Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

At this moment, a sage-like face also appeared on the mask of the Wind Release Masked Monster, clearly indicating that it had entered Sage Mode, just like the Earth Release Masked Monster. It was raising its hands high, and above it appeared a huge white shuriken that emitted a sharp vibration, with a radius of five meters.

Sage Art: Wind Release: Rasenshuriken!

The Wind Release Masked Monster threw his shuriken, and Madara Uchiha instantly sensed a deadly danger. Realizing that he could not withstand this attack head-on, he decisively decided to use the Body Flicker Technique to dodge.

However, he was both unhappy and helpless about his evasive behavior, lamenting that he was now like a tiger fallen into the plains, bullied by dogs.

His Susanoo was just destroyed by his opponent and cannot be instantly restored.

If he were at his peak, with the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan, he could easily use Susanoo again, and the Susanoo giant he created could reach the third or even fourth stage in one go.

Unfortunately, he is now old and frail, and he only has a pair of three-tomoe Sharingan with a power that is stronger than that of a normal Mangekyou Sharingan. Moreover, they are not his own, so he is not very comfortable using them.

In addition, to avoid accelerating his aging process, he dared not fight with all his might, which made him feel quite restrained in combat.

Madara Uchiha's Body Flicker Technique was even more refined than Sakumo Hatake's, disappearing from his spot in an instant and successfully dodging the incoming Rasenshuriken.

But as soon as he finished dodging, he realized that he had not actually avoided the enemy's attack.

The white shuriken landed in the water, and a huge waterspout quickly formed, becoming a powerful eye of the storm that sucked everything in its vicinity into it.

Madara Uchiha was immediately drawn towards this powerful suction force.

"Some of these techniques are quite good ninjutsu."

Madara Uchiha said, then tried to use the Body Flicker Technique again to create distance from the water tornado, but the two-headed masked monster in the sky shot out beams of laser light from its mouth at a terrifying speed, even faster than the Body Flicker Technique.

Even with Madara Uchiha's three-tomoe Sharingan, whose abilities were not comparable to those of ordinary Mangekyou Sharingan, he could only see a sliver of light and shadow.

Storm Release: Laser Technique!

There's no way to dodge it; you can only take it head-on.

A chakra arm grew out of Madara Uchiha once again, its palm transforming into a shield to block the incoming laser attacks.

Because of the two-headed masked monster's harassment, Madara Uchiha was unable to use the Body Flicker Technique smoothly, and his body was now getting closer and closer to the water tornado formed by Sage Art: Wind Release: Rasenshuriken.

Finally, the blue chakra half-giant reappeared and cleaved the water tornado in two with a single strike.

Then, under Kirito's control, the four Earth Grudge Fear clones in the sky continued to fight Uchiha Madara in perfect unison.

The Earth Grudge Fear clone has no eyes and is not afraid of Madara Uchiha's Sharingan genjutsu. Now that the Earth Release and Wind Release masked monsters have entered Sage Mode, they are not afraid of Madara Uchiha's special Yin Release ability and can assist the two-headed masked monsters in battle.

In an instant, various powerful ninjutsu such as Earth Release, Lightning Release, Water Release, and Wind Release were continuously unleashed by the four Earth Grudge Fear clones, who also used Sage Mode attacks.

Madara Uchiha easily blocked various ninjutsu with his second-stage Susanoo. His four chakra samurai swords moved with wide, sweeping motions, interrupting many ninjutsu before they could even hit the Susanoo giant. He was only slightly powerless against Sage Mode.

Meanwhile, Kirito, who was hiding in the shadows and remotely controlling four Earth Grudge Fear clones, kept his Byakugan eyes fixed on Uchiha Madara, ready to strike a fatal blow at any moment.

Unfortunately, he was unable to find an opportunity for a long time.

The opponent was indeed a seasoned ninja from a chaotic era. Although he seemed to be in a bit of a mess against his four Earth Grudge Fear clones, he was actually handling the situation with ease and constantly diverting most of his attention to guarding against his sneak attacks.

He hid in the shadows, avoiding direct confrontation, to guard against the opponent's Sharingan genjutsu. The opponent, in turn, was also on guard against his Gentle Fist: Divine Sky Strike.

Using his Byakugan, Kirito was able to clearly see three different streams of chakra on Madara Uchiha's body.

One was his own, cold and dark, located in his dantian; another should be Hashirama Senju's, warm and sunny, located in his left chest; and the last one was wrapped around him, full of vitality, which belonged to Tobi, the White Zetsu.

Throughout the battle, Madara Uchiha has been using only his own chakra to fight, while his other two chakra sources have remained completely untouched.

This shows that the other side has always been preserving considerable strength.

"Hmph, just keep holding back your strength. Once my true form arrives, I'll take care of you all at once."

Kirito watched as Madara Uchiha hesitated to use the power of Hashirama Senju and Tobi, and sneered inwardly.

To deal with a powerful figure like Uchiha Madara, he certainly couldn't rely solely on his White Zetsu clones. Moreover, having finally encountered Uchiha Madara, he had to find a way to gain some benefits from this living reincarnation of Indra. His true self, having received the news, was rushing here at top speed.

Although the White Zetsu clones are strong, they are still not as powerful as the original, mainly because of the difference in chakra levels.

To deal with Madara Uchiha, the White Zetsu clones were almost at full power, and the Sage Chakra from the Yin Seal on their bodies was also used.

Otherwise, how could he simultaneously support both the Earth Release Masked Monster and the Wind Release Masked Monster into Sage Mode and unleash powerful Sage Techniques to attack continuously?

However, while the power of Sage Mode is indeed formidable, capable of directly shattering the defenses of Madara Uchiha's second-stage Susanoo giant form, the chakra it consumes is truly terrifying.

He didn't let the double-headed mask enter Sage Mode as well, precisely because he was worried that he wouldn't have enough Sage Chakra. Storm Release ninjutsu is a major chakra consumer, and if he were to evolve Storm Release ninjutsu into Sage Jutsu, given the amount of Sage Jutsu Chakra in White Zetsu's body, he probably wouldn't be able to use it more than a few times.

Without the assistance of a massive chakra aggregate like a tailed beast, it would be difficult for the White Zetsu clones to achieve another significant breakthrough in their battles.

While the Sage Art: Storm Release is powerful, it's definitely unrealistic to expect it to kill Madara Uchiha.

Madara Uchiha possesses Izanagi, a ninjutsu that can be considered a resurrection coin. It would be extremely difficult to kill Madara Uchiha in his current state using only the power of White Zetsu clones.

Therefore, his current tactic is to stall and slow down the pace of the battle.

Madara Uchiha was clearly not someone who liked to have his battle rhythm dictated by others, and he originally intended to carry out the Eye of the Moon Plan from the shadows, but he didn't want too many people to discover his existence.

The reason he was cooperating with Kirito's White Zetsu clone to "play" here was that he wanted to witness Kirito's Sage Mode before killing him in one fell swoop.

As a result, Kirito has been hiding in the lake, remotely controlling several Earth Grudge clones to fight him, and has not yet revealed his 'true body' to fight him, which is making him feel quite irritated and bored.

Three minutes have passed since the start of the battle.

The great battle that broke out here had naturally attracted the attention of people nearby. If it weren't for the fact that the aftershocks of the battle were so terrifying that even Jonin could hardly get close, many people would have come to check the situation. But it was only a matter of time before powerful figures were attracted.

Kirito didn't feel anything about it. For him, the longer it dragged on, the better. He could already sense that his true form was about to arrive.

Once the real Madara Uchiha arrives, he will be confident that he can fight Madara Uchiha head-on and then extract some benefits from him.

"Kid, since you don't plan to come out and fight head-on, then I'll show you just how powerful I am today."

Madara Uchiha sensed a large amount of chakra flowing towards him from the vicinity. He knew that his time to play around was running out, and finally decided not to waste any more time with Kirito here. He said coldly.

Kirito was shocked when he heard Madara Uchiha's words, and then he saw the chakra of Hashirama Senju inside Madara Uchiha instantly flow into Tobi, the White Zetsu on his body.

As soon as Hashirama Senju's power entered Tobi's body, the Wood Release power within him underwent an incredible transformation. In Kirito's Byakugan vision, the light green Wood Release chakra on Tobi's body rapidly turned dark green, and large emerald green patterns appeared all over his body.

At the same time, Madara Uchiha formed a hand seal that Kirito was familiar with.

"not good."

Upon seeing the hand seals Madara Uchiha was forming, Kirito instantly understood what ninjutsu Madara was planning to use, and realizing something was wrong, he quickly got out of the water.

But he was too late. As Madara Uchiha completed the lightning hand seals, a large number of enormous vines immediately grew from the bottom of the lake. They intertwined with each other, binding all the creatures in the lake, and finally, plants with huge flowers growing on top of each vine.

In just a few seconds, the huge lake was transformed into a sea of ​​flowers.

Wood Release: Descent of the Flower Tree World.

Chapter 232: Dancing with Madara (The End)

"Your power is as useful as ever."

Madara Uchiha stood atop a giant flower, looking down at the lake below, which had transformed into a sea of ​​plants, and at the three masked monsters who had fallen into the plant ocean like kites with broken strings, and sighed.

With just one move, Wood Release: Descent of the Flowering Trees, he successfully dealt a severe blow to the powerful enemy before him, instantly turning the tide of the battle.

One of the reasons why Hashirama Senju's Wood Release is so powerful is that the plants he creates all have the ability to absorb chakra.

He could see clearly with his Sharingan that the unknown enemy in front of him was using puppetry to control the four Earth Grudge Fear clones. The threads the enemy used to control them were extremely fine and almost invisible to the naked eye, but they still could not escape his Sharingan.

In addition, these chakra threads are incredibly tough, probably because they were created using Sage Mode chakra; even his Susanoo giant chakra katana could not cut them.

Now, he borrowed the Wood Release power of Hashirama Senju and instantly severed all the chakra threads that the opponent used to control the Earth Grudge Fear clones, paralyzing the opponent's Earth Grudge Fear clones.

Take advantage of his illness to kill him!

Madara Uchiha was certainly not a pedantic person; on the contrary, he was decisive and ruthless.

He decisively pressed his advantage, forming a hand seal, and three enormous wooden spikes shot out from the sea of ​​plants, accurately piercing Kirito's three Earth Grudge clones and destroying the masks on their faces.

The weakness of the Earth Grudge Fear clones is their hearts behind the masks. Once the hearts shatter, Kirito's Earth Grudge Fear clones are instantly wiped out.

Wood Release: Wood Splinter Technique!

Almost simultaneously, an explosion was heard.

A giant, pale golden fist pierced through the intertwined vines in the lake, striking towards Uchiha Madara with astonishing force. It was Kirito's White Zetsu clone's Divine Void Strike.

Seeing this, Madara Uchiha neither dodged nor avoided, and quickly completed the hand seals again.

A wooden shield resembling a fanged demon face suddenly appeared in front of him, easily blocking the Divine Void Strike unleashed by Kirito's White Zetsu clone using Sage Chakra.

Wood Release: Ranking Technique!

When Madara Uchiha used this technique to block Kirito's attack, Kirito also rushed out from the bottom of the lake and landed on a giant flower.

He looked rather disheveled. His samurai armor was severely damaged, half of his demon mask was broken off, and one of his mangled, bloody lips hung limply.

"As expected of Uchiha Madara who obtained the power of Indra and Ashura, even in his old age, he still possesses the power of a Kage. I haven't been this disheveled in a long time, no, it's the first time I've been this disheveled since I obtained this White Zetsu clone."

Kirito stared intently at Madara Uchiha with his Byakugan, feeling the intense pain emanating from all parts of his body, and smiled bitterly.

The power of Wood Release: Descent of the Flowering Tree World is truly unreasonable. Instantly, a large number of giant vines grow and intertwine and squeeze together. Even though he used Rotation to defend himself immediately, these vines were inexhaustible and had the ability to quickly absorb chakra. Even Sage Chakra could not escape being absorbed.

In the end, he had to sacrifice one of his hands to use a powerful move, the Divine Sky Strike, that exceeded his physical limits, to fight his way out, and that's how he ended up in this situation.

This was the most embarrassing moment he had ever experienced since he ventured into the ninja world.

All I can say is that he truly lives up to his reputation as Madara Uchiha, the God of Shinobi, whose power allowed him to dominate the ninja world. He is simply powerful.

His White Zetsu clones possessed the power of Wood Release and had been enhanced by Sage Mode, but he couldn't replicate the astonishing power of Wood Release that Madara Uchiha was currently using, even with sufficient chakra support.

Hashirama Senju's Wood Release and others obtaining Wood Release through his cells are practically from two different dimensions of bloodline limits.

"It seems that if I want to master the true Wood Release, the power of the Wood Release obtained from Hashirama's cells by the White Zetsu clones alone is not enough. I must use other methods to strengthen it."

Kirito silently compared the difference between his Wood Release and Madara Uchiha's Wood Release, and shook his head inwardly.

Madara Uchiha's Wood Release was obtained by implanting Hashirama Senju's flesh and blood, which can be said to be no different from implanting Hashirama's cells, but the Wood Release he used was obviously more powerful.

Kirito guessed that this might be related to the fact that Madara Uchiha had been obtaining the power of the Gedo Mazo for many years, which allowed his Wood Release Kekkei Genkai to continuously evolve.

Because the power of Wood Release itself comes from the Divine Tree.

“Young man, you have enough to be proud of for forcing me to use this power. But this is the end for you today. If it were before, I wouldn’t mind letting you go and allowing you to continue to grow to the level I desire. Unfortunately, you’re not so lucky.”

Madara Uchiha looked at Kirito, who was in a somewhat disheveled state, and didn't rush to attack. Instead, he spoke with a tone of praising regret.

He was telling the truth. He acknowledged Kirito's strength. If it were during the Warring States period, Kirito would have been among the top five opponents he had ever faced, and his potential was also very high. If he were given more time to grow, he might have a chance to go toe-to-toe with him at his peak.

Unfortunately, he no longer has time to wait, nor is he willing to let someone who has witnessed too many of his methods continue to live.

As expected, the person in front of him had already guessed his identity, and he had no choice but to eliminate him here.