Blazing Inferno

Surging flames swept across more than half of the Soul Fighting Arena, instantly reducing every feather arrow to ash.

The flames broke through the feather arrows' blockade and continued onward, intent on swallowing Iron Claw whole.

In a panic, Iron Claw flapped his wings and narrowly escaped the flames' reach.

Iron Claw's attack had completely failed, leaving him no choice but to flee in a sorry state. He said resentfully, "You're still not dead?"

Madara emerged from the smoke. The single tomoe in each of his eyes had evolved into two. The two-tomoe Sharingan had fully revealed itself to this world.

It wasn't over yet!

Madara gave his opponent no chance to catch his breath. He mixed Chakra into his Soul Power once more, raising the flames' power to an even greater level.

The flames chasing Iron Claw suddenly accelerated and directly enveloped him.

"Ah! How is this possible? How can your First Spirit Skill be this strong?" Iron Claw's screams were endless.

The blazing inferno was so intense that even the spectators in the stands could feel waves of heat washing over them, terrifying countless people into wanting to flee.

"Whew!" The flames abruptly stopped, and Madara greedily drew fresh air into his lungs.

This attack had consumed a full thirty percent of Madara's Soul Power. At the very end, he had added Chakra into it, never expecting it to produce such an extraordinary effect.

Sure enough, my Soul Power is still too low. I need to become a Two-ring Soul Master as soon as possible!

"You're still not dead?" Madara raised a brow as he watched Iron Claw struggle out of the distant pile of flames.

Madara returned his own words to him.

Iron Claw looked utterly miserable. All the feathers on his body had been burned away, and his exposed skin had been charred black. He looked like a roasted beggar's chicken.

"You're making me excited! Dance for me once more!" The two tomoe in Madara's eyes spun rapidly, making him look incomparably sinister and eerie.

"You little brat! I still have another Spirit Skill I haven't used!" Iron Claw gritted out. Combined with his scorched, mangled face, he looked like a vicious ghost from hell.

Madara looked at Iron Claw as if he were a ridiculous clown. "I already told you—your Spirit Skills are nothing more than a little entertainment for this fight!"

"Swift Step Claw!" Iron Claw roared. The second hundred-year spirit ring behind him lit up as well.

Madara had driven Iron Claw into a desperate corner. He knew that a ferocious beast slumbered within Madara's thin body, and it would never let him go!

"Kid, my Swift Step Claw can increase my speed and strength by twenty percent. How could you possibly stop me?" A confident smile appeared on Iron Claw's ugly face.

Without waiting for Madara to react, Iron Claw spread his bird legs and charged at him in great strides.

Madara was equally fearless. With a flick of his wrist, several ninja tools appeared, which he hurled at Iron Claw's vital points using the Uchiha Throwing Technique.

Iron Claw did not slow down at all. Instead, he desperately flapped his wings, and before everyone's stunned eyes, his feet slowly lifted from the ground as he began to glide.

"Didn't you say I was a ground chicken? Hahaha!" Iron Claw slightly flapped his wings, allowing the ninja tools to graze past his lower abdomen as he laughed wildly.

You think this is enough to defeat me, Uchiha Madara?

Madara stood where he was, watching Iron Claw glide toward him with a cold smile.

Iron Claw grew faster and faster, closing the distance between them. He was already within arm's reach; Madara could even smell the scorched stench on Iron Claw's body.

Madara suddenly dropped to his knees and slid forward. His upper body leaned back until it nearly touched his ankles, and by the narrowest margin, he evaded Iron Claw's attack.

Madara stared at Iron Claw's chest and abdomen, less than a palm's width away. He drew a blood-red kunai, gripped it tightly with both hands, and viciously plunged it in before pulling hard in the opposite direction.

"Ahhh!" A burst of agonizing pain threw Iron Claw off balance, and he crashed to the ground, rolling five or six yards away.

Madara's kunai had torn a huge gash across Iron Claw's body, stretching from his chest all the way to his lower abdomen. It was an utterly gruesome sight.

If Madara's arm had been just a little longer and the blood-red kunai had gone a little deeper, Iron Claw would likely have been disemboweled, with his organs spilling out.

Iron Claw staggered to his feet, blood already dyeing more than half his body red.

"Not bad! You can still stand up!" Madara finally withdrew a trace of his contempt for Iron Claw.

Looks like you do have some mettle. Then I shall grant you death!

Iron Claw's consciousness was already beginning to blur from excessive blood loss. He desperately shook his head, struggling to remain awake.

I absolutely cannot fall here! I still have farther to go!

Iron Claw suddenly felt the shackles within his body break open, and an incomparable lightness spread through his entire body.

Iron Claw had leveled up!

Feeling power surge through his body once more, Iron Claw took the chance to cover his wound with feathers to stop the bleeding.

Though his condition was still terrible, Iron Claw felt that he at least had the strength to resist now!

"I really have to thank you! I broke through!" At this moment, Iron Claw was like a wounded lion. With a savage grin, he said, "As repayment, let me send you to your death!"

What a noisy fool!

Madara rubbed his ears. He had already lost track of how many times this plucked bird had shouted such pointless threats.

Every time, he said he would kill Madara. Yet every time, Madara beat him into a miserable wreck.

"Let me teach you one more thing. You don't kill people with your mouth!" Madara said impatiently.

"Yah!" Iron Claw instantly fired countless feather arrows, sweeping the ground with overwhelming force.

Madara casually waved his War Fan, effortlessly sweeping all the feathers aside.

However, just as Madara cleared away the feathers, a huge talon hidden among them silently shot straight toward his face.

This time, Iron Claw had finally learned his lesson. At the very least, he no longer crazily revealed his own information before making a move.

In Iron Claw's eyes, Madara seemed completely unprepared. He could only hurriedly cross his sickle and War Fan before himself to block.

Madara was instantly kicked flying. The scales of victory seemed to be tipping toward Iron Claw—if one ignored the faint upward curve of Madara's lips.

Even while still in midair, Madara scattered shuriken at Iron Claw as though they were worthless.

This move is useless against me!

Seeing Madara seemingly at the end of his rope, Iron Claw shifted his steps slightly and easily dodged the shuriken before charging wildly at Madara.

Not good!

Iron Claw caught sight of the mocking smile on Madara's face and suddenly had a bad feeling. His speed dropped sharply as he tried to retreat.

Too late!

"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Claw Crimson!"

Madara opened his mouth and spat out countless palm-sized flames. They attached themselves to dozens of shuriken and shot toward Iron Claw at high speed.

Behind Iron Claw, countless steel wires connected to the shuriken Madara had thrown earlier ignited, cutting off Iron Claw's retreat with blazing flames.

"Ahhh!" The shuriken pierced Iron Claw's body, and the immense force contained within them shoved him into the blazing web behind him.

All the burning steel wires wrapped around Iron Claw's body, and the raging flames swallowed him whole. Before long, his cries fell silent.

Sure enough, after his Sharingan broke through to two tomoe, Madara no longer needed to use the lowest-level Great Fireball.

After all, Madara's First Spirit Skill was Fire Release, not Great Fireball!

"He won, he won! See? I told you betting on him was the right choice! Hahaha!"

"That was so brutal! He burned someone alive just like that!"

Without even sparing a glance at the silent Iron Claw, Madara walked straight down from the fighting platform.

Jerry saw an Asura with blood-red eyes, a sickle and War Fan on his back, slowly walking toward him from the sea of flames.

That sight would be forever carved into his memory!