It seemed that Gamabunta had finally remembered something—something terrifying.
The pipe that usually dangled from his mouth suddenly fell to the ground with a clink.
His eyes widened with disbelief as he stared across the battlefield at Leo, his expression frozen.
"H-How is this possible...? Shouldn't he have already...?"
The great toad Bunta, once brimming with confidence, now let out a trembling murmur.
"Huh? Do you recognize who that person is?" Katsuyu, still unaware, looked to her fellow summoning beast in confusion.
Until—
"Uchiha Madara!!"
A loud voice from among the Konoha shinobi broke the silence.
"He's the legendary ninja… Uchiha Madara!"
"What?!?" Katsuyu gasped. Her massive slug body visibly shook.
"It really is Uchiha…" Gamabunta muttered, thoroughly shaken.
"Jiraiya," he asked with an edge of dread in his voice, "is that man really the legendary Uchiha Madara?"
By now, even Gamabunta had lost the arrogance he typically carried. His instinct told him to flee.
"I think so," Jiraiya responded with a frown. "I can't say I understand why he's still alive… but everything about him screams Uchiha Madara."
He sighed, a weary smirk on his face. "This is really going to be a headache."
"A headache?" Gamabunta barked, "That's putting it mildly! If that's the real Uchiha Madara, then it's more like a suicide mission!"
The battle between Madara and Hashirama—stories of it were etched into legend. No one sane would want to face that monster.
Tsunade remained silent for a moment, then clenched her fists.
"That bastard stole the eyes of the Uchiha and used them like tools… He's a criminal to the clan, to the village, and to humanity!"
"Gurgle…" Katsuyu hesitated, stealing a nervous glance at Leo. "Okay, Tsunade-sama. I'll do my best."
With that, she split her enormous body into countless smaller clones and scuttled in every direction to heal the wounded shinobi scattered around Konoha.
Just moments earlier, Leo's attack had resulted in dozens—perhaps hundreds—of casualties.
Now, with Katsuyu's help, the battlefield came alive again with hope, even if fleeting.
Yet even in her split form, the main body under Tsunade shrank to less than thirty meters in size.
Seeing this, Leo finally spoke.
"You refuse to see the truth. You continue to resist out of pride or ignorance."
Leo, now fully clad in red armor, his long hair dancing in the wind, folded his arms as his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan glowed like twin suns of blood.
"Those eyes… They match the legends perfectly." Gamabunta muttered grimly.
He looked up at Jiraiya. "Call Fukasaku and Shima. If we don't enter Sage Mode now, we're all dead!"
Jiraiya nodded. "That's why I summoned you first—to stall him. I'll summon the Great Toad Sages now!"
"You bastard, you just volunteered me for death!" Gamabunta snapped, grinding his teeth.
"Haha… Sorry about that," Jiraiya said, rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Get moving! Do you really think I can stall that guy for long?" Gamabunta roared.
Meanwhile, Tsunade turned to her partner.
"Katsuyu, stall him with me. Just hold him off long enough."
"Understood, Tsunade-sama," the slug nodded.
The two towering Summoning Beasts—one a massive toad, the other a colossal slug—faced Leo, bracing themselves for the worst.
But deep down, they were both terrified.
For how could they not be?
Leo wasn't just some rogue ninja. He was a legend reborn.
Even the bravest beasts in the world knew this name.
Uchiha Madara.
...
"Enough," Leo's voice rang out coldly.
"This farce ends now."
His arms lowered slowly from their crossed position.
"Let me show you all… the true power of Uchiha Madara."
"The power of a god."
His Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan spun ominously, pulsing with raw, unrestrained energy.
Then—
Zheng-huuuuuu!
A deafening roar of chakra exploded from Leo's body.
A torrent of blue energy surged into the sky, condensing and swirling madly.
Then, with a flash of pure, unstoppable might—
SHRAAAAN!
"There it is…!"
A complete Susanoo, towering at over 230 meters, appeared in the heart of Konoha, its size eclipsing buildings, forests, even entire streets.
From anywhere in the village, one could see it—an armored titan that blotted out the sun, with two glowing Mangekyō Sharingan for eyes and a terrible aura of divinity.
Its very presence weighed down the air like a mountain.
Back when Leo had only one Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, his Susanoo had stood at 140 meters. Now—with both—he was a monster above monsters.
"This… this is…" Tsunade's voice trembled.
Jiraiya, Kakashi, Yuhi Kurenai, Mitarashi Anko, Nara Shikaku, Hyuga Hiashi—every shinobi on the battlefield stared up at the titan in speechless horror.
"So big…" Katsuyu whispered in awe.
Jiraiya barely blinked.
"Great. Just great. I really do owe my ancestors for this one."
Gamabunta's pipe fell from his mouth again with a plop.
He didn't bother picking it up this time.
Because standing before them was no man.
It was a god.
And his name was Leo—known to history as Uchiha Madara.
---