Aging and Frailty

The main reason Xu Yue had rushed to obtain the Mangekyo instead of waiting for Shisui was that he wanted to meet this decrepit old Madara!

Even at this age, Madara could still control the Mizukage. No matter how decayed and weakened he was, Xu Yue did not dare let down his guard in the slightest.

He had exhausted every possible means, carefully deliberating over every word before making his move.

He had to ensure that this old coffin would not strike him down the moment he entered.

And Madara truly possessed his own pride. He was arguably the most arrogant person in all of Naruto.

As long as he chose his words well, he had indeed seized the initiative and further weakened Madara!

A terrifying aura swept through the entire space, forcing even Obito to activate intangibility and hide in the distance.

The rubble seemed to slowly rise into the air as the aura intensified.

Scales had already emerged along both sides of Xu Yue’s cheeks.

Sage Mode: Activate!

Before entering, Xu Yue had pushed his Force Sense to its limit and kept building up power. Now that his strike had landed, he entered his strongest state without hesitation!

Replace Obito and scheme for benefits?

Cooperate with Madara and negotiate a deal?

Sorry, but fighting the BOSS seemed much more exciting!!

"Ha ha ha! In all these years, aside from Hashirama, you are the first person to make me this angry!"

Feeling the life force continuously draining from his aged body, Madara Uchiha actually burst into unrestrained laughter.

His supply had suddenly been cut off. No matter the outcome, the little time he had left had been drastically reduced again. Even if he won, he would surely die soon afterward.

But!

He still wanted to fight this brat once!

As he stared at the sphere that had instantly reached him, absorbing natural energy and swelling as it came at him with principles similar to a Tailed Beast Bomb, Madara Uchiha’s struck body seemed to turn entirely to wood before withering away.

Substitution Technique!

Even before the current Xu Yue, he could still use this oppressive technique designed to crush the weak with strength.

Even Madara in such an extremely weakened state was still stronger overall than Xu Yue using the Sage Body!

A scythe that seemed to appear from nowhere covered most of Xu Yue’s body, sealing off every route of escape.

Forcing him to use Flying Thunder God to leave.

Yet the instant Flying Thunder God brought him before its marker, a sharp branch stabbed directly toward him.

Wood Style: Cutting Sprigs Jutsu!

Madara, who no longer cared about the loss of his life force, was terrifyingly formidable once he truly began fighting, even in this decayed body.

His timing, strength, experience—every aspect could be called perfect!

Xu Yue narrowly dodged the attack, but his preparations for the Deep Forest Emergence were completely interrupted.

"My understanding of Wood Style still surpasses yours."

After effortlessly neutralizing all of Xu Yue’s attacks, Madara Uchiha still had strength to spare.

However, Xu Yue’s Wood Clone had bought him some time. At the cost of being sliced in half by the scythe, it prevented Madara from connecting to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path again.

In Madara’s current condition, unless he connected with and controlled the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path again, he had absolutely no ability to summon it once more!

Otherwise, Xu Yue would have no way at all to contend with the Ten-Tails’ shell.

Since things had reached this point, he could only exploit the old man’s weaknesses as much as possible!

He could not match Madara in experience, technique, or Illusion Techniques. He had no opportunity whatsoever to use hand-sign ninjutsu.

Then naturally, he would rely on taijutsu!

Fortunately, Xu Yue had previously been trained by the Third Hokage.

Although even the Third Hokage himself was far inferior to Madara Uchiha in terms of experience, he had at least helped Xu Yue integrate all sorts of minor techniques into a cohesive whole.

The Deep Forest Emergence was forcibly interrupted by Madara every time, but Xu Yue could still rapidly employ jutsu with shorter hand signs in coordination with his taijutsu.

Sage Art: Chidori Stream!

A lightning armor even more spectacular than that of the Fourth Raikage A surged from his body, rapidly absorbing natural energy and expanding. Combined with the paralysis of the lightning, it was a full-scale AoE attack.

Even Madara Uchiha’s movements could not help slowing by a beat, his already aged body stiffening.

Xu Yue himself received immense enhancements from his advanced Sage Body and Sage Mode. Combined with advanced Body Mastery and the Gate of Opening, then further stimulated and activated by Lightning Release Chakra, his physical body was enhanced yet again.

With lightning’s paralysis accompanying his every move, it was practically cheating-level taijutsu!

It displayed a completely violent aesthetic.

In the end, he was advanced in years. At a time when even the Third Hokage had begun declining, Madara was relying entirely on experience to support himself.

He had no intention of confronting Xu Yue head-on, continuously using all kinds of small techniques to defuse his attacks.

Jabs, thrusts, knees, elbows.

Linked strikes, attacks, deflections, neutralizations.

Every blow received the best possible response!

Madara was arrogant, but he was not as rigid as the Fourth Raikage.

Even with such immense taijutsu enhancements, Xu Yue still could not overcome this old man!

Madara Uchiha was indeed frail with age and could not sustain a prolonged battle.

But Xu Yue’s Sage Mode could not last even two minutes now!

Sage Art: Chidori Sharp Spear!

A lightning-charged whip kick struck the scythe and forced Madara back. The Chidori Sharp Spear that had already shot forth absorbed an enormous amount of natural energy under the support of Sage Chakra, growing with the wind and sweeping across like a massive lightning blade.

Its range seemed intended to completely eliminate Madara Uchiha’s room to evade.

Yet the lightning blade struck a war fan engraved with the Uchiha clan crest.

The Chidori Sharp Spear, infused with natural power, was entirely absorbed by the fan before erupting back out as a terrifying force.

Uchiha Reflection!

Caught off guard, Xu Yue was sent flying backward, finally slamming hard into the wall and kicking up a massive cloud of dust.

"Young people are still too naive."

Madara Uchiha coughed twice. After such intense exertion, the old man too felt a wave of weakness wash over him.

He took it head-on…

Beneath the dust, a pale violet glow appeared, cutting off Madara Uchiha’s remaining thoughts.

Susanoo!

It was a Sage Mode Susanoo form prepared in advance, as though Xu Yue had anticipated the reflection!

This ability had knocked Naruto out of both the Nine-Tails state and the Nine-Tails Sage Mode twice! How could he possibly not guard against it!

Protected by Susanoo, using the momentum of being blasted away and that brief opening,

Xu Yue finally completed his hand signs.

Wrapped in pale violet radiance, an eerie delight covered his face.

This was exciting! Wasn’t it…

Sage Art…

Wood Style: Deep Forest Emergence!

Seeing that Xu Yue had completed his hand signs, the goofy White Zetsu with the spiral face let out a helpless cry beside Obito.

"He still used it. Now we’re in big trouble…"

Before he had even finished speaking, the entire underground space began to shake violently, then was completely burst apart by thick branches erupting from the ground.

Despite being used deep underground,

the Sage-enhanced living forest directly crushed through the earth to reach the surface, and a vast forest rose from the ground.

Absorbing the surrounding natural energy, it grew madly…

"Run! No matter the outcome, Madara is doomed."

The spiral-faced White Zetsu hurriedly wrapped around Obito. Amid the chaos, Obito turned intangible and brought them both into the Kamui Space, where they vanished.

Before leaving, Obito’s eyes were filled with shock.

This cheap senior’s strength was actually so terrifying?! Th-this was really ninjutsu?!

It seemed that Madara Uchiha, whom even the First Hokage had failed to deal with back then, was truly going to capsize here. It was unbelievable…

Meanwhile, Madara panted heavily, barely using several Black Rods to prop open a small space for himself. Looking at the Vines surging toward him, a nostalgic smile appeared on his face.

"I truly did not expect that, aside from Hashirama, someone else would let me witness this technique…"

"I admit it. You are the strongest young man I have ever seen!"

"This time…"

"You win!"

Only two updates today~ I’ve been tired all week. I rushed through everything today to avoid overtime and let my dick have a break~

A big recommendation is coming tomorrow. It just so happens that my cousin was supposed to come back tomorrow and I was going to hang out with him for the next two days, but since there’s a recommendation, I’d better ditch him. It’s not like he’s a female cousin, honestly…

I’ll try to make sure there are three updates on both tomorrow and the day after~

Please say some nice things in the review section tomorrow to fool the newcomers. I’m begging for subscriptions on my injured knees…