Chapter 438: In the Realm of Genjutsu, I, Madara, Acknowledge You as the Strongest!
Kakashi pointed to the sky, where purple lightning swirled at the center of the vortex.
For a moment, time seemed to pause, and all thoughts came to a standstill.
BOOM!!!
A flash of purple light engulfed the area, covering a radius of ten kilometers.
Every living being with eyes instinctively shut them tight.
When the purple light dissipated, Planetary Devastation had vanished, leaving only a shattered landscape.
At the center of the ground, there was a deep fissure, so profound it seemed bottomless.
From afar, it looked like a long blade had pierced through glass, shattering it under immense pressure.
On a distant cliff, protected by Susanoo, Obito witnessed Kakashi's attack.
He realized that the purple lightning from the sky had formed a blade that shattered the core of Planetary Devastation, with the aftershock breaking the earth.
Obito gazed intently at Kakashi, who turned back to meet his gaze.
Taking a deep breath, a vortex of space-time ripples appeared on the cliff beside Obito. He still chose not to confront Kakashi directly.
From afar, Kakashi understood that Obito was still opting to escape.
He now had the strength, whether it was his own or the power gained with his friends' help.
At this moment, Kakashi had both the strength and courage to face Obito head-on.
...
Over at the Ten-Tails, the battle between Madara and Shisui had long begun.
Madara found Shisui intriguing. As the successor to Uchiha Haneda, and in some ways surpassing Itachi as Hokage, Madara believed that while Shisui might not be stronger than Haneda, he was certainly stronger than Itachi.
Having faced Haneda, Itachi, and the two world-shattering kids from Konoha, Madara no longer viewed Hashirama as his only worthy opponent.
His mindset had shifted. The moment he charged at Shisui, he went all out.
A colossal Susanoo, towering over a hundred meters, appeared on the battlefield as Madara drew his sword and slashed at Shisui.
Shisui's eyelids twitched. He had just heard from Shikaku that Madara disdained attacking weaker opponents.
Why was Madara going all out right from the start?
With no other choice, Shisui activated his Susanoo. To be honest, Shisui's Mangekyō abilities were not suited for combat.
In truth, his current strength was not on par with Itachi's.
Itachi possessed the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, while Shisui had only an ordinary Mangekyō.
Their ocular powers were not on the same level.
However, with the implantation of the Sage Body, Shisui's ocular power remained formidable.
Upon activating his third stage, his Susanoo donned the tengu armor, reaching the third form of Susanoo!
Shisui clasped Madara's blade with both hands, replicating the feat of catching a blade barehanded.
Yet, Madara's strength was overwhelming. Even with the third stage Susanoo, under the full-fledged Susanoo and Rinnegan's power, Shisui was still pushed back dozens of meters.
Seeing this, Madara felt a twinge of boredom.
He had anticipated Shisui to be a formidable opponent, but he turned out to be merely a slightly stronger Uchiha clansman.
However, the Uchiha name Shisui carried stirred Madara's appreciation for talent, prompting him to extend an offer once more:
"To be honest, your power is nowhere near the level of the other two Uchiha I encountered before."
"I can see your ocular power is stronger than an ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan, likely due to Hashirama's power, correct?"
"With that knowledge, you must have seen the tablet left by the Sage of Six Paths for the Uchiha."
"You should understand that only Infinite Tsukuyomi can save this hopeless world."
Recovering from the impact of Madara's blade, Shisui grasped the meaning behind Madara's offer, but...
"Carrying the name of Hokage, I cannot yield!"
Shisui clapped his hands, summoning the Wood Human and Wood Dragon.
Seeing Hashirama's techniques, Madara's lips curled slightly.
His admiration for talent grew, but for an enemy who could not be recruited, Madara would show no mercy.
"If that's the case, let me see if your Wood Release can match even half of Hashirama's power."
Madara's sword slashed again, its powerful sword energy splitting the ground, forming a deep chasm.
"This is troublesome," Shisui muttered, glancing back at the Konoha ninjas behind him, his brow furrowing.
He couldn't dodge; he had to take this strike head-on.
The Wood Dragon lunged at the sword wave, slightly slowing the impact. Shisui then layered his Susanoo over the Wood Human.
With the combined strength of Susanoo and the Wood Human, Shisui once again caught the blade with his hands, halting the sword wave.
Simultaneously, Shisui directed the Susanoo-clad Wood Human to charge at Madara, their fists colliding mid-air.
The resulting shockwave sent nearby ninjas flying several meters.
Seeing this, Shisui commanded:
"Stay away from me and Madara, focus on the big guy!"
The Konoha ninjas turned and moved away, realizing that engaging Madara would only hinder the Hokage and Madara's battle.
Meanwhile, the Ten-Tails, uncontrolled by Madara or Obito, acted purely on instinct.
It prioritized attacking whoever hurt it the most.
After identifying the Ten-Tails' mindless weakness, the ninjas formed a pincer attack strategy.
The frontline ninjas would retreat after attacking, and when the Ten-Tails prepared to retaliate, the rear ninjas would attack.
As the Ten-Tails shifted its focus, the ninjas in the front would regroup and strike.
Under Shikaku's command, the front and rear teams coordinated like two hands, manipulating the Ten-Tails with ease.
Meanwhile, the sealing squad assembled to prepare a large-scale sealing technique to contain or restrict the Ten-Tails.
On the other side, Madara and Shisui's battle continued.
Shisui intentionally shifted the battlefield away from the Konoha forces, adopting a defensive strategy, retreating while fighting.
Having often been driven back like this by Hashirama, Madara understood Shisui's tactics.
However, he didn't care.
Until Haneda, Itachi, and the two world-shattering kids arrived, Madara was confident he could clean up the battlefield.
"Carrying the name of Hokage, you pale in comparison to Hashirama and Haneda!"
"Even with Hashirama's power, you're still lacking!"
Madara, seated atop his Susanoo, evaluated Shisui.
His posture was so casual, like an old man lounging in a chair under the sun, he didn't even take Shisui seriously.
Shisui glanced towards the Ten-Tails, noting the progress made by the coalition forces, and smiled:
"My goal is already achieved."
Madara confidently replied:
"Even if you manage to hold me back, they can't seal the Ten-Tails. Its power is beyond your comprehension."
"Not to mention, I, Uchiha Madara, am still here."
Shisui smiled and pointed towards the Ten-Tails.
At that moment, the Ten-Tails was being restrained by Earth Release cement, which was solidified rapidly with Fire Release.
Konoha's sealing squad also sprang into action.
Over three thousand ninjas jointly cast the Nine Extremes Seal, a large-scale sealing barrier developed in recent years specifically to counter the Tailed Beasts.
Nine represents the limit, ten represents fullness, and twelve symbolizes perfection.
The Nine Extremes Seal signifies the human limit.
Haneda supported the research of the sealing squad, personally involving Orochimaru and even demonstrating Planetary Devastation to him.
After half a year of research, Orochimaru, along with other sealing experts, developed a large-scale sealing technique capable of easily sealing the Nine-Tails, designed to counter Tailed Beast attacks.
Originally, this was meant to deal with the Jinchūriki of the anti-Konoha alliance.
However...
Many Jinchūriki who attempted to attack Konoha were captured by Obito.
Only Killer Bee with the Eight-Tails, who had sneaked into the Land of Wind, and Han and Roshi, who followed the army, escaped.
This was the first time it was demonstrated on the battlefield.
Madara's gaze sharpened as he sensed a dangerous aura from the Nine Extremes Seal.
If he were caught in it, he might only escape using space-time ninjutsu...
But Madara wasn't mindless like the Ten-Tails; he wouldn't give the sealing squad the chance.
Madara glanced meaningfully at Shisui, then wielded his sword and flew towards the Ten-Tails.
Yet, the moment his eyes met Shisui's...
The most powerful genjutsu, Kotoamatsukami, activated!!!
Madara's Susanoo unexpectedly plummeted from the sky without warning!
He had fallen into a genjutsu!!
Shisui, clutching his bleeding eye, with tears of blood streaming down his cheek, had succeeded.
He had bet on Madara's pride, certain that Madara would glance at him before leaving.
And Kotoamatsukami only required a moment of eye contact, even for 0.001 seconds!
More than ten seconds passed, an eternity in battle, long enough for an enemy to kill.
If not for the coalition forces being too far away, if not for Shisui using all his remaining ocular power to control Madara...
Madara would have been sealed!
Just as Shisui believed the plan had gone smoothly, Madara awoke from the genjutsu.
With his light purple Rinnegan, he looked at Shisui and asked:
"I acknowledge you. What is your name?"
Shisui, intending to buy time for the coalition, replied deliberately:
"Uchiha Shisui."
"Uchiha Shisui, like water that benefits all things without contending, a fitting name."
"I acknowledge you. Among all my opponents, only your genjutsu has truly entrapped me."
"Not even Hashirama... No, no one surpasses you!"
"I, Madara, acknowledge you as the strongest!!!"
...