Chapter 584: Muyue's Death

"This is getting interesting, hahahaha!" Uchiha Madara laughed wildly as he watched the wooden golem display its overwhelming power.

Although Muyue had caused him a lot of trouble with his plans, Madara surprisingly admired Muyue at this moment.

He himself possessed Wood Release, and Shimura Danzo, who had undergone White Zetsu tissue transplantation, also had Wood Release, but Madara did not acknowledge that kind of Wood Release.

In his eyes, Muyue, who had developed Wood Release on his own, was the true second Wood Release user.

As the second Wood Release user, Muyue's performance had earned Madara's recognition—only a Wood Release powerhouse like this could bring him a little joy in battle.

"Though far inferior to Hashirama, you're not bad. You're worthy of witnessing the true Susanoo." Madara's lips curled, and his body erupted with terrifyingly dreadful chakra.

A massive amount of blue chakra burst forth around Madara, merging into the Susanoo.

Boom! Boom!

The Susanoo, which had originally been just over twenty meters tall, suddenly shot upward in size, causing the ground to rumble.

Thirty meters, thirty-five meters, forty meters...

The Susanoo quickly surpassed the height of Muyue's wooden golem, eventually exceeding an astonishing eighty meters.

The change wasn't just in the Susanoo's size—the dazzling blue chakra added a thick suit of armor to the Susanoo, further enhancing its imposing presence.

When the Susanoo fully took shape and the restless chakra stabilized, an unprecedented sense of oppression enveloped the entire battlefield.

The earlier third-stage Susanoo seemed like a helpless child before the wooden golem, but now Muyue's wooden golem looked short and frail in front of the towering, mighty Susanoo.

All the Konoha shinobi stared dazedly at the blue giant radiating terrifying power, as if witnessing a god descending to the world.

Clatter.

"What kind of enemy are we even fighting?" A Konoha shinobi's kunai fell to the ground, his face filled with despair as he gazed at the impossibly huge blue giant before him.

He felt that even if the black-robed man stood still and let them attack, they couldn't break through his defenses, while the man could wipe out their entire force with just a few stomps.

He couldn't imagine that such a terrifying shinobi existed in the world—the legendary Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara were probably no more than this.

"Can such an enemy really be defeated?" A Konoha jōnin's hand holding his sword trembled slightly.

Staring directly at the Susanoo, which was over eighty meters tall, his legs nearly gave out, and he had to exert extreme control over his muscles just to stay standing.

There was no helping it—the gap was too vast. The difference between them and the black-robed man was even greater than the difference between a jōnin and an ordinary person.

At this moment, the tension inside Kakashi, Obito, and the others reached its peak.

"Could it be that he hasn't been serious in the previous fights?" Obito looked at the terrifyingly huge Susanoo, a dreadful thought arising in his mind.

The eighty-meter Susanoo was so different from the earlier twenty-meter one that they seemed like entirely different techniques.

Obito quickly shook his head, trying to banish that terrifying thought from his mind.

Because it implied one thing—that Madara might still have other powerful moves he hadn't revealed.

"Muyue-sensei..." Shisui clenched his fists tightly, staring anxiously at the battlefield.

He wanted to rush in and help Muyue, but he knew that would only cause trouble.

If before Shisui might have been able to use the Blue Flame to ambush and injure the black-robed Uchiha, now that the black-robed Uchiha had manifested the eighty-meter Susanoo, even giving his all couldn't cause him the slightest trouble.

"Damn it, the gap is too huge." Kakashi's forehead was covered in fine sweat, but no matter how hard he thought, he couldn't figure out how to help Muyue.

The difference in strength between them and the black-robed Uchiha had grown too great to put into words.

Even Might Gai, opening the Eight Gates to his own limit, might not be able to do much, since Gai could currently open at most the Sixth Gate.

The Iwa shinobi unit that had been circling nearby, waiting for an opportunity, were also dumbfounded when they saw the blue giant that towered like a mountain peak.

"Lord Kitsuchi, maybe we should retreat," an Iwa jōnin suggested to Kitsuchi.

"This black-robed shinobi is too powerful; Hanyu Muyue and the others will surely be killed. Besides, this man isn't friendly toward Iwa either—staying here is dangerous."

He was very worried, remembering how the black-robed man had killed dozens of Iwa shinobi with a single casual attack. With such an enormous form, if they were caught in it again, it wouldn't just be a matter of a few dozen shinobi.

"Retreat." Kitsuchi took a deep look at the blue giant and the wooden golem, then finally led the unit in withdrawal.

If the black-robed man made a move against the Iwa unit, Kitsuchi had no way to stop him; he couldn't gamble with his subordinates' lives.

But the Susanoo that had shocked all the shinobi on the field instead drew a look of dissatisfaction from its caster, Uchiha Madara.

“Is that all? As I thought, I’ll have to use Rinne Rebirth to revive properly.” Feeling his Susanoo, Uchiha Madara frowned slightly.

The Susanoo he was manifesting now couldn’t even be called a complete form, because it had no wings.

His true peak complete body Susanoo was more than twice the size of the current Susanoo, and also had a pair of wings capable of flight.

“But this is enough for now.” Uchiha Madara looked at the wooden giant charging toward him with large strides.

After dealing with the Shadow Clone Susanoo, Mu Yue immediately controlled the Wood Golem to charge at the Susanoo where Uchiha Madara’s true body was located. But Uchiha Madara manifested his higher-level Susanoo too quickly—before Mu Yue could reach him, Madara had already completed the technique.

Uchiha Madara controlled the Susanoo to swing a huge blue lightsaber.

The terrifying force tore through the air, stirring up a fierce wind as if it would split the very ground.

Boom!!

The Wood Golem reached out its giant hand to catch the lightsaber, but its palm instantly exploded, and nearly half of its body was directly severed.

Moreover, Uchiha Madara’s attack did not stop there; his other arm also swung the lightsaber at high speed, slashing straight toward the Wood Golem’s head—where Mu Yue was standing.

The fierce wind from the Susanoo’s swing struck Mu Yue’s face, causing his golden hair to flutter in the breeze.

“Wood Release: Wood Flower Tree Realm!”

Mu Yue calmly gathered Wood Release chakra and used the technique.

As Mu Yue pressed his hands together and chakra erupted, the ground began to tremble, as if a tremendous force was surging underground.

Then, countless thick tree roots burst through the earth. They writhed in the air like living snakes, growing rapidly and quickly becoming extremely thick, massive vines.

Three vines extended together, binding the lightsaber that was slashing toward Mu Yue, preventing it from advancing even a single inch.

Meanwhile, the remaining vines—some bound the Susanoo’s other arm, while others directly attacked the Susanoo, slapping against its body.

“Wood Golem Technique!” Taking advantage of this opportunity, Mu Yue activated the Wood Golem Technique once more.

Several thick tree roots burst out of the ground, grew quickly, and merged into the Wood Golem’s body, repairing its form and causing it to grow even larger.

The Wood Golem is a powerful Wood Release ninjutsu that can rival a complete body Susanoo, but Mu Yue’s current chakra reserves were insufficient to match Hashirama Senju’s level.

Of course, though he fell short of Hashirama Senju at his peak, the Wood Golem Mu Yue had used earlier was not his own limit either.

In the end, the Wood Golem reached a height of sixty meters. Although still not as tall as the Susanoo, the gap was no longer that between a child and an adult.

“That’s it—let me enjoy this even more!” Seeing that Mu Yue still had strength left, Uchiha Madara laughed again.

Crack!!

The Susanoo burst out with power, snapping all the thick vines on its body, and raised the giant lightsaber with both hands.

At that moment, the surrounding air seemed to freeze. As the blade rose, a murderous aura gradually spread.

The moment the lightsaber slashed at the Wood Golem, its light cut through the sky like lightning. Wherever the blade pointed, the air itself seemed split in two.

In an instant, the sword’s wind screamed, stirring up a cloud of dust.

Facing this powerful strike from the Susanoo, Mu Yue did not dare to be careless. His keen Byakugan locked onto the lightsaber, and his clear world predicted the Susanoo’s movements.

He accurately used the Wood Golem’s giant palm to catch the slashing lightsaber.

Boom!!

The immense force traveled down the bodies of the two giants to the ground, shattering it.

The shockwave gust rushed into the distance, forcing some Konoha ninja to use chakra just to steady themselves.

“Teacher Mu Yue, keep it up!” Obito watched as Mu Yue brought out a stronger Wood Golem, his heart pounding with excitement.

If looks could kill, Obito would have already glared the black-robed Uchiha to death.

“Teacher Mu Yue will definitely succeed in changing history. Yamato has become Teacher Mu Yue’s disciple—the two worlds can be different.” Rin Nohara clasped her hands together, silently praying for Mu Yue.

The Yamato from Loulan did not know Mu Yue, so he certainly wasn’t Mu Yue’s disciple.

But in their world, because Mu Yue had met Yamato during the Loulan mission, he had taken this world’s Yamato as his disciple.

This proved that history was not unchangeable; in theory, traveling through time itself would affect history.

Just as the Wood Golem caught the lightsaber swung by the Susanoo, the Wood Dragon on the Wood Golem’s shoulder moved, charging straight toward Uchiha Madara at the Susanoo’s head.

At this moment, two arms composed of pure Chakra instantly extended from the Susano'o's shoulders, grabbing the Wood Dragon and preventing it from moving an inch.

Uchiha Madara controlled the Susano'o to erupt with power and yank fiercely, causing the Wood Human to briefly lose its balance and fail to continue gripping the blue giant sword, but the distance between them had narrowed slightly.

The Susano'o swung its giant light sword, leaving a deep slashing mark on the Wood Human's body, as large amounts of wood chips flew through the sky.

Crack!

Taking advantage of the close proximity to the Susano'o, the Wood Human raised its massive fist and dealt a heavy blow to the Susano'o, causing cracks to appear across the blue armor.

The two giants, one blue and one green, clashed continuously, trampling the forest like weeds and leaving craters everywhere on the ground, as if a meteorite bombardment had occurred.

By now, neither giant remained in its pristine initial state; the Wood Human was covered in gruesome sword scars, while the Susano'o's armor was also riddled with cracks.

"Haha! What a nostalgic feeling." Uchiha Madara revealed a reminiscent expression.

His battle with Muyue reminded him of Hashirama Senju.

"As thanks, I'll kill you cleanly."

Uchiha Madara then erupted with Chakra once more, and the cracks on the Susano'o's body vanished instantly, its aura even growing subtly stronger.

He could tell that although Muyue had considerable strength, his Chakra was far inferior to that of Madara and Hashirama.

Standing atop the Wood Human's head, Muyue panted slightly and did not continue using ninjutsu to repair the Wood Human.

Boom! Boom!

Uchiha Madara controlled the towering Susano'o, gripping the blue giant sword as it charged toward Muyue. Each step felt like a powerful ninjutsu striking the ground.

Once again, as the sword was swung with both hands, Muyue controlled the Wood Human to block with both palms.

But this time, the outcome was completely different.

Boom!

The blue giant sword, carrying supreme power, came down. Though the Wood Human’s timing was still good, its damaged body could not withstand the force.

The Wood Human's giant palms exploded instantly. The blue giant sword sliced through the Wood Human's body, cleaving it from top to bottom into two halves.

The massive remains of the Wood Human crashed to the ground with a tremendous roar.

It was as if their confidence had fallen along with the Wood Human.

The Konoha ninjas gazed at the dazzling blue giant sword of the Susano'o, as if seeing the scythe of the Grim Reaper, their eyes filled with despair.

At this moment, they truly understood what real power meant.

No matter how strong one trained in Fire Style or Lightning Style, could they even match this Susano'o over eighty meters tall?

"We're doomed. Even someone as mighty as Lord Muyue can't defeat this enemy." Some Konoha ninjas sank into utter pessimism, believing they were all surely going to die.

"Lord Muyue hasn't given up yet. We have to believe in him!" Other Konoha ninjas still trusted Muyue.

Most of them were ninjas who had followed Muyue since the Mist battlefield, believing he was a ninja capable of creating miracles.

Muyue, who was in the thick of battle, did not know what his subordinates were thinking. At this moment, he was preparing to unleash an ultra-powerful attack he had never used before.

The instant the Susano'o's giant sword came down, Muyue, standing on the Wood Human's head, leaped fiercely toward the Susano'o's head.

"Lightning Breathing, Full Focus!"

Muyue switched his Breathing to Lightning Breathing, entered Lightning Breathing Chakra Mode, and then pushed his perfect-level Lightning Breathing to its limit, enhancing his abilities and Lightning Release as much as possible.

Muyue clenched his hand in the air, and Enma from the system was taken out again, appearing in his right palm.

Zzt! Zzt!

With the help of Lightning Breathing Chakra Mode, the vast Chakra Muyue had gathered in advance rapidly converted into Lightning-nature Chakra, and dazzling purple lightning spread across Enma's blade.

Muyue's body was also filled with lightning, his speed becoming extremely fast, as if he were true lightning itself.

In an instant, Muyue rushed before the towering Susano'o and saw Uchiha Madara inside.

Uchiha Madara also saw Muyue. He looked at Muyue with interest, seemingly curious about his next move.

Curious as he was, Madara did not idle. He controlled the Susano'o's arm to grab at Muyue.

Muyue gripped the longsword flashing with thunderous might, pushing Lightning Breathing and Lightning-nature Chakra nature transformation to their extremes. The lightning on Enma's blade grew even more terrifying.

Boom! Boom! Boom!!

Just then, as if the lightning power on Muyue were too strong, the sky inexplicably broke into thunder and lightning.

Muyue raised Yanma, which blazed with a mass of purple lightning. The lightning in the sky was attracted by Yanma, further strengthening the lightning power on the blade.

Sensing the danger emanating from Yanma, Uchiha Madara’s expression shifted slightly. He accelerated, and Susanoo’s huge hand charged at Muyue with an overwhelming momentum.

“Slash of No-Thought!”

When Susanoo’s arm was only two meters away from him, Muyue suddenly swung Yanma.

Boom!!!

Crack!!!

A terrifying thunderous force erupted, like the roar of ten thousand thunderbolts. A massive bolt of lightning flew out; the Susanoo arm reaching toward Muyue instantly shattered, dissolving into blue specks of light in the air.

Uchiha Madara’s expression changed drastically in an instant. He burst out all his chakra to reinforce Susanoo’s defense.

But this was not the reduced version of the Thoughtless Slash that Muyue used against ordinary ninja—it was Muyue’s ultimate slash, which consumed a massive amount of chakra.

Muyue did not even dare to use such power during training, for fear that the commotion would be too great and he would be discovered, thereby leaking intelligence.

Boom!!

The powerful lightning force instantly tore through Susanoo’s defense, slicing Susanoo’s body to pieces, with blue fragments scattering everywhere.

Along with Susanoo’s destruction, Uchiha Madara, who was inside Susanoo, also burst out with gouts of blood, falling to the ground like a broken kite.

Without Uchiha Madara supplying chakra, the remnants of Susanoo rapidly dissolved, and the blue giant that had stood on the battlefield vanished beneath the lightning.

However, the destruction caused by this massive lightning slash did not end there.

Boom!!!

The moment the slash struck the ground, the earth split open into a deep chasm. Gravel flew, dust rose, and everything around was completely annihilated by this power. A black line nearly ninety meters long appeared on the battlefield.

“This…” The Konoha ninja, who had thought he was doomed, stared in shock.

He exhausted all his knowledge but still could not form a sentence to describe the scene at that moment.

“Lord Muyue!” The ninja who believed Muyue could create miracles shouted Muyue’s name excitedly.

Although he had faith in Muyue in his heart, seeing Muyue display such a terrifying technique with his own eyes still made it hard to suppress his excitement.

By now, Muyue had become a synonym for miracle in their hearts, even the embodiment of miracle itself.

“Haha, I told you Immortal Muyue is omnipotent!” Obito clenched his fists and couldn’t help laughing out loud.

Just when the wooden golem was cleaved apart, Obito had already gathered his chakra and was ready to charge toward Muyue.

The reason he hadn’t joined the battle was that he was afraid of causing trouble for Muyue. If Muyue fell into danger, Obito wouldn’t hesitate to rush in, no matter how great the gap in strength—at worst, he would die together with Muyue.

“Huff, huff.”

Shisui breathed lightly. He too had been tense and worried for Muyue, and had pushed his Sharingan to the limit just to keep track of Muyue’s condition.

“Great, it’s finally over.” Rin Nohara’s heart, which had been hanging, finally settled.

Even an eighty-meter-tall Susanoo had been directly sliced apart. The black-robed Uchiha definitely couldn’t survive; a ninja’s body could not withstand such a terrifying technique.

“There’s still so much I need to learn about the Slash of No-Thought.” Kakashi, who had been tense, also relaxed.

As long as the black-robed Uchiha was still human, there was no way he could survive such an attack.

The only one Kakashi could think of who could withstand this move and survive was the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju.

It was said that Hashirama Senju had an extremely terrifying regenerative ability, and it was sealless healing—in battle, he would rapidly recover automatically and could barely be injured.

Muyue, holding Yanma, gasped heavily and slowly drifted down from the air, showing a slight smile toward Obito and the others.

Muyue’s disciples and subordinates quickly hurried toward his direction.

Obito and Shisui closed their Sharingan; Kakashi exited the Transparent World state, each wearing a unique smile.

Obito’s face was full of excitement, his mouth half-open revealing his upper teeth; his expression alone conveyed the joy in his heart.

Might Guy flashed two rows of bright white teeth and gave a thumbs-up toward Muyue.

Nohara Rin's eyes were gentle, slightly upturned at the corners.

Shisui's eyes sparkled with bright light, and his cheeks naturally lifted.

The corners of Kakashi's mouth lifted under his mask, his eyes showing genuine happiness.

The trip to Rōran made them aware of a future where Muyue did not exist, and they had been striving to change that outcome.

Even though Muyue displayed strength that made his death in battle almost impossible, Kakashi and the others still worked toward this goal.

If it didn't happen, then naturally everything would be fine, the best outcome.

If it did happen, they would use their strongest power at that time to help Muyue.

Although in the end they still couldn't help Muyue, it wasn't because they didn't try hard, but because training time was insufficient and the enemy was too far beyond the norm in strength.

Just when everyone thought it was over, a sudden change occurred.

"Wood Release: Insertion Technique!"

Uchiha Madara, who should have been dead, suddenly appeared behind Muyue, and many thick wooden spikes rapidly shot out from his extended arm.

Although Muyue quickly reacted and used Enma to cut off some of the wooden spikes, some still hit Muyue.

Splat!!

The wooden spikes that hit Muyue continued to grow, piercing through various parts of his body. Blood splattered everywhere, and he could no longer hold Enma, collapsing directly to the ground.

This sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard.

They couldn't understand how Uchiha Madara had endured that terrifying lightning slash and survived.

"Eight Gates Released Formation, Fifth Gate, Open!"

Even though he didn't understand what had happened, Might Guy instantly opened the Fifth Gate of the Eight Gates and focused his breathing to the extreme, entering Stone Breathing Chakra Mode, kicking out an extremely fast spinning roundhouse kick at Uchiha Madara.

Uchiha Madara reached out and caught Guy's right leg, burst chakra, and slammed Guy down hard like smashing a bottle, shattering the ground.

Uchiha Madara ignored Might Guy, his gaze still fixed on Muyue, who was impaled by the Wood Release.

Might Guy's current strength was not worthy of being looked at by him.

The other disciples were not as fast as Might Guy, but they almost immediately attacked as well.

Obito's three-tomoe Sharingan had already activated automatically the moment Muyue was severely injured. He entered Flame Breathing Chakra Mode and threw a fire fist carrying terrifying flames.

Shisui also had his three-tomoe activated, entered Flame Breathing Chakra Mode, and condensed a wisp of blue high-temperature flame.

Kakashi rapidly drew White Fang, re-entered Transparent World while also entering Lightning Breathing Chakra Mode.

Nohara Rin condensed a large amount of chakra into her fist, preparing to use Explosive Fist.

Some Konoha jōnin who reacted also rushed towards Uchiha Madara.

"Do you want to dance too?"

Boom!!

Uchiha Madara burst chakra and instantly manifested a Second Stage Susanoo. A blue half-torso giant once again appeared on the battlefield.

Bang bang bang!!

Susanoo swung its fists with both hands and condensed energy magatama with both hands, blocking all incoming attacks while also sending all attacking ninja flying.

"To be able to push me to this point, even in this state, you can be proud, Hanyu Muyue. I will not forget you for a long time," Uchiha Madara said, staring at Muyue with his remaining Sharingan.

At the very last moment, he had used Izanagi, rewriting the outcome of being killed by the Thoughtless Slash.

Muyue had really given Uchiha Madara a great surprise; he had not expected that a ninja of this era could reach such a level.

As he spoke, Madara controlled Susanoo to raise its blue longsword over the fallen Muyue.

"You bastard, what's so great about a sneak attack? If you have the guts, fight Muyue-sensei fair and square!"

Obito wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and rushed unwillingly towards Uchiha again, wanting to create an opportunity for Muyue to take the secret medicine.

He had never taken this secret medicine, but since Muyue said its effects were good, then it surely was. If Muyue could recover, there would still be hope for everything.

"Eight Gates Released Formation, Sixth Gate, Open!"

Might Guy climbed out of the pit and forcibly opened the Sixth Gate of the Eight Gates, his physical power surging once again.

Actually, he wanted to open even higher gates, the Seventh Gate or even the Eighth Gate of Death, but unfortunately he failed.

Muyue's disciples and the subordinates still capable of fighting all tried to stop Uchiha Madara.

"Wood Style: Wood Clone!"

Uchiha Madara didn't pay them any attention. He directly created five Wood Clones, leaving them to deal with these ninja, then continued his assault on Muyue.

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

"Sword of Non-Contention!"

"Golden Horizon!"

"Fire Style: Blue Flame!"

Seeing Muyue's pale face and visibly weakened state, Obito and the others erupted recklessly.

They threw all thoughts of conserving chakra or stamina to the wind, using whatever powerful techniques they had.

With the help of other Leaf ninja, they managed to defeat one Wood Clone, but despairingly, there were still four Wood Clones on the field.

Under the attacks of the Wood Clones, Obito and the others couldn't even help Muyue, and their own injuries kept worsening.

Knocked to the ground, Obito could only watch helplessly as the blue-bladed longsword fell.

Boom!!

The ground where Muyue lay cracked open, and the large amount of blood flowing from his body dyed the ground beneath him red.

In the three-tomoe Sharingan eyes of Uchiha Madara, Obito, and Shisui, Muyue's faint, flame-like life was completely extinguished.

At that moment, the world in Obito and Shisui's eyes fell into darkness. (ifzzw)