Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Suddenly, a strange palpitation arose in her heart, making her mood inexplicably worse, along with a deep and indescribable sadness.

Chapter 239: The Fall of the Twin Shadows

A sense of frustration welled up inside her, causing Chizuru to lose all will to continue fighting her opponent. She decisively deactivated her chakra suppressor, then unleashed the Lightning Strike Secret Technique, bursting forth with incredible speed, and instantly killed her opponent with a single hand chop.

"What exactly happened?"

After defeating her opponent, Chizuru quickly left the scene and headed straight for Kirito's location.

At the same time, Madara Uchiha also pried off Homura Uchiha's only remaining Mangekyou Sharingan from its eye socket, then directly pried off his own three-tomoe Sharingan, which had completely lost its luster, and then put Homura Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan on top of it.

As a tear of blood flowed from his eyes, Madara Uchiha successfully seized Homura Uchiha's Mangekyou Sharingan by relying on the powerful healing ability of Hashirama's cells.

He opened his eyes, feeling the powerful pupil energy contained within his new eyes, and suddenly unleashed Susanoo once more.

The next moment, a blue chakra giant nearly twenty meters tall stood on the ground and said with satisfaction, "As expected, the Mangekyou Sharingan is more powerful. It is superior in both the size and quality of its power, and it is also easier to use."

"Congratulations, Lord Madara, on achieving your goal. With Uchiha Homura's Mangekyou Sharingan, you will surely be able to kill that person successfully next time."

Black Zetsu, controlling Uchiha Homura's body, flattered him.

Black Zetsu's flattery was perfectly timed and suited Madara Uchiha's tastes perfectly.

Madara Uchiha smiled, a rare occurrence, and said, "If that guy dares to come again, I'll burn him to ashes."

Last night was the most humiliating battle he had ever fought since he became famous, even more so than his battle with Hashirama Senju. Although he didn't actually lose, the fact that he had to run away couldn't be changed.

For him, this was a tremendous humiliation that had to be washed away with blood.

He was capable of doing this, but if he had done it before, he might have been dragged down with the other party. Now that he has obtained Uchiha Homura's Mangekyou Sharingan, everything is different.

Uchiha Homura's Mangekyou Sharingan's exclusive eye technique, Kagutsuchi, suits him very well, and its rejection of him is almost negligible. This allows him to use Susanoo more smoothly than before. If he is willing, he can use the fifth stage of Susanoo by paying a small price.

The power of the fifth stage of Susanoo is incomparable to that of the first four stages. It is a powerful force that has undergone a qualitative change. It is with this power that he was able to fight against Hashirama Senju at his peak and regard the various Kage-level powerhouses at that time as slightly larger ants.

Furthermore, he has the power of Wood Release within him, so he doesn't need to worry about his Mangekyou Sharingan losing its brilliance due to excessive use.

"Lord Ban, what should we do with this person? Kill him, or turn him into a puppet?"

Black Zetsu was genuinely happy for Madara Uchiha's growing strength, but he hadn't forgotten the important matter and reminded him.

"Immediately control his body to summon that summoned beast."

Madara Uchiha, having been reminded, immediately spoke up.

Although his identity has likely been discovered by the enemy last night, he still does not intend to let more people know about his faked death. He must find and kill the summoning beast that Uchiha Homura sent out before his defeat.

Black Zetsu immediately complied, but as a result, it failed to summon Uchiha Homura three times in a row by controlling her body. The other party did not accept its summoning and seemed to have seen through it and realized that it was not the real Uchiha Homura.

"Yan, you have indeed made great progress in your work since you became the clan leader. You are decisive and efficient, leaving no room for error. Very good, very good."

Upon seeing this, Madara Uchiha sighed.

At the same time, a surge of anger welled up inside him.

This guy who led the betrayal back then is still causing him trouble even as he's about to die; he truly deserves to die.

He knew that Black Zetsu had failed three times in a row, which meant that Uchiha Homura must have already told the summoning beast beforehand that it would not accept summoning again.

As soon as he finished speaking, the pattern in his Mangekyou Sharingan in his right eye turned, and a black flame appeared in his right palm with a whoosh, then transformed into an exquisite samurai sword and stabbed towards Uchiha Homura.

Black Zetsu quickly left Uchiha Homura's body.

The next moment, the black flame samurai sword pierced Uchiha Homura's body, instantly setting his entire body ablaze and turning him into a torch.

"Uchiha Madara, no matter what you're plotting, you won't succeed. You're no longer the fearless Uchiha Madara you once were. You're just a rat in the gutter now, too ashamed to even show your true face openly. Hahaha~"

Uchiha Homura broke free from Black Zetsu's control and regained his consciousness. Sensing that his time was up, he laughed loudly, using his last bit of strength to mock and curse Uchiha Madara.

Uchiha Homura's mocking laughter quickly came to an abrupt end, leaving only a pile of ashes on the ground.

This Uchiha clan patriarch, who had devoted most of his life to the Uchiha clan, passed away here.

However, his mocking laughter still echoed in someone's heart.

"Humph."

Madara Uchiha sneered, stomping hard on the ashes that Uchiha Flame had turned into, sending the ashes flying in all directions.

Uchiha Homura's words had just deeply stung him.

However, he would not be swayed by Uchiha Homura's words. This damned world had to be wiped out. He wanted to destroy it so that he could create a better world.

"Lord Ban, there are a few rats around here."

Black Zetsu sensed Madara Uchiha's anger and promptly found some targets for Madara to vent his frustration on.

Upon hearing this, Madara Uchiha immediately turned his head and looked at a large tree not far away with his Sharingan, which was filled with killing intent. On that tree, a small parasitic insect was clinging to the trunk.

In an instant, in a man-made cave five or six kilometers away, the rat, who was spying on Uchiha Madara by relying on parasitic insects, felt his hair stand on end and had a premonition of impending doom. He glanced at the already cold corpse of the rabbit next to him with lingering fear, and decisively released a large number of parasitic insects to devour the rabbit's corpse, and then quickly made his escape.

He no longer had the will to stay here and kill Hatake Sakumo; he had to leave quickly and then send back the astonishing news he had gathered.

This news is huge.

The news that Madara Uchiha is still alive will surely cause another major upheaval in the ninja world.

"Little mouse, where are you going?"

Suddenly, a cold voice entered Zishu's ears, making him feel cold all over.

How is that possible? Madara Uchiha was clearly still five or six kilometers away, and the cave he was in was a sealed barrier used by his subordinates to conceal their presence. How did the other party find this place so quickly?

How did you find it?

That's definitely thanks to Black Zetsu.

To help Madara Uchiha complete the Eye of the Moon plan, Black Zetsu always worked tirelessly and filled in any gaps in Madara's plans.

With the various skills it had learned from humans over thousands of years, as well as its special ninjutsu that allowed it to possess the bodies of living beings, finding Zishu and the others was incredibly easy. Moreover, in its eyes, the sealing barrier set up by the two Root ninjas was really nothing compared to that little kid named Tohsaka Kirito.

The Rat had absolutely no intention of fighting against Uchiha Madara. The Rabbit's fate was still fresh in his mind. He knew that even if he controlled a Kage-level Edo Tensei puppet, he would have no chance of defeating Uchiha Madara. It was already extremely difficult for him to escape from the opponent.

He instinctively tried to use his Insect Clone Technique to save his life, but a huge unknown force suddenly attacked, temporarily immobilizing his body and the chakra within him.

Madara Uchiha's special Yin Release ninjutsu reappeared.

In fact, this is a special Yin Release ninjutsu developed by Madara Uchiha using the Sharingan, mimicking the abilities of his own Rinnegan. It temporarily creates an invisible and difficult-to-perceive clone to attack the enemy.

This invisible clone isn't as powerful as the clones created by Limbo, but it's perfect for surprise attacks.

Having learned from the example of Uchiha Homura, Uchiha Madara has abandoned his arrogant attitude of underestimating others. Even if he is only facing a small rat from Root this time, he will deal with it with all his might.

Since the rat was unable to instantly use its insect clone to escape, its fate was already sealed. A pair of red Sharingan eyes suddenly appeared in its eyes.

Then, he completely lost consciousness.

“The Impure World Reincarnation technique of Root is very interesting. Black Zetsu, quickly find out all the information he knows about Root. I’m going to clean up the other rats around here.”

After Madara Uchiha subdued the rat using Sharingan genjutsu, he gave Black Zetsu a command.

"Yes, Madam Madara."

Black Zetsu readily accepted Madara Uchiha's order and once again activated his special ninjutsu, possessing the Rat.

On the other side, Hatake Sakumo stared grimly at a ninja wearing a sealing mask. He quickly dodged the attacks of several golden chakra chains controlled by the enemy, and then was surprised to find that this troublesome opponent suddenly slowed down.

After the fierce battle, he realized just how formidable his opponent was.

This is a ninja skilled in sealing techniques, possessing incredibly sharp sealing abilities. His fighting style is bold and unrestrained, daring to confront him head-on by manipulating several golden chakra chains.

But these are all just appearances. Since the start of the battle, the opponent has been secretly placing sealing techniques underground. Once he dares to get close, they will be activated, and if he tries to escape, he will be blocked by those chakra chains that are like long snakes.

He had seen these chakra chains before, from Kirito. They were formed by the Uzumaki clan's sealing technique, Adamantine Lock, a weapon with powerful sealing abilities. Once hit or entangled, one's chakra would be temporarily sealed, and they were incredibly hard, even able to block his White Fang short sword.

The enemy then used these chakra chains to create multiple layers of defense, making it difficult for him to break through smoothly.

Now, he is trapped by the sealing barrier set up by the opponent using sealing techniques, and the only way to escape is to kill the opponent.

But the opponent is immortal, so how easy is it to kill them?

The sealing talisman on his body was gone. Kirito had actually given him two sealing talismans, but he gave one to a close friend and kept only one to save his life.

Having fallen into such a predicament, he did not complain or blame others, but tried to find an opportunity to escape. Now the opportunity has come.

For some reason, the other party's movements became sluggish, and that was an opportunity.

The next moment, Sakumo Hatake instantly appeared behind the enemy and beheaded him with a single slash.

The mysterious ninja's body suddenly turned into a large number of ash fragments, just like the mysterious Byakugan ninja they had encountered before. These ash fragments then quickly reassembled to repair the mysterious ninja's body.

Taking advantage of the fact that the enemy was temporarily 'killed' and the surrounding sealing barrier was lifted, Hatake Sakumo quickly chose to retreat and headed towards Uchiha Homura.

His perception wasn't outstanding, but it wasn't too bad either. He had already realized that Uchiha Homura was no longer within his perception range. He needed to go to the place where Uchiha Homura had just fought to look for clues and then find Uchiha Homura.

No matter how much he disliked the Uchiha clan, he didn't have much affection for Uchiha Homura, and even disliked her a bit. After all, Uchiha Homura was a Konoha ninja and a comrade.

Since they were companions, he had to go and provide support, even knowing that greater dangers lay ahead.

He knew very well that Uchiha Homura had not stayed to fight, and most likely had chosen to retreat. An enemy that could force a powerful Kage-level fighter like Uchiha Homura to retreat must be extremely dangerous. If he went to provide support now, he might not return.

But he still had to go, otherwise he couldn't face the beliefs in his heart.

The Konoha ninja who inherit the Will of Fire will never abandon their comrades.

"Interesting, they didn't run away."

Suddenly, a voice appeared behind Sakumo Hatake.

Upon hearing this from behind, Hatake Sakumo decisively drew his sword and turned to counterattack, but his right hand was grabbed by a hand made entirely of chakra, rendering him unable to move.

It wasn't just his right hand that was grabbed; his entire body was gripped by another, even larger chakra hand.

Why didn't you run away?

Madara Uchiha stared at Sakumo Hatake, who was struggling like an insect caught in a spider web, with his Sharingan and asked him a question.

He didn't approve of such a boring concept as the Will of Fire.

But what that guy left behind seems to have been inherited by someone. For example, this ninja named Hatake Sakumo in front of him feels very similar to that guy. It's not that their personalities are similar, but rather that there's something indescribable in their eyes.

"Konoha ninjas never abandon their comrades."

Faced with Madara Uchiha's question, Sakumo Hatake answered without hesitation.

As soon as he finished speaking, he turned into a piece of wood, his true form appearing behind Madara Uchiha, and stabbed Madara Uchiha in the heart with a white dagger covered in dense wind release chakra.