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Dressed entirely in black, a man who looked utterly ordinary stood quietly on a tree branch, gazing at Kagaya.
Taking a deep breath, Kagaya clenched his fist. The Susano'o continued to expand.
The man with the covered right eye spoke again.
"Your body is frail. Stop. The Susano'o is not something you can sustain in your current state."
After evolving to the Eternal Mangekyō, the burden the Susano'o placed on the body was greatly reduced. But it was only reduced, not eliminated. At any time, the Susano'o would impose a strain on its user—sometimes greater, sometimes lesser.
It was like how using any jutsu consumed chakra; manifesting the Susano'o inevitably consumed physical energy, chakra, and dōjutsu power.
Given Kagaya's current physical state, sustaining a small-scale Susano'o was manageable. Occasionally expanding it a little was also possible. But if he recklessly enlarged the Susano'o, the first to fall wouldn't be his enemy—it would be Kagaya himself.
Kagaya understood these principles. Yet he still didn't stop. The Susano'o continued to expand unabated!
There was no escape!
That was Kagaya's first thought upon seeing that man.
I will fight. I will strike at him!!
That was Kagaya's second thought upon seeing that man.
The terrifying pressure, the overwhelming aura—these certainly made Kagaya tremble with fear. However, anyone who had reached the pinnacle in any field inevitably possessed a certain degree of pride. Some had more, some had less, but everyone had it.
Kagaya was no exception. Facing the strongest being in this world, he was certainly startled. Yet, as another who had reached the peak, how could he yield? If he hadn't encountered him, so be it. But now that they had met—both possessing the Eternal Mangekyō, both Uchiha—why couldn't he win?!
He would challenge this man who had dominated an era, the strongest in Uchiha history according to the original story—Uchiha Madara!
Perhaps he would fail. Perhaps he would bring humiliation upon himself. But if Kagaya, upon merely seeing Uchiha Madara, was crushed by his aura and dared not fight, then what kind of person would he be?
In the original story, a group of jōnin and chūnin from the Allied Shinobi Forces could withstand Madara's pressure and attack him. If Uchiha Kagaya couldn't even do that, then was he truly Uchiha Kagaya?
A Susano'o nearly three or four meters tall fully manifested. A sword that appeared extremely fragmented was gripped in the Susano'o's hand. Then, it swung fiercely toward that man!
Throughout the entire process, Kagaya remained silent. He hadn't even spoken a single word to Madara. He wanted to convey his intent through the simplest, most direct action.
A segment of blue skeletal arm appeared, blocking Kagaya's sword with its forearm. It inflicted no injury upon Uchiha Madara.
Yet, for the first time, a ripple appeared in Madara's ordinarily calm and indifferent eyes. It was appreciation. It was surprise!
How many years had it been? As his strength grew, as his aura became more terrifying, aside from Hashirama, how many years had passed since anyone dared to attack him?
This young man's sword strike hadn't harmed him at all. But this single strike had already surpassed countless others.
The effect of aura on an individual versus a group was entirely different. In the original story, the reason the Allied Shinobi Forces could attack Madara was primarily because there were many of them. Take them all away and leave just one person—let's see if they could do it.
Kagaya, bearing the pressure, had delivered this strike. That alone was enough to earn Madara's appreciation. It made Madara want to ask this person's name. But seeing the determination in Kagaya's eyes, Madara changed his mind.
"Is that all, boy?"
Uchiha Madara accepted the challenge of the one before him!
"Of course not!"
He had his pride. If Madara and Hashirama were the two suns of the Warring States Era, dimming all other stars, then Kagaya refused to be a dim star under their radiance. He would step forward and become the third sun of this era!
Several magatama appeared in the left hand of Kagaya's Susano'o, spinning continuously. He retracted the sword with his right hand and hurled these magatama with his left toward Uchiha Madara.
"Yasaka Magatama!"
This was a technique that any Susano'o user inherently knew. Kagaya had learned it naturally upon awakening his Susano'o.
A black shadow flashed. The Yasaka Magatama struck the spot where Madara stood, causing a violent explosion. But it didn't hit!
Yes, it didn't hit!
Madara had evaded Kagaya's attack with incredible speed. Then, Kagaya lost track of Madara entirely!
Too fast! Since Shisui's death, this was the first time Kagaya had been so startled by another's speed!
What the hell was this? In Kagaya's impression, Madara shouldn't be associated with speed. Didn't he just stand there and crush his enemies? But now... how could he be this fast? Undetectable even by the Eternal Mangekyō? No way!
"Crack!"
Suddenly, a cracking sound. Kagaya immediately turned his head. What he saw was Madara, using the skeletal arm of his own Susano'o, punching straight through Kagaya's Susano'o. With a whoosh of wind, the blue skeletal fist stopped right in front of Kagaya's face.
If Madara hadn't stopped, Kagaya would already be dead.
Frightening speed combined with a powerful Susano'o had instantly placed Kagaya at death's door!
In the past, Kagaya had always been the one using speed to obliterate opponents. This time, the tables were turned.
"You don't use the Susano'o often?"
The blue Susano'o vanished. Madara reverted to being an ordinary-looking man in black, casually standing within Kagaya's Susano'o as if he had no fear of Kagaya suddenly attacking.
Kagaya didn't attack. He also withdrew his Susano'o, leaving only enough to support himself.
"Yeah."
Regarding the Susano'o, Kagaya indeed used it sparingly. Most of the time, his speed was enough to instantly defeat opponents. He didn't need the Susano'o.
"You need to use it more. When your chakra is low, don't manifest a large Susano'o. If your chakra can't keep up with the Susano'o's size, its defenses become extremely fragile. Just like just now."
Madara explained.
Kagaya suddenly understood. No wonder his Susano'o had been shattered by Madara's punch. It wasn't that his Susano'o was inferior in quality; it was that his current physical condition couldn't supply enough chakra to maintain it.
Before Kagaya could respond, Madara slightly tilted his head, his left eye focusing on Kagaya.
"Which time are you from?"
Kagaya's heart leaped.
"What do you mean?"
Madara chuckled softly.
"What became of this era in the end?"
Wave after wave of shock surged within Kagaya. This Madara before him... seemed to know something!!!
This was too terrifying!
Swallowing silently, Kagaya spoke.
"I don't understand what you mean."
Madara smiled again, as if expecting this answer.
"You're right to be cautious. There are some things you cannot speak of. Understand?"
"To you?"
"To anyone. You cannot speak of them."
"Why?"
Faced with this question, Madara didn't answer immediately. Instead, he asked his own.
"Is it a good era?"
Kagaya paused briefly, then responded.
"I don't know if it qualifies as good."
"Compared to here?"
Kagaya recalled the field of carnage he had witnessed upon arriving and shook his head.
"Much better than here. There... there is no unceasing war."
Madara froze for a moment. Uncontainable joy actually flickered in his pupils. At that moment, his calm demeanor completely shattered. His eyes seemed to shine with brilliant light, like a young boy's.
"Hahahaha! Good! Good! Good!"
He uttered three consecutive "goods." Then, for the first time, a smile appeared on his usually expressionless face. It was a smile filled with hope.
"No unceasing war, you say? That's enough! That's enough! It's worth dedicating my entire life to achieve."
As he spoke, this man—the strongest under heaven—actually shed tears.
Kagaya stood silently to the side, watching this scene unfold, utterly stunned. This man, who dominated an era with unparalleled dominance, was uncontrollably joyful upon hearing the words "no unceasing war"?
In the silence, Kagaya seemed to see a young boy, since childhood experiencing war,一 hoping to one day stop the conflict with his own hands. He continuously grew stronger, stronger, ever stronger. Yet, when he looked back, he found that war hadn't stopped—it had only intensified. He wanted to use his own power to suppress the world and end the war, but in another clan, there was another "sun" equally matched with him.
The will of his clansmen prevented him from surrendering to that other clan. Thus, this man, who from childhood had一wished to end war, instead made it increasingly fierce. What kind of heartache was that? No one knew. But surely, it hurt deeply.
Lowering his head, wiping away his tears, Madara looked at Kagaya and extended his hand.
"You probably know who I am, right? I'm Uchiha Madara, the current clan leader of the Uchiha. Forgive my earlier display. I am no longer the youth of the past. I've long since..."
Before he could finish, Kagaya interrupted, reaching out to grasp Madara's hand.
"You are still that youth!"
Madara smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"No longer."
But Kagaya affirmed firmly.
"No, you still are! You will surely establish peace!"
Though in the future, due to Black Zetsu's manipulation, Madara would be deceived and initiate the Fourth Great Ninja War, regarding the Warring States Era itself, it was indeed Madara and Hashirama who ultimately ended this era of conflict, ushering in the relatively peaceful era of hidden villages.
Madara fell silent. After a long while, he finally spoke.
"You shouldn't have said that."
"But I said it anyway. Whether you kill me today or not, at the very least, I want to tell you one thing: Don't give up. This era needs you."
Kagaya was essentially Madara's prisoner now; whether he lived or died was entirely up to Madara's whim.
"Why?"
"I haven't experienced the brutality of war personally, but I have experienced the destruction of a family by an ambitious schemer. I imagine that's commonplace in war. I don't want to see it again."
"It seems you have your own story."
"When you see these scarlet eyes of mine, you should have guessed."
"Hah, true enough."
Madara looked at Kagaya's eyes, then turned around and hoisted Kagaya onto his back, remarking with self-deprecation.
"I have the same eyes."
This wasn't a boast. It was sorrow. What must one endure to obtain eyes of this caliber? That went without saying.