"What the hell is that?"
Tobirama stared in disbelief at Mū, who hovered motionlessly in midair.
That guy could fly? That alone was alarming. Did that mean he couldn't even be touched?
"Incredible... he actually erased Madara's Susanoo like it was nothing. That technique is terrifying."
Hidden in the shadows, Hashirama couldn't help but mutter in awe. He knew exactly how durable Madara's Susanoo was. Even at full power, he had to go all out just to barely break it. Yet that strange light from before had completely wiped it away in an instant.
"Aniki, that technique is definitely powerful," Tobirama said with a grim look. "But what really caught my attention was the other Mū, the one that appeared out of nowhere and vanished just as quickly. I couldn't sense anything."
His eyes narrowed as he focused on Mū floating in the distance. Tobirama took great pride in his sensory abilities, but the moment Mū disappeared, it was as if he had been erased from existence.
(AN: The Dustless Concealment Technique completely hides the user from chakra sensing. This isn't just advanced stealth. It renders the user completely invisible to any form of chakra perception. Even Tobirama's skills couldn't detect him.)
"I'm certain of it. I couldn't sense his chakra either. Looks like this envoy from Iwagakure isn't simple at all..."
Hashirama's tone grew serious. For even him to lose sight of someone, that was no ordinary ninja.
"Tobirama, let's hurry over before things spiral out of control. If this escalates any further, it might ruin the alliance we're trying to build..."
Hashirama could no longer stand by. He had just finished negotiating a peace agreement with Mū. Honestly, he should've stepped in sooner, but Tobirama had suddenly whisked him away using the Flying Thunder God to observe instead.
"Aniki, just think of it as a way to evaluate the strength of the other villages."
Tobirama said flatly.
"What's done is done. Sooner or later, we were going to test them anyway. Besides, with your strength, saving that man from Madara wouldn't be difficult."
Tobirama's tone was casual, but he was deliberately keeping his eyes on the battlefield. What he really wanted was to see how far this bandaged man could push Madara. If luck was on their side, maybe he'd even kill Madara, that arrogant bitch.
"Sigh... fine."
Hashirama relented after a moment of thought. May as well let his little brother have his way for now.
By this point, the disturbance had drawn the attention of many Konoha residents and shinobi clans.
"What's going on?"
"Looks like Madara Uchiha is fighting someone from another village. I heard the guy's from Iwagakure."
"Damn... someone from another village can last this long against Madara-sama? That guy must be insanely strong."
Numerous veteran shinobi of Konoha, survivors from the Warring States period, watched the clash quietly from the shadows.
When they saw Mū exchange fierce blows with Madara and even destroy his Susanoo, their hearts trembled with shock.
These veterans knew better than anyone what it meant to face Madara Uchiha in battle. He wasn't just strong, he was a force of nature, on a level far beyond that of the average shinobi.
Only Hashirama had ever managed to break Madara's Susanoo. And now, an envoy from Iwagakure had destroyed it too?
---
On the Hokage Rock, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo Shimura, Koharu Utatane, Homura Mitokado, Kagami Uchiha, and Torifu Akimichi stood at the edge of the cliff, their eyes fixed on the battlefield far below.
"Whoa... Danzo, that bandaged man is insane. He's actually holding his own against Madara," Hiruzen said, eyes wide with disbelief.
"Agreed," Danzo responded tersely, face tight with unease.
"No. Madara-sama hasn't gone all out yet. If he did, that man wouldn't stand a chance," Kagami said with arms crossed and a tone of absolute conviction. Though not a blind follower of Madara, Kagami firmly believed only Hashirama could match or surpass him.
Koharu, Homura, and Torifu remained silent, saying nothing as they observed the fight.
---
"So the world truly is full of heroes... like fish crossing a river," Madara muttered under his breath.
Until now, he believed there were only two heroes worthy of that title: himself and Hashirama. But after witnessing the overwhelming power of the technique Mū had just unleashed, he was compelled to reconsider.
He and Hashirama were heroes. On the other hand, Mū... was barely qualified to be half of one.
Madara's gaze locked onto Mū with newfound seriousness. There was no arrogance in his eyes anymore, no sneer or disdain.
At first, he had acknowledged Mū's willpower and resolve, but now, for the first time, he saw him as a genuine threat. A worthy opponent.
"Mangekyo Sharingan."
The tomoe spun as Madara activated his Mangekyo, scanning Mū's body and the battlefield with piercing precision. That second Mū who had appeared earlier couldn't have been a shadow clone. The technique's nature didn't fit.
There was no way a shinobi from another village would know how to use one of Tobirama's exclusive creations.
(AN: This was still the early era of the shinobi villages, so shadow clones weren't commonly known or taught outside of Konoha.)
Yet no matter how hard he searched with the Mangekyo, Madara saw nothing off. No signs of genjutsu. No duplicate chakra signature.
"Even the Mangekyo can't see through it... is this technique even more advanced than the shadow clone?" he muttered, narrowing his eyes slightly.
Mū's breath was uneven now. He glanced toward a specific direction, actually toward the particular brothers he had sensed long ago.
Tobirama and Hashirama were both there... yet neither of them was stepping in.
He had picked up on their chakra signatures long ago and assumed they would intervene to preserve the alliance. But they just stood there, watching like spectators.
If this dragged on any longer, he might need to retreat with Onoki in tow.
Madara smirked, having also sensed Hashirama's presence nearby.
"Summoning Technique."
With a firm clap of his hands, he summoned his giant war fan and chained scythe, ready to escalate the battle further.
In a flash, Madara appeared at Mū's side, slamming the war fan into his ribs and hurling him through the air. Before the envoy could right himself, Madara flickered ahead, striking him again and again, each blow redirecting the helpless arc of his flight.
The pattern made Madara's intention plain: he meant to drag the battlefield outside the village limits. He still cared for Konoha and for his clan, and he understood that an all-out duel inside the walls would scar them both, so beyond the gates he could finally fight without restraint.
Mū masked his rising unease behind a grim stare while he searched for an answer. With one fighter pressing the assault and the other forced to guard, the struggle spilled beyond Konoha's perimeter in moments, and the instant they cleared the last rooftop Madara unleashed a lethal technique without pause.
"Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"
A mountainous curtain of fire roared forward, and Madara swept his fan to whip the tongues of heat higher, multiplying their strength many times.
BOOM!!!
Mū's eyes slitted as the blazing tide barreled toward him, promising to consume everything it touched. In tales of the future, it would take ten skilled users of water style to stem this inferno; now he stood alone before it, feeling the crushing pressure.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Fortress!"
A dense bastion of packed stone vaulted up in front of him.
BOOM!!
The flames slammed into the rampart and gnawed through it with terrifying speed, so Mū drove his palms into the ground, thickening the barrier and raising new walls to fill the breaches. Yet this was open combat, and the enemy would never wait politely for a technique to finish.
Swish!
Madara blurred into view beside him and a heavy kick hammered Mū into his own earthen wall.
CRACK!!
The envoy sank deep into the rock.
"Damn, he nearly kicked my wrappings off…"
Mū's face twisted beneath the bandages, grateful that he had reinforced his frame with Earth Chakra beforehand; without that precaution, his bones would have shattered.
Expressionless, Madara lifted the chained scythe and brought it down.
SWOOSH!! BOOM!!
A spear of white light burst free, and the wall that had withstood the Majestic Destroyer Flame tore apart under the single stroke, the towering bulwark crumbling into a choking storm of dust and debris.
===
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