Boom!
The power of the Tremor Fist passed straight through the masked man's body.
What was truly terrifying wasn't the punch itself but what followed.
The shockwave erupted outward, pulverizing the surrounding buildings into rubble. Stone, steel, and earth shattered apart as a deafening roar echoed through the battlefield.
And this…
Was nothing more than a casual punch from Namikaze Kirito.
Just imagining the true extent of his strength sent a chill through the air.
Even Uchiha Fugaku, wielder of the Mangekyō Sharingan, couldn't hide the trace of astonishment in his eyes.
Yet what shook him even more—
Was that the man calling himself Uchiha Madara hadn't moved at all.
"…That kind of attack didn't affect him?"
Uchiha Itachi narrowed his gaze, watching the masked man closely, searching for any flaw.
It was precisely because of the existence of someone like Uchiha Madara that he had chosen to infiltrate Akatsuki.
If there was a threat to Konoha—
Then no matter the cost, he would eliminate it.
"Hiding in your own world and trembling?"
Unlike Fugaku and the others, Namikaze Kirito merely sneered.
He already knew exactly how this ability worked.
Kamui.
A separate space where the body could be concealed while a projection remained in the real world. Because the user existed in a different dimension, no attack in this space could truly touch him.
Only at the instant he launched an attack—
Would his body become real.
That fleeting moment…
Was how the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, had once defeated him.
When the masked man heard Kirito's words, shock surged through his eyes.
How does he know?
No one had ever figured this out.
After all, who would imagine that someone could freely exist between worlds?
That was the true terror of Kamui.
"Why?" Kirito scoffed. "You really think hiding makes you invincible?"
He had envisioned this confrontation countless times.
After the Nine-Tails' Night, how could he not?
"Dark Vortex."
Kirito thrust his palm forward.
A pitch-black vortex formed in his hand, spinning violently. Space in front of it warped and twisted, as if reality itself were being dragged inward.
The vortex devoured everything...
Light. Matter. Even space.
"What?!"
Inside Kamui, the masked man felt a terrifying gravitational force pulling at his body.
The space he controlled began to destabilize.
"What kind of ability is this?!"
"Damn it—Wood Release: Piercing Thorns Technique!"
Kacha—kacha—
Within Kamui, wooden thorns burst upward, coiling around his own body.
This technique wasn't aimed at Kirito—
It was used on himself.
If he didn't anchor his body, he really would be dragged out of Kamui.
Rip—
The wooden thorns tore through his clothes, piercing flesh as blood spilled freely.
But he couldn't afford to care.
After an unknown amount of time, the gravitational pull finally ceased.
The space collapsed—
And the masked man's body was forcibly expelled back into the real world.
In that instant...
Kirito appeared before him.
With one hand, he seized the masked man's arm and locked it in place.
The masked man tried to form hand seals—
But his chakra wouldn't respond.
"…You're sealing my chakra?!"
Pure terror flashed across his face.
"I've got you."
Kirito smiled—a cold, twisted smile.
Every memory of that night returned at once, suffocating and heavy.
Now that he stood before him again…
How could he not hate him?
"You enjoy making others suffer, don't you?" Kirito said quietly.
"Then try it yourself."
Hum—
The power of the Tremor Fruit erupted.
White shock rings formed around Kirito's fist as he drove it forward with overwhelming force.
BOOM!
The instant the punch connected, the ruins around them collapsed again, the explosion roaring like thunder.
The force didn't stop.
To prevent escape, Kirito smashed him downward—
Again.
Boom!
Boom!
Crack—!
The ground split apart like shattered glass, fissures spreading in every direction.
Fugaku, Itachi, and Mikoto were forced to retreat rapidly to avoid being caught in the shockwaves.
Deep trenches carved into the earth.
As for the masked man—
His body was completely mangled.
His clothes were shredded, his limbs twisted unnaturally, blood pouring from beneath the mask.
BOOM!
After countless impacts, Kirito finally straightened, brushing the dust from his hands.
The masked man lay there as if he'd been crushed by a massive vehicle.
Every limb broken.
His abdomen pulverized.
Skin split open—internal organs reduced to a mangled mass.
In the world of pirates, someone like Akainu could survive such damage thanks to a Logia body and monstrous body.
But this was the shinobi world.
Without reaching Six Paths-level physical reinforcement—
A body was still flesh and blood.
If not for the Hashirama cells sustaining him, he would've already turned into paste.
The Uchiha trio rushed over.
"…Is he dead?" Itachi asked quietly.
His expression was complicated.
Someone so terrifying...
Defeated so completely upon meeting Kirito.
He finally understood what Kirito had said before.
When overwhelming power exists—
Everything else becomes trivial.
Kirito stared at the ruined corpse with disdain.
"This guy won't die that easily."
"…Or maybe he already has."
As the words fell—
The body on the ground darkened.
Then, slowly, it dissolved into nothingness.
"Namikaze Kirito," a deep voice echoed through the air.
"My power hasn't recovered yet."
"We'll meet again."
The presence vanished.
"Izanagi," Kirito muttered.
A forbidden Sharingan technique.
By sacrificing an eye, reality itself could be rewritten—turning death into illusion.
That was why the masked man survived.
This battle had been easy only because his power was incomplete.
If it were the real Uchiha Madara, fully restored—
Even Kirito wouldn't dare be careless.
After all, sealing chakra with the Dark Fruit required physical contact.
And truly powerful shinobi…
Rarely allowed that.
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