19 True Fear

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((Let's settle this mood with the Zetsu Theme, Shipuuden OST))

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"What the hell is this ?!"

"This is no human!"

"Is he a spirit?!"

Zhao could only stare wide eyed as a spectral ribcage appeared around Madara, he never heard of anything like it before! What kind of power is this?!

Gulp.

"Come here little Zhao" A dark and sinister voice echoed from inside the Ribcage, he could only see Madara's shape and his eyes…

Those demonic red eyes that glowed in the dark…

Zhao took one step back as Madara took one step forward.

Madara gave up on all possibility of a battle of attrition and went all out, he knew that considering how exhausted and hurt he currently was he wouldn't be able to outlast every single soldier here, eventually he would collapse and even a scrub would be able to score a finishing blow on him.

He could've tried to escape, but he wanted to finish this fight, he felt excited by the thought of such battle! He did find it strange that he became a battle maniac after transmigration, was it a Madara trait that he absorbed or was he always like this and was just born in the wrong era?

He didn't know, and he didn't give a fuck! His blood was pumping and he wanted to keep this fight going for a bit longer.

"Don't tell me that you are afraid now, little Zhao?" he chuckled "Come, the night is still young... let's keep dancing!"

He dashed towards Zhao, who tried to counter with fire, Madara didn't even dodge he just dashed through the wave of flames and came out unscathed.

Zhao saw his opponent's silhouette raising his hand, and suddenly the spectral ribcage expanded and a skeletal arm appeared.

'WHAT?!'

BANG!

The big skeletal fist hit him on the side of his torso.

CRACK

Zhao felt the bones of the upper right side of his body shattering, he flew like a cannon ball and was lucky to be caught by his soldiers before he could hit a rock or a tree.

Zhao was fucked and he knew it, such power behind a single punch… A SINGLE PUNCH! Trying to stand up and overcome his newfound fear, Zhao used his strongest firebending move with his one available arm, alongside his remaining standing soldiers, and launched a massive combined fire missile towards the abomination, but as the fire reached his target it just… dispersed…

'WHAT?!' now he had goosebumps all over his body, his back drenched in cold sweat.

"You will have to do better than that little Zhao"

Madara's movements were slower than ever at this point due to exhaustion and lack of chi, yet he was like an impregnable fortress, an impregnable fortress that could fight back, a very dreadful concept but at the same time Zhao saw hope when he noticed how slow Madara was moving around the battlefield.

"He is getting tired, GET HIM!"

One of the soldiers acted instantly and rushed towards Madara with all his speed, jumping in the air while spinning as flames came out of his heel, ready to strike.

Zhao didn't know what to expect but he had hope, even a single crack on that shell would be enough to keep the morale of his soldiers on a decent level, enough to keep fighting.

'He is obviously tired... if we can-'

His thoughts were interrupted at that moment, because before the man could complete his bending the skeletal hand grabbed him mid-air.

"I never liked bugs, they annoy me!" the hand's grip intensified and loud crack sounds echoed as the soldier screamed in pain and despair.

"P-PLEASE S-SPARE ME!!"

CRACK

"AAAAAARGH!"

After that he tossed the broken soldier towards Zhao, who managed to dodge in time but was in so much pain that he could barely stand up.

"How does it feel little Zhao, the feeling of despair and hopelessness?"

The blue flame-like aura expanded in all directions and the soldiers felt dread.

"W-we can't fight this!"

"C-commander lets retreat!"

Zhao gulped hard as he was shaking inside his armor, there was no hope. 'Fuck this!'

Zhao turned around and ran, he ran as fast as he could… that thing, whatever it was, made him feel at death's door! At least it was slow and wouldn't be able to give it a chase at this point.

The soldiers. who already were low on morale, looked at each other and as if they were given a new lease in life they dashed to all sides, spreading through the swamp as fast as they could.

Escaping was all they could think right now, no one gave a damn about their pride when faced with sure death!

Madara's eyes went wide, he was livid!

"OI! DON'T FUCK WITH ME ZHAO! COME HERE AND FACE YOUR DEATH LIKE A MAN!"

He shouted in anger while used the skeletal arm to grab a big rock nearby and tossing towards Zhao, who dodged thanks to the soldiers beside him that pulled him to the side.

"YOU FUCKING COWARD!"

And like that the remaining soldiers ran for their lives and abandoned the battlefield.

Madara on the other hand was breathing heavily, activating Susano'o was a risky move but he knew that he wouldn't be able to win the battle if it kept going, his condition was far from optimal, and he did the one thing that he could think of, break their spirit.

He was having a hard time staying awake, his vision started to get blurry due to exhaustion and he raised his head and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"RUN LITTLE ZHAO, RUN LIKE THE LITTLE COWARD THAT YOU ARE!"

His voice echoed through the swamp as the ribcage disappeared and he fell on one knee, his sharingan deactivated and he felt something coming through his throat.

Blergh.

Blood came out of his mouth 'I will take a long time to recover from this…' he stood up again, and mustering all his strength and willpower he walked through the swamp with unsteady steps, using trees and rocks on his way as support so he didn't fall on the ground. 'I have to get away from here, I don't know what kind of predator will be drawn by the smell of blood.'

"My body… can't... handle it…." He spat some more blood as he walked 'Susano'o in this world is way too demanding for my current body… why couldn't the voice make it more like the avatar state? is it because It's external while the avatar state is internal?'

It was possible for him to continue fighting if he never activated Susano'o, he could even take down more soldiers, but on the long run? He would've been overwhelmed, there was no escape since he was surrounded so he gambled it all on the Susano'o and did his best to keep it up until everyone was gone, even the final shout was just to plant a permanent seed of fear in Zhao's heart.

During the whole battle he was hit many times, although very few through firebending, those physical injuries added up, and that final kick from Zhao cracked his ribs "Next time I see you, I will tear you apart!"

He walked for hours, each step was harder than the one before since both his chi and stamina reached rock bottom.

'I need to rest' he though as he fell down on the ground, panting.

When his consciousness was about to fade, he heard a familiar voice.

"What do we have here?"

Using all his willpower he could muster he opened his eyes slightly and saw a familiar blurry silhouette.

Snort "To think ye would get beaten this bad…"

"You… should see… the other guy…" he tried to chuckle but coughed hard.

"Aye..." she chuckled "It's like fate isn't it? … ye remember what ye did to me ship and me crew? do ye remember what I told ye about trusting a pirate?"

Madara said nothing at this point, if she really is going for vengeance there were no words that would save him. He could only close his eyes, and since he couldn't muster any more strength… it was all up to fate.

Kaliya leaned towards him and stared at his exhausted visage, clicking her tongue "Ye know… it's not really fun to tease ye… "she grabbed his exhausted body like a sack of potatoes and placed him over her shoulder "And here I was thinking that I could at least scare ye a little bit"

She turned around and started running back towards Gao Ling at full speed.

Leaving the training area with Lei beside her, Toph turned to him and asked in a somewhat anxious tone.

"What should I say to my dad? I don't want him to blame Madara, he did nothing wrong and he even went there to save me"

Lei gave her a wry smile "Little Miss I'm afraid that they already blame him, there's not much that you can say to help his situation right now."

She lowered her head feeling guilt "But... it's not fair, is there really nothing that I can do to help him?"

Lei felt conflicted, in one hand he could give her some ideas to help Madara's situation, on the other hand he would be betraying the trust of Master Beifong, it was a very tough spot for him since he respected both men a lot, but when he looked at the depressed Toph he couldn't help it.

Sigh "You can do a few things…"

Toph perked up "Tell me!"

Massaging his forehead and contemplating what he was about to do, he could only shake his head "Tell your father that you were lost in the streets of Gao Ling the whole time, that you discovered that you could earthbend but can't control it so you got lost while exploring your skills…."

"But… what if they go and ask about it?"

Lei shrugged "So what? Gao Ling is a massive city, there's kids everywhere and people wouldn't remember you even if you actually went there, on the other hand they won't press you too hard because it's not like you can tell them where you were… "he chuckled, he really was spending a bit too much time near Madara. "I will back you up and tell your father that I spotted you while doing some chores for Mr. Uchiha in the city."

Toph raised one of her eyebrows and a cunning smirk appeared on her cute face "Oh?.... the perks of being blind…" she chuckled and gave Lei a gentle punch on the side of his thigh "You are a good person Lei… thanks..."

He chuckled at her behavior and bowed respectfully "Always willing to serve, Young Miss Beifong."