Uchiha Madara's expression shifted for an instant—then immediately returned to calm.
At that moment, the Dimensional Blade came slashing down amid the screech of metal being cut, striking Madara squarely in the forehead.
A faint cracking sound rang out.
Madara's forehead was pierced, fractures spreading outward as the tip of the blade plunged deep into his skull, on the verge of passing straight through his brain.
Yet at that very instant, something utterly unbelievable happened.
Madara twisted his head violently—
sacrificing half of his skull to evade the killing blow.
In the same breath, he broke free from the spatial stasis, surged forward, and delivered a crushing kick straight at Rokuro.
Bang!
At the critical moment, Rokuro forcibly released the space freeze. With no time to dodge, he crossed both arms in front of his body and barely managed to block Madara's heavy kick.
Rokuro was sent flying more than ten meters, smashing into a rock wall and collapsing it before finally coming to a stop.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
A sea of flames surged forward like a blazing ocean, leaving no room whatsoever to evade.
Rokuro slammed his palms together, forming two seals in rapid succession.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
A ring of water-nature chakra surged forth like a roaring river, forming a circular water barrier centered on Rokuro as it collided head-on with the incoming inferno.
Water and fire clashed violently.
The extreme heat instantly vaporized the water, filling the area within several hundred meters with dense, billowing steam.
Rokuro's eyes remained locked on the fog.
Suddenly, he ducked his head—barely avoiding a black rod.
Several more shot toward him at once.
Rokuro slapped both palms onto the ground, and a Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall rose up before him, blocking all the black rods in one motion.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Rokuro took a deep breath, his chest swelling several times over like an inflated balloon.
Then he exhaled violently.
A raging gale erupted from his mouth, instantly blowing away all the surrounding mist.
The moment the fog cleared, Rokuro spotted Uchiha Madara.
Madara stood atop a shattered stone slab, his hands clasped together as vast quantities of chakra surged from his body and flowed rapidly into the ground beneath his feet.
That familiar hand seal—
that chakra brimming with life—
Rokuro did not need to wait for the technique to fully manifest to know what it was.
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence!"
Towering trees—each thicker than a man—burst forth from the earth, surging toward Rokuro like monstrous serpents. Their sheer numbers were enough to give anyone with trypophobia an instant breakdown.
Rokuro wasted no words.
He directly summoned the Perfect Susanoo—
and in the same instant, unleashed a single draw-slash.
BOOM!!
The terrifying power of a blade that could cleave mountains erupted.
Madara leapt into the air, and in the very next moment, every single massive tree he had summoned was severed cleanly at the waist, exploding into countless fragments.
A rain of shattered wood fell from the sky.
Not only that—the surrounding terrain itself was completely reshaped, transforming from rolling hills into a vast, open plain.
Almost the instant Rokuro swung his blade—
Inside the Ninja Alliance's main command headquarters, the enormous sensory water sphere began to shake violently.
The entire command center trembled as well, as if struck by an earthquake.
"What's happening? What's going on, Inoichi?!"
Nara Shikaku's expression changed drastically.
"It's Uchiha Rokuro!" Yamanaka Inoichi replied urgently.
"With chakra output at this level—he's fighting using Perfect Susanoo!"
"What?! Clan Head Rokuro has entered the battlefield?! Is he being surrounded by a massive number of White Zetsu?"
"No—there's only one chakra signature near him. It's not White Zetsu."
"What? Only one person?! Are they still there?!"
"Yes—still there!"
Inoichi's words caused everyone in the command center to go pale.
They all understood what this meant.
Shikaku turned to Tsunade.
"Lady Tsunade—any enemy who can force Clan Head Rokuro to use Perfect Susanoo and still survive his full-power strike must be a peer-level powerhouse."
"Could it be… Uchiha Obito?"
Tsunade shook her head without hesitation.
"Rokuro has told me before—Uchiha Obito is absolutely not his match, nor worthy of forcing him to use Perfect Susanoo."
"So his opponent cannot be Obito."
"Then who could it be?" Shikaku asked gravely.
"Among the Akatsuki, aside from Obito and Nagato, who else could rival Clan Head Rokuro?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, a name surfaced in his mind.
Not just his—Tsunade had thought of the same person.
They exchanged a glance and spoke in unison.
"Uchiha Madara!"
"Inoichi—maintain constant surveillance on that battlefield. If Clan Head Rokuro shows any signs of being overwhelmed, notify us immediately!"
Tsunade issued the order sharply.
She didn't know how Uchiha Madara had returned to the world—but she knew that his appearance alone introduced immeasurable variables into the war.
And at present, only Rokuro and Uchiha Izumi were capable of opposing Madara.
Izumi was already engaged with Nagato.
Which meant—
Everything depended on Rokuro.
"Lady Tsunade," Inoichi added, "relying solely on long-distance sensory ninjutsu may not be sufficient. Their chakra volumes are simply too vast."
"I recommend dispatching a Yamanaka operative to the site using the Mind Body Switch Technique for direct observation."
Tsunade nodded.
A Yamanaka jōnin immediately summoned a ninja hawk, then used the Mind Body Switch Technique to take control of it. The hawk spread its wings and shot into the sky, flying at high speed toward the battlefield where Rokuro and Madara were clashing.
"By the way," Tsunade added, turning toward the Cloud Village representative,
"Mabui—I've heard you possess a technique called Heavenly Transfer, capable of transporting objects to anywhere within a hundred kilometers at high speed."
"Can it transport people?"
Mabui explained the drawbacks of Heavenly Transfer, stating that aside from the Third Raikage, no one could withstand the damage it inflicted. Anyone else would die during the teleportation process.
Tsunade waved her hand dismissively.
"That's fine. Just be ready to cast it."
"If Rokuro's situation changes, transport me there immediately."
She then turned to Nara Shikaku.
"Once I leave, command authority here will be yours."
"Yes, ma'am!"
Even in the original timeline, Tsunade could endure Heavenly Transfer.
Now—after integrating Hashirama's cells—she was even more resilient.
At this point, even without activating Creation Rebirth, her body's instinctive regenerative ability alone was enough to neutralize Heavenly Transfer's damage.
She had nothing to fear.
—
Just as Tsunade's side prepared for emergency support—
Obito sensed the chakra of Rokuro and Uchiha Madara.
He let out a cold snort.
"So he finally appeared…"
"Black Zetsu, you really have been busy behind the scenes."
"But now—I'm no longer afraid of him."
Obito pressed a hand to his chest.
In his mind, the greatest gain from his past battle with Rokuro was using Rokuro's power to shatter the curse seal on his heart.
It gave him the illusion that fate itself stood on his side.
He never once considered the possibility—
That Rokuro had done it on purpose.
—
While countless shinobi focused on this world-shaking duel—
Rokuro's Perfect Susanoo stood locked in a brief standoff with Uchiha Madara.
Madara had not summoned his own Perfect Susanoo.
Instead—unexpectedly—he summoned a wooden golem of comparable size.
It was the very same Wood Golem Technique that Hashirama Senju once used to combat Susanoo.
And that wasn't all.
Wrapped around the golem's arms was a massive Wood Dragon—
the chakra-devouring Wood Dragon Technique, used in tandem.
Yet Rokuro's attention was not fixed on these Wood Release techniques.
What truly caught his interest was something else.
"To think you could identify the flaw in spatial stasis…"
Rokuro smiled faintly.
"Madara-senpai—
you've really taught me a valuable lesson."
END OF CHAPTER
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