"Who the hell are you?!"
Uchiha Madara's gaze wavered slightly, his tone turning cold and distant.
Though he didn't know what had happened to Kakashi, it was clear that the person before him was no longer the brat he had been fighting earlier.
Moments ago, an invisible force had been eroding his body, causing Kakashi's expression to shift from alarm to ecstatic realization—it was the unmistakable presence of the god who had bestowed him with divine power.
"My lord!?"
"Leave the rest to me, Kakashi. You've done more than enough. This situation is my fault for not providing sufficient intelligence."
"No, my lord, it's my incompetence. If I were stronger, things wouldn't have come to this."
"Heh heh heh, don't blame yourself, Kakashi. Even gods cannot control their own fates. Fate is an elusive, capricious thing.
Rest now, and let me show you how to properly wield the divine power I've granted you."
Ye Wen—the God-King of the Vast Ocean, Gold Medal Substitute—had arrived.
Ye Wen didn't respond but instead studied Madara with keen interest.
After all, compared to the lackluster Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, Uchiha Madara was the most formidable villain in the ninja world.
Though admittedly, he could be a bit dense at times.
"Uchiha Madara, if possible, I'd rather not fight. So, will you surrender?" Ye Wen said calmly.
Madara's lips curled into a sneer as he looked at Ye Wen like he was insane. Since becoming the head of the Uchiha clan, how long had it been since someone dared speak to him like this?
"Sigh…" Ye Wen sighed inwardly, realizing once again that he lacked the talent for verbal persuasion.
But upon reflection, the so-called "bloodline limit of persuasive speech" mocked by fans online was nothing but a joke. If Naruto couldn't defeat his enemies, his words were meaningless. In the end, might always made right.
Though Madara was a villain, he was one with grand ambitions. It would've been better if he were just a bit smarter.
"I'll go easy on him," Ye Wen thought quietly.
"Die!" Madara growled coldly.
Though unsure of what had happened to Kakashi, the excitement he had felt earlier had cooled somewhat. At this moment, Madara wanted to test Kakashi's current strength—if he had weakened, then so be it.
Ye Wen didn't resist, maintaining his golden Vast Ocean Chakra Mode.
Seeing Kakashi get hit without resistance, Madara frowned.
What was this brat up to? He seemed like a completely different person, unable even to react to his attacks.
But the next second, Madara's Rinnegan widened in shock.
"What?! Another space-time ninjutsu?! And isn't this ability to phase through matter Obito's technique?!"
Though Madara's mind was filled with questions, he didn't dare to let his guard down. No matter how much he berated Obito as a failure, Kamui was still one of the top five strongest ocular techniques in the Uchiha clan's thousand-year history.
But if the opponent's ability allowed them to evade into another dimension like Kamui, then the Susanoo-clad Buddha statue would be rendered utterly useless.
As a seasoned battlefield veteran, Madara decisively dispelled the Susanoo. After all, maintaining a Susanoo that couldn't hit its target was simply a waste of chakra.
There was a classic saying in Naruto: there was no such thing as a perfect jutsu; every technique had its flaw.
Though Madara didn't know the specific weaknesses of Obito's Kamui, he understood the nature of the Mangekyō Sharingan all too well.
Moreover, Kakashi's left eye socket housed one of Obito's Mangekyō Sharingan. Without the aid of White Zetsu cells, a non-Uchiha couldn't sustain such a powerful technique for long.
The path forward was now clear: Madara chose close combat, the kind of relentless, high-frequency assault that left no room for even a millisecond of relaxation.
What Madara didn't know was that nearby, Uchiha Obito's eyes widened in disbelief.
Though both of their Mangekyō techniques were Kamui, his was defensive while Kakashi's was offensive. When did Kakashi gain the ability to hide in another dimension for defense?
Was his Mangekyō Sharingan fake or something?!
If Ye Wen knew what this "genius" was thinking, he would've burst out laughing.
What Ye Wen was using wasn't Kamui—it was a soul skill granted to Kakashi through divine power.
It was Ye Wen's fourth soul skill from his time as a mortal: Interdimensional Space, a divine technique that allowed the user to hide their physical body in an alternate dimension to dodge physical attacks.
After five minutes of relentless, storm-like attacks against Ye Wen yielded no results, even Madara couldn't help but pause to catch his breath.
Wiping his forehead, damp with either rain or sweat, Madara began to doubt his earlier judgment. Was this really a Mangekyō Sharingan ability?
After closer inspection, he noticed that though Kakashi's left eye had activated the Sharingan, it only displayed three tomoe. Madara's expression darkened—it wasn't a Mangekyō technique but some unknown space-time ninjutsu.
In the mere decade or so since his death, had the ninja world already developed such an absurd technique? How was an old man like him supposed to compete?
Even so, Madara had no intention of surrendering. Who was he? He was the Warlord of the Ninja World!
Ye Wen didn't rush to attack either. He felt a bit guilty about relying on such an overpowered soul skill when he had intended to join the fight fairly.
"My apologies for the rudeness earlier. Let's start over. I won't use that soul skill again—or rather, that ninjutsu."
Ye Wen's nonchalant attitude deeply insulted Madara, who also sensed an undercurrent of conspiracy.
This brat must have some ulterior motive. Close combat like before was out of the question, Madara thought silently.
If Ye Wen knew, he would've cried out in protest. Heaven and earth as his witness, he simply wanted to enjoy a passionate, old-fashioned brawl.
At this moment, Madara fully grasped the threat Kakashi posed. No wonder Obito and the others had gone through the trouble of resurrecting him.
Narrowing his eyes, Madara decided to hold nothing back. He would use the fastest, strongest, and most cunning methods to eliminate Kakashi.
Wiping away the blood from minor scratches—already healed thanks to his Sage Body—Madara quickly formed hand seals and slammed his palm onto the ground.
"Summoning: Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!!!"
A thick cloud of smoke erupted, revealing a grotesque giant with bound hands and nine closed eyes rising from the ground.
Looking at this hollow shell drained of chakra, Ye Wen felt no excitement. After all, he had already obtained another Ten-Tails from Isshiki.
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