The earth trembled violently as the clash between Mū and Madara Uchiha sent shockwaves through the battlefield, drawing the attention of the nearby Uchiha clansmen. Such a massive disturbance was impossible to ignore, and soon, whispers spread among the gathered onlookers.
"Incredible! Someone actually dares to challenge Madara-sama!" one Uchiha exclaimed, eyes wide with disbelief. Another gasped, "Oh my god, Madara-sama is about to fight that bandaged man!" A third hesitated before asking, "Should we go inform Lord Hashirama?" But his companion scoffed, "Huh? Is it really necessary to call Lord Hashirama? That bandaged guy doesn't warrant both of them, right?" The first shook his head, concern flickering in his eyes. "No, I'm just afraid that guy will get killed by Madara-sama..."
The Uchiha spectators watched with a mix of amusement and curiosity as the battle unfolded before them.
BANG! BOOM!
The fight between Mū and Madara had officially begun.
Madara, ever the warrior seeking challenge, deactivated his Susanoo, opting instead for a brutal, close-quarters exchange, pure hand-to-hand combat. With a powerful leap, he surged forward, his speed a blur. Mū responded instantly, launching himself into the air to meet Madara head-on.
BANG! BANG!
Their fists collided, and the sheer force of Madara's strike sent Mū hurtling backward.
"As expected of the man who could trade blows with Hashirama in taijutsu," Mū muttered, his arm throbbing from the impact.
Quickly regaining his footing, he formed a hand seal.
"Earth Style: Weighted Rock Technique!"
His body grew denser, anchoring him to the ground as he stabilized himself.
Madara's lips curled into a smirk.
"Weak."
That single exchange told him all he needed. His opponent's taijutsu was unremarkable. Yet, despite his arrogance in strategy, Madara never underestimated an enemy in battle. His guard remained high, his movements relentless.
In an instant, he reappeared beside Mū, his leg sweeping toward the bandaged shinobi's torso. But Mū had anticipated the attack, sensing Madara's movement the moment he vanished.
"Earth Style: Ultra-Weighted Rock Technique!"
Stone armor encased his body, increasing his mass exponentially.
BANG!
Madara's kick slammed into the rocky shell, but before he could retract his leg, the stone liquefied into thick mud, ensnaring his foot. Seizing the opportunity, Mū formed another seal.
"Earth Style: Rock Arm!"
The stone on his arm expanded into a massive, crushing hand that seized Madara in an iron grip. Without hesitation, Mū's other fist hardened into solid rock, glowing with dense chakra.
"Earth Style: Ultra-Weighted Rock Fist!"
The colossal stone fist descended with the force of a thousand tons, aimed directly at Madara's trapped form.
Madara remained unfazed, his expression unchanging. "Susanoo."
The skeletal ribcage of his Susanoo materialized in the blink of an eye.
BOOM!
The rock fist collided with the Susanoo's defenses, unleashing a cataclysmic explosion. The ground split apart, mountains quaked, and the sheer force of their clashing chakra erupted like a storm, shaking the very foundations of the battlefield.
BOOM!!!!!
---
Meanwhile...
Senju Hashirama wiped sweat from his brow as he reveled in the lively atmosphere of the gambling den.
"Hahaha! Wonderful, wonderful!" he cheered, shaking the dice cup with childlike enthusiasm.
Fresh from successful negotiations with Iwagakure's envoy, resulting in newly established friendly relations between their villages, his mood couldn't be brighter. The dream of peaceful coexistence felt closer than ever.
"Ah! The clan head lost again, haha!" a Senju clansman crowed as the dice settled. Hashirama's face fell for a split second before he threw his head back in laughter.
"I guess I can't be lucky in both politics and gambling!" His boisterous mirth infected the entire room, and the den erupted in shared amusement.
Then…
BOOM!
A thunderous shockwave rattled the building. Hashirama's laughter died instantly. His head snapped toward the window, his usual warmth replaced by razor-sharp focus. The others exchanged confused glances, slow to react, but Hashirama was already on his feet.
"This is bad!"
In a blur, he vanished, leaving only a gust of wind in his wake.
Elsewhere...
Senju Tobirama sat hunched over scrolls in the modest Konoha administration building, a far cry from the grand complex it would one day become, but functional in its blend of timber and stone. His brush moved methodically as he outlined proposals for village expansion, infrastructure, and trade routes. The quiet night outside was a luxury he still marveled at.
"Peaceful days like this are rare..." he murmured, pausing to gaze at the moonlit sky.
Years of wartime midnight alerts had conditioned him to expect chaos; now, he could finally plan for progress rather than survival.
"Tobirama-sama," a shinobi interrupted, kneeling abruptly. "Another bitch awakened their Sharingan."
Tobirama's eye twitched. "...The Uchiha… born devious as ever..."
Then,
A suffocating wave of chakra crashed over his senses, dark and unmistakable. Tobirama's quill snapped in his grip.
"Not good. Madara is causing trouble again!" In an instant, he was gone, the Body Flicker Technique carrying him toward the disturbance before the pieces of his broken brush hit the floor.
---
The air screamed as Mū and Madara clashed in a whirlwind of motion, their movements leaving afterimages in their wake. Fists met palms, kicks were countered, and the earth itself seemed to groan under the force of their exchange.
"Don't underestimate the experience I gained surviving the Warring States period!" Madara barked, his voice cutting through the din of battle as he pressed forward with relentless strikes.
Mū parried with equal precision, his tone icy. "You're not the only one who survived that era. I came from it too."
Madara's eyes narrowed. In just these brief exchanges, he had already gleaned the truth: this masked opponent was no ordinary foe. His reflexes, his spatial awareness, and his sheer combat instinct all mirrored Tobirama's dreaded efficiency. No, perhaps even surpassed it. He was at least on par with Izuna, maybe stronger.
(Note: Both Mū and Tobirama are officially recognized as having exceptional sensory abilities.)
"Take this!" Madara roared. His Susanoo surged violently, its skeletal form expanding into its second stage. A colossal arm materialized, hefting a gargantuan blade that descended toward Mū with world-splitting force.
Mū didn't flinch. His hands flashed through seals. "Earth Style: Steel Binding Technique!"
BOOM!
The earth erupted as a towering stone titan burst forth, its massive frame intercepting Madara's slash head-on. The impact sent shockwaves rippling through the battlefield.
"You blocked that?" Madara's lips curled. "Then how about... the third stage?"
His Susanoo evolved again, legs forming in an instant as it tripled in size. Four arms sprouted from its torso, each wielding a monstrous greatsword. Without hesitation, all four blades came crashing down toward Mū's stone guardian.
BOOM!!
The earth quaked violently. A billowing dust cloud swallowed the battlefield whole.
"Sensei!!" Onoki's voice rang out from the distance, laced with panic. His fists clenched as he strained to see through the haze, dread coiling in his gut.
Then, the dust cleared.
The Steel Binding Titan stood unbroken, its massive arms locked in a desperate grapple with all four of Susanoo's blades. The ground beneath Mū had cratered from the sheer force of the clash, yet he held firm.
"Interesting..." Madara murmured, genuine surprise flickering in his eyes. This technique bore an uncanny resemblance to Hashirama's Wood Golem. To withstand his third-stage Susanoo... this man was proving far more troublesome than anticipated.
"Hah... hah..." Mū panted, his muscles screaming under the strain. He knew this technique well; when Onoki had used it, Madara had been forced to counter with Wood Release. He wouldn't back down now.
Just as Madara considered advancing to the fourth stage, Mū's hidden eyes gleamed.
Got you.
The real Mū, concealed from the very beginning with his Dustless Concealment Technique, had been waiting for this exact moment. The "Mū" fighting Madara? A clone. A carefully crafted decoy.
Strategy had dictated this approach: if the clone fell instantly, the real Mū could retreat unseen. But if it held its ground, if it distracted Madara long enough, then the real body could strike from the shadows.
And now, with Madara's focus locked onto the clone, the opening had finally come.
Dust Release, the ultimate technique, reserved for this single, decisive moment.
The battle was about to end.
"Why don't you take a look behind you?"
Suddenly, Madara felt a chill creep down his spine.
(This wasn't something Mū actually said aloud, it was just a flare of instinctual dread, a narrative tension tightening around him.)
Everyone knew Madara's greatest vulnerability was his back. Sure enough, behind him stood another Mū, his presence unnoticed until now. No one could tell when he had gotten there, but with both palms pressed together, he was already mid-cast, releasing a blinding white pillar of light directly at Madara.
"There it is! Sensei's ultimate technique, even stone gets annihilated!"
Onoki's eyes widened in awe and fear as he watched the Dust Release erupt. It was the one technique his master had never passed down to him.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
Swish swish swish!!
The blinding column of light descended like divine judgment, crashing from the heavens.
Madara stared at the oncoming light, a cold shiver gripping him as his scalp tingled. If that jutsu landed, he would die, no question. This wasn't fear. It wasn't a doubt. It was the battle-honed instinct of a warrior who had danced with death countless times.
He had Izanagi, a secret so closely guarded that even Hashirama didn't know about it. But it couldn't be triggered on a whim. Izanagi required preparation, specific conditions met beforehand. Even if it was ready, was he really willing to sacrifice his Mangekyo just to survive this one strike?
"Susanoo!!"
With no time to hesitate, Madara unleashed his full strength, activating the fourth stage of Susanoo in a desperate bid for defense.
Buzz!!!
Mū's real body was in the middle of delivering the killing blow, focusing completely on channeling it. But a violent shockwave suddenly exploded outward, hitting Mū with immense force and flinging him through the air.
"Damn it!"
Mū cursed through clenched teeth, frustration boiling beneath his calm exterior. His Dust Release was undeniably powerful, but the post-cast delay was fatally long. If it could be fired instantly, he was confident Madara would've died on the spot.
"Dustless Concealment!"
Wasting no time, Mū activated his signature concealment technique again. His real body vanished without a trace, while the clone he left behind continued engaging Madara.
When the dust and energy finally settled from the Dust Release and Susanoo's collision, Madara emerged slowly from the dissipating light. He staggered slightly and disbelief etched across his face.
"It actually erased my Susanoo completely..."
He looked around, then stared at the vast, empty space carved out by the jutsu. A clean, gaping void, no debris, no smoke, no shattered remnants. Just nothing.
His expression turned grim. He had been preparing to summon the complete form of his fourth-stage Susanoo, but the Dust Release struck before it could fully materialize and erased it outright.
Yes, erased. It didn't break or shatter like when Hashirama overwhelmed it. It simply vanished.
He was lucky he'd acted quickly; lucky he'd abandoned the summon altogether and escaped the hit. Otherwise, he truly might have died in that moment. The thought alone chilled his blood.
A technique of that scale... does something so monstrous really exist in this world?
That ninjutsu, it didn't even feel like anything from the current shinobi system. It was something else entirely.
"What kind of ninjutsu is this?!"
Madara's eyes narrowed as he locked onto Mū.
"You think I'm some walking encyclopedia? You expect me to blurt out my secrets just because you ask? You think I'm that dumb?"
Mū's voice was cold and sarcastic, making it clear he had no intention of answering.
Madara's face darkened further.
He realized it himself, yeah, that was a pretty idiotic question. Why would an enemy reveal his trump card?
===
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