Madara Uchiha's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly at those words.
"Trapped in my own world..."
He repeated the phrase under his breath, giving no hint whether he agreed or was mocking it.
His purple Rinnegan rested on Ning Xue. After a moment of silence, he chuckled softly.
"You see things more clearly than that old fool, at least."
Ōnoki opened his mouth to speak, but in the end, he only sighed and swallowed his words.
He had to admit that Ning Xue was right.
Talking to Madara Uchiha about peace and the future was futile.
The man had made his choice decades ago. He stood here now only to see it through.
Ning Xue said no more. He burst forward, streaking toward Madara Uchiha like a bolt of white lightning.
Madara Uchiha chuckled and drove off the ground with both legs, charging to meet him.
The two figures met amid the Tree Vines and Ice Thorns.
Ning Xue thrust the Ice Cone in his right hand at Madara Uchiha's face. Madara merely tilted his head, letting the strike skim past his ear.
But Ning Xue's left palm was already coming in, a vortex of air gathering in it. It was Gale Palm.
Madara Uchiha did not take it head-on.
He sprang several meters backward, opening the distance between them.
As he landed, his toes touched the ground. He pushed off again at once, launching himself forward at nearly twice his previous speed.
Ning Xue's Byakugan tracked his path, but in that instant, he noticed something unexpected.
Madara Uchiha was far faster than he had anticipated—even faster than Kinkaku and Ginkaku had been at full sprint during their Tailed Beast Transformations.
Ning Xue reacted in a split second, leaping aside.
Madara Uchiha's fist brushed past the hem of his clothes, but the