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"System, exchange for the Rasengan!"
After killing the enemy Chūnin, Xuan didn't dare waste a single second. He immediately moved to support Madara.
Looking at the sheer number of brutal wounds covering the kid's body, he knew that if he didn't get there right now, he'd literally just be collecting a corpse.
[Rasengan. Rank: A. Cost: 5,000 Points. Would you like to exchange?]
"Yes!"
As the System's deadpan voice chimed, a warm current flowed into his body. Xuan instantly knew he had completely mastered the Rasengan.
He had actually been pondering which A-Rank Jutsu to buy during the entire battle. He ultimately locked onto this iconic signature move of Naruto's from the canon timeline.
To kill a Jōnin, an ordinary A-Rank Jutsu simply wouldn't cut it. He needed a technique with devastating, single-target lethality.
And the destructive power of the Rasengan was obvious to anyone who knew the original story.
More importantly, the Rasengan required absolutely no hand signs.
It could be formed and unleashed in any configuration—one hand, two hands, or whatever else. The only reason Naruto needed the help of Shadow Clones to form it was because his Chakra control was garbage.
Xuan, on the other hand, was supremely confident that Chakra control was his greatest strength.
"Perfect. I'll let you, a Hyuga Jōnin, bear witness to the first step of Uchiha Xuan's rise in the Warring States era!"
Armed with the Rasengan, Xuan's confidence swelled. The three tomoe in his eyes spun with an even more eerie, demonic light.
From a distance, he could see the two fighters. Madara had completely lost the ability to fight back and was reduced to passively taking a brutal beating. He looked even more miserable than Izuna had.
Xuan let out a low chuckle.
At least he's not dead.
He raised his hand and hurled six kunai toward the two of them. Slapped onto the handle of every single kunai was a Paper Bomb.
Shurikenjutsu was easy to learn but incredibly difficult to master. Xuan had drilled it relentlessly over the past two years.
The kunai instantly arrived right next to the two fighters.
"Get out of the way, Madara! Detonate!"
Six consecutive explosions violently ruptured the air.
Amidst the deafening blasts, Madara's hysterical roar could faintly be heard:
"Xuan, you son of a btch, just you wait...!"*
A figure was sent flying backward by the shockwave of the blasts.
Xuan hurriedly stepped forward and caught him.
It was Madara.
The moment Xuan caught him, Madara violently coughed up a massive mouthful of blood.
The webbing between the thumb and index finger of his right hand—the hand gripping his katana—was completely torn open, blood pouring out uncontrollably.
His clothes were shredded into rags.
A long, terrifying gash ran across his shoulder, dyeing his entire arm so thoroughly in crimson that not a patch of normal skin remained.
Blood streamed endlessly down his face, washing over his active Sharingan and making the single tomoe look unspeakably savage.
His body was covered in scars left by various Jutsu, but the worst was his left ribcage.
A massive section had caved completely inward. Xuan estimated it was a direct hit from an 8 Trigrams Palm; out of his twelve ribs, at least nine had to be shattered.
His legs were peppered with countless small, bleeding cuts.
He was practically a man made of blood.
Seeing such catastrophic injuries made Xuan inwardly click his tongue.
If he had suffered wounds like this, he would have passed out from the pain ages ago.
How the hell was Madara still clenching his jaw and dragging the enemy down?
It seemed that when it came to sheer willpower, both Madara and Izuna were absolute freaks of nature.
"You f*cking bastard! You actually just threw Paper Bombs right at us! Are you trying to blow me up too?!"
Madara roared furiously through a coughing fit.
He wasn't even trying to start a serious argument; he was just genuinely pissed off. Who does that?!
First, Xuan says ten minutes, then casually adds another five minutes because "plans changed."
Madara had relied on his sheer, tyrannical strength to drag things out until reinforcements arrived, only for Xuan to show up and indiscriminately chuck a fistful of explosives at them!
Xuan smiled and explained,
"I specifically calculated the angle before I threw those kunai. Although you were inside the blast radius, you were on the absolute outer edge. The Jōnin took the brunt of the explosion. Plus, with your reflexes, I knew you'd use the shockwave to break away. See? Everything went exactly according to plan."
Madara paused.
Thinking about it carefully, it really did make sense.
He still felt a lingering surge of anger, but he couldn't exactly vent it now without looking unreasonable.
Xuan's expression abruptly turned solemn.
"Alright, enough nonsense. Six Paper Bombs aren't enough to kill him. Can you still fight? Let's take him down!"
"Of course! I am Madara! By the way, when the hell did you awaken your Sharingan? And it's already at three tomoe! You hid that deep!"
Madara flashed a feral grin.
Even though he could barely stand, his entire body radiated an indescribable, domineering aura that was impossible to ignore.
As the two spoke, the dust from the explosions finally settled.
The Hyuga Jōnin emerged from the smoke.
Aside from looking a little disheveled, he didn't have a single obvious injury on his body.
"Let me get this straight," Xuan deadpanned.
"You fought him for over ten minutes, got beaten until you only had half a life left, and you didn't even leave a visible scratch on him?"
Madara's face flushed. Feeling thoroughly mocked, his temper flared.
"Shut your mouth! You wouldn't do any better!"
The Hyuga Jōnin didn't launch an immediate follow-up attack.
Instead, his Byakugan swept across the distant battlefield.
Thanks to Xuan's earlier intervention, the clan now held the absolute upper hand and was closing the net around the last six Hyuga Chūnin.
However, because those six veterans were coordinating flawlessly and supporting each other, they wouldn't fall quickly.
"You... have truly surprised me," the Hyuga Jōnin stated flatly, not waiting for Xuan or Madara to respond.
"Originally, when I saw you all gathered in one place, I feared an ambush. But passing up such a perfect opportunity was out of the question. When I confirmed there was no trap, I was ecstatic. I thought a bunch of children would simply be lambs to the slaughter."
He paused, his pale eyes narrowing.
"But I was wrong. You fought beautifully. Unexpectedly beautifully. Especially the two of you."
"I can hardly imagine the heights you would reach if you were allowed to grow up."
"But fortunately, you ran into me today."
"I absolutely love slaughtering the geniuses of rival clans. The feeling is simply exhilarating."
"As long as I kill the two of you, every loss we suffered tonight will have been worth it!"
As his words fell, his figure suddenly vanished.
He materialized directly behind the two boys, his longsword sweeping horizontally with the devastating force of wind and thunder.
"8 Trigrams Horizontal Slash!"
With a deafening crash, the roof they were standing on was pulverized by the blade.
Madara had already leaped horizontally the exact fraction of a second the man appeared.
So fast... I can't dodge!
The thought flashed through Xuan's mind. When it came to pure Taijutsu reflexes, he genuinely couldn't compare to Madara.
"That's one down!"
A triumphant smirk twisted the Hyuga Jōnin's lips. At such point-blank range, he didn't believe the kid could possibly evade his full-power strike.
Caw! Caw! Caw!
Xuan indeed couldn't dodge.
But then again... he didn't need to.