Only a Blind Man Believes What His Eyes See

The cold wind before dawn swept across the border of the Fire Country, carrying a faint, barely perceptible scent of blood.

The Allied Forces headquarters tent was brightly lit, its atmosphere heavy as iron.

An intelligence officer reported in a hurried tone, "Based on the Anbu's examination of chakra residue in the core area, we can confirm that the target codenamed 'Earth Eater' has successfully infiltrated the site and... has most likely already obtained classified information on the second phase of the 'Eye of the Moon' plan."

At the command table, a white-haired elder slammed his palm down, his voice hoarse with rage. "We cannot let him leave with that intelligence! Relay my orders: authorize the pursuit force to use the [Adamantine Sealing Chains Formation] and [Lightning Binding Cables] if necessary. Capture or eliminate him at all costs!"

The order was transmitted swiftly, like lightning.

Moments later, seven black-clad figures gathered outside the camp. They were handpicked jonin of the Allied Forces, each battle-hardened and experienced.

Leading them was Fujiwara Shoji, a psychological expert who had personally participated in the investigation of the Uchiha Clan massacre at the Naka River.

He was lean, with eyes as sharp as an eagle's. Not only was he an authority in genjutsu, he was also highly skilled in the psychological construction and training of anti-genjutsu techniques. His core belief was simple—there were no inexplicable abnormalities in this world. Every strange technique merely exploited the weakness of the human heart.

"Remember, the target excels at mental attacks. His strength comes from the fear born of the unknown." Fujiwara Shoji's voice was calm and confident. "But fear can be analyzed and overcome. As long as we maintain absolute rationality, his genjutsu will be no more than a child's trick—utterly powerless."

His words gave the squad members tremendous confidence.

What they did not know was that what they were about to face was not the product of any "psychological weakness," but an existence beyond their understanding.

At that moment, beneath a dry riverbed dozens of miles away, Xuan lay silently in wait like a statue merged with the darkness.

Through a hidden mark he had planted deep within the soul of a clerk at headquarters long ago, every movement of the pursuit squad—including their tactical arrangement and the identity of their leader—was clearly displayed in his mind.

He slowly opened his left eye. Within the scarlet pupil, three tomoe spun rapidly before converging into a strange and magnificent pattern.

The instant the Mangekyō Sharingan opened, the world in his eyes was completely overturned.

Every strand of chakra flowing through the air transformed into fine, multicolored threads. The seven approaching points of light, the rhythm of their heartbeats, the faint contractions of their muscle fibers, even the bioelectric signals transmitted by their neurons before every hand seal—all of it was captured and analyzed by his mind as data.

He could clearly "see" that Fujiwara Shoji would raise his right hand in a warning gesture half a second later. He could "see" that the ninja to his left was about to gather chakra beneath his feet to increase his speed.

This was no longer observation. It was almost divine—reading the future.

Yet he did not move. He even suppressed every trace of killing intent.

A true hunter never hurried to bare his fangs. The finest hunt was to let the prey, delirious with the belief that it controlled everything, step by step enter the trap of death.

"Rustle... rustle..."

The footsteps of the seven jonin finally entered the deathly silent riverbed.

Fujiwara Shoji's sharp gaze swept over the surroundings. Years of experience made him immediately sense the strangeness of this place—it was far too quiet.

Just as he was about to order the squad into formation, an abrupt change occurred!

The air in the center of the riverbed suddenly twisted, and a figure appeared out of nowhere.

It was their target, Earth Eater—Xuan.

But he looked utterly miserable. He knelt on the ground, clutching his head in agony with both hands. Chakra spilled chaotically from his body, as though his mind had completely collapsed.

"Hm?" One squad member instinctively tightened his grip on his kunai.

Fujiwara Shoji gave a disdainful snort. "Just as I expected. Using ocular techniques beyond his limits so frequently was bound to cause chakra backlash and mental overload. He has already begun to break down." His analysis was flawless in theory and matched all his research on the side effects of Uchiha Clan forbidden techniques.

"Surround him! Don't give him a moment to recover!" Fujiwara Shoji gave the order, excitement flashing in his eyes at the thought of capturing such a precious research specimen.

The seven quickly spread out, forming a perfect encirclement as they closed in step by step.

What they saw was a false image created by the supreme genjutsu Xuan projected with the power of the Mangekyō—[Inferno Illusion Realm].

Outside their field of vision, the real Xuan's body had already taken on a woody texture. [Wood Release Potential] activated, and he silently sank into the soft mud beneath his feet like a drop of water merging into the sea.

At the same time, he quietly pushed a prepared White Zetsu corpse to the surface, perfectly replacing the position of the "real body."

"The target's chakra signature is rapidly weakening!" a sensory ninja reported loudly, further confirming Fujiwara Shoji's judgment.

"Use [Lightning Binding Cables]! I want him alive!" Fujiwara Shoji stepped forward personally, rapidly forming hand seals. Blinding lightning gathered in his palms and transformed into chains like electric serpents, lunging at the kneeling "Xuan" with lightning speed.

At the very instant the lightning chains were about to strike the neck of the White Zetsu disguise, at the one-thousandth of a second when everyone believed victory was certain—

The ground erupted without warning!

The real Xuan burst from beneath Fujiwara Shoji's feet like a primordial beast breaking through the earth.

The Mangekyō pattern in his left eye spun wildly as an indescribably terrifying ocular power erupted in an instant!

[Genjutsu: Ashen Realm Prison]!

There was no sound, no light. It was as though an invisible hand had instantly erased every color and form from the world.

Fujiwara Shoji and the other six jonin suddenly found their vision swallowed by endless darkness.

The next moment, countless enormous prison cages made of burning white bones rose from the black earth. Every bone burned with pale flames that seemed capable of scorching the soul.

The seven were instantly separated, each trapped within a skeletal cage. No matter how they charged or formed hand seals, they could not shake this prison of despair in the slightest.

Yet in the real world, everything had taken no more than the flick of a finger.

The seven arrogant jonin merely stiffened all at once when the lightning chains struck the White Zetsu corpse and turned it into a puddle of white sludge. Then, like puppets whose souls had been pulled away, they stood frozen in place, eyes wide open, their pupils containing nothing but endless emptiness and dullness.

Xuan walked slowly out from among them, his steps steady as though he were inspecting his trophies.

He stopped before the first ninja and gently pressed a pale hand against his head.

[Myriad Phenomena Devouring]!

The jonin's body trembled violently once, and then the light in his eyes went out completely.

A stream of pure energy surged through Xuan's arm and into his body, warm and vast.

"Devouring complete. Total chakra gained: +217. Secret technique template extracted: Lightning Release: False Darkness. Secret technique template extracted: Earth Release: Hardening Technique. Secret technique template extracted: Sensory Barrier. Energy reserves have exceeded 700 points."

The cold notification sounded in his mind, and a satisfied curve appeared at the corner of Xuan's mouth.

He did not stop. One by one, he walked toward the remaining men, like a farmer harvesting wheat, drawing every powerful soul and every shred of chakra into himself.

When he placed his hand on the head of the final ninja—the captain, Fujiwara Shoji—the psychological expert relied on willpower far beyond that of an ordinary person to briefly break free of the genjutsu's restraints just before his soul was completely extracted, regaining a trace of clarity.

His unfocused pupils gathered themselves again. He stared fixedly at the young, indifferent face before him and used the last of his strength to force a hoarse roar from his throat. "You... who exactly... are you?!"

Xuan looked down at him without the slightest ripple in his eyes. The spinning Mangekyō slowly closed, returning to an ordinary three-tomoe form, as though the world-destroying scene from moments ago had never happened.

"I am the ending you cannot see."

As his words fell, Fujiwara Shoji's head drooped to one side, and the last spark of life left him.

Xuan released his hand and dragged the seven still-warm corpses into an eerie circle at the center of the riverbed. It was an ancient Uchiha Clan sacrificial formation that had long been lost.

Then a cluster of ghostly blue flame ignited at his fingertips. The flame danced as if alive, radiating a chilling aura—it was a special black flame he had created by fusing part of the energy from a tailed beast cloak. Its sole characteristic was to burn away chakra along with the material itself, leaving not the slightest trace behind.

The ghostly blue fire fell upon the corpses without a single explosion. It simply licked silently at them. The seven powerful ninja bodies, together with the armor and weapons they had been so proud of, silently turned into the finest ashes within the strange flames.

When the fire burned out and the wind blew, the ashes scattered away, leaving nothing on the ground.

No, one thing remained.

Several hours later, the Allied Forces patrol finally discovered this unnaturally silent riverbed.

They found no traces of battle, no blood, no corpses. Only at the center of the riverbed was there a charred black ring roughly ten meters in diameter.

At the edge of the ring, a line of small words carved with a sharp weapon appeared especially glaring beneath the faint light of dawn:

"Your eyes will only see what I want you to see."

When the news returned to headquarters, the Allied Forces' upper ranks erupted in fury. The white-haired elder was so enraged that he nearly fainted.

An elite jonin squad led by a genjutsu expert had vanished without even managing to send a distress signal!

Fear spread through the Allied Forces like a plague, and no one dared casually speak of pursuit again.

And a thousand miles away, upon a boundless wasteland—

Xuan stood against the wind, allowing the gale to whip up the hem of his robe.

He felt the unprecedented fullness of power within his body. The Mangekyō in his left eye turned faintly amid the sand and wind, reflecting the gray, overcast sky.

He murmured to himself, his voice seeming to merge with the desolate world around him. "Madara wants to use moonlight to create a false world of peace and illuminate everyone... How laughably naive."

He raised his head, his gaze piercing through the clouds as though he could see the end of the universe.

"And I will use the purest darkness to devour all light."

The moment his words fell, the rolling storm clouds on the horizon suddenly grew thicker, pressing down heavily as though answering his declaration, foretelling a storm far more terrifying than anyone could imagine descending upon this world.

The silence before a storm was the most dangerous moment of the hunt.