First Meal

Ragged breathing echoed through the ruined temple. Every inhale felt like swallowing red-hot blades, and his lungs burned with searing pain.

Xuan knelt on one knee, one hand braced against the cracked floor, the other tightly gripping Ganjiu's head, still warm to the touch.

Blood dripped through his fingers, mixing with the dust on the ground into dark-red mud.

The chakra within him had already run dry, like a pond on the verge of drying up. Even maintaining the Two-Tomoe Sharingan had become immensely difficult. The scarlet glow in his eyes flickered uncertainly, as though it could go out at any moment.

That earth-shattering strike from earlier looked like a victory, yet Xuan felt no joy at all.

He knew that it had not been his own power, but a premature creation forcibly nurtured by that strange entity known as the "Myriad Phenomena Devouring System."

That power did not belong to him. It was more like a high-interest loan; if he failed to repay it, the price would be having even his soul drained dry.

Even more fatal was the massive chakra surge Ganjiu had unleashed before his death. Like a beacon in the night, it would inevitably draw every watchful gaze on the battlefield.

Whether it was Madara's White Zetsu Army, the keen-nosed Allied Shinobi Forces, or the lone powerful figures wandering along the edges of the battlefield, the appearance of any one of them would spell disaster for him in his current exhausted state.

He had to recover quickly. He had to find a way out!

Just as Xuan's thoughts tightened to their limit, a deep, ancient murmur, as though it had come from the depths of the netherworld, suddenly rang through his mind without warning.

"...Bloodline impure... root of the Divine Tree... inedible..."

The voice came in broken fragments, full of warning and an unknown authority.

Xuan shuddered and abruptly looked up, his gaze piercing through the drifting smoke and dust to lock onto the weathered stone statue in the center of the temple.

It was a statue of the guardian deity from the legends of Naka River Shrine. Its features had long since worn away, yet at that moment, two faint blue lights flickered within its hollow eye sockets like ghostly flames.

His heart pounded wildly, and a chill shot from his spine straight to the top of his head.

Suppressing the shock in his heart, Xuan cautiously asked in his mind, Who are you?

The voice sounded again, still in fragmented pieces, as though it were struggling to pierce through endless barriers of time and space.

"...Gatekeeper... seed of taboo... only... Devourer... can bear..."

The voice stopped abruptly.

The blue lights in the statue's eye sockets instantly dimmed, as if they had never appeared at all. The entire temple returned to dead silence.

Yet Xuan's breathing suddenly quickened.

Gatekeeper?

Seed of taboo?

Those terms were far too distant, but he keenly caught the final and most crucial word—Devourer!

Could it be... that this so-called Myriad Phenomena Devouring System was not some object from beyond the heavens at all, but an ancient existence sealed deep within the ruins of Naka River Shrine?

And he was merely a key that happened to meet the conditions of a "Devourer"?

Countless thoughts exploded in his mind, but before he could sort them out, an exceedingly faint rustling sound came from outside the temple, interrupting his thoughts.

It was here!

Xuan's gaze instantly turned cold as a blade.

Almost instinctively, he dragged Ganjiu's corpse behind a broken stone pillar. Then he held his breath and concealed his presence to the utmost limit.

Although his Sharingan was on the verge of shutting down due to his lack of chakra, it still stubbornly remained active, granting him dynamic vision far beyond that of an ordinary person.

Through the gap in the temple doors, he saw a figure with a mushroom-shaped head and skin as pale as paper crawling stealthily toward the temple.

White Zetsu!

And judging from its cautious manner, it was likely just a scout.

The White Zetsu scout clutched an intelligence scroll stained with blood. As it crawled forward, it muttered in a peculiar low voice like plants rubbing together, "...Report to Lord Obito... abnormal chakra reaction in the Naka River area... extremely high energy level... suspected... forbidden technique of the Uchiha Clan..."

Xuan's heart sank.

Obito!

So they really had come for the Uchiha Clan's power.

Right now, he was like fresh meat thrown into a pack of starving wolves. The slightest scent of blood would invite a frenzied scramble.

A direct confrontation was absolutely impossible. In his current state, he might not even be able to defeat a genin.

His only chance was a sneak attack!

He silently shifted his body, like a panther lurking in the shadows, circling around to the side and rear of the temple. There was a damaged gap in the wall there, perfectly positioned to lead into the blind spot along the White Zetsu scout's route.

His Sharingan spun rapidly, clearly capturing every subtle movement of the scout, every twitch of its muscles, while making high-speed predictions of its trajectory.

Now!

When the White Zetsu scout bent over, seemingly preparing to pick up a piece of rubble to mark its coordinates, the vital point at the back of its neck was completely exposed within Xuan's attack range!

Xuan sprang forth like a ghost, without the slightest fluctuation of chakra—only the instantaneous eruption of pure physical strength.

A thin yet pure layer of black mist coiled around his right palm, carrying a deathly stillness that made one's heart palpitate as it struck the back of the White Zetsu's neck like lightning!

Pfft!

With a muffled impact, the White Zetsu scout stiffened violently before it could even grunt. The instant it came into contact with the black mist, its soul was forcibly extracted and devoured by the system with irresistible tyranny!

The system's cold notification sounded promptly in Xuan's mind.

"Devouring complete. Basic cell sample acquired. Analyzing..."

"Analysis complete. Unlocked beginner template: [Wood Release Potential]. Fusion requirement: sufficient life force."

"Additional reward: intelligence fragment [Current Situation Overview]."

A massive flow of information flooded his mind, and Xuan swiftly absorbed it.

The Ten-Tails had already been completely summoned by Madara and Obito and was wreaking havoc across the battlefield. The Allied Shinobi Forces were suffering defeat after defeat, with catastrophic casualties. Meanwhile, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke were rushing toward the main battlefield with the last hope. Most crucially, Madara Uchiha's ultimate plan—Infinite Tsukuyomi—was about to be activated!

This world had only a few hours left!

Xuan's gaze grew increasingly deep.

Without the slightest hesitation, he swiftly dragged the shriveled corpse of the White Zetsu into a hidden pit within the temple, then stripped off its still relatively intact white outer skin.

Though the texture was strange, he endured his discomfort and draped it over himself.

This disguise was incredibly crude and could not perfectly imitate White Zetsu's behavior or aura.

But on a battlefield as utterly chaotic as this one, a silent scout hurrying along would not attract much attention.

More importantly, this intelligence had allowed him to see the whole situation clearly.

The so-called Allied Shinobi Forces and the so-called Akatsuki were nothing more than expendable pieces in this world-ending game orchestrated by Madara Uchiha and the possible Kaguya behind him.

Since everyone was merely a chess piece, why should he risk his life for the players?

Choose a side? No.

Save the world? He had even less time for that.

A cold curve lifted at the corner of Xuan's mouth.

What he intended to do was not save anything, but seize this final carnival before the world collapsed and plunder to his heart's content!

Plunder every resource that could make him stronger!

He returned to the temple, sat cross-legged, and attempted to actively communicate with the system in his mind.

With a thought, a translucent panel visible only to him quietly appeared before his eyes.

[Myriad Phenomena Devouring System]

Current Level: I (Initial Activation)

Energy Reserve: 87/200

Available Fusion Templates:

[Inferno Illusion Realm] (Unfused, source: Uchiha Kanku)

[Wood Release Potential] (Unfused, source: White Zetsu Scout A)

Special Notice: Host possesses "Progenitor-level bloodline." The [Bloodline Evolution] path may be unlocked in the future.

Progenitor-level bloodline?

Xuan's pupils suddenly contracted, and his heart skipped a beat.

So this was his greatest trump card, and the true reason this system had chosen him?

He took a deep breath and slowly closed his eyes, beginning to mobilize the tiny amount of energy within him that had just been replenished through devouring.

On the surface, the chakra within his body was still pitifully sparse, like a dying candle in the wind.

But beneath this nearly dried-up riverbed, an entirely different power—deeper and more tyrannical—was quietly opening its eyes like a dormant dragon.