"What an ugly dance…."
"But if my perception isn't wrong, you little thing that's not even worth a grain of sand… you were trying to kill me just now, weren't you?"
Madara watched Kakuzu's grotesque movements with interest as he strolled toward him at an unhurried pace.
Of course, that "unhurried" was only relative.
To Kakuzu, Madara's speed was nothing short of terrifying.
His steps weren't frequent, but with each stride, his body seemed to blink forward, instantly shifting more than fifty meters ahead.
In just two steps, before he could even take a third, Madara was already very close.
Gulp….
Kakuzu swallowed with difficulty, realizing that his body had gone stiff.
"Black Zetsu, you're the one who brought this man here. You should know him well.
This fellow… has he always been this brave?"
Madara sized up Kakuzu at arm's length, a faint, mocking smile on his face. He didn't strike immediately, instead turning his gaze toward Black Zetsu.
"After all, he's a shinobi who dared to kill Hashirama. Courage is something he does possess.
Besides, Madara-sama, in your current state, you're honestly a bit lacking in intimidation."
Although Black Zetsu was displeased with Madara altering the script on his own, he couldn't help but marvel at Kakuzu's nerve.
This was Uchiha Madara!
And with the Rinnegan activated!
Even if he were hanging on by a single breath, killing a Kage-level powerhouse like Kakuzu would still be as easy as slaughtering a chicken.
'At this distance, with his current physical condition, he shouldn't even have time to form hand seals.'
Faced with Madara's casual mockery, Kakuzu felt no anger, only a strange, almost hysterical urge to laugh.
"Fire Style: Searing Migraine!"
"Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"
"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"
Seizing the instant when Madara and Black Zetsu were ridiculing him, Kakuzu and the two monsters fused into his shoulders unleashed their techniques together.
Scorching flames and raging winds intertwining into a blazing inferno, accompanied by a lightning spear powerful enough to pierce steel and stone.
Just as a trace of hope rose in Kakuzu's heart, Madara didn't even spare him a glance. He simply raised his hand and grabbed it.
Sizzle… sizzle…
The roaring lightning, the scalding flames, the rampaging wind, all of it vanished the moment it touched Madara's right hand, completely absorbed.
More than that, after absorbing the three ninjutsu, the wrinkles on Madara's face didn't lessen, but his complexion grew noticeably rosier.
"The Rinnegan!"
Kakuzu froze on the spot.
Absorbing ninjutsu, he could accept that.
Absorbing chakra and looking healthier afterward, he could accept that too.
But those eyes, radiating supreme power and glowing with a terrifying purple light, the Rinnegan, what was that about?
"Can you keep dancing?"
Madara stared at Kakuzu expressionlessly.
With the Rinnegan activated, even his mere gaze was enough to exert a suffocating pressure on Kakuzu, the Takigakure rogue shinobi who had survived from the Warring States era to the present day.
"Looks like you can't. That last barrage was already your limit.
As expected, trash not even worth a grain of sand like you could never have survived against Hashirama by relying on strength alone."
Seeing Kakuzu's body tense up, beads of moisture, whether sweat or rain, gradually forming on his forehead, Madara shook his head and reached out.
"Universal Pull!"
A tremendous gravitational force instantly yanked Kakuzu into midair, dragging him toward Madara at a terrifying speed.
"Almighty Push!"
Before Kakuzu could make any move, a powerful repulsive force, completely opposite to the earlier attraction, burst forth.
With just that single strike, Kakuzu was blasted more than a hundred meters away, slammed into the rocky surface of a small mountain in the distance.
Not only that, the four masks extending from his body shattered one after another, and vast quantities of black threads were forced out from all over his body under the crushing pressure of the Almighty Push.
"What an ugly thing. You two are really bold, forcing your master to use such a hideous ability."
Madara frowned as he watched the Earth Grudge Fear continuously spraying out of Kakuzu's body.
"Don't put it so harshly, Madara-sama. After all, this is the thing that can restore your youth and allow you to fight Garp once more.
Besides, this is really your own fault, Madara-sama. You were too impatient and refused to follow the original plan, insisting on facing Garp again at this time."
Seeing that the battle was already decided, White Zetsu laughed openly.
"So your goal is my Earth Grudge Fear!"
With only a single heart left, Kakuzu's pupils shrank when he heard White Zetsu's unabashed voice.
"To be of use to Madara-sama should be an honor for you!"
At some point, Black Zetsu had already crept to Kakuzu's feet.
Before Kakuzu could recover from the shock of the Almighty Push, Black Zetsu had already transformed into a mass of black liquid and merged into his body.
"My body… damn it, it's not listening to me anymore!"
As Kakuzu realized he had lost control of his own body, even a veteran tempered by the cruelty of the previous era couldn't help but feel his heart sink into despair.
"White Zetsu is absolutely right. In such haste, this was the only method we could think of to restore vitality to Madara-sama's body.
If Madara-sama is dissatisfied, then the only option would be to place the Rinnegan back into its incubator and wait a few more years."
Black Zetsu's voice emerged from Kakuzu's mouth.
"Nonsense! You expect me to stand by and watch Garp dance alone across the shinobi world? I can't tolerate that!"
Although Madara felt a deep, instinctive revulsion toward the Earth Grudge Fear, the thought of Garp, who had crushed the Warring States era and then gone on to dominate the era of the hidden villages, made him unwilling to wait even a moment longer.
Especially after a piece of news White Zetsu had brought back not long ago.
Garp had torn open the sky of the Land of Water with a single punch.
That made Madara desperately eager to witness an even more magnificent, more awe-inspiring sight than that once again.
...
Guys do leave some reviews and comments.
Also, if you guys enjoy this story, you can support me on Pat re on and get access to some Advance Chapters, it really helps me to work on new chapters.
pat re on. com / Yhssab
Just remove all the spaces in between and search it.