At that moment, in a dark underground base:
"What happened outside?"
"What was that tremor just now?"
Shimura Danzō glanced at the two Root guards beside him and asked.
It sounded as if he was ordering them to investigate the cause.
Just as the guards beside him were about to set off:
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!
Three other Root shinobi suddenly used the Body Flicker Technique and appeared nearby.
"Lord Danzō, this is bad. Outside..."
The three Root shinobi, apparently there to deliver a message, looked panicked and uncertain.
"What are you panicking for? Speak. What's going on?" Danzō demanded coldly.
In response:
"Lord Danzō, it's Uchiha Madara! The legendary shinobi, Uchiha Madara, isn't dead after all. He's appeared in Konoha, and he's slaughtering Anbu Ninja left and right."
"He's strong—far too strong. Kakashi, Choji Akimichi, and the other Jonin are no match for him!"
"The Fifth Hokage, Tsunade Hime, has already reached the battlefield, but it seems she can't stop the legendary shinobi, Uchiha Madara!"
The three Root shinobi hurriedly reported one after another.
"You... what did you say?!" Danzō could no longer keep his composure.
Uchiha Madara?!
At that moment,
The broad streets of Konoha, once so bustling, lay in ruins. Countless civilians fled in every direction.
Even the ground was covered in bloodied corpses!
They were all Konoha Anbu Ninja!
Clang—!
A tall figure clad in red armor stood among the heaps of corpses, driving the scythe in his hand into the ground.
"Heh. How ugly."
Chen Yiban glanced coldly at the dozens of Konoha Anbu Ninja he had cut down as easily as chopping vegetables, and gave a faint smile.
Perhaps it was because he had inherited Uchiha Madara's lifetime of memories.
Without realizing it, Chen Yiban had become completely indifferent to life.
He had slaughtered dozens of Konoha Anbu Ninja. The ground was slick with blood, and the stench of it was overpowering. Yet Chen Yiban felt no discomfort at all!
It was as if he were a true demon from hell!
"H-how can this be..."
Kakashi, Kurenai Yuhi, Mitaraishi Anko, and the other shinobi beside Tsunade Hime stared in shock at the powerful figure clad in red armor.
They couldn't believe it!
The dozens of Anbu Ninja who had charged at him just moments ago had all been killed in less than ten seconds...
It had happened too fast!
Kurenai Yuhi and the others hadn't even been able to see Chen Yiban move. In the blink of an eye, those Anbu Ninja had been decapitated.
The sight was horrific!
"Damn it...!" Tsunade Hime was also stunned by Chen Yiban's strength.
She could have killed dozens of Anbu Ninja herself, if she wanted to.
But to slaughter all of them in less than ten seconds, with such ease as Chen Yiban had...
Even Tsunade Hime wouldn't dare claim she could do that. Yet Chen Yiban had done it!
He even looked as if he hadn't exerted himself at all!
This level of strength
had completely cowed every Konoha Ninja present!
At that moment:
"Hmm?"
"What's wrong? Don't you even dare perform the most basic dance?"
Chen Yiban's blood-red Mangekyō Sharingan fixed calmly on the many Konoha Ninja before him, every one of them looking terrified.
"Madara!" Tsunade Hime shouted. "What exactly do you want?"
At that,
"My purpose?"
Chen Yiban murmured to himself.
Then:
"To take back everything that should have belonged to Uchiha Madara!"
Chen Yiban gave an answer that left much unsaid.
→
"Nani?" Tsunade Hime, Kakashi, and the others were confused.
"Once, one of the conditions for the alliance between the Uchiha and the Senju was that Hashirama personally promised to make me, Uchiha Madara, the First Hokage."
"But in the end... he betrayed me!"
At that moment, Chen Yiban seemed to sink once more into the depths of Uchiha Madara's memories, voicing the original Madara's resentment.
"That day, not a single person followed me when I left."
"Behind me... there was no one."
As if the memories in his mind had stirred him, Chen Yiban couldn't help feeling grief and indignation.
His hand tightened around the scythe!
Finally:
"Everyone, get out of Konoha!"
"I can spare your lives!"
Those were Chen Yiban's final words.
Konoha...
Should have had a place for Uchiha Madara.
Now, Chen Yiban wanted to reclaim everything that had once belonged to that man—for Uchiha Madara.
Perhaps it was a small repayment for receiving Uchiha Madara's peerless power!
"Impossible!" Tsunade Hime replied, refusing Chen Yiban outright.
Kakashi, Asuma, Might Guy, and the others stepped forward, their expressions resolute.
Even Choji Akimichi, who had just lost an arm to Chen Yiban's "Yatsuka no Magatama," had treated his injury and grown gigantic again. Now he stood in Chen Yiban's way once more.
Seeing this,
Chen Yiban said nothing more.
Instead, holding the scythe, he slowly:
Tap—tap—
stepped forward!
Step by step, he walked toward the Konoha Ninja before him.
He made no attempt to conceal his murderous intent.
Some of the ordinary shinobi immediately backed away in fear!
Some even lowered their heads and began to pray!
"Everyone, pull yourselves together. We're doing this for our..." Tsunade Hime called out, trying to raise their spirits.
But:
Whoosh—
Chen Yiban charged straight at them, giving her no time for another word.
"Fire Release...!" Asuma launched a jutsu first.
"I told you not to try that against me!" Chen Yiban leaped into the air and shouted coldly.
At the same time, he put the Scythe Weapon away in the system's storage space:
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!!"
Boom—
A terrifying inferno surged toward the Konoha Ninja before him like a colossal arrow of fire, racing forward at tremendous speed.
It instantly overwhelmed the Fire Release Ninjutsu Asuma had unleashed, then rushed toward Tsunade Hime, Kakashi, and the others.
Tsunade Hime, Kakashi, Kurenai Yuhi, Might Guy, and the others managed to dodge the Great Fire Annihilation.
"Ah...!!!" But the flames still burned some Anbu Ninja and ordinary shinobi who hadn't escaped in time to cinders.
Chen Yiban had already taken the Scythe Weapon back out of the system space.
At the same time:
Whoosh—!
Just as Asuma landed after dodging the Great Fire Annihilation, Chen Yiban's red, demon-like figure suddenly appeared before him.
For an instant, Asuma felt... as though his heart had inexplicably stopped!
Only when he saw Chen Yiban swing the scythe toward him did Asuma snap back to his senses.
He hurriedly raised the Kunai in his hand to block the strike!
But:
"Heh!"
Chen Yiban, his long hair falling to his waist, smiled.
Every one of Asuma Sarutobi's movements was laid bare before the keen perception of his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Whoosh—!!
The scythe, which had been swinging toward Asuma's body, abruptly changed course. The smooth horizontal slash swept upward instead.
In the next instant, blood sprayed through the air!
Asuma clutched his throat as blood poured from the wound.
"Asuma...!!"
Before you continue