Chapter 549: Yay! Time to Pop the Champagne

"Damn it!"

After being baptized by the Tailed Beast Bomb, the disheveled No. 1 barely managed to escape death with the cover of his teammates, his eyes filled with resentment as he looked at the white fox knight who remained as steady as an old dog not far away.

They were both knights, so why was the Nine-Tails knight so strong? Didn't this indirectly prove that No. 9 was better than him?

Under the effect of the Hashirama constitution, the wounds on No. 1's body were healing at a speed visible to the naked eye, and accompanied by wisps of white smoke rising, he was back to full health once again.

But this time, he didn't stubbornly go back to get beaten; instead, he retreated to the ranks of the clone army, the expression on his face flickering, not knowing what schemes he was plotting.

Uchiha Madara shook his head in disdain; a fake was just a fake, lacking even the courage to face the enemy directly, wasting such a good skin.

"Fakes, this power was not created by you."

He raised the gun-blade in his hand, pointing it at the seven clones with different expressions not far away.

No. 1's cowardly behavior further confirmed his thoughts: even if these clones possessed powerful strength, they lacked the corresponding temperament.

Thinking about it, it was because they were born in a laboratory; they lacked the life experience of Hashirama, which was why they were being toyed with like raw recruits.

"Attack together, I don't believe he can hold on for long."

Hearing the mockery in Uchiha Madara's words, No. 1 pulled a cold face and waved his hand.

"Whoosh! ~"

The six clones behind him did not hesitate, kicking off with their legs in unison, their burly bodies disappearing from where they stood, leaving only six large craters on the ground.

"Well come."

The six trajectories, difficult for the naked eye to discern, were clearly visible to Uchiha Madara. He swung his weapon, and the gun-blade, transformed into a long sword, unleashed several red and blue sword beams that struck the charging clones with precision.

"Rumble!"

Hitting the targets, violent explosions followed. Even with dust filling the air, he could still clearly track the movements of the six clones.

And all of this was thanks to the Knight System.

The Knight System could amplify the characteristics of the Tailed Beast and the knight himself; with the Nine-Tails' perception of good and evil combined with Uchiha Madara's Sharingan, the enemy was no different from being naked in front of him.

"Bang! ~"

As the dust gradually dissipated, a black shadow suddenly lunged out from within, heading straight for Uchiha Madara. But he seemed to have anticipated it, raising his long sword in advance to block the mysterious attack with ease.

"Oh? Quite tough."

Uchiha Madara raised his eyebrows in surprise. The clone that ambushed him clearly had much higher defensive power than the talkative clone from before; his long sword had only managed to leave a white mark on the opponent.

Although he hadn't charged up his attack, this was enough to prove the opponent's astonishing defensive ability.

"No. 3, hold him down!"

Just as he was puzzled, a slightly excited voice rang out above his head. Another clone leaped down, his fist flashing with dark blue super strength.

"Sage Art: Strength of a Hundred Technique!"

Just as he wanted to pull back his sword to defend, Uchiha Madara found that his weapon wouldn't budge. Turning his head, he saw the long sword was tightly gripped in the hand of the clone that had just attacked, and he couldn't pull it back for a moment.

"Watch out!"

Senju Tobirama, who was acting as support, saw this and immediately flew into the battlefield, but the moment he landed, he was intercepted by two figures who had been waiting for a long time.

"Clang!"

Locked on by two terrifying auras, Senju Tobirama dared not be negligent, pulling out his Flying Thunder God kunai with a backhand, watching the uninvited guests before him with full vigilance.

For some reason, he actually saw a trace of inexplicable hatred in the opponent's eyes, and his heart was filled with doubts.

He should have been seeing these two clones for the first time, yet the other party acted as if he had killed their own father.

"No. 2, No. 8, be careful, don't play him to death."

"Don't worry, we will treat him well."

Clone No. 8 grinned, revealing a ferocious smile, his bright red tongue licking his thick lips, making Senju Tobirama shudder, his rear end subconsciously tightening.

"Croak!"

No. 2 was much more restrained, only secretly staring at Senju Tobirama's backside, as if looking for the best time to ambush him.

Tsk, trouble.

Senju Tobirama clicked his tongue secretly, watching the two covetous clones cautiously, his brain racing to find a way to break the deadlock.

"Boom!"

On the other side, Uchiha Madara's battle had entered a white-hot stage. The two clones were clearly no match for him and were soon suppressed by his thunderous methods.

If it weren't for Clone No. 3's thick skin, which blocked many attacks for No. 4, the clone army might have suffered more casualties.

"Let's go too, No. 9, don't you dare slack off."

Seeing the battle was one-sided, No. 1 hurriedly called for the two remaining clones behind him to join the fight against Uchiha Madara, not forgetting to warn No. 9, who was at odds with him.

"Save that line for yourself!"

No. 9 sneered and leaped into the battlefield first, his iron fists smashing toward Uchiha Madara without mercy.

Seeing this, No. 1's expression stiffened. Feeling his face had been slapped, he was about to flare up, but sensing the ruthless gaze from the void, he had to put his personal grudges aside and join the battle with Clone No. 7.

"Bang!"

"Crackle!"

Besieged by five people in an instant, Uchiha Madara advanced instead of retreating. The long sword in his hand danced elegantly, parrying the clumsy attacks of the clones in an orderly fashion. His white cloak rose with the wind, and he looked as elegant as if he were dancing.

"Squelch!"

Soon, the first clone to fall appeared; it was Clone No. 3, known for his defensive power. Uchiha Madara's long sword slashed across his neck, bringing up a spray of blood.

"Ugh, gurgle~"

Clone No. 3, who had retreated several steps, clutched his injured neck in astonishment, blood pouring into his windpipe, leaving him unable to say a word.

"The first one."

Having achieved a kill, Uchiha Madara did not linger, quickly locking his target onto another clone that had ambushed him.

Twirling his long sword into a beautiful flourish, a red glint flashed in Uchiha Madara's eyes, and cold pupil power surged out.

Clone No. 4, who was in the middle of dodging, stiffened, captured by the power of the Sharingan, and immediately revealed a massive opening.

"Clatter~"

As the long sword slashed past, Clone No. 4 felt a pain in his lower back. Before he could look down, a dark red blood clot had already been squeezed out of the hideous wound, bouncing a few times on the ground.

"This is..."

Clone No. 4 turned pale; he recognized this thing.

It was his prime kidney!

"The second one."

In the blink of an eye, Uchiha Madara had dealt with two clones. Although he hadn't taken their lives, this level of fatal injury was enough to keep them busy; at the very least, they couldn't fight again for a short time.

Shaking the blood off his long sword, Uchiha Madara fixed his gaze on the three remaining clones, who were as cold as cicadas in winter, his yellowish compound eyes glowing with a scarlet shimmer.

By now, even if the clones had no combat awareness, they knew they couldn't continue close-quarters combat with Uchiha Madara.

"Wood Style: Deep Forest Bloom!"

Clone No. 7 among them pressed his hands together, and countless thick wooden branches burst from the ground, with huge flower buds blooming in the center of the battlefield.

"Whoosh~ Whoosh~"

A noisy wind blew, and choking pollen scattered. However, this had no effect on Uchiha Madara; the knight's faceplate came with a built-in filtering function, and methods like poison gas were completely useless.

Uchiha Madara leaped up, and the long sword in his hand was thrown out fiercely. No. 7, who was concentrating on releasing the Wood Style, sensed the crisis, but it was already too late when he realized it.

"Squelch!"

The meteor-like long sword pierced No. 7's heart. He didn't even have time to release his hands from the prayer position before he fell backward, blood gushing from his mouth and splashing two meters high—it was clear his heart was very healthy.

"It's your target, you go!"

"How could I dare to ruin the leader's interest."

Now only No. 1 and No. 9, who were at odds with each other, were left standing. Having witnessed Uchiha Madara's divine might, the two were uncharacteristically modest.

"Stop talking nonsense, attack together, I'm in a hurry."

The long sword that had pierced through the chest turned into light particles and returned to Uchiha Madara's hand. He looked at the two who were pushing the responsibility onto each other and made a firm suggestion.

"You will pay the price for your arrogance!"

No. 1's face was tense, and he barked fiercely, but he had no intention of stepping forward, which made No. 9 on the side sneer repeatedly.

"Coward."

Leaving behind a light mockery, No. 9 leaped and landed in front of Uchiha Madara.

"You're full of it!"

No. 1 hated it when others looked down on him, especially No. 9, whom he hated the most, so he immediately got up and followed.

"You are too weak."

Uchiha Madara's gaze swept over the last two clones, a faint look of disappointment appearing on his face.

After such a long battle, Uchiha Madara had discovered one thing.

He had become stronger.

Much stronger than before the battle started; now, he was invincible!

It was just unclear whether this was because he had broken through a bottleneck under the siege of the clones, shattering a shackle that hadn't loosened for a long time,

or because he had fused with Hashirama's Wood Style power.

But now was not the time to think about this; his primary task was to defeat all the clones, capture them all back to the Hidden Leaf Village, and hand them over to his cousin for a thorough interrogation.

"Attack!"

Feeling Uchiha Madara's contempt, No. 1 finally put aside his grudges and called for No. 9 to attack together.

"Whoosh~"

The two figures disappeared rapidly, and when they reappeared, they were already attacking Uchiha Madara from the left and right, their hands burning with a visible dark blue aura, a Strength of a Hundred Technique fused with Sage Art power that could even pierce through a Susanoo.

"Ha!!"

This was a strike into which they had condensed the strength of their entire bodies, determined to pull Uchiha Madara down from his pedestal.

"Die!"

Caught between the two surges of energy, Uchiha Madara finally grew serious; facing the pincer attack from left and right, he flicked his hand to discard his long blade, planted his feet in a horse stance, and raised both hands.

"Slap!" *2

"Nani!!?"

Number One and Number Nine, who had felt their target hit, had not yet let the joy on their faces fully bloom before they felt a heart-wrenching, agonizing pain radiating from their fists; in a daze, they looked up,

only to see Uchiha Madara with his hands crossed, nonchalantly gripping their fists in his palms, and no matter how hard they exerted themselves, they could not pull them free.

"Is that it?"

The cloak behind him swayed left and right from the wind of the two men's pincer attack; after blocking their assault, the cloak slowly settled, followed by Uchiha Madara's slightly provocative, mocking voice,

"Didn't you eat breakfast before coming out?"

"Damn it... Ah!"

Number One was so angry that the veins on his forehead bulged, and just as he was about to swing his other fist to smash into Uchiha Madara, he saw his opponent transform into a small spinning top, twisting his body with agility; the clone, unable to retract its force, was instantly flung dozens of meters away and slammed heavily into the ground.

"Mere gravel, not even half of me."

Uchiha Madara stood proudly with his arms crossed, looking as if victory was already in his grasp.

But just at this moment, a voice full of exasperation rang out in his ear,

"Stop posing and come help!"

Turning his head in confusion, Uchiha Madara saw several dense flashes of blue light and two clones ruthlessly bombarding the area; amidst the smoke and dust, the slightly disheveled figure of Tobirama Senju could be vaguely seen.

"How truly ugly~"

Uchiha Madara shook his head, his figure flashed, and he appeared beside Number Two and Number Eight; the two clones, who were using indiscriminate attacks to bombard Tobirama Senju, froze in expression.

"You—"

The two had just wanted to speak when Uchiha Madara's ruthless, large hand pressed down on their surprised faces first.

"Rumble!"

The next moment, the fine heads of the two clones were pressed into the ground, and their consciousnesses subsequently sank into a pitch-black void.

"I told you earlier not to come and cause trouble, but you just wouldn't listen."

Withdrawing his hand from the head of the clone with the ripple-patterned eyes, Uchiha Madara glanced at the panting Tobirama Senju and mocked him without mercy,

"If you want to abdicate, just say so; in any case, Kagami can already perfectly replace you in your work."

"Huff, huff... I will abdicate, but not now."

Gasping for air, Tobirama Senju straightened his waist and glared at the smug Uchiha Madara.

Ever since he had accidentally undergone a sex change, he had long harbored the thought of abdicating; the heavy, tedious work greatly affected his research progress, and he was actually only one opportunity away from stepping down.

"How do you plan to deal with them?"

A few seconds later, Tobirama Senju, having regained a bit of his strength, pointed at the clones lying in a heap and posed his question.

It would be a real pity to kill so many perfect clones of his big brother, but dragging them back to the Hidden Leaf Village would be a bit shocking; it's a difficult situation~

"Naturally, I'll take them back to be handed over to the experts for research."

"I suppose you have some eye for talent."

Hearing Uchiha Madara's answer, Tobirama Senju unconsciously straightened his back, a hint of smugness appearing on his face, thinking to himself that this old Uchiha geezer actually had a decent eye for people.

"What are you happy about? You won't be getting a single one of these clones."

"Ha?" Aren't they for me?

"I'm going to send them to my cousin for research; as for your techniques, I don't trust them."

Looking at the undisguised disdain in Uchiha Madara's eyes, Tobirama Senju nearly fainted from anger; so in the other's eyes, his own research techniques couldn't even compare to that curly-haired guy?

Uh... it seemed that in some aspects, they really couldn't compare.

"No way, at least give me one—no, two!"

"Weren't two already allocated to you? Go find those two."

One collects one's own spoils of war; Uchiha Madara would never share his fruits of victory with this white-haired guy, and he immediately waved his hand, telling the other to go back to the previous location to clean up the battlefield.

In the void, Jigen stroked his chin; there was no anxiety on his face due to the clones' defeat, but rather he watched Uchiha Madara with a look of curiosity.

"Whose hands did this Knight System actually come from? The technology of mere natives is actually capable of unleashing such powerful strength."

"Since that is the case, then let me see whose technology is truly superior."

"State Three, authorization to activate." (End of chapter)