Obito, his expression indifferent.
"That guy? Yeah right, he is not worth following."
The air seemed to freeze.
The others felt their scalps go numb.
Calling Uchiha Madara worthless to his face was not courage, it was insanity.
"Lord Madara, looks like someone does not respect you," Kisame said with a low chuckle, clearly entertained.
Then his expression turned cold.
"But I will deal with him first."
He stepped forward, Samehada raised high, chakra surging around him.
"Do it quickly," Obito said coldly, though his gaze remained fixed on Ryūjin.
There was something familiar about him.
Kisame moved.
Samehada came crashing down with brutal force.
But before the strike could land, Ryūjin's body shifted.
Sage Mode activated instantly.
Lightning exploded outward.
"Chidori Current!"
Crack, crack!
Electricity spread in all directions, forming a deadly web that engulfed Kisame completely.
His body stiffened.
Then he dropped.
Samehada slipped from his hand as he collapsed, twitching violently before going completely still.
One move.
Defeat.
"What kind of Lightning Release is that?"
Yagura and Mei both instinctively stepped back, shock written all over their faces.
That attack had completely overwhelmed Kisame.
Mei's eyes narrowed slightly.
This feeling...
She remembered.
That same overwhelming lightning.
The mysterious shinobi who had wiped out multiple Kaguya Clan members in an instant.
Could it really be him?
Obito's expression darkened.
Anyone who could take Kisame down this easily was not someone to ignore.
Still, lightning alone meant nothing to him.
He clapped his hands together.
"Wood Release!"
Crack, crack!
Massive wooden spikes erupted from the ground beneath Ryūjin, twisting upward to impale him.
But Ryūjin vanished.
Not dodged.
Gone.
A Flying Thunder God mark had already been placed. With a thought, he relocated instantly.
"Kamui."
No hesitation.
The moment he reappeared, Ryūjin activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Space warped.
A tearing sound echoed through the battlefield.
Crack!
"Agh! It hurts! My head!"
A strange, distorted scream rang out.
At the same time, the mask on "Uchiha Madara" shattered.
What appeared beneath it was not the face of a legend.
It was the face of a young man.
Half of it was damaged, twisted.
White, root like tendrils writhed across his body, squirming as if alive, letting out eerie cries.
The sight was grotesque.
"Uchiha Madara?"
Everyone stared in disbelief.
This was no Madara.
Not even close.
"You... it is you again!"
Obito Uchiha turned sharply, his face filled with anger and shock as he glared at Ryūjin.
In that instant, when his mask was destroyed, he had felt it clearly.
That space time distortion.
That power.
Kamui.
Even though Ryūjin looked different now, Obito knew.
There could not be a third person in the world with the same Mangekyō ability.
This man...
Was that Uchiha from Konoha.