Chapter 302: I’m Not Great at Defense...

Floating in midair, Uchiha Madara stared at Raijin with a serious expression. 

It didn't matter what had led to this battle. 

Now that they were fighting, he had one rule for himself— 

Losing was not an option.

Especially with so many people watching, if he lost now… 

Then what was the point of living any longer? 

But Madara knew that once Uchiha Raijin left the space of Ame-no-Mihashira, his advantage in timing and terrain would be completely gone. 

Instead, it would be Raijin who controlled the battlefield. 

Madara silently looked up at the thick layer of storm clouds in the sky and pressed his lips together. 

The memory of being struck by lightning last time was still fresh in his mind… 

Even though he still had the advantage of terrain, he didn't count on Konohagakure. 

After all, the ninjas of Konohagakure could also become Raijin's allies. 

"Come on, come on, come on." 

With one hand behind his back, the Kusanagi Sword and Futsunomitama floated around Raijin. 

Looking at Uchiha Madara in front of him, Raijin spoke with a provocative grin. 

"Let's see if you can take this beating!" 

"Hoo~" 

Madara let out a slow breath, then reached out his hand. A Sage Staff appeared in his grip. 

With a slight wave of his staff, nine Truth-Seeking Orbs shot toward Raijin. 

Their trajectory was angled just enough that if Raijin dodged, the orbs would crash into Konohagakure's barrier. 

Seeing this, Raijin simply controlled Futsunomitama and the Kusanagi Sword to attack Madara instead. 

As for the nine Truth-Seeking Orbs? 

From the dark clouds above, nine bolts of purple lightning suddenly struck down, colliding with the orbs and triggering an explosion in an instant. 

Truth-Seeking Orbs could ignore Ninjutsu, but those nine bolts of lightning… 

They weren't Ninjutsu. 

They were Senjutsu—Divine Punishment! 

"Hmph." 

Madara didn't dodge. He simply used his Six Paths Staff to knock away the incoming Futsunomitama and Kusanagi Sword. 

At the same time, his eyes sharpened, and in an instant, four shadowy figures—completely invisible to the ninjas of Konohagakure but crystal clear to Raijin—rushed forward. 

 Limbo: Border Jail! 

No—at this point, it should be called Divine Limbo: Border Jail. 

In the past, before he obtained the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan, Madara could only maintain Limbo: Border Jail for about five minutes. 

And the cooldown time was a terrifying five minutes as well. 

But now, with the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan, Madara could keep it active for a full thirty minutes. 

Not only that, but the cooldown had actually decreased—it now only took three minutes before he could use it again. 

During this time, Madara had even developed a strategy specifically for dealing with Raijin. 

And at the core of this strategy… was Limbo: Border Jail! 

"Hah!" 

Raijin weaved through the air, dodging left and right, skillfully maneuvering through the attacks of the five Madaras. 

But he wasn't able to gain the upper hand either. 

With Eternal Setsuna activated, Raijin's reaction speed was indeed faster than Uchiha Madara's.

Facing five Uchiha Madaras at once was still a bit too much. 

Seeing that Raijin was too busy to launch an attack on him, Uchiha Madara smirked. 

"Hahaha… Can't keep up, huh, brat? Now then… Dance with me!" 

Slowly raising his head, he listened as a deep rumbling echoed from the sky. 

Raijin felt something and, while dodging the shadows attacking him, glanced upward. 

A meteor… 

Heavenly Obstruction Star? Wait… there's more than one… 

Watching Raijin struggle, Madara crossed his arms and chuckled. 

Countless Truth-Seeking Orbs formed around him before rapidly shooting toward Uchiha Raijin, making his already dire situation even worse. 

"Now then, how will you handle this?" 

Without warning, a surge of purple-gold lightning erupted around Raijin. 

A shockwave exploded outward. 

Four of Madara's shadows were caught off guard and forced back! 

At that moment, Raijin quickly formed hand seals, and with a puff of smoke, three shadow clones appeared beside him. 

"You have Limbo: Border Jail. 

I have shadow clones. 

Not the best, but good enough!" 

The three clones formed a triangle formation, each taking on one of Madara's summoned shadows. 

Meanwhile, Raijin's real body swiftly retreated from the battlefield. 

With a single motion, Futsunomitama flew straight into his hand. 

At that very moment, the thunderclouds above began to rage. 

Bolts of lightning rained down on Futsunomitama. As the lightning gradually faded, the sky cleared. 

And there, looming above them, was a massive meteor, so large it blocked out the sun. 

Madara watched Raijin, who gripped Futsunomitama tightly and rushed toward the meteor at full speed, and let out a small chuckle. 

"This brat… Did he forget about me?" 

The Sage's staff in his hand suddenly shifted, transforming into a long spear. 

Without hesitation, he hurled it straight at Raijin's back! 

*Clang!* 

Just then, the Kusanagi Sword suddenly appeared, intercepting Madara's Yin-Yang Release spear midair. 

Taking advantage of the moment, Raijin had already reached the descending meteor. 

A flash of lightning! Hundred and Twenty-Eight Strikes! 

Nine meteors were falling toward Konohagakure, but in less than three seconds, Raijin had sliced them all into pieces! 

During this time, Tsunade, who had been watching from the village, wasn't just standing idly by. 

"Everyone! Fire Release!" 

At her command, countless fire jutsu shot into the sky. 

Among them, the Uchiha clan's flames burned the brightest. 

Life was good right now, and while Madara was undeniably strong, no one in the clan was interested in adjusting to a new leader. 

The sky darkened once again, covered in thick clouds. 

At the same time, Raijin activated his eye technique. 

By now, he had a good idea of what Uchiha Madara was planning. 

Madara was trying to trap him using Limbo: Border Jail and then bombard him with Ninjutsu, forcing him into a constant struggle. 

If he couldn't endure it, the fight would be over. 

If he could hold on, Madara could always retreat into the space of Amenominaka, wait for Limbo's cooldown, and launch another round of attacks. 

Such a sneaky tactic. 

There was no way he could let things continue like this. 

Using large-scale Ninjutsu without first restricting Madara's movements was too risky. 

After all, they were in Konohagakure. If he missed Madara and ended up hitting the village instead, he wouldn't even know how to face the consequences. 

That left him with only one option—focus entirely on attacking Madara himself. 

With a sharp whoosh, Raijin shot toward Madara at high speed. 

"Hmph." 

Madara let out a small snort, extending his right hand as a pitch-black sphere rose from his palm. 

Instantly, a powerful gravitational force took effect. 

The meteor fragments that Raijin had just sliced apart suddenly changed direction and rushed toward Madara. 

Yes—toward Madara. 

He never intended to throw the core of Chibaku Tensei away. 

Madara understood very well that while Chibaku Tensei was powerful, it wasn't enough to trap Raijin. 

So instead, he used himself as bait, waiting for the perfect moment to strike when Raijin attacked him. 

In an instant, countless fragments surrounded both Raijin and Madara. 

At the same time, one of the four Limbo clones that had just taken down Raijin's three shadow clones quietly vanished. 

In its place stood Madara's real body. 

Using a shadow to take the hit for him in Chibaku Tensei—it wasn't the first time Madara had pulled off this trick. 

And as always, it was flawlessly executed. 

The moment Madara appeared, Raijin's figure reappeared at the exact position of the Kusanagi Sword. 

Standing on the blade, he didn't hesitate for a second before pointing directly at Madara. 

His golden Tenseigan gleamed with an eerie, mesmerizing glow. 

A spark of golden light flashed. 

Madara barely had time to react and could only swap places with another shadow clone nearby. 

Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion! 

"You're a slippery one, aren't you…" 

Madara shook his head, somewhat helpless as he looked at Raijin, who had avoided Chibaku Tensei completely. 

He had underestimated him—he had forgotten that Raijin could use the Flying Thunder God technique to escape. 

"...A truly impressive display of Ninjutsu mastery."

Namikaze Minato looked up at the sky, watching the fierce battle between Raijin and Madara, and sighed. 

"Right now, Raijin and Madara are almost evenly matched. If there has to be a winner, it'll come down to who pays more attention to the details." 

Jiraiya stared intently at Raijin, who was clashing with Madara in midair. 

His face was serious. 

Just standing here and watching his comrade fight with everything he had—it was frustrating. 

"Hey! Orochimaru, you've been researching for years. Don't you have anything that can be useful right now?" 

For some reason, Jiraiya couldn't help but take a jab at Orochimaru. 

"My research isn't something that can be used in this situation." 

Orochimaru shot Jiraiya a glance, almost instinctively sensing that whatever came next would be annoying. 

"So after wasting all that money and time, when it actually matters, it's completely useless." 

Jiraiya scoffed and gave Orochimaru a mocking look. 

"You looking for a beating?" 

Orochimaru's brow twitched, and the air around them suddenly grew restless. 

Even though he spent most of his time at the Konoha Research Center, he never neglected his own training. 

It was exhausting, sure, but since it was something he enjoyed, it didn't really feel like a burden. 

"Is now really the time for this nonsense?" 

Tsunade glanced at the two of them. 

Orochimaru let out a cold snort and went back to observing Raijin's battle. 

Jiraiya, smirking in provocation, also turned his gaze back to the sky. 

Fine, he'd let it slide this time—for the Hokage's sake. 

— 

"So that's… the power my father controls?" 

In the shelter, Uchiha Shin watched Raijin battling Uchiha Madara in the sky, his eyes full of admiration. 

That kind of power… Could I have it too? 

He lowered his head, looking at his hands as his gaze flickered. 

— 

Uchiha Madara wasn't in a good mood. 

In just a brief moment, two of the four shadows summoned by Limbo: Border Jail had been wiped out. 

And all because of a single mistake in his technique. 

With a mere thought, the remaining two shadows charged toward Raijin. 

"This is getting annoying…" 

Raijin didn't pull back his outstretched hand. Instead, he activated his Tenseigan's ability once again. 

Several pitch-black Truth-Seeking Orbs emerged from his palm. 

They linked together in an instant, forming a glowing green ring. 

The next moment, a powerful tornado burst forth. 

Sweeping up the two Limbo shadows, it hurled them toward the ground. 

"Boom!" 

They crashed down, barely grazing the edge of Konoha's barrier. 

The sheer force—enough to shatter the moon—crushed the shadows completely.

Madara didn't pay attention to his shadow. By now, he had already appeared behind Raijin. 

Right now, Madara wanted to test his new technique! 

Expanding Truth-Seeking Orb! 

The staff in his hand had vanished, and both his hands were now aimed at Raijin's back. 

A massive Truth-Seeking Orb began to take shape! 

At the same time, Raijin had already sensed Madara's movements behind him. 

Is this guy... insane? 

Weren't they supposed to be holding back? 

But at this point, Raijin had no choice but to react. 

Honestly, if he had known things would turn out like this, he would have just stayed inside the Heavenly Prison. 

If Konoha wasn't behind him, would this thing even hit him? Yeah, right! 

Natural energy fused with chakra in a perfect ratio, then transformed into pure lightning, shooting straight into the sky. 

Thunderclouds instantly surged! 

A massive purple-black sphere quietly formed above. 

It looked slow, but in reality, it was falling toward Madara at an incredible speed! 

Seeing this, Madara—whether resigned or indifferent—simply threw the Expanding Truth-Seeking Orb in his hands toward the lightning attack in the sky! 

The dark clouds dispersed, and the bright sunlight returned to the land. 

But the gloom in Tsunade's heart remained. 

"Sealing team! Reinforce the barrier!" 

The moment she spoke, Tsunade slammed her hands together! 

In an instant, countless trees erupted outside Konoha's barrier! 

Deep Forest Emergence! 

The towering trees completely wrapped around Konoha. 

While they blocked out the sunlight, they also gave the Konoha shinobi a sense of security. 

"Wind Flow!" 

Orochimaru furrowed his brows slightly, blending natural energy with chakra. 

The winds outside the forest barrier swirled and wrapped around it. 

Uh... 

Jiraiya blinked, feeling a bit helpless. 

I'm... not good at defensive ninjutsu... 

… 

With all the commotion in Konoha, certain individuals with ulterior motives had already arrived. 

Whether it was Otsutsuki Isshiki or Black Zetsu, both were watching from a relatively safe distance. 

—End of Chapter— 

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