Madara remained seated on the stone chair. With the extraordinary perception of the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, he clearly observed all of Kei's reactions.
By preemptively liquefying his body using the Hydrification Technique, executing Water Severing Wave without hand seals, and previously displaying the Flying Thunder God Technique... All of this, in just an instant of exchange.
He had already determined that this guy in front of him was likely even stronger than Tobirama back then!
Powerful genjutsu fueled by immense mental strength, exceptional neural reaction speed, refined chakra control, unparalleled Water Release talent, and a rare space-time ninjutsu.
For this era to give rise to such a formidable warrior—it truly surprised him.
However…
"What an utterly repulsive technique, just looking at it fills me with disgust." Madara's voice was low and hoarse.
He slightly raised his head, gazing at the high-pressure water blade that had already severed a portion of his Susanoo in its second stage, continuing to press forward, about to collide with the Gedo Statue behind him.
The immense ocular power of his Sharingan, along with his chakra, surged forth like a breached dam. The deep-blue chakra body of Susanoo rapidly solidified, with its exposed skeletal structure completely enveloped by materialized chakra.
As Susanoo gradually stood upright, its enormous body taking form, he was lifted by the solidified chakra to its head—overlooking everything like a king gazing down upon ants.
Despite remaining seated on the stone chair, his expression remained calm and unshaken.
But only he knew, aside from his battle with Hashirama, there had been very few occasions where he was forced to activate this form of Susanoo against a small number of enemies.
Of course, part of the reason was to protect the Gedo Statue.
But more importantly, it was because he had now lost the ability to move at high speed.
Against an attack that surpassed the defensive limits of Susanoo's second stage, he could neither retreat to disperse the impact nor evade swiftly to avoid damage—his only option was to take it head-on!
Shhhh—!
The high-pressure water blade ground against Susanoo, producing an ear-piercing screech, sharp enough to make one's eardrums ache.
Yet, the sudden surge in Susanoo's defensive power caused the originally unstoppable Water Severing Wave to slow to a crawl.
Almost at the instant Susanoo advanced to its third stage, and four ethereal blue arms swung their swords at Kei once more. At the same time, the remaining two arms began forming hand seals.
At the first sign of Susanoo's movement, Kei immediately ceased the jutsu.
Taking a deep breath, he clapped his hands together again.
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
He spewed forth a massive torrent of water towards the ground.
As he leaped into the air, the surging waves beneath him propelled him even higher. Just narrowly avoiding the crisscrossing strikes of the giant chakra blades.
The water surged into a towering wave over ten meters high, crashing toward both Madara and the Gedo Statue behind him!
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
A flood of flames erupted from Susanoo's mouth, colliding with the incoming tidal wave, producing a massive cloud of steam!
Water churned, flames roared!
The evaporating mist rapidly engulfed the entire mountain-graveyard battlefield. Even with the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, he failed to immediately locate his opponent within the dense fog.
Kei clapped his hands again, leaving a shadow clone in his place.
Meanwhile, he himself merged into the turbulent water created by the Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave using the Hydrification Technique.
His shadow clone dashed forward, hands moving swiftly as a spiraling water drill formed in his right palm.
With a few agile leaps, he passed through the thick mist and launched himself toward Susanoo, the Hard Whirlpool Water Blade aimed directly at its face!
"Such an outdated and uninspired tactic." Madara, possessing the ocular power to see through Hashirama's Wood Clone Technique, easily saw through Kei's shadow clone.
Back then, Tobirama had used this very move to kill countless Uchiha clan members. Izuna, had also died by the Flying Thunder God Slash.
At that time, how many members of the Uchiha clan were unaware of the combo involving the Hard Whirlpool Water Blade?
And yet, this person dared to use it against him?
Was it ignorance? Or was he deliberately provoking his rage?
Boom!
Susanoo's massive chakra blade clashed against the Hard Whirlpool Water Blade wielded by the shadow clone.
The highly compressed water vortex, no longer restrained, exploded outward in an instant.
The razor-sharp spinning water blade clashed against Susanoo's giant sword, producing a deafening, high-pitched resonance!
As the two forces remained deadlocked, another of Susanoo's arms swung down, wielding a chakra blade for a second strike.
Bang!
The vortex created by the Hard Whirlpool Water Blade was cleaved apart, scattering water droplets in all directions.
At the same time, Susanoo's remaining two arms had already completed a series of hand seals!
A meteor-like massive fireball shot straight toward the area where the Hard Whirlpool Water Blade had dissipated. If Kei had done as Madara predicted—using the Flying Thunder God Technique to teleport to where his shadow clone had been, he would have been instantly incinerated by this enormous fire release technique!
Boom!
The giant fireball struck the ground, erupting into a blazing inferno, transforming the area into a sea of fire. Once again, it collided with the vast lake that Kei had previously created using Water Release, producing an even larger cloud of steam.
Smoke and mist once again blanketed the battlefield.
Madara narrowed his eyes slightly—just now, had he only seen the shadow clone being consumed by the Great Fire Annihilation, dissipating into chakra smoke?
His opponent had precisely locked onto his position in the thick fog and, through Susanoo's movements, anticipated that using the Flying Thunder God Technique again was no longer viable.
Such an absurdly fast neural response speed.
A smirk of genuine amusement tugged at the corner of Madara's lips. Now, this was finally starting to feel like a real fight. However… the real body still hadn't shown itself.
Was the target the Gedo Statue?
Susanoo suddenly leaped backward through the dense fog created by the clash of fire and water.
Unnoticed until now, the distance between them had already stretched to nearly a hundred meters—but in this single leap, it closed rapidly.
From countless battles where he had fought on the brink of death, Madara easily deduced one thing—the missing enemy must be heading toward the Gedo Statue!
After all, ever since the fight began, the tube connecting to the Gedo Statue behind him had remained intact.
Theoretically, as long as enough chakra was supplied, the Gedo Statue's extended conduits could reach over a thousand meters, and their durability was far beyond what an ordinary person could destroy.
But… this guy had already managed to cut through Susanoo's second stage!
Kei had already pushed his sensory perception to the absolute limit, tracking Susanoo's every move through the thick mist generated by the Fire and Water Release collision.
He understood the importance of the Gedo Statue to Madara better than anyone.
In the original story, that thing had unleashed chains from its mouth that could extend over a thousand meters, directly binding the Nine-Tails and the other tailed beasts.
Who knew how long that life-supporting tube connected to Madara could extend?
Simply shifting the battlefield through direct combat probably wouldn't be enough.
So the best option? Get rid of that thing entirely!
Without the Rinnegan, even with all his power, Madara wouldn't be able to summon the Gedo Statue back.
When someone's life was truly threatened, they unleashed unimaginable power.
A final desperate struggle...
And Madara was no ordinary person. Even the Nine-Tails had said it didn't dare to face him head-on.