The golden trident of the Sea God descended with dazzling radiance, as if capable of piercing through everything in this world.
"Stop playing petty tricks!"
Uchiha Madara barked harshly! With a swift motion, he raised his blade and blocked the trident.
However, empowered by its colossal size, this simple strike carried terrifying force. In an instant, the moist soil beneath Madara's Susanoo caved in significantly.
Though hailed as the power of gods, the Susanoo had its drawbacks—it lacked the agility and nimbleness of its user's original form.
Madara attempted to shift his position, but the trident locked him firmly in place. Whether twisting the Susanoo or dispelling it entirely, Madara could clearly sense that any such move would leave him vulnerable to a direct hit.
Kakashi stared down at Madara from above, his gaze seemingly saying, "You're done for, old man."
The mounting frustration since the battle began finally pushed Madara to stop holding back. He decided to show this brat what it truly meant to be the Warlord of the Ninja World.
"Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands!!!"
An overwhelming surge of chakra erupted from Madara's body. In an instant, the damp earth cracked open, and a towering wooden thousand-armed Buddha statue, standing over a kilometer tall, rose from the war-torn land.
"Hah!"
With a thunderous roar, Madara commanded the True Several Thousand Hands. The massive wooden arms on its back extended wildly, hammering relentlessly toward Kakashi's Vast Ocean Avatar.
It was impossible to fend off attacks from so many fists, let alone those of a thousand-armed Buddha.
But the dense barrage of a giant had its flaws. At this moment, Kakashi dispelled the Vast Ocean Avatar, revealing his comparatively delicate and compact figure against the towering wooden colossus.
With agile leaps and twists, Kakashi skillfully evaded Madara's assault.
Yet, a greater question lingered in Kakashi's mind. Every Konoha shinobi knew that Wood Release was the signature ability of the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
As for so-called Wood Release experiments, the only successful subject, Yamato, possessed abilities that barely qualified as Tree Release—nothing like the Wood Release that Hashirama Senju used to conquer the world.
Though Kakashi didn't know how Madara had acquired this power, it was undoubtedly linked to human experimentation. However, he decided not to dwell on that matter for now.
With several swift leaps, Kakashi suddenly appeared before the Susanoo.
"Lightning Release: Divine Retribution Spear!!!"
A terrifying bolt of purple lightning condensed and surged directly toward Madara.
Many civilian shinobi held a misconception—that bloodline-limit techniques were inherently stronger than conventional elemental ninjutsu.
But a closer look at the ninja world's strongest revealed no shortage of individuals who had mastered a single aspect of ninjutsu to its absolute peak.
Tobirama Senju's Water Release could slice through the Divine Tree.
Madara Uchiha's Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation required dozens of shinobi using Water Release to counteract.
Ōnoki's Earth Release could trap even the Ten-Tails.
Though rarely used, the destructive power of the protagonist's Wind Release: Rasenshuriken spoke for itself.
As for Lightning Release, while Kumogakure's Raikage was the most iconic wielder, the pinnacle of Lightning Release was arguably the later-developed Purple Electricity technique by Hatake Kakashi. Though its specifics remained unclear, its demonstrated power could easily gravely wound tailed-beast-level opponents—a feat unmatched by brute-force users like the Raikage or Sasuke's Kirin.
Under Ye Wen's influence, Kakashi had mastered this future ability over a decade earlier.
Madara hadn't anticipated Kakashi's combat style to be so fierce and cunning—relentless and leaving little room for reaction.
Without the trident's lock, Madara immediately dispelled the Susanoo and landed on the palm of the Wooden Buddha.
Even so, the sheer power unleashed by Kakashi's Divine Retribution Spear left Madara wary.
Having mastered Hashirama's Wood Release, though never having used it before, Madara knew full well that his own Wood Release rivaled Hashirama's. Yet, even this sturdy and powerful Wood Release was shattered repeatedly by Kakashi's relentless assault, with hundreds of arms destroyed in quick succession.
By now, Madara had to admit that this brat was no longer the so-called Konoha prodigy he had known before his death.
But—
That's what made it interesting!
Madara now became truly serious, leaping onto the head of the Thousand-Armed Buddha.
One burst of energy, then decline, then exhaustion—even Kakashi struggled to sustain the consumption of this Lightning Release. Though divine power increased his chakra capacity, the actual chakra expenditure still relied on Kakashi's reserves, which were now stretched thin.
Unconsciously, Kakashi began to pant slightly.
"Brat, is this all you've got? It's rare for me to take you seriously.
But no matter. Allow me to grant you an honorable death."
Madara's arrogant voice rang out, causing Kakashi's brow to furrow involuntarily.
But it couldn't be denied—this was so very Uchiha.
In Kakashi's heart, now recovered, he couldn't help but feel disdain for Madara. Instead of capitalizing on his moment of weakness, Madara stood atop the highest point, spouting grandiose rhetoric.
The second round began—
Without Hashirama's Edo Tensei body to harness natural energy, Madara naturally couldn't activate Sage Mode.
Nor did he have the Ten-Tails to become its jinchūriki.
Even so, Madara was still Madara. A massive surge of chakra erupted once more.
Susanoo enveloping the Buddha—the ultimate powerhouse of the ninja world had officially arrived.
Seeing the Thousand-Armed Buddha now fully clad in Susanoo, even Kakashi couldn't help but swallow nervously.
"This is the Warlord of the Ninja World?!"
But soon, Kakashi steeled his resolve.
"It's merely the Warlord of the Ninja World. Before the power of the true god, everything is insignificant."
Sensing Kakashi's devout heart and the epic, fateful atmosphere of the scene, Ye Wen grew dissatisfied with merely spectating.
Though his body was already strained, bolstered by Ye Wen's divine empowerment and driven by unwavering determination, Kakashi pushed his divine power to its absolute limit.
"Hahaha, that's it, brat! Fight me with everything you've got!"
Madara laughed maniacally, inviting the challenge.
But as the pinnacle of the ninja world, Madara quickly sensed something amiss. The chakra emanating from Kakashi had changed.
"What?! What sorcery is this?!"
------------------------------------------------------
Thank you to our new Patrons: DeathClan1980, Leroy, Drake Blazer, Mridk, Jose, Destin Woods, Isaiah, Soren Britt, AbsoluteZero, Oprea Andrei George, Sakuya and HADES! Your support means the world to me <3 We are up to Chapter 795: Oh No, This is Aimed at Me (°°) on Patreon!
There's something for free patrons too! Free Patrons receive 1 chapter in advance :)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Support my writing journey: patreon.com/EphemeralShadow