“S-so, there really is a beauty like that in this world...”
Her appearance alone called to mind an incomparable beauty at first glance; her fantastical figure visible even beneath the dress, her bright golden hair, skin that looked soft enough to touch just by seeing it, and the sacred aura she gave off all combined to captivate not only the men but even the women who looked at her. That was Issei’s first impression of Gabriel—she was the very image of his ideal type. No wonder she was called the greatest beauty in Heaven.
“W-well, I guess Lady Gabriel really is beautiful.”
“...Y-yeah.”
Perhaps it was awkward that the one people in the world even called a hero standing against [Akatsuki] was now getting flustered over Gabriel in the middle of battle, so several angels began trying hard to accept Issei’s feelings.
“So you’re the leaders of the angels called the Four Seraphs,”
Madara said to Uriel and Gabriel, positioned in front of him and above him.
“But I’m disappointed. So the so-called leaders of the angels are only this much?”
In ninja terms, they were in the position of the Kage. But both Michael and the Four Seraphs were weaker than Madara had been before becoming the Ten-Tails jinchūriki—far weaker than even the Kage. At this rate, there was no way he could enjoy himself. Fighting Issei in his Ten-Tails state would be far more entertaining.
“First.”
He moved toward Uriel in front of him at a speed invisible to the eye and kicked him cleanly. Uriel had no chance to defend properly and was sent flying, coughing blood as he crashed down. By the time Gabriel noticed Uriel being blown away, Madara was already right in front of her.
“!!”
“As if I’d let you!”
Just as Madara suddenly appeared and was about to drive a kick into Gabriel’s slender body, Issei instantly appeared and blocked the blow with one arm. Then—
“Get lost!”
He brought down his black staff, and with a speed and power that had leapt to an entirely different level from before, Madara was blasted away at high speed and slammed into the ground. It felt as if he’d been hit by Might Guy in the Eight Gates.
“That guy... has this much power?”
The strength he had not been able to see just moments ago—if Issei had not blocked with his arm and taken that hit to a vital point, it would have been a fatal wound. And after sending Madara flying, Issei asked—
“Are you all right?!”
“Yes, thanks to you, I’m safe.”
When Gabriel’s smile appeared, carrying innocence, sex appeal, and allure all at once, Issei’s nostrils flared as he stared at her without blinking. Gabriel only tilted her head, even though his gaze was obviously lecherous.
“Thank you so much, Hyoudou Issei-sama.”
She clasped both of Issei’s hands and smiled brightly as she expressed her thanks once more. He had held many girls’ hands before, but this was the first time he had ever felt something so soft and healing from simply holding hands.
‘Ah... she really is an angel...’
Issei had his heart stolen by a single smile.
“You bastard!! Prepare yourself! How dare you try to hurt such a beautiful beauty!!”
His anger toward Madara surged, and it had nothing to do with plans or legendary ninja anymore. As if answering that feeling, light burst from the Sacred Gear.
[Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost]
The [Boosted Gear] began to strengthen beyond anything it had ever shown before.
[Welsh Dragon Over Boost, Explosion]
It stabilized a power that had already long since surpassed Madara in his Ten-Tails state.
‘No way... this much power? So that Sacred Gear responds to the size of one’s heart.’
Madara had just witnessed Issei’s genuine fury. He did not want to admit it, but the source of the power of the being he had chosen to support was a woman. That much was now certain. And since things had come to this—
“Then I’ll get rid of that woman first!”
“What did you say?!”
[Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost, Boost]
The [Boosted Gear] powered up again, now generating a fierce wind that felt like it could blow away anything nearby, and before she knew it, Gabriel had been pushed far away from Issei.
“Say that again, you punk! What did you say you were going to do to this beauty?!”
“My, my~ ‘beauty,’ you say~”
Gabriel’s cheeks turned slightly red as she shyly reacted to Issei calling her beautiful. At this point, it would not have been strange if Heaven’s anti-fall system had judged Issei to be in a state of lust and activated, but right now Issei was an existence that had surpassed even gods. All systems were useless before him.
“Very well! That chakra!! You’re the first one in my life to make my heart pound like this! Show me more of that power!”
Even though the power gap was still overwhelming, Madara launched a preemptive attack again. He had already approached Gabriel at a speed invisible to the eye, and when he suddenly appeared in front of her once more, she had no means to resist and was about to have her throat seized—
“Don’t be ridiculous!!”
At the same time, Issei appeared in front of Gabriel, grabbed Madara’s arm, dragged him along, and slammed him into the ground. Then, with an enraged expression, he broke the sound barrier and headed downward.
“How manly~”
The whole thing had happened in less than a second. Gabriel, too, had her attention stolen by Issei’s tough, rough way of handling Madara like an object. And Issei, having flown at supersonic speed toward Madara, did not give him a moment to breathe and attacked again.
“Ghk!”
He yanked him up from where he had been embedded in the ground, kicked him into the air, and—
“Kuh!”
—flew even faster to where he had been sent, kicking him again and smashing him back into the ground.
‘Fast...’
Madara had no time to react. He was being beaten helplessly by speed and power beyond even Might Guy in the Eight Gates. Then—
“This is the end!! Sage Art: Super Tailed Beast Rasenshuriken!”
With eight shadow clones of Issei, the nine-attribute Rasenshuriken erupted. Madara barely managed to regain his senses and hurriedly formed hand seals, but—
“Die!!”
Issei’s overwhelming speed was faster than Madara’s. Madara was struck head-on by all nine Rasengan and—
“Ghk!”
—was sent crashing down through the explosion, coughing blood as parts of his body were torn away.
“O-oh! C-could he have defeated him?!”
“He took down that Madara! Alone!”
Because it had happened so fast, the angels did not know the process—only the result—and they erupted in cheers. They shouted in admiration for Issei, who had defeated the one who was the common enemy of the Three Factions and the one who had brought Heaven to this state, and they celebrated the gratifying news that Madara had fallen.
“Amazing!”
“Long live the Red Dragon Emperor!”
“He’s a hero! Our hero! The Red Dragon Emperor!!”
“That was close. I almost died, you bastard.”
As a familiar voice, laced with laughter, began echoing from the ground, everyone suddenly fell silent. When all eyes turned that way, there he was—
“...A-monster...?”
“He still won’t die like that...”
Madara, whose torn-apart body had already begun regenerating and was nearly back to normal, wiped the blood from his mouth and laughed.
Then—
“That’s my thanks for entertaining me! All of you! I’ll kill you with everything I’ve got!”
Madara drew up the chakra of the Ten-Tails, several clones were created, and they all transformed into Perfect Susanoo at once. Then, as they scattered in all directions, they headed toward the angels.
“R-run!”
“If that thing catches you, it’s over!”
He had seen it before in a video transmitted from the Demon World—those monsters that could change the terrain with a single sword strike. Now there were several of them coming at them, and all the angels lost their fighting spirit and began to flee.
“That bastard’s causing trouble!”
They had only signaled each other through actions; Issei himself did not know any concrete plan. So he frowned at Madara’s sudden move, then created countless Wood Dragons of his own and sent them toward the clone Susanoo.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Wood Dragons and Susanoo collided from all directions, creating explosions. The sky and the ground alike turned into chaos, a scene that seemed to evoke hell itself. Madara seized the opening and charged Issei, and Issei did not miss the chance either. Then—
Kwaaaang!
Just the collision of the two beings’ chakra-infused fists produced a shockwave that shoved back the clouds overhead and tore up the earth below.
“Die!!”
“This is the most fun fight I’ve ever had!!”
The two continued their battle of strength in midair, and before long—
“Ghk!”
—one side had exhausted all its chakra and was sent reeling back, coughing blood. It was Madara, whose Ten-Tails state had been undone. It seemed that Issei, who still had the Ten-Tails itself within his body, had chakra left to spare, and by the narrowest of margins, Issei’s power had overwhelmed Madara. Madara, sent flying, collapsed on the ground, then barely managed to push himself up.
“I can’t believe it. To think I would lose... impressive.”
“Haa, haa... this is the first time I’ve fought until my chakra ran dry, too.”
Issei was struggling quite a bit, since he had never fought a proper opponent before and had never run out of chakra. The angels kept their distance, worried Madara might revive again as before, and Issei landed on the ground before walking leisurely toward Madara.
“So? How was my power?”
“To think you’d go this far over a woman. Perhaps you may become a ninja greater than Naruto.”
“Beautiful girls are justice in this world! I’d even give my life for a beautiful girl!”
Seeing him power up this much over a single woman, the trigger was absurd, but his potential was greater than Naruto’s. Madara judged that he was a worthwhile one to raise.
“Well, you’re an idiot, but you pass. I, Uchiha Madara, will go along with your plan. However, as a ninja, you’re still lacking, so for a while you’ll have to receive my guidance.”
“...Meaning?”
“I’ll take you as my disciple. What, do you dislike that?”
“N-no, I’d be happy to have you as my teacher, but...”
Being Uchiha Madara’s disciple sounded impressive at first, but for some reason it felt like he was about to experience a hell he had never known before.
“Well then, rest up until we meet again.”
“Ah.”
“Then I suppose it’s time to wrap things up.”
It was Madara who needed rest more than Issei. No matter how legendary a ninja he was, after being beaten this badly, he should have been unable to move for a while—but Madara casually generated chakra again and began playing along with Issei’s act. The only difference was—
“Very well! We’ll withdraw for today! But next time, there will be no mercy!”
—that this was an improvised performance. And with Madara suddenly getting back up in perfect condition and even releasing chakra, the angels could only marvel at his monstrousness and back away even farther. But after Madara’s words, the area fell quiet for a moment, and then—
“D-did we win?”
As Madara opened a gate and disappeared, everyone looked at one another.
“W-we won! We won!”
““WOOOOOOO!!””
The angels erupted in cheers at Madara’s hasty retreat. Heaven had already become a ruin, but simply surviving was enough to make them happy. They embraced one another and savored their victory.
And perhaps because Issei had fought so recklessly until his chakra was exhausted for the first time, he swayed and then lost his balance and collapsed.
“Ah... is this the backlash of my visual prowess...? I’m dizzy...”
He possessed the Ten-Tails and the [Rinnegan], but until recently he had only been an ordinary high school student. So the fact that he had suddenly used the Ten-Tails’ chakra and the [Rinnegan]’s power to their limit and was still standing was strange enough. The Ten-Tails state also faded, and the [Boosted Gear] disappeared. As his consciousness began to drift away—
“A-are you all right?!”
In the darkening field of vision, the last thing he saw before consciousness cut off was beautiful golden hair and a soft voice.
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