Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

At this point, Madara Uchiha had only activated the first stage of Susanoo.

Thus, the powerful weapon, the White Fang Short Sword, successfully broke through Susanoo's defenses and pierced Madara Uchiha's heart.

Despite successfully hitting the enemy, Hatake Sakumo showed no joy, because the feeling from the hilt of his sword was wrong; the enemy before him was not his true form.

Sure enough, the enemy suddenly transformed into a black fire-man radiating terrifying heat.

It was the Fire Clone Technique developed by Uchiha Homura using Kagutsuchi that has now been replicated by Uchiha Madara.

Upon seeing this, Hatake Sakumo immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to create distance, only to find himself suppressed by a powerful force, unable to move his body or chakra, and could only watch as the black fireman exploded in front of him.

Chapter 240: Substitute Player

"The Will of Fire is ultimately unreliable; ninjas should let their strength speak for itself."

Not far away, Madara Uchiha looked at the center of the fire explosion and sneered.

He personally despised the Will of Fire, and naturally disliked Hatake Sakumo, who inherited the Will of Fire from Senju Hashirama. He decisively used Hatake Sakumo to test his newly acquired Mangekyou Sharingan eye technique.

As expected, the special Fire Release clone technique created using Uchiha Homura's Mangekyou Sharingan was very effective, making it truly difficult to distinguish between the real and the fake clones.

When he first saw this move, even he couldn't see it, so this little Kage-level ninja in front of him was even less likely to recognize it and fell right into his trap.

The firelight was bright, and Madara Uchiha couldn't see what was happening inside for a while, but he figured that the little ninja was either dead or seriously injured, and would only become a fish on his chopping board.

He learned about Sakumo Hatake's identity from Black Zetsu and knew that Sakumo Hatake was Kirito Tohsaka's mentor. He should be able to obtain some secret information about Kirito Tohsaka from this person.

That young Konoha ninja far away in the Land of Wind is ultimately a hidden danger. If we're not careful, he'll grow into a major threat and must be eliminated as soon as possible.

Although he was unsure of Kirito's true strength, judging from the kid's battle record and the ninjutsu he had mastered, he was sure to be a formidable enemy. Now that he had obtained the power of the One-Tailed Beast, he would be even more difficult to deal with.

One of his purposes in obtaining Uchiha Homura's Mangekyou Sharingan was to increase his chances of killing this young Konoha ninja.

"Perhaps we can use this guy's life to do something more useful."

Madara Uchiha looked at the dazzling flames ahead and suddenly thought to himself.

But the next moment, his expression changed, and Susanoo was activated again.

A four-armed chakra giant with only half a body appeared instantly and protected Madara Uchiha.

As soon as Madara Uchiha successfully activated his Susanoo, a powerful chakra shockwave broke through the flames and slammed into the Susanoo giant, leaving a deep crack on it.

At this moment, Madara Uchiha also clearly saw Sakumo Hatake's current situation.

Hatake Sakumo was in terrible condition. His body was blasted to pieces by the flames, and he was covered in burns. But what shocked him was that despite his disheveled appearance, the aura emanating from Hatake Sakumo was much stronger than before, and his eyes were even more terrifying.

"No, you're not Sakumo Hatake, so who are you?"

Madara Uchiha keenly realized that the enemy before him was not the same person as before, and asked.

As he spoke, he didn't forget to use his Sharingan genjutsu to try and instill fear in Hatake Sakumo. As a result, his eyes hurt, and two lines of bloody tears flowed from his eyes.

Backlash.

His Sharingan genjutsu, which had always worked without fail, suffered a backlash.

He had just secretly used Sharingan genjutsu on Hatake Sakumo, but his Yin Release chakra was blocked before it could successfully invade Hatake Sakumo's body through his eyes, and he suffered a backlash.

Unbeknownst to him, the opponent had already used a sealing technique to create an exquisite sealing barrier in his eyes, directly blocking his Sharingan genjutsu.

Taking advantage of the backlash from Madara Uchiha's Sharingan, Sakumo Hatake quickly took out a red pill from his ninjutsu pouch and swallowed it.

This red pill is Akimichi's secret medicine, the Chili Pepper Pill. However, unlike the Akimichi clan's original Chili Pepper Pill, this is a Chili Pepper Pill that Kirito improved and replicated. The original Chili Pepper Pill required consuming fat to enhance strength, but instead, it consumes precious medicinal herbs and lifespan.

Without a doubt, this is a life-saving item used in desperate situations.

As soon as the chili ball entered his stomach, a massive surge of chakra erupted from Sakumo Hatake's body, forming a chakra flame within him and unleashing astonishing chakra fluctuations.

At the same time, a green light appeared around Hatake Sakumo, quickly healing his injuries.

"Who are you? You are definitely not Sakumo Hatake."

Madara Uchiha had suppressed the backlash and asked with a gloomy expression.

Sakumo Hatake did not answer Madara Uchiha's question, continuing to race against time to heal his injuries. But Madara Uchiha would not allow Sakumo Hatake to continue recovering. A huge chakra katana slashed at Sakumo Hatake with lightning speed.

The invisible clones formed by the Sharingan's power also secretly cooperated, suppressing Hatake Sakumo and giving him no chance to escape.

Sharingan - Limbo!

However, his attack failed again. His opponent broke free from the suppression of his invisible clone and used the Body Flicker Technique to evade the attack of the chakra katana.

Moreover, a familiar and unique chakra fluctuation began to emanate from Sakumo Hatake.

His perception is infallible.

Sakumo Hatake was starting to show signs of Sage Chakra fluctuations. Although he hadn't entered Sage Mode yet, there was definitely Sage Chakra within him at that moment.

"That despicable fellow."

When Madara Uchiha detected Sage Chakra, the image of the enemy he had encountered the previous night flashed through his mind. The enemy had also used Sage Chakra to escape the suppression of his Sharingan Limbo. He never expected to have discovered it again.

Of course, he also realized that Hatake Sakumo must be connected to the enemy he encountered last night, and his anger rose up.

The next moment, with a thought, a four-armed blue chakra giant nearly 20 meters tall stood up from the ground.

Susanoo, Stage 3.

With the support of Uchiha Homura's Mangekyou Sharingan, he was no longer as overwhelmed as he had been the night before when using the third stage of Susanoo. He only felt a little pressure. This is the difference between the Mangekyou Sharingan and the three-tomoe Sharingan.

He would not suffer the humiliation of last night again; he had to kill the person in front of him who was connected to the mysterious Shadow-level expert.

He had a vague idea of ​​who the man in front of him, Hatake Sakumo, was.

Kirito Tohsaka.

There's no mistake, Sakumo Hatake in front of us is definitely being controlled by Kirito Tohsaka. As for the evidence, it's the exquisite sealing technique that Kirito has placed in Sakumo Hatake's eyes.

In this world, there are very few people who can place such an exquisite sealing technique in the eyes in such a short time, and there is only one person who is related to Hatake Sakumo.

"It seems that the kid's spiritualization technique has reached a very high level, as he can control Hatake Sakumo from such a distance."

Madara Uchiha thought in surprise.

Aside from the Spirit Transformation Technique, he couldn't think of any other way for Kirito Tohsaka to control Sakumo Hatake from a distance.

The other side must have left some kind of backup plan on Hatake Sakumo. Only after discovering that Hatake Sakumo was in danger did they activate their backup plan and rush here to provide support.

With this thought in mind, Madara Uchiha's desire to kill Sakumo Hatake intensified, because he knew that if he killed Sakumo Hatake here, Kirito Tohsaka's soul, which was currently occupying Sakumo Hatake's body, would also be severely damaged.

While he was pondering, the Susanoo giant, under his control, charged towards Hatake Sakumo, its four enormous chakra katana unleashing terrifying blade light.

Faced with Madara Uchiha's overwhelming attack, Sakumo Hatake dared not fight head-on and repeatedly used the Body Flicker Technique to dodge.

However, the Susanoo Giant can cross a distance of more than ten meters in one step, and Madara Uchiha's Sharingan perception is not much inferior to that of the Byakugan, so Sakumo Hatake's Body Flicker Technique, which he was so proud of, could hardly play a significant role.

He had just successfully dodged an attack using the Instantaneous Movement Technique when he was about to be attacked again.

For a moment, Hatake Sakumo was like a mole frantically running away, while Uchiha Madara was like a man with a hammer, frantically whacking the mole, even though the mole tried to get into Uchiha Madara's blind spot at all times.

However, Madara Uchiha's attacks always missed Sakumo Hatake by just a little bit each time.

Madara Uchiha was not discouraged or impatient; he remained calm and unaffected by his anger.

As a ninja who had survived countless battles, he knew very well the importance of remaining calm.

He had already realized that even though Hatake Sakumo's strength seemed to have increased dramatically after taking that red pill, it was nothing more than that. Moreover, that power was just an illusion and could not last. If his opponent continued to wear him down like this, he would surely be defeated.

Besides, he was almost able to catch the mouse.

"This guy is even stronger than last night. Is it because he got a new Sharingan?"

Sakumo Hatake struggled to dodge, feeling excruciating pain throughout his body, and frowned as he thought to himself.

At this moment, Sakumo Hatake was indeed not the real Sakumo Hatake. Just as Madara Uchiha had predicted, Kirito was remotely controlling him from behind. He had left some means on the two sealing talismans he gave Sakumo Hatake, so that once they were used, he could sense that Sakumo Hatake was in danger.

The reason he was able to control Sakumo Hatake was that he used the Spirit Transformation Technique: Soul Seed Technique to leave a soul seed in Sakumo Hatake's body.

This was something he secretly planted on Sakumo Hatake. His purpose was not to control Sakumo Hatake like he controlled Kassaran of Kumogakure, but simply as a backup plan.

After all, there are very few outstanding ninjas in Konoha with a pure will of fire like Hatake Sakumo. He couldn't bear to see Hatake Sakumo die young like in the original story, and he was thinking of having him assist him in developing and strengthening Konoha in the future.

He just didn't expect this backup plan to be used so quickly, and that the danger Hatake Sakumo encountered was that he was facing the super boss Uchiha Madara.

In fact, if he hadn't controlled Sakumo Hatake, Sakumo Hatake would have already died, because the soul seed he left in Sakumo Hatake's body was not yet mature. It could only come out and take over Sakumo Hatake's body after Sakumo Hatake lost consciousness.

Just now, Hatake Sakumo was almost blown up by Uchiha Madara's fire clone and fell unconscious. Only then did he manage to take over Hatake Sakumo's body and remotely control it.

Unfortunately, Hatake Sakumo's injuries were too severe, and the nature and amount of chakra he possessed were incomparable to his original body. Even when borrowing Hatake Sakumo's body, he couldn't unleash even half of his original body's strength, and could only be beaten into a corner by Uchiha Madara, just like now.

He had planned to rely on Sakumo Hatake's body to sustain him until his main body could come to the rescue, but the side effects of the replica chili pills had already begun to appear.

The reason was that Madara Uchiha's attacks were too fierce, and he kept using his special Yin Release ninjutsu to attack. He had to repeatedly consume his Sage Chakra to use Body Flicker Technique to dodge, otherwise he would have been killed by Madara Uchiha with a single blow.

The price of frequently consuming Sage Mode chakra is the depletion of a large amount of chakra generated by the Chili Pepper Pills that squeezed the body's potential.

"Continuing like this won't work. The only option is to fight to the death. I'm sorry, teacher, but please lend me your body so I can witness the ultimate display of physical skills."

Kirito felt that Sakumo Hatake's body, which had already healed most of his injuries with the Palm Healing Technique, was becoming increasingly inflexible due to the pain, and thought helplessly.

Sakumo Hatake only possessed wind and earth chakra natures, not lightning. He was unable to use the Lightning Release technique to escape, and his ordinary wind and earth ninjutsu were ineffective against Madara Uchiha's Susanoo.

So far, the only methods he can effectively utilize with Sakumo Hatake's body are sealing techniques and physical techniques.

Another slash came down, and Kirito, controlling Sakumo Hatake's body, once again used Sage Chakra to perform the Body Flicker Technique to dodge. But this time, he didn't use the Body Flicker Technique to teleport into Madara Uchiha's blind spot to buy time to dodge. Instead, he appeared directly less than two meters away from Madara Uchiha's Susanoo Giant.

There must be a demon in the abnormal situation.

Upon seeing this, Madara Uchiha became vigilant again, but he did not hesitate and directly controlled the Susanoo Giant to stomp on Sakumo Hatake.

He is now the stronger party. No matter what tricks the opponent plays, he only needs to crush them with his overwhelming power.

He has always been like this.

But before he could even put his foot down, a somewhat complex sealing array suddenly appeared on the surrounding ground, and a large number of sealing spells climbed onto the Susanoo Giant, causing the Susanoo Giant to pause in its movements.

Sealing Technique: Sixfold Lamp Array!

This was a sealing formation that Kirito had secretly set up while he was dodging. Because of the time constraints and the difficulty of staying in one place for long, he could only set up this sealing formation, which he could normally set up in just a second or two.

He originally planned to secretly set up an eight-layered lamp array to cooperate with his own body in suppressing Uchiha Madara, but time was running out.

"A trivial skill."

Madara Uchiha, bound by the Sixfold Lantern Formation, sneered and unleashed an even stronger burst of chakra. The numerous sealing techniques binding the Susanoo Giant instantly collapsed, and the Susanoo Giant's giant foot continued to stomp towards Sakumo Hatake.