"You beast… you've truly angered me!"
Uchiha Madara stood within the crystal on the forehead of his Complete Susanoo, his Mangekyō Sharingan sweeping across the trembling Three-Tails below, whose entire body quivered in terror.
"Let me show you what true divine power is."
Madara's voice was calm and steady, as though he were simply stating a fact.
The colossal body of the Complete Susanoo began to move.
Its massive arms, clad in deep-blue armor, slowly lifted upward, fingers curling around the hilt of the enormous blade at its waist.
Clang—!
The blue giant drew its sword from its sheath.
Even that simple motion released an oppressive aura greater than the Tailed Beast Bomb the Three-Tails had just fired moments ago.
The Three-Tails felt an overwhelming sense of doom descend upon it, but its body refused to move, paralyzed by fear.
Before Uchiha Madara's will, even fleeing was an unattainable luxury.
Now, it regretted firing that Tailed Beast Bomb more than anything else…
If it had canceled the attack in time, perhaps things wouldn't have turned out like this.
The blue giant gripped the sword with both hands, raising it high overhead.
The motion seemed slow, yet the sheer pressure behind it locked firmly onto the Three-Tails.
In the next instant, the great blade came crashing down.
No technique. No flourish. Only pure, absolute, overwhelming power!
The Three-Tails looked up at the descending blade in despair—and for a fleeting moment, it almost saw the Sage of Six Paths himself, waving toward it.
Old man… I'm coming to see you…
Under that devastating strike, the poor Three-Tails was cleaved cleanly in two.
The ground beneath it split open, leaving a massive, bottomless ravine.
Its enormous body was utterly destroyed and disintegrated under the blow.
A tailed beast was a mass of chakra—it could never truly die. But when its physical form was annihilated, it would take a long time for its chakra to reform somewhere in the world.
The blue giant slowly sheathed its sword, then crossed its arms once more, as if it had merely done something trivial.
"Pathetic."
Madara's cold voice echoed as he released his Complete Susanoo.
"Way too overpowered! That's just way too overpowered!"
Renya stared blankly at the massive chasm before him, utterly stunned by the world-shattering power he'd just witnessed.
It was the first time he'd truly felt the terrifying might of Uchiha Madara.
That Complete Susanoo alone… was more power than he could ever hope to achieve in a lifetime.
Even if he burned out his Mangekyō completely, he could never manifest one of that scale.
A Susanoo fifty meters tall was already enough to push his eyes to the brink of blindness.
His ocular power was simply too limited.
As expected of Uchiha Madara—the true Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan!
Looks like the plan to beat up Madara-sama will have to be delayed… by about ten years.
Renya's gaze instinctively drifted to Senju Hashirama beside him.
That guy was another walking cheat code!
Madara's strength was already absurd, yet Hashirama could still defeat him.
No wonder the two of them were able to end a thousand years of war.
Anyone who dared to oppose them probably had grass three meters tall growing over their graves by now.
Actually, scratch that—they probably didn't even get graves.
Once those two went all out, there wouldn't even be ashes left of their enemies!
"Renya, why are you looking at me like that?" Hashirama asked in confusion.
He couldn't understand why Renya was staring at him with such a strange expression.
"N-No reason." Renya shook his head quickly, suppressing his lingering shock.
"By the way, Renya," Hashirama said, "where did you get that Three-Tails?"
It was one thing that Renya had summoned the Three-Tails, but that thing had even fired a Tailed Beast Bomb—nearly killing all of them!
Seeing the wounded look in Hashirama-san's eyes, Renya scratched his head awkwardly.
"Madara-sama told me to go catch it…"
How was he supposed to know the Three-Tails had been charging a Tailed Beast Bomb back in the Land of Water?
If he'd known, he would never have used the summoning jutsu right away!
A point-blank Tailed Beast Bomb—who could've reacted to that in time?
Even Madara himself had to use a Susanoo skeleton to block it!
"Why did Madara tell you to catch the Three-Tails?" Hashirama asked curiously. "And why did he just kill it?"
If Madara had asked Renya to capture the Three-Tails, why destroy it right after?
"Hashirama, you talk too much," Madara said with a cold snort.
No way was he going to admit that he'd killed the Three-Tails out of pure rage.
Better to keep silent—less chance of Hashirama finding out.
Besides, a tailed beast would revive eventually. Its death didn't affect the Eye of the Moon Plan at all.
When the Three-Tails revived, Renya could just catch it again.
"Oh," Hashirama murmured, dropping the subject wisely.
He knew that when his best friend didn't want to talk, pressing further was useless.
"Madara-sama, now that the Three-Tails is dead, are we still going to capture the other Tailed Beasts?" Renya asked expectantly.
Everyone knew that to summon the Ten-Tails, the chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts was required.
But with the Three-Tails gone, capturing the other eight was meaningless—they would have to wait until it reformed.
And that could take anywhere from three to ten years.
Naturally, Renya hoped it would take longer.
The longer it took, the older Madara would become… and when that time came, Renya could finally reveal the truth to him.
Otherwise, stopping Madara's plan would be nearly impossible.
Given Madara's current power, Renya was no match for him.
A regular Mangekyō couldn't possibly contend with the Eternal Mangekyō.
And Madara was close to awakening the Rinnegan—when that happened, Renya would stand no chance at all.
Only time could kill a legend.
Madara fell silent, lost in thought.
Without the Three-Tails, there was no point in hunting the others.
Rather than risk exposing themselves, it would be wiser to lay low and wait for the Three-Tails to return.
If he'd known this would happen, he wouldn't have killed it in the first place.
But who could've stayed calm after getting hit by a Tailed Beast Bomb right in the face? Anyone would've been furious!
If not for his quick reflexes, they would've been seriously injured—or worse.
He'd simply lost control and slaughtered the beast in his anger.
For now, the plan would have to be postponed.
"Forget it," Madara finally said. "We'll suspend the Tailed Beast capture plan for now."
Hearing that, Renya couldn't hide the joy on his face. Everything was going exactly as he'd hoped.
The Three-Tails dying was the best thing that could've happened!
He had no idea what had driven the beast to charge a Tailed Beast Bomb in the Land of Water, but it turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
The Three-Tails had died a meaningful death!
"Why do you two need to capture the Tailed Beasts anyway?" Hashirama asked, unable to hold back his curiosity.
The two hadn't even bothered to keep their conversation secret from him.
"Capturing the Tailed Beasts is an essential step in carrying out the plan," Madara replied bluntly this time.
No riddles, no evasions—he told his best friend straight out.
Might as well, so Hashirama would stop pestering him with questions.
Hashirama's expression darkened.
So Madara and Renya had already begun implementing their plan?
Still, thanks to the Three-Tails' death, it seemed they were putting it on hold for now.
A misfortune that had turned into a small blessing.
At least, for the time being, he didn't have to worry about Madara and Renya doing something that could destroy the entire shinobi world.