Chapter 358: The Heaven and Earth Trembles

Although Natsuro had activated Susanoo, he fully understood just how difficult it was to achieve.

Normally, unless one was a member of the Uchiha clan, it would be nearly impossible to manifest Susanoo. Even for him, it was only possible because he had previously experienced Susanoo's power through the Spirit Transformation Technique, and his own Yin Release chakra was overwhelmingly strong.

As for the other Mangekyō Sharingan abilities, he still might be able to use them without possessing the Sharingan.

However, without firsthand experience, relying solely on Yin Release to replicate those powers would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.

Still, even that slim possibility was something, it was a chance most people didn't even have.

"The Sharingan... what a broken kekkei genkai," Natsuro muttered.

It allowed ninjas with barely any understanding of Yin Release to wield powers that seemed outright unfair, it was like cheating.

Madara seemed to catch that muttered complaint and couldn't help but feel slightly speechless. He glanced at Natsuro's still-burning Susanoo, whose armor was composed of dazzling, fiery feathers visually striking and radiant.

Even Hashirama had never done anything like this. But Madara began to wonder: was it because Hashirama didn't need to, or because he couldn't? After all, with his Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands, it was hard to say.

Still, one thing was clear, this Sixth Hokage was certainly a monster. But… that suited Madara just fine.

With wild laughter, Madara drew both of Susanoo's swords and charged forward.

Natsuro didn't hesitate. His Susanoo summoned a blazing sword, one that looked very much like the Ink Blade, and clashed head-on with Madara.

Each of his swings trailed with blazing streaks of fire. And these weren't just visual effects, every strike inflicted real burn damage.

Even though both were Susanoo, every time Madara's swords collided with Natsuro's, they hissed and emitted white steam, which was evidence of the scorching heat pushing through.

But overall, this battle between two Susanoo warriors had taken a primitive turn, no ninjutsu, no ninja taijutsu, just pure combat with fists and blades.

Of course, these weren't ordinary fists and blades.

Their swords spanned tens of meters, and each swing released devastating shockwaves.

Even when they dodged each other's attacks instead of clashing head-on, the resulting sword beams could flatten distant mountain ranges.

From afar... the Allied Shinobi Forces, who had already retreated to a safer distance, watched in awe and fear, many swallowing nervously.

Was this... how gods fought?

In battles like these, sheer numbers meant nothing anymore.

"Why can the Sixth Hokage use Susanoo? Is he an Uchiha too?" Ōnoki asked, stunned.

"He shouldn't be. Natsuro's never used a Sharingan, not to mention a Mangekyō Sharingan," Gaara replied after a moment of thought.

"True… and his personality doesn't feel like an Uchiha's either," Ōnoki nodded, then looked around at the remaining Edo Tensei undead and said, "Kazekage, we'll need to push ourselves now. We can't just stay here. The shockwaves from their fight alone require our full effort to defend against. If their battlefield shifts to our side, we won't be able to do a thing."

"Understood," Gaara nodded, but paused as Ōnoki placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique!"

Gaara felt something shift. Suddenly, the sand under his control became much lighter, much easier to manipulate.

"This is..." Gaara muttered in surprise.

No time for explanations, go! These old bones of mine won't last long!" Ōnoki shouted.

"Got it," Gaara replied, now sweeping across the battlefield with greatly increased speed.

Orochimaru noticed the movement too, but didn't pay it much attention. If they wanted to leave, so be it. Natsuro had no time to use that explosive jutsu anyway, and Madara wouldn't give him the chance.

As Orochimaru continued observing Natsuro and Madara's battle, he confirmed something,Natsuro was using Susanoo without a Sharingan.

Did this mean... that even without a Sharingan, one could still use its abilities, as long as they met certain conditions?

Was the Sharingan simply a cheat tool, allowing the Uchiha to bypass those requirements and still use these abilities?

Orochimaru licked his lips. This kind of discovery was more valuable than anything else.

Of course, he also understood that using those powers without a Sharingan probably required an extremely high threshold, otherwise Natsuro wouldn't be the only one in history to pull it off.

But that didn't matter. Science wasn't afraid of difficulty, only of having no direction to pursue.

And now, Natsuro had shown him a very clear path.

As for the actual battle between Natsuro and Madara, Orochimaru found it a little boring now.

Once both had summoned their Susanoo, the fight had lost some of its intrigue.

Even though their towering mecha-like duel looked dazzling, Orochimaru preferred the exchange of intricate ninjutsu, not this "brute strength, bricks flying" style.

Still, one thing was certain: Natsuro was indeed stronger than the legendary Madara Uchiha, at least the pre-Rinnegan version, the one at his peak during his battle with Hashirama.

Natsuro's main headache now was the Rinnegan's ability to absorb ninjutsu. It effectively shut down all of his powerful jutsu options, which was why he had started with Flying Thunder God and ninja-taijutsu techniques instead.

Orochimaru had to admit, their initial clash really startled him. He had feared that the Madara he worked so hard to revive might be defeated that quickly.

Fortunately, Madara's name wasn't just for show. He recovered swiftly and turned the tables.

"This is the power of knowledge gaps," Orochimaru murmured.

If Madara had known from the start how troublesome Natsuro's Flying Thunder God was, he never would've let him place the seal in the first place.

In battles like these, unless one side had overwhelming power, victory often came down to information gaps and hidden trump cards.

Now that Madara fully understood Natsuro, the fight had finally leveled out. Natsuro no longer held the dominant upper hand he had in the beginning.

Yes, even in this Susanoo-on-Susanoo battle, it seemed that Natsuro still had a slight advantage, which was downright ridiculous.

Who's the real Uchiha here?!

Natsuro looked at Madara. His fiery Susanoo had clearly worn Madara down. Though Madara's own Susanoo showed signs of fatigue under the burning assault, continuing like this would still take too long.

"Madara, want to keep going?" Natsuro asked. The outcome of their Susanoo clash was already clear.

"Come! I haven't lost yet! Let's fight to the end!" Madara shouted with crazed laughter, showing no sign of retreat even though he was clearly on the back foot.

"Is that so...? Then let's end this with one final move," Natsuro said suddenly.

"Hmph," Madara grunted without comment. The two Susanoo warriors finally separated.

Natsuro looked around, the Allied Forces had already pulled back far enough, so it was safe to use his next move.

He stabbed his blazing sword into the ground.

In that instant, the land around them transformed into a sea of molten lava. Jets of magma erupted around the two Susanoo, forming a scorching, boiling cage.

"What... what power is this?!" Madara roared with laughter as he beheld the lava field, spreading his Susanoo's wings and rising into the sky.

Now his Susanoo held its massive sword in all four arms, the scabbards discarded. The two swords had merged into one, glowing with a brilliant blue light.

Natsuro and Madara locked eyes.

In the next instant, both were ready.

Madara swung down with a massive, unadorned slash. Even without fancy moves, the pure might of it tore the very heavens apart. The blade's light seemed to split the world as it descended toward Natsuro with unstoppable force.

Natsuro drew his own blade. As he did, all the surrounding flames and magma condensed into his sword, making the heat radiating off of it distort the space around it.

Without hesitation, he lifted the blade with one hand, and summoned a blazing, lava-born phoenix to charge toward the incoming sword light from above.

In that single moment, the sky-splitting sword beam and the fire phoenix capable of burning all in its path collided head-on.

In that instant, heaven and earth changed color.

Fiery crimson flames and deep azure sword light flooded the entire battlefield. The dazzling radiance forced even the distant Third and Fourth Divisions to shield their eyes.

But along with their awe, they also revealed expressions of understanding, it was exactly as they had expected. While they had still been nearby, the Sixth Hokage had clearly been holding back. Now that they had withdrawn, he was finally fighting at full power.

A commander like that… was both moving and deeply reassuring.

"Everyone, don't worry! Our commander will win! We're heading to support the final battlefield, if we can secure victory there, we'll win the entire Fourth Great Ninja War!" Ōnoki roared.

"Yeah!!"

All the surrounding shinobi shouted in unison, as if releasing all the emotions that had been building up inside them.

Back on the battlefield between Madara Uchiha and Natsuro, Orochimaru was once again reduced to ash, though this time, Natsuro hadn't used the exploding Truth-Seeking Orbs. Even though the molten phoenix attack was incredibly powerful, it didn't contain any special chakra properties.

As a result, Orochimaru was already rapidly regenerating.

"Incredible… Such terrifying power, and he didn't even use those black spheres," Orochimaru muttered as he watched the battlefield, clicking his tongue.

Heaven's thunder, Earth's fire, this was the real deal.

Both Natsuro and Madara had been forced to deactivate their Susanoo. They were, after all, the ones hit dead center by those two cataclysmic final attacks.

Natsuro's Susanoo was torn and battered, but still mostly intact.

Madara, however, was in far worse shape. Natsuro's final molten phoenix attack had drawn directly from the magma within the earth, transforming that raw force of nature into a weapon. Since it was natural power, Madara's Rinnegan couldn't absorb it.

That was precisely Natsuro's strategy...

If the Rinnegan can absorb chakra-based jutsu, then I'll fight with the raw power of nature instead. Let's see your eyes absorb that.

And judging from the outcome, he was absolutely right. So long as the attack wasn't chakra-based, the Rinnegan couldn't absorb it.

Just like in the original timeline, Madara had found Gaara's sand extremely annoying. Even though his Rinnegan could drain the chakra controlling it, the sand itself was real and still a nuisance.

Natsuro glanced at Madara, who was slowly regenerating thanks to his Edo Tensei body. As he formed hand seals again, the residual magma on the battlefield began to stir.

If this is all, then let's end it here.

But just as Natsuro was about to finish his hand seals, he suddenly froze. He looked up at the sky... there were no storm clouds, yet violent lightning cracked above him. Around him, gale-force winds howled and swept across the terrain.

The earth trembled beneath his feet. He could feel the magma deep underground boiling restlessly. In the distance, he heard the unmistakable roar of surging floodwaters.

"What is this…?" Both Natsuro and Madara were taken aback.

"A cataclysm…?!" Madara's eyes widened in realization. Then he smiled at Natsuro.

"Looks like our fight has to be put on hold. I'm going to take a look at what's happening over there."

Natsuro gave Madara a sidelong glance, but said nothing. He didn't stop him either.

Soon, Madara's silhouette, shielded by Susanoo, disappeared into the chaos of the natural disaster, shielding himself from its indiscriminate destruction.

"The power of the Ten Tails, huh?" Natsuro's lips curled into a small smile as he closed his eyes, focusing on the overwhelming energy unleashed by the oncoming cataclysm.

"Thunder, storms, floods, earthquakes, magma…" He muttered to himself as he and his true body fully extended their senses through the chaos, searching for exactly what he needed.

After a long moment, Natsuro opened his eyes.

"You've grown stronger again. How is it that, even at your level, you can keep getting stronger so effortlessly?" A voice suddenly echoed beside him.

"Because... I'm the Sixth Hokage," Natsuro replied.

"Don't give me that. I've seen Hokage before, but none of them were anywhere near this talented," the voice grumbled.

"Then... because I am me." Natsuro answered calmly.

The voice fell silent. Perhaps it understood what Natsuro meant. The self-assurance in his tone, the sheer confidence in his identity, was truly something to behold.

"...Whatever you say." The voice replied with a sigh.

Right then, as Natsuro sensed the Six Paths chakra radiating from the chaos, he quietly said,

"For the next battle... I might need you, Kurama."

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