As Second Tsuchikage

"No, Mū-sama, your chakra is too low right now. We can't just leave you here by yourself!"

"That's right, we have to protect you!"

"Mū-sama, we'll lay down our lives if we have to. You're the cornerstone of Iwagakure, we can't let anything happen to you!"

The Iwagakure ANBU stood their ground, unwavering in front of Mū. Even when facing the legendary Madara Uchiha himself, they showed no fear. Each one of them was prepared to die if it meant buying even a fraction of a second for their leader to escape.

Mū felt a rare flicker of emotion stir in his chest.

You might not be the strongest shinobi out there, but that spirit of yours... not bad at all. Still, I've got a clone hidden away. Slipping out of here won't be a problem.

"Hmph! Did I say any of you could leave?" Madara's voice cut through the moment like a blade.

The Mangekyō Sharingan turned slowly as he activated Susanoo, and in that instant, the sheer weight of his chakra slammed into the group like a tidal wave. Everyone froze in place, unable to even move.

Fear surged through the ANBU ranks. For the first time, they truly grasped the level of monster Mū-sama had once gone toe-to-toe with. They had thought the Nine-Tails was horrifying, but this? This was a different realm entirely.

Compared to Madara, even the Nine-Tails seemed tame. The idea that they could hold him off long enough for Mū to escape now felt like a joke. They realized they might not even survive for a single heartbeat.

Only now did they understand why people called him the "Shura of Shinobi World." Only now did they comprehend just how incredible it was that Mū-sama had once managed to fight this demon to a draw.

Ōnoki clenched his jaw, straining to stay upright. He was determined not to collapse like he had the last time they encountered Madara. Around him, the ANBU trembled beneath the crushing pressure. Some of them were even preparing to stab themselves with kunai, desperate to stay awake through the suffocating weight of fear.

Just as one ANBU raised a blade to his thigh,

Smack!

Mū suddenly appeared beside him and stopped the kunai from making contact.

"Don't hurt yourself. Don't be afraid."

His voice was calm and steady as he poured the last remnants of his chakra into shielding them from Madara's suffocating presence. Then, he stepped forward, passing through the wall of ANBU, who had been trying to guard him.

"I have not fallen so low that I need my own subordinates and students to throw themselves into the fire for me!"

He stood tall and defiant, his voice ringing out strong and unwavering as he met Madara's gaze head-on, just like the first time they faced off, fearless, unmoved, and unshaken.

"Mu-sama...!"

Tears began welling up in the eyes of the ANBU. Behind those cold, blank masks, they were trained killers, nameless shadows who didn't even get graves. But watching Mū-sama step in front of them to shield them from death... they couldn't help but cry.

"Heh. Pathetic," Madara scoffed.

His tone was cruel, his voice devoid of emotion.

"With Tobirama gone from Konoha and Hashirama no longer a problem, I will be labeling you buffoons."

This time, it was different. Back then, Madara had underestimated Mū. He'd been held back by Konoha's presence, unable to unleash his full-body Susanoo. Hashirama had interfered. But now? Now he wasn't holding back. He had come to kill, plain and simple.

Let's see how this bastard survives this time.

"Come on. I won't bully you. Recover your chakra first. Then we'll have a real fight," Madara said coolly, his gaze fixed on Mū. Madara wasn't the type to take advantage of someone weakened. That kind of victory didn't appeal to him.

Well... unless it was Tobirama. If Tobirama ever got injured, Madara would absolutely stab him while he was down. No hesitation. But this man in front of him? Mū had earned his respect. A proper one-on-one duel, with both fighters at full strength, that was the kind of battle Madara wanted. Something clean. Something definitive.

"Fine. I'll stay and fight you alone," Mū replied, voice calm and steady. "But will you let my ANBU go?"

Madara gave a small nod. The ANBU weren't worth the effort. As long as they didn't get in his way, he couldn't be bothered to kill them. To him, they were like a group of moths buzzling around the light of two giants.

"The Nine-Tails is off-limits. That beast belongs to me," he added flatly.

The Nine-Tails, still lying on the ground, let out a furious roar in protest. Since when had it become someone's possession? But Madara didn't even spare it a full glance. His mere look hit like a hammer, and the fox felt itself plunge into a bottomless pit. Its pupils shifted, its own eyes replaced by spinning Sharingan.

Boom! Boom!

The wooden stakes buried in the beast's flesh blasted out and clattered to the ground. A second later, the mighty Nine-Tails lowered its head and silently crawled to Madara's feet, completely subdued.

Mū took a long, steady breath.

Yeeeup! Gone. All the beating and efforts are just gone against a single pair of eyes.

He closed his eyes and began focusing on recovering his chakra. In response to his quiet command, the Iwagakure ANBU immediately began their retreat. As they turned to go, Mū gave Ōnoki a meaningful glance.

Ōnoki met his teacher's eyes and caught the unspoken message. With a small, understanding smile, he nodded and departed with a calm heart, following the others.

Time moved slowly. Mū's chakra gradually returned, pulsing through him in waves. During those tense minutes, Madara didn't take his eyes off him for even a second. He wasn't about to let his guard down, as he remembered clearly that Mū's ninjutsu was strange, sneaky, and never predictable.

They should be far enough by now...

Mū silently did the math in his head. At this point, his men had likely retreated past the Land of Waterfalls and were safely out of range.

"All right," he said aloud, suddenly rising to his feet. His expression turned serious as he locked eyes with Madara.

Madara's own gaze sharpened. This time, he wasn't holding back. He would end this man once and for all.

Mū inhaled, his face composed and unreadable. He looked Madara dead in the eyes and shouted, "Eh?! Hashirama-dono, what are you doing here?!"

Madara's brain hiccupped. For one brief, insane second, it felt real, like Hashirama really had shown up. Instinctively, he jerked his head around to look behind him.

There was nothing there. Just a massive tree.

His face twisted in rage as he snapped his head back toward Mū,

Only to see the bastard already in mid-air, flying away at full speed.

"You bastard!!!" Madara bellowed, fury exploding from him. With a swipe of his arm, he summoned dozens of Yasaka Magatama and hurled them toward Mū like a storm of spinning death.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The air sliced apart as the chakra disks streaked after him.

Wasting no time, Madara leapt onto the Nine-Tails' back. The fox took off immediately, and the chase began.

Mū darted through the air, skillfully dodging the barrage of projectiles using his flight technique. He kept looking over his shoulder, tracking Madara's position, eyes sharp and calculating.

"Tailed Beast Bomb!" Madara commanded, voice booming as he gave his first-ever direct order to the Nine-Tails.

A low hum vibrated the air, then BOOM!

The Tailed Beast Bomb rocketed forward like a massive cannonball. The explosion tore through the sky, and the shockwave caught Mū mid-flight, sending him hurtling to the ground like a falling comet.

In an instant, Madara appeared overhead, scythe already in motion. With one ruthless swing, he sliced straight through Mū's arm.

"Hahaha! What's the matter?" Madara sneered, eyes wild with satisfaction. "Why aren't you fighting back?!"

He took a threatening step forward, pointing his war fan straight at Mū. "And what happened to that white jutsu of yours? Decided to retire it?"

Mū said nothing. Beneath the wrappings, his expression remained blank, unmoved.

"It's over!"

Madara raised his scythe and brought it down without hesitation, severing Mū's head from his body in one brutal motion. The headless corpse dropped limply to the earth, blood soaking into the dirt.

Madara narrowed his eyes. That was too easy. Suspiciously easy. His gut told him something was off. He considered the possibility of a shadow clone, but everything checked out, texture, chakra signature, the scent of blood.

"Why didn't he resist?"

If he'd overpowered Mū in a real battle, that would've made sense. But this? It felt wrong. And the more he thought about it, the more it gnawed at him.

He stared at the corpse for a long moment. After some time, he confirmed it really was Mū's body. No tricks. No henge. No clones.

"Tch."

With a scowl, Madara turned away and rode off on the Nine-Tails, vanishing into the distance.

...

Far away, deep within the forests of the Land of Earth, the real Mū raced swiftly through the trees, accompanied by the ANBU and Ōnoki. The moment his clone died, a sharp jolt of pain struck his chest, but he didn't flinch.

It had served its purpose. Madara was now chasing a false victory. There had been no point in fighting him, not now.

With Hashirama absent, his own chakra nearly depleted, and his Sage Mode close to wearing off, even if he'd chosen to fight, the best outcome he could've hoped for was mutual annihilation.

And Mū wasn't ready to die just yet. He wasn't some mindless idiot throwing himself into a hopeless battle just for pride. He knew better. He knew the story.

Still, that didn't mean he was letting this go. He would kill Madara Uchiha. That much was certain. And the loss of the Nine-Tails? That burned.

"Sensei... what about the Nine-Tails?" Ōnoki asked hesitantly, unable to hide the frustration in his voice. "We worked so hard to capture it, and now Madara's stolen it right out from under us..."

"Forget about it for now," Mū replied, voice steady but cold. "This isn't over."

Without missing a beat, he turned to the rest of the group. "Return to the village and select fifty more elite shinobi from Iwagakure. We'll need them."

Ōnoki blinked, then narrowed his eyes slightly. He heard something in Mū's tone. "Then... what are you going to do, Sensei?"

Mū's eyes hardened, his gaze focused and razor-sharp. "I'm going to find Tobirama Senju."

If he wanted to kill Madara, he couldn't do it alone. He needed someone who hated him just as much, maybe more. Someone who had the skills and motivation to match.

Madara Uchiha... you bastard... if I don't kill you myself after today, then I will resign as Tsuchikage without a second thought.

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I realize I hated updates last week, so to compensate for that, double the chapter every day for this week.