The moment Madara leapt out from the sea and rose into the sky, the wounds on his body had fully healed. Only his tattered clothing continued to flap in the wind.
"What a monstrous physique!"
Kizaru's pupils contracted as he transformed into golden light and shot straight downward.
He knew this opponent wasn't easy to deal with, but relying on his speed advantage, he felt no fear.
Madara's expression became even more detached in that instant, while his eyes radiated intense battle intent. The Rinnegan glinted coldly as he suddenly raised both hands and began to form hand seals.
"Fire Style- Dragon Flame Song Technique!"
He took a deep breath, then spewed forth crimson fire dragons. Four of them, roaring and howling, surged from all four directions - up, down, left, and right, toward Kizaru.
The searing heat and blazing red light caused white steam to rise from the sea below. In an instant, the dragons surrounded Kizaru.
"What is this?!" Kizaru, speeding forward, was forced to a sudden stop, shocked to find the crimson fire dragons bearing down on him. Even more horrifying, there was nowhere to dodge!
"BOOM!!"
In the blink of an eye, the four fire dragons swallowed Kizaru whole, engulfing him in a sea of flames.
Madara paused mid-air, staring coldly at the inferno before him, his eyes sharp and icy.
"Whoosh!"
Three seconds later, a golden beam burst from the flames and shot straight at Madara.
"Light-speed Kick!"
The beam dragged the light behind it, moving at absolute speed, reaching Madara instantly with a vicious kick.
Madara's expression remained calm. He raised a fan to block in front of him.
"Uchiha Rebound!"
The force of the light-speed attack exploded onto the fan, but the strange weapon absorbed it entirely and redirected it as a blast of wind, sending the energy crashing back the way it came.
Visibly, Kizaru's form began to destabilize under the force, collapsing into countless motes of light that dispersed and vanished.
"Using the same move on me? You must have a death wish." Madara said coldly.
But the scattered golden lights suddenly froze in mid-air and reformed into Kizaru's body. His expression had turned solemn. Eyes narrowing, he vanished in a flash.
"Soru!" (Shave)
At the same time, Madara also formed a hand seal and disappeared.
"Body Flicker Technique!"
In that instant, both men engaged in a super high-speed duel. They reappeared elsewhere in the sky and crashed together violently.
"Boom!"
A tremendous shockwave burst out, warping the air pressure at high altitude and forming a concave distortion zone.
In the next moment, golden light scattered in all directions. Madara quickly retreated and spun his right elbow backward for a strike.
"Buzz!"
His powerful blow clashed again with Kizaru's light-speed kick. The resulting surge of energy caused another massive shockwave to ripple outward.
"Totsuka-no-Tsurugi!" (Heavenly Sword of Gathering Clouds)
Kizaru quickly pulled back. His hands came together, and a long golden sword of light appeared.
In the next second, his body refracted several times, appearing above Madara's head, and slashed downward.
"Shinra Tensei!" (Almighty Push) Madara looked up suddenly and spoke coldly.
An invisible repulsive force exploded outward. The powerful slash from the Totsuka-no-Tsurugi was halted outside the force field. As the two forces clashed, sparks flew, and Kizaru's expression changed slightly.
But just as the repulsion and the sword collided, Kizaru saw something shocking, a hand reached through the repulsion barrier and grabbed his arm.
"What--?!"
Madara, standing mid-air, locked his gaze with Kizaru and shouted coldly:
"Got you!"
Kizaru's face changed drastically. He hadn't expected that Madara could catch him even in the brief moment between his elemental light form and solidification. It was utterly shocking.
This was nearly impossible! The interval during elemental transformation was incredibly brief, almost negligible. Even for top-tier experts, seizing that sliver of vulnerability was extremely difficult.
Against an opponent who didn't possess Busoshoku Haki (Armament Haki), Kizaru normally held a huge advantage. But what shocked him was that Madara could even exploit this tiny opening!
"Elemental Form!"
Shocked, Kizaru's body began to emit golden light.
In a battle between masters, being physically restrained by the opponent was dangerously lethal, he knew that from experience. Unless absolutely necessary, he would never give the enemy such an opening.
But just as the golden light began to flow and his arm was about to shift into elemental form,
"Banshō Ten'in!" (Universal Pull)
The repulsion from before faded, replaced suddenly by a terrifying gravitational force.
"Impossible?!"
Kizaru's expression changed drastically. The golden light on his arm actually began to reverse, and under that strange gravitational pull, the glow vanished, his solid form was forcibly revealed.
"Whoosh!"
Madara, acting decisively, grabbed him and swung him up like a ragdoll. The sheer force of it gave Kizaru no chance to resist.
Madara clenched his fist tightly.
"Monster Strength Punch!"
The punch flew straight toward Kizaru's face.
"Boom!"
A deep, dull thud rang out. Kizaru's mind blanked. His face twisted grotesquely under the impact. The hard fist slammed into his cheek, cratering the skin.
"Crack!"
A crisp sound of bone shattering followed. Intense pain surged into Kizaru's brain, he immediately knew that his cheekbone had been smashed.
But it wasn't over. The fist scraped across his face, tearing open skin and leaving behind bloody streaks, before crashing brutally into his teeth.
Then,
Kizaru's head spun violently as he was flung away, spiraling through the air.
Three teeth flew out of his mouth, Madara's punch had literally knocked his teeth out.
Tumbling through the air, Kizaru finally managed to halt his descent just before hitting the ocean. Golden light burst from his entire body once more.
At that moment, the left side of his face was burning hot. He tried to speak, but air leaked through his mouth. His ear buzzed loudly with ringing, and his head was spinning, the blow had dropped him to his weakest state.
That punch nearly caved in his skull.
"This guy…!"
Kizaru's heart was filled with grim dread.
To be caught during such a minuscule, almost imperceptible instant, and then subjected to a devastating counterstrike? This enemy before him was terrifying!
And this was before he'd even used Haki!
If he had…
Kizaru dared not continue the thought. He shook his head and forced himself to stay conscious, gritting his teeth and preparing to attack again.
But just then, Madara's eyes, while standing mid-air, rotated, and transformed into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
"Susanoo!"
An overwhelming surge of Chakra erupted, distorting the air around him. Blue energy currents and steam exploded from behind him, radiating in violent arcs.
Fine blue outlines rapidly drew themselves behind him, twisting and coiling, racing to form the outline of a colossal, armored warrior.
Madara folded his arms as the massive Susanoo let out a thunderous roar, then launched a brutal assault toward Kizaru below.
Its gigantic body suddenly pivoted mid-air. With a mighty stomp off the massive moon overhead, it accelerated downward in a terrifying dive.
Kizaru, witnessing all this, was completely stunned.
"What is that?!"
The Susanoo descended, enveloped in violent wind pressure and a terrifying aura, then swung its sword downward.
Kizaru blinked away just in time to avoid the slash.
Where the blade fell, the churning ocean surface was split open, leaving behind a massive, yawning chasm.
(End of Chapter)
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