Masahiko had been talking for a while, but he noticed that Madara still had that arrogant, untouchable expression. Even with his thick skin, Masahiko was starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

  “Tobirama, leave Madara to me, deal with the rest! I’m going to show this brat the real difference in battle experience,” Masahiko said, imitating Chiyo’s old dy style, feeling quite smug about it.

  “Grandfather, you…” Tobirama started to stop him, but Masahiko was already charging at Madara, each hand holding a kunai. With no other choice, Tobirama turned to the elite members of the Senju cn behind him and ordered, “Block the others. I’ll go lend a hand!”

  “Watch my kunai, watch my Kunai Clone Technique, watch my Kunai Transformation Technique!” Masahiko shouted three times. The two kunai in his hands transformed into dozens of rge Wind Release Kunai, whistling towards Madara and his group.

  “What kind of nonsense jutsu is this? Everyone, get out of the way! Body Flicker Technique!” Izuna shouted.

  The others quickly dodged, but Madara, standing still, merely tilted his body slightly and avoided most of the kunai. He caught one mid-air, a look of disdain on his face. “Is this what you call a difference in battle experience?”

  Masahiko chuckled. “I knew you’d try to act cool. Kunai Substitution Technique!”

  In an instant, Masahiko swapped positions with the kunai in Madara's hand. He kicked out, nding a blow to Madara's chest. Madara was sent flying, tumbling several dozen meters through the air, a cloud of dust obscuring the situation for a moment.

  “Brother! That damn old man…” Izuna shouted, charging toward Masahiko. Tobirama blocked him, and the two began to battle. The other members of the Senju cn surrounded the remaining five Uchiha cn members, with three top-level jōnin leading the offensive and the others assisting, pushing the Uchiha back to the edge of defeat.

  "Damn!" Madara growled as the smoke cleared, revealing him standing, covered in dust with a slight trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth. He wasn’t seriously injured, but his pride as the untouchable Madara Uchiha was crushed. He’d been knocked back by an old man in a single exchange. His rage boiled over, and he immediately unleashed the Uchiha cn's signature Fire Style technique: "Fire Style: Dragon Fme Song!"

  “Earth Style: Earth Flow River (Rock Hide Technique)!” Masahiko decided to dive underground to avoid the fmes. Once the fire passed, he emerged from the earth.

  “See? There’s still a gap in battle experience. You should’ve used the Great Dragon Fire Technique earlier, not the enhanced Dragon Fme Song. That one’s meant for dealing with multiple enemies. Look at how much chakra you wasted,” Masahiko said, shaking his head as though pitying Madara for his ck of experience.

  “Shut up!” Madara’s eyes spun, transforming into the Mangekyō Sharingan. “Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!” he roared, expelling an enormous fireball that seemed almost exaggerated. Even from a distance, Masahiko could feel the intense heat, as if it was going to dry up the air itself.

  “Of course, one of the abilities of Madara’s Mangekyō is to amplify ninjutsu power. Fire Style fans weren’t lying,” Masahiko thought to himself, but he didn’t slow down. “Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!” He cut a wide path right through the center of Madara’s Great Fireball.

  “Good thing I know Wind Style, otherwise, that Fireball would’ve easily shattered my Earth Wall... I really am outmatched here,” Masahiko thought.

  Not making any more hand signs, Masahiko instead decided to use his mouth as a weapon. “Madara, you want to keep going? The people you brought with you are barely holding on.”

  Madara scanned the battlefield. Sure enough, Izuna was locked in a tough fight with Tobirama, neither side gaining the upper hand. The other five Uchiha were in a dire situation, injured and barely able to hold on. This old man was a tough nut to crack, and there was still that unknown Uzumaki princess in the sedan chair—she was supposed to be a genius too…

  “Izuna, take them and retreat! I’ll cover your escape!” Madara called out.

  Izuna hesitated, but then formed hand signs. “Fire Style: Great Fire Destruction!” She broke free from Tobirama’s grasp and created a path for the surrounded Uchiha to escape. Once gathered, they quickly fled toward the deeper forest.

  Tobirama was about to chase when Madara appeared in front of him with a Body Flicker.

  “You’re too arrogant, Madara. Do you think you can stop us all by yourself? Not even my brother could do that! Today, I’ll make sure you stay here!” Tobirama shouted.

  “Stay here? This move was originally a surprise for Hashirama, but I’ll let you see it first. Susanoo!” Madara’s eyes bled as his two eyes shed blood tears, and a faint blue skeleton enveloped him.

  Ten minutes ter, Masahiko half-supported Tobirama, shaking his head helplessly as he watched Madara quickly retreat. With only his proficiency in body substitution and kunai techniques, Masahiko had no answer to Madara’s absolute defense technique. Among the group, only Tobirama and three top-level jōnin had been able to deal a little damage to Madara, but now all three were lying on the ground, and Tobirama looked like he had been drained of all energy. Everyone else was injured. Even though they knew Madara was nearly spent, they couldn’t catch up.

  Tobirama exhaled, breaking free from Masahiko’s support and checking on the three jōnin lying unconscious. Fortunately, they were just knocked out from the impact, with no serious injuries.

  “Who would’ve thought that after two months, Madara’s gotten so much stronger. At least he had Izuna retreat, or we might’ve lost some people today,” Tobirama sighed.

  “Yeah, we were lucky. If Izuna had stayed, maybe Mito would’ve had to step in. That’d be pretty embarrassing, huh?” Masahiko replied, but he was actually thinking, “Maybe Madara’s real reason for coming was to congratute Hashirama on his wedding, but then why the battle?”

  If Masahiko knew it was his mouth that had provoked Madara into attacking, he might’ve turned red from embarrassment.

  At that moment, Mito stepped out of the sedan chair and said, “I’m terribly sorry, I couldn’t intervene earlier. Let’s get the three unconscious seniors into the sedan. We should keep moving, or we won’t be able to handle another attack.”

  Tobirama considered it for a moment, then agreed, “Everyone, get ready. We need to leave quickly!”

  So, the new bride, Mito, joined the group as they continued their journey, while three unconscious men y in the sedan. Masahiko couldn’t help but ugh at the thought—if Hashirama saw his new bride being carried by three middle-aged men, the scene would be too hirious.

  Tobirama gnced at Masahiko and couldn’t resist asking, “Grandfather, the Kunai Substitution Technique you used earlier is quite simir to a technique I’m working on. Could you teach it to me?”

  “Flying Thunder God?” Masahiko thought, “No problem, but you’ll have to promise me something.”

  “Of course! What is it?”

  “When your brother gets married, you do this…”

  “This…”

  As they spoke, the Senju vilge came into view.

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