Chapter 542: Madara Uchiha's Acknowledgment
Hayate Gekko moved quickly. In the blink of an eye, he had slapped on three sealing tags. At that moment, a voice mixed with the sound of the waves came through the radio.
"Hayate, Jonin Hayate, we're almost there... kshhh... almost there!" The interference in the radio was significant, and the voice was not very clear, but he knew his message had gotten through.
Hayate attempted to continue sealing the Tailed Beast, but the somewhat slow-to-react Three-Tails finally understood his intention. The behemoth roared and manipulated its Water Release chakra, sending a torrent of water no less powerful than a ninja's "Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave" at the "little insect" on its back.
It was impossible to continue sealing. Hayate could only do a backflip, land on the sea's surface, draw his katana, and face the giant turtle-like Three-Tails, Isobu.
The Three-Tails felt a little uncomfortable on its back, but the few sealing tags, which were not even arranged in a proper formation, were unable to restrict its movements at all.
It recognized the creature known as a ninja and knew they were a bunch of annoying pests.
Having just regained its freedom, it had no desire to be captured again.
The Three-Tails, Isobu, ignored Hayate and prepared to dive and escape.
"Good luck. I actually found something," Madara Uchiha, clad in red armor, said with an air of dignity as he walked out from the previously empty sea surface.
He had been hiding in the shadows before. Relying on his intuition, he had felt that Hayate Gekko had a unique aura and that following him would lead to a reward. This intuition was honed through countless life-and-death battles.
Now, it seemed his intuition was completely correct.
"Who are you? The Sharingan... are you from the Uchiha clan?" The news of Madara's revival was known only to a few high-ranking officials in Konoha. Hayate was clearly not one of them.
Tsunade had recounted the battle between Ino and the reincarnated Madara during a jonin meeting, but at the moment, he couldn't connect the two events. After all, to the ninja of Konoha, Madara was a figure from sixty years ago.
Madara completely ignored Hayate. He quickly formed hand signs. "Fire Release: Great Fire Destruction!"
A huge, meteorite-like fireball descended from the sky, slamming diagonally into the body of the Three-Tails, Isobu.
Raging flames engulfed the Tailed Beast. It continuously spat out Water Release chakra to extinguish the fire.
Even though water counters fire, in the face of Madara's Great Fire Destruction, the water curtain the Three-Tails spat out seemed somewhat weak.
Madara was very experienced in controlling Tailed Beasts. In his eyes, even the strongest, the Nine-Tails, was a toy. The Three-Tails before him was even more insignificant.
The Sharingan that had once belonged to Fugaku Uchiha spun, entering the Mangekyo stage. He began to control the Three-Tails with his powerful spiritual energy.
Hayate was stunned by the rapid turn of events. He couldn't understand the specifics, but he knew that this mysterious Uchiha ninja was trying to capture the Three-Tails.
"Stop! I don't care who you are, stop at once!" he shouted, raising his katana in an offensive stance.
Madara glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. Not Ino Yamanaka, not Minato Namikaze. He looked like an unremarkable, ordinary Konoha ninja.
He sneered. "Boy, do you know who I am? Don't tell me that with your level of skill... you also wish to dance?"
Hayate Gekko roared, "Leaf-Style Sword Technique: Dance of the Crescent Moon!"
Madara Uchiha: "???"
Fugaku's eyes were, after all, not as good as his own. You couldn't say that because Madara was Indra's reincarnation and Sasuke was also Indra's reincarnation, that Madara equaled Sasuke, and therefore Sasuke's father was also Madara's father. That wasn't how it worked.
Madara was the clan head of the Uchiha from sixty years ago, not the founder. The clan had propagated for thousands of years and had numerous members. Fugaku was a descendant of one of the other Uchiha branches, and his blood relationship with Madara was already somewhat distant.
He found Fugaku's Mangekyo Sharingan slightly clumsy to use; he couldn't achieve the "instant control" he had over the Tailed Beasts with his own eyes.
Hayate ignored the power gap between them and charged forward, swinging his katana.
Madara felt that this Konoha ninja was a bit touched in the head. It's understandable if you didn't know my strength before, but you saw the Great Fire Destruction and you still don't get it? With such a huge power gap, who gave you the courage?
He temporarily broke his control over the Three-Tails, letting it fall into a state of chaos. Then, anticipating the attack trajectory of the Dance of the Crescent Moon, he grabbed Hayate's wrist first. The Hashirama cells also gave him the power to shatter ninjutsu with his bare hands, just like Hashirama. Hayate felt his wrist bone shatter instantly. Then, he was kicked in the chest by Madara, his body flying back more than ten meters like a broken kite.
Madara had held back.
Regardless of how the outside world saw him, regardless of what Obito and the others thought, at least Madara considered himself to be on the side of justice.
To have become friends with Hashirama Senju, to have been able to give up the thousand-year feud between the Senju and Uchiha clans, to have had the two clans shake hands and jointly establish the Leaf Village—his original nature was good.
He only felt powerless against the hatred, grudges, and pain that permeated the ninja world, which was why he had chosen an extreme solution.
His deeply ingrained competitiveness and unwillingness to admit defeat had led to his split with Hashirama and his solitary departure.
Essentially, he was not a bad person, much less a bloodthirsty villain.
Ninja like Ino Yamanaka and Minato Namikaze, who would obstruct his grand plan, certainly couldn't be spared. When he had the chance to kill, he would not hesitate. But a small fry like Hayate... even a hundred, or a thousand of them together, could not pose a threat to him. There was no need to kill him.
After kicking Hayate away, he continued to control the Three-Tails with his Mangekyo Sharingan.
In his field of vision, a figure shakily stood up again. He couldn't help but turn back.
Unaware of the "Pain Editor," Madara was somewhat moved as he watched Hayate get back on his feet.
As a powerhouse of his level, he was very clear about how much force he had used.
According to his previous estimation, Hayate should have been unconscious. He had never expected that the man would, without a sound, get up again.
Madara felt that his last kick had broken at least three of Hayate's ribs. And now, this man wasn't even crying out in pain?
What a tough guy!
His strength was indeed a bit weak, but his willpower was worthy of recognition.
If their roles were reversed, Madara thought, if he had three ribs broken by an enemy, crying out in pain would be impossible—he couldn't lose face like that—but he would at least frown a few times. Being able to endure didn't mean it didn't hurt. But looking at Hayate now? Not a trace of pain on his face!
He was impressed.
"What is your name?" he asked loudly.
"Hayate Gekko!"
"Good, Hayate Gekko. I will remember your name!" Madara gave this enemy the respect he deserved.
He shot forward like an arrow. He was so fast that Hayate couldn't react at all before he was knocked unconscious by a lightning-fast punch.
________________________________________
Get rewarded for helping with our community goals!
🎯 Reward for all: +1 bonus chapter at 100 Powerstones.
🚀 Tier Reward: Help us reach 10 members for +5 chapters on all stories!
🎉 And as a welcome, your first month costs significantly less!
🔥 20% CODE: GIRLSLOVE
👻 Join the crew by searching GirlsLove on (P). You know the spot! 😉