No matter how much the giant trees spawned by the Advent of a World of Trees grew, they were relentlessly dragged into the quicksand, buried, and devoured.
With terrifying sandstorms raging across the surface and ruthless quicksand devouring from beneath, the power of Advent of a World of Trees quickly became unsustainable. Even with Madara Uchiha's immense chakra as a constant source of energy, it was a futile struggle.
Moreover, at this moment, even Madara himself was likely preoccupied, for he too was a target of the Desert Sunflower's devouring.
Struggling to free his legs from the shackles of the yellow sand, Madara's expression darkened. He hadn't anticipated losing in a direct confrontation.
Although it was partly due to the enemy's consecutive release of multiple techniques, a loss was a loss. Madara Uchiha was not someone so weak as to deny defeat.
Changing his hand seals swiftly, Madara abandoned the Advent of a World of Trees and instead cast the Wood Dragon Technique.
Leaping atop the head of the massive wood dragon, Madara soared into the sky.
When Hashirama Senju originally created the Wood Dragon Technique, it was noted for its capacity to carry individuals in flight, far exceeding its offensive potential.
However, before Madara could gain much altitude, two figures surged toward him along with the yellow sand.
The newcomers were Jūzō Biwa and the Third Raikage, both brought into play by Kawaki Aoba's prior arrangements on the battlefield.
Standing atop platforms of condensed sand specially prepared for them, Jūzō and the Raikage advanced steadily, flanking Madara from both sides.
Besides these two, the very sky full of yellow sand became Madara's enemy.
Even the wood dragon beneath him was momentarily restrained.
Jūzō Biwa's attacks were wild and reckless, showing little regard for his own life. If not for the armor of sand manipulated by Susanoo to shield his body—a layer capable of regenerating under the force of the storm—he would have been slain countless times by Madara's kunai.
The Third Raikage needed no such precautions. His entire body crackled with lightning, and the sharpness of his Hell Stab was something even Madara dared not confront directly.
Meanwhile, Susanoo, manipulating the yellow sand from afar, partially elementalized his body and floated in the sky, choosing to maintain his position as a long-range sniper.
Wielding the Romantic Cannon Nangua, he fired energy bullets one after another. With Kawaki Aoba's sensory abilities assisting him from above, each shot was deadly accurate, forcing Madara to carefully evade.
Yet, Madara was still Madara.
Even under such siege, he remained calm and composed. Although he narrowly avoided lethal strikes several times, he sustained no serious injuries.
It was astonishing.
If three were not enough to subdue him, then perhaps four would suffice?
Qing Yu Chuanmu had no intention of entering the battlefield himself. As the true ultimate force behind the scenes, lowering himself to battle now would tarnish his image.
Instead, a massive teleportation array blossomed within the heart of the sandstorm. In the next moment, nearly a hundred ninja figures materialized—many caught mid-sprint, unaware of their sudden change in surroundings.
These were the Iwagakure ninjas who had previously evacuated under Onoki's command.
Kawaki Aoba had prepared for this, using his Dimensional Matrix Shangri-La to place countless teleportation marks along every possible route they might take.
As long as they remained within Kawaki Aoba's chakra sensing range, even individually, he could summon them back at will.
Susanoo had similarly placed numerous spatial markers across the ninja world.
Otherwise, why would they have wasted so much time over the past few days?
However, Onoki himself was not among the recalled forces.
It couldn't be helped—the old Tsuchikage had remained airborne using his Light-Weight Rock Technique, allowing him to avoid the spatial transfer.
But not being transferred might not have been a blessing. Knowing Onoki's stubbornness, he was probably rushing toward the battlefield at full speed.
As expected, before long, the old Tsuchikage came flying over, rage evident on his face.
No doubt he had been cursing Susanoo the entire way.
Still, he arrived with impressive speed.
Unfortunately, even in that brief time, several Iwagakure shinobi had already perished within the sandstorm. Any further delay would have cost even more lives.
But there was little to be done. Those who abandoned the safety of the storm's eye and tried to flee into the chaos bore responsibility for their own fate.
Hovering at the battlefield's edge, Onoki's face was grim as he surveyed the horrifying scene—the deadly storm and the trapped Iwagakure forces at its center.
Flying toward Susanoo's position, Onoki bellowed, "What exactly are you planning?!"
Susanoo didn't mince words and directly stated the terms of blackmail:
"Third Tsuchikage, please join us in battling Madara Uchiha and help eliminate this threat to the ninja world. Once Madara is defeated, the Iwagakure shinobi below will be allowed to leave safely."
It was a blatant threat, and Susanoo didn't even bother pretending otherwise.
Onoki's anger soared, but he clearly understood the implication: if he refused, his shinobi would either be caught in the fiercest part of the battle or swallowed by the quicksand—few would survive.
Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Onoki gritted his teeth. "Fine. I will help you against Madara Uchiha. But the Iwagakure shinobi must be evacuated immediately after!"
"Agreed," Susanoo said, nodding without hesitation.
"What?" This time, it was Ōnoki's turn to be stunned, completely unprepared for Susanoo's ready agreement. However, in a flash, Ōnoki recalled how they had been teleported twice before, and his face darkened.
The enemy was relying on a bizarre space-time ninjutsu to feel secure and fearless.
But what could Ōnoki do? He now belonged to the weaker side and could only grit his teeth and accept it.
Seeing that Ōnoki had figured out his tactic, Kawaki Aoba, floating high in the sky within his Susanoo, didn't hesitate. He immediately manipulated Susanoo to open a safe passage for the Iwagakure ninjas below.
Given their strength, staying on this battlefield was indeed too dangerous — they could easily become cannon fodder.
Once the Iwagakure forces had evacuated beyond the sandstorm's range, Ōnoki finally took action, joining the others in the siege against Uchiha Madara.
Before departing, he also issued a critical command to his forces: disperse into smaller squads, head toward the Land of Earth, and eventually return to Iwagakure.
This strategy — dispersal — was a sound response against space-time ninjutsu, but as long as they remained within Kawaki Aoba's Kenbunshoku Haki (Observation Haki) range, escaping would still be difficult.
Moreover, having already suffered once, Ōnoki dared not gamble again.
Joining the battlefield, Ōnoki chose not to attack from long range using Dust Release like he had earlier. Instead, he engaged Uchiha Madara more directly, using his Earth Release techniques at close and mid-range.
Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique
Earth Release: Stone Golem Technique
Earth Release: Added-Weight Rock Technique
Despite his age, Ōnoki's skills remained formidable. His attack and defense were both nearly perfect.
However, a notable flaw was that when unleashing large-scale ninjutsu, he often "accidentally" involved his allies, including the Third Raikage and Kisame Hoshigaki.
Kawaki Aoba noticed this too, but didn't mind. What mattered was focusing on Uchiha Madara.
Under the combined siege of four powerful combatants, Uchiha Madara's situation grew increasingly difficult. Losing the advantage of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan (and not yet using the Rinnegan) severely weakened his close-combat capability.
Now, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan genjutsu could only slightly hinder the Third Raikage, who was engaging him directly.
Against Kisame Hoshigaki, whose chakra surged violently — comparable to the Eight Gates technique — genjutsu had little to no effect.
As for Ōnoki, who was agile and cautious, Madara couldn't even find an opening to cast genjutsu on him.
Gradually, Madara was pushed into a defensive position, even getting struck a few times.
Yet even then, Madara showed no signs of panic — it was clear he had a trump card.
After exchanging a few more blows, Madara finally smirked and said,
"Heh... To think you could push me this far. Be proud. Now, experience what it's like to be besieged."
Taking a heavy punch from the Third Raikage, Madara quickly formed a hand seal.
"Wood Release: Multi-Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
(Technically, Madara combined Shadow Clone Jutsu and Wood Release, creating Wood Clones, stronger than ordinary shadow clones.)
More than a dozen identical figures split from Madara's body — all sturdy, fierce, and brimming with chakra.
The first clone immediately intercepted the Third Raikage's next charge.
One after another, the other clones engaged the attackers, creating breathing space for Madara.
From his vantage point in the sky, Kawaki Aoba counted carefully: there were exactly thirteen wood clones.
Since two of the "Three Treasures" (Kisame and Third Raikage) were already heavily engaged, the remaining fighters could only face multiple clones each.
Even though a wood clone only had about a quarter of Madara's full power, three against one was enough to overwhelm even a Kage-level opponent.
Especially for Kisame, whose style was more direct, even one Madara clone could cause serious trouble.
As for Kawaki Aoba's Susanoo — he remained calm as three wood clones charged at him.
Without changing expression, he partially activated the Roman Artillery: Pumpkin — a Teigu weapon modified to run on chakra instead of conventional energy.
Within seconds, he injected a large amount of chakra into the Roman Artillery:
One card
Two cards
Three cards
Four cards
Five cards
He stopped only because the weapon had reached its energy limit.
The Roman Artillery's barrel glowed intensely, radiating unbearable heat even through Susanoo's armor.
Without delay, he pointed the barrel at the incoming clones and fired.
Instead of a typical blast, a scorching energy beam roared forth — a concentrated stream of destruction.
Naturally, the clones dodged swiftly — Madara's clones were no fools — but the real devastation was yet to come.
Susanoo didn't let up; he swung the energy beam horizontally like a Jedi Knight with a lightsaber, carving through the air — and everything in its path.
One wood clone was too slow — half his body was severed instantly.
Seizing the momentum, Susanoo swept the beam again. The remaining two clones desperately dodged left and right, but the wood dragons they rode were destroyed, cut into pieces and sent crashing down.
Now airbound without their dragons, the two clones were helpless.
One clone tried to save the other, grabbing him midair, but it was futile.
The beam slashed across both:
The front clone was severed cleanly in half.
The second clone barely survived, scarred but operational — though weakened.
Normally, a regular clone would disperse immediately upon taking that much damage. But Madara's Wood Clones were far sturdier, capable of independent action even when heavily wounded.
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