Kai quickly turned toward the voice, his eyes locking onto an elderly man with long, shoulder-length white hair streaked with gray. His face was deeply wrinkled, but what truly shocked Kai were the man's eyes—one was the Rinnegan, and the other, a Sharingan!
"Uchiha Madara!" Kai's voice trembled as he stared at Madara's eyes, unable to believe what he was seeing.
Impossible! Kai thought. I've fought against the Six Paths of Pain before, and I'm certain that was the power of the Rinnegan. How could Madara still possess the Rinnegan now?
"Oh? You recognize me?" Madara's aged face showed a flicker of surprise, but it quickly faded back to calm indifference. He gazed at Kai with a hint of nostalgia in his eyes. "Mitarashi Kai, is it? A member of the Mitarashi clan. Back when I left the village, Mitarashi Shishio was nothing more than a lowly genin."
Madara's gaze shifted, noticing that Kai's eyes were fixated on his own.
Raising his right arm with some effort, Madara pointed to his eyes and spoke without hesitation, "You're familiar with the Mangekyo Sharingan of the Uchiha clan, aren't you? This is one of them. As for the other, it's the Sage's Eye—the Rinnegan, the very eyes of the Sage of Six Paths who founded ninjutsu. It's a pity I awakened them too late. If I had gained these eyes earlier, even Hashirama would have fallen to me!"
At this, Madara's face was filled with regret. It was clear that his defeat at the hands of Senju Hashirama at the Valley of the End was the greatest regret of his life.
"Just as Zetsu said, your existence may very well be the greatest obstacle to the entire plan. Therefore, you must die!" As he spoke, Madara's aura suddenly transformed, no longer resembling that of a frail, dying old man.
"Fortunately, I retained a portion of the Rinnegan's power. Otherwise, today's circumstances might have been far more difficult to handle," Madara said nonchalantly, his tone dripping with contempt as he looked at Kai.
So he kept a reserve of ocular power? Kai thought to himself. Of course, someone as cunning as Uchiha Madara wouldn't have easily given both his eyes to Nagato. After all, most of Madara's strength relied on his eyes. Without them, and with his body aging, he would have been no more than Kage-level at best. How else could he have ensured his absolute control over Obito? As expected, he had a backup plan.
"I must thank you for giving me the chance to end my time in this world with a battle. To show my gratitude, you may die now!" Madara declared sharply, his hands forming seals in rapid succession.
Fire Release: Majestic Flame Arrow!
Right off the bat, Madara unleashed a fire-style jutsu far more devastating than Great Fire Annihilation. A fiery spear that seemed to scorch the entire sky and earth hurtled toward Kai.
As the Majestic Flame Arrow approached, Kai's face remained calm. "A fire-style jutsu? Lava burns just as fiercely as fire."
Yang Release: Grand Eruption!
Without holding anything back, Kai unleashed a massive lava fist from his hands. Infused with the full force of Yang Release, the molten punch was as large as half of the Three-Tails, Isobu!
The enormous lava fist collided head-on with the Majestic Flame Arrow, consuming it entirely.
Seeing this, even the battle-hardened Madara was momentarily stunned. He hadn't expected Kai's Lava Release to be so powerful. But as the massive lava fist closed in, Madara's expression remained calm.
Water Release: Exploding Water Dragon Bite!
An S-rank water-style jutsu, the pinnacle of water manipulation. Though the Uchiha clan specialized in fire-style techniques, someone of Madara's caliber wielded even opposing elements like water with unmatched proficiency.
A massive whirlpool formed in front of Madara, from which countless streams of water shot upward, converging into a colossal water dragon that lunged at the lava fist with ferocious force!
The clash of lava and water instantly filled half of Kirigakure with dense steam.
Fire Release: Hiding in Ash and Dust Technique!
Thick clouds of ash spewed from Madara's mouth, enveloping the battlefield in a suffocating haze. Using the cover of the smoke, Madara's figure disappeared from Kai's sight.
Realizing Madara had vanished, Kai immediately went on high alert.
But it was already too late. A massive magatama-shaped projectile struck Kai square in the back, sending him hurtling through the air and crashing heavily over a hundred meters away. Pain wracked his body as he felt like every bone in him was about to shatter!
As the smoke gradually cleared, a half-formed Susano'o appeared before Kai. It was evident that in his current state, Madara couldn't summon the full-body form of Susano'o.
A magatama appeared in Susano'o's hand.
"The Yasaka Magatama, is it?" Kai murmured, recognizing the weapon. Madara's Susano'o-launched magatama was so powerful that even the combined defenses of Gaara's sand shield and Onoki's stone golem had nearly been breached.
If not for Kai's Perfect Sage Body, inherited from Asura, he wouldn't have survived that strike.
"Such vitality… A Sage Body, just like Hashirama's? I never expected the Mitarashi clan to possess such a bloodline limit. Or is it the result of transplanting Hashirama's cells?" Madara's voice echoed from within Susano'o, tinged with surprise.
Clearly, Madara had identified Kai's Sage Body bloodline limit, though he couldn't have guessed that Kai's body was a perfect inheritance from Asura himself.
"Indeed, when fighting someone of Uchiha Madara's caliber, there's no room for even the slightest carelessness," Kai muttered, his expression more serious than ever.
One blue and one yellow pupil appeared in Kai's eyes, and azure chakra flames began to ignite around him!
Tenseigan Chakra Mode!
"What… is this?" Madara's voice faltered as he stared at Kai's transformation. His Rinnegan locked onto Kai's eyes, and for the first time, Madara's expression grew solemn. He could sense it—Kai's eyes were on par with, if not superior to, his own Rinnegan!
"What kind of eyes are these? Why have I never heard of them in the ninja world?" Madara couldn't help but ask.
Though Black Zetsu likely knew of the Tenseigan's origins, it wouldn't reveal such information to Madara. After all, doing so would expose its own schemes.
"Tenseigan," Kai replied calmly, his gaze unwavering as he looked at Madara.
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