Last time when Takeshi fought against Setsuna, the latter had not yet awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan.
That defeat had been regarded by him as a disgrace.
The same went for Takeshi.
"Last time, without Isobu inside me, you managed to run away alive. But now I have Three Tails, I have Sage Mode. If you can still escape this time, then I'll eat my words!"
When enemies meet, their eyes burn with hatred. Takeshi clapped his hands together, patterns emerging across his face.
"Senjutsu · Ice Release · Great Burial Formation of Melting Clouds!"
Skeleton soldiers surged from beneath the ground, rushing toward Setsuna.
"Hmph, attack!"
Setsuna looked at the dense horde of skeleton soldiers without a trace of panic. With a wave of his hand, he summoned two robed figures standing behind him.
At his command, the two rushed into battle against the skeletons. Even when their bodies were pierced through by weapons, they showed no sign of stopping. Clearly, they were corpses controlled by dōjutsu.
Uchiha Hikari swiftly circled to Setsuna's side, ready to weave hand seals—when suddenly, a strange shriek rang out from behind. Instinctively, she bent forward to avoid the attack.
"Yah-hoo!"
Along with the shriek came a red three-bladed scythe, spinning past Hikari's back and then, pulled by its chain, whipping back toward her again.
Takeshi hastily created an ice wall, blocking the scythe's strike.
"Be careful—don't let him get your blood! Otherwise, whatever injury he takes will appear on you too!"
That iconic scythe made Takeshi immediately recall the enemy's identity, and he quickly shouted a warning to Hikari.
"And he's immortal on top of that!"
With those words, Takeshi quickly sidestepped.
Sage Mode's heightened perception let him sense Setsuna's incoming attack.
Kamizuki Izumo and Hagane Kotetsu were about to rush forward in support when a chilling voice came from the side.
"Well, well… looks like we've got two stray little here."
A sharp rock spear almost pierced Izumo, but Kotetsu swung his blade in time to block Fuen's strike.
Fuen discarded his rock spear without hesitation and leapt backward, simultaneously casting an Earth Release technique to bind his opponents.
"Water Release · Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Izumo countered with Water Release.
The three clashed back and forth there, while Takeshi was left facing only Setsuna.
Because he needed to devote significant energy to controlling the female Uzumaki with the Rinnegan, Setsuna had not expanded his army of corpse soldiers for a long time.
And for stealth in assassination, he had greatly reduced the number of people by his side.
Originally, he hadn't wanted to bring along Hidan and Fuen, but Yōwan had said that since they were already on the way to eliminate Iwagakure's Five-Tails jinchūriki, assassinating Takeshi was just a convenient stop. Only then did Setsuna agree.
Now it seemed that bringing the two was indeed a wise choice.
"Fire Release · Dragon Flame Song Technique!"
Measuring the distance in his head, Setsuna quickly formed seals and unleashed Fire Release the instant Takeshi reached for a Flying Thunder God kunai.
Seeing this, Takeshi had no choice but to stop his motion and block the fire with Earth Release.
"Earth Release · Earth Flow Wall!"
The wall of earth was blasted down in an instant by the fire. Setsuna widened his Sharingan, searching for Takeshi's figure.
With dust and debris flying around, he believed his Sharingan vision gave him the advantage over Takeshi.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!"
Before the smoke fully cleared, Takeshi struck first.
In Sage Mode, the dust meant nothing to him.
"Fire Release · Great Fireball Technique!"
Faced with countless shuriken, Setsuna had no choice but to unleash Fire Release.
"Ice Release · Spear of Piercing!"
Just as the shuriken were shot down, the ground beneath Setsuna shifted.
One after another, ice spikes shot up from below. Setsuna narrowly evaded them all.
"Damn brat… your strength has improved again since last time."
Landing, he found an ice spike waiting right where his foot touched down. He threw out a rope-bound kunai, latching onto the spike and swinging through the air before landing safely elsewhere.
"Ice Release · Ice Age!"
After a string of attacks, Setsuna's temper flared.
He could not allow his opponent to keep seizing the initiative.
With rich combat experience, Setsuna knew Takeshi had already taken the upper hand. If he kept allowing his opponent to press him, sooner or later he'd slip up. He could no longer hold back—skeletal armor encased his body as he braced against Takeshi's Ice Release.
"Explode!"
A violent detonation swept across the battlefield. Uchiha Hikari, Kotetsu, and the others were caught in the shockwave as well.
Both sides instinctively halted their clashes, scrambling for cover against the explosive wave.
"Damn you—die!"
The fierce blast forced Setsuna to activate Susanoo's third form. Yet even with the armor covering it, he could hear the cracks forming in his Susanoo.
Explosions tore craters into the ground and gouged the forest all around.
"Wind Release · Vacuum Great Sphere!"
Such indiscriminate attacks could never hit Takeshi. Moving swiftly behind Susanoo, he used Wind Release to test its toughness.
He wasn't reckless enough to stab Susanoo with a kunai—he didn't have Izanagi.
That kind of gamble was only for those with resurrection coins.
The wind bullets clashed violently against Susanoo, widening the cracks left by Ice Release.
"Here, is it?"
Setsuna spun suddenly, slashing invisible blades across the battlefield.
One of them brushed so close past Takeshi's cheek that it drew cold sweat.
With Hidan, that mechanistic freak, present, Takeshi couldn't risk spilling even a single drop of blood.
Dodging Setsuna's strikes, Takeshi observed the damage Vacuum Great Sphere had inflicted on Susanoo, gaining a measure of its durability.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
He split into two clones to harass Setsuna from the flanks. Seizing the distraction, Takeshi once again slipped behind Susanoo.
"Senjutsu · Continuous Vacuum Waves!"
Drawing in a massive breath, Takeshi unleashed a Sage-enhanced Wind Release.
"Nani?!"
Setsuna was about to finish off Takeshi's last clone when the attack from behind forced his attention to shift.
The Tengu armor shattered, exposing Susanoo's core body.
The fierce, slicing winds did not relent, ripping at Susanoo until its outer shell tore apart, revealing its skeletal frame.
"This is it!"
Takeshi hurled a Flying Thunder God kunai straight toward Setsuna as he dashed forward.
"Foolish."
Looking at his collapsing Susanoo, Setsuna's mind grew clearer instead of clouded.
To him, Takeshi's attempt to close distance was idiotic.
Only an utter fool would choose to fight an Uchiha at close range.
"Flying Thunder God Slash!"
Setsuna's eyes locked onto the kunai. At last, as it neared him, he saw Takeshi's figure vanish into thin air—exactly as he expected.