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Chapter 171: Uchiha... Old Man Madara!
🕑 Added 2025-09-04 13:42:18 +0000 UTCChapter 171: Uchiha... Old Man Madara!
Tadpole-like black sealing marks formed a complex array across Uchiha Kagami's body, completely locking down his chakra. Seeing the Four Symbols Seal take shape, Minato finally breathed a sigh of relief. If he had failed at the final step after Keisuke's massive expenditure of effort, he probably would have had to commit seppuku to atone for it.
Just then, Kagami's apologetic voice sounded in his ear.
"I'm truly sorry, Namikaze-kun."
Having regained his senses, Kagami looked at Minato with an expression full of apology. "To have caused you so much trouble again..."
Keisuke's final Spiraling Shadow Killing Cannon had not only shattered Kagami's head but had also destroyed the special kunai embedded within it. It was a move meant to slow his regeneration, but by a strange twist of fate, it had also freed him from the curse mark's control.
"Uchiha Kagami-senpai?" Minato looked at him cautiously. Though he was confident in the Four Symbols Seal, he had never used it on a dead person before and couldn't be entirely sure of its effectiveness. "You've recovered?"
"I was being... controlled. That's why I fought you two," Kagami said with great difficulty. "I never thought Lord Madara could control my body and exert such an incredible level of power..."
To put it bluntly, even if Kagami had been in control of his own reanimated body, he doubted he could have produced that level of destructive force. It just went to show that Uchiha Madara's familiarity with the Sharingan far surpassed that of his descendants. Even by remote control, he could unleash power far beyond what Kagami himself was capable of.
"If you've regained your senses, Kagami-senpai, that makes things easier!" Minato couldn't read minds, but for now, he had to trust him. "Senpai, did you not say before that the Edo Tensei is a summoning-type jutsu that calls your soul from the Pure Land?"
"From what I can feel, that seems to be the process..." Kagami looked at Minato, uncertain. "What are you planning to do, Namikaze-kun?"
"I was thinking, if I can sever the summoning contract within your body, perhaps we can once again block the mastermind's control over you?" Minato replied, his hands already flying through seals. "My own strength can't compare to Keisuke's, but I have done some research in the field of sealing jutsu."
Kagami didn't know much about sealing, but Minato clearly had no intention of explaining his abilities.
Contract Seal!
A moment later, Minato completed the seals. With extremely precise chakra control, he placed a brand new sealing formula on Kagami's body. The Contract Seal was a technique developed by the Uzumaki clan specifically to counter summoning jutsu. It used the power of fuinjutsu to completely sever the link between a summoner and their beast. Minato had no idea if it would work on the Edo Tensei, but when he thought of that yellow giant soaring through the sky, he felt he hadn't used nearly enough seals.
As Kagami watched in a daze, Minato began a new round of hand seals.
Heavy Seal of the Four Limbs!
This, too, was an Uzumaki technique, designed specifically to seal an enemy's physical strength. Minato wasn't just going to seal his chakra; he was going to restrict his basic motor functions as well.
On the other side, the Black Samurai's form gradually melted back into Nara Keisuke's shadow.
'The S-rank technique, Black Samurai, with enough Yin Release chakra, is basically on par with a Stage Three or Four Susanoo,' he analyzed internally. 'The defense is adequate, but the offensive options are still lacking. It's still just variations of my shadow techniques, with the A-rank Spiraling Shadow Killing Cannon as the strongest attack... That's not good enough!'
'And the chakra consumption is insane!'
Keisuke reviewed the battle, consolidating the experience he had gained, then silently checked the remaining chakra in his Yin Seal. 'Months of accumulation were almost completely wiped out in one Gundam fight. I have more of my own spiritual energy left than what's in the Yin Seal... I was thinking about making more backup batteries, but it looks like I should focus on just recharging this one for now.'
He decisively resealed the Yin Seal, planning to begin the long process of accumulating chakra again after the battle was truly over.
Minato finished applying the seals and quickly brought Kagami over.
"Keisuke, are you alright?" he asked cautiously, afraid that if he spoke too loudly, he might blow him over. After using that kind of power, Keisuke must be incredibly weak right now, right?
"The jutsu you just saw is called Susanoo. It's a power exclusive to the Uchiha clan," Kagami explained, looking at Keisuke with unconcealed shock. "Even among the Uchiha, no one can use that technique for long. It's only because I'm a reanimated corpse that I could use that level of power so freely. Nara-kun must be..."
Keisuke turned his head. He hadn't yet thought of a good excuse to be lazy, but these two had just handed him one on a silver platter.
"Ahem..." Keisuke coughed lightly and waved a hand. "It's fine. I can still hold on for a little while longer. Minato-san, let's go check that waterfall you mentioned."
Minato frowned. He wanted to tell Keisuke to rest and leave the rest to him, but the boy had just demonstrated a level of power that surpassed his own. He didn't feel it was his place to overrule him.
Keisuke glanced at Kagami, then silently took a small scroll from his ninja pouch and opened it. A lifelike ink hawk flew out and landed gently beside them.
"Kagami-senpai, I'll have to ask you to get on yourself."
Though Kagami's chakra and physical strength were sealed, his basic ninja skills were not.
'It seems Keisuke's chakra consumption really was massive...' Minato thought, seeing that Keisuke hadn't even created his usual Shadow Creature.
The ink hawk carried Kagami into the sky, keeping him far from the battlefield. Keisuke and Minato then proceeded to the waterfall for the final reconnaissance.
"Keisuke, I've already confirmed with Kagami-senpai," Minato said on the way. "The Wood Style that came from the waterfall was likely the ability of that white creature you captured—Kagami-senpai called them White Zetsu. I was also affected by one earlier. It suddenly appeared on my body, stole some of my chakra, and also took the special kunai we were using to track Madara."
"White Zetsu?" Keisuke asked, feigning ignorance. "I conducted some limited research on that creature yesterday. Its cellular structure is very similar to a plant's, but it has far more vitality. Did Kagami-senpai explain their origin in detail? Especially their Wood Style."
"No," Minato said, shaking his head as they arrived at the base of the waterfall. "Kagami-senpai doesn't know much about them either, only that they are always near Uchiha Madara and are extremely powerful spies."
Minato stopped talking and took a deep breath. "Keisuke, I'm going in first. If I'm not out in three seconds, you follow immediately!"
"No problem."
The moment Keisuke spoke, Minato threw a Flying Thunder God kunai into the waterfall. It vanished into the curtain of water. He looked at Keisuke, gave a slight nod, and his figure instantly disappeared.
Keisuke counted to three, then ran up the cascading water, using the Yin Release Mask to pinpoint Minato's location.
Passing through the water curtain, he entered a simple, ancient-looking cave. Faint torches hung on the walls, providing a meager source of light. Minato, who had entered first, was already engaged in close combat with a White Zetsu. In terms of pure reflexes, Minato was far superior, but the Zetsu had a thorough understanding of his abilities and was using an incredibly shameless tactic—it had covered its body in a hard layer of Wood Style. Minato's kunai scraped against the makeshift "wood armor," leaving only a few insignificant marks. He was doing scratch damage again.
Keisuke's gaze swept across the rest of the cave and, without much effort, found an old, white-haired man sitting on a wooden throne, his hands holding a long, thin cane.
"The other guest has arrived. White Zetsu, come back," the old man said, his left eye opening to reveal a crimson, three-tomoe Sharingan that stared directly at Keisuke. "The Shadow of Darkness, and the Yellow Flash. I never thought I would meet you two at my age."
Minato held his kunai and flickered to Keisuke's side. He was almost certain of the man's identity, but he asked anyway. "Who are you?"
"Don't you already know the answer to that question?" Uchiha Madara leaned back in his chair. Though he was seated, his gaze held an air of absolute authority. "I am a ghost of the Uchiha clan...
"Uchiha Madara!"
