But Madara, in his battle-crazed excitement, focused all of his attention on Kagami, completely ignoring Hashirama's shocked expression. Under his control, countless vines and branches twisted into ferocious pythons, sweeping towards Kagami with a harsh, tearing sound and a suffocating, oppressive force.

Kagami stood before this devastating assault, his clothes fluttering, his long hair dancing in the violent wind, his eyes sparkling with an untamed excitement. Madara's power made his blood boil, and every cell in his body trembled, not with fear, but with an exhilarating battlelust. This powerful force seemed to have fully awakened the desire for combat that was buried deep within his soul. The tenfold power of the Sukuna template had brought with it not just strength, but Sukuna's insatiable, warlike heart.

"Hahaha, you are truly worthy of your title, the Ghost of Uchiha!" Kagami laughed, his voice booming with genuine joy. To fight a true warrior like Uchiha Madara was a thrilling experience. "But if you wish to see my full strength... this is far from enough!"

"Dust Release: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"

In Kagami's palm, a tiny point of white light appeared, like a newborn star. It expanded in an instant, shining with a brilliant, blinding intensity, as if the core of the sun had been forcibly compressed and then unleashed. The light condensed into a beam, a slender white laser that tore through the darkness. With a will that promised nothing but utter annihilation, it struck the surging tide of wood and vines.

Wherever the laser passed, the very fabric of space seemed to tear. All matter was ruthlessly decomposed into its most basic molecules the moment it made contact, the air filling with the faint, strange smell of atomic decay. The world-creating forest summoned by Madara, which could overwhelm entire armies, seemed impossibly fragile in the face of this power, unable to escape its fate of being completely erased from existence.

Even as a clone, Kagami possessed a chakra reserve that far exceeded that of Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage. With his immense power, he could bring the destructive potential of Dust Release to its absolute peak.

As the dust slowly settled like a thick gray curtain, blurring the line between heaven and earth, the devastation was revealed. The once-towering steel skyscrapers of the Hidden Rain Village were now desolate ruins. Broken walls and rubble littered the landscape, the exposed steel bars like the twisted, broken bones of a massive skeleton, telling a silent, horrifying tale of the battle that had just occurred.

In a single exchange, Kagami and Uchiha Madara had destroyed most of the village, transforming it from a symbol of industrial progress into a veritable purgatory on earth. The cries of despair from the countless villagers who were killed or injured filled the air.

"Uchiha Madara! Uchiha Kagami!"

In the distance, Nagato, hiding with Konan, watched the destruction of his home, his heart shattering. He wished he could tear them both to pieces. This was the village he, Yahiko, and Konan had worked so hard to build, the foundation of their dream of peace. To see it destroyed so casually filled him with an almost unbearable rage. Only the cold, rational part of his mind, the part that knew he stood no chance against either of them, kept him from charging to his death.

Konan, standing beside him, stared at the scene, her eyes wide with shock. She had never imagined that shinobi could wield such power. No, this had surpassed the realm of shinobi entirely. This was the power of gods.

In the ruins, Kagami looked at the spot where the Sage of Six Paths had been standing, his brow furrowed. The man had vanished. When he had unleashed his Dust Release, he had deliberately aimed it at the Sage's position, but the man had disappeared the moment the forest blocked his line of sight. He didn't think the Sage had fled; he was likely hiding, observing. Yet even with his heightened perception, Kagami could find no trace of him.

On the other side of the crater, Madara was also searching for the Sage. After a moment, he gave up and turned his attention back to Kagami, a wide, predatory grin spreading across his face. "Boy, I never expected you to have mastered the Iwagakure's Dust Release. You truly are a man worthy of the Sage's fear. This is getting exciting!"

"Let's dance"

His fear of the Sage was slowly being replaced by a pragmatic desire to form an alliance with this new, powerful Uchiha. Compared to an ancestor who had been dead for a thousand years, a young, ambitious man like Kagami was a much more predictable, and perhaps more useful, ally.

Beside him, Hashirama's face was a mask of grim apprehension. He now understood just how difficult an opponent Kagami truly was. And this was only a clone. It was hard for him to even imagine the power of Kagami's true body. "It's a pity," he sighed to himself. "To have such power, yet to have strayed so far from the right path."

Hidden in a pocket dimension, the Sage of Six Paths watched the battle silently, his eyes calm and calculating. The body he currently inhabited could only exert power at the early Six Paths level. It was enough to deal with most, but not enough to guarantee a victory against Kagami. And since this was only a clone, killing it would be a meaningless victory that would only serve to reveal his own hand. He had no intention of exposing his own intelligence before the final confrontation. He would let Madara and Hashirama wear the clone down. But if an opportunity presented itself, he would not hesitate to strike. The news that he was resurrecting the Ten-Tails could not be allowed to reach Kagami.

Hearing Madara's words, Kagami was momentarily stunned, then a knowing smile touched his lips. "To be chosen by the Sage of Six Paths as a worthy adversary... I suppose it is an honor." He understood the subtext. Madara was telling him that the Sage was afraid.

"It seems my guess was correct," Kagami mused. "Uchiha Madara and the Sage of Six Paths are not on the same side."

Seeing Kagami's own lack of reverence for the Sage, a flicker of a smile appeared in Madara's eyes before he quickly hid it. He threw his head back and laughed again. "Boy, your ninjutsu is impressive, but the true power of the Uchiha clan is something else entirely!"

As he spoke, an indescribable wave of chakra erupted from his body, the power of his Mangekyō Sharingan gushing forth. In an instant, his body was wrapped in a colossal, spectral form, which solidified into a two-hundred-meter-tall, blue-armored warrior. It was the complete form of Susanoo.

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