Madara, Your Ancestor Is Calling

The fog grew thicker.

As if alive, it surged from the depths of the lake's center, silently devouring light and sound, turning these perilous waters into a sealed prison.

In less than half an hour, the expected prey stepped into the trap.

Three figures cut across the water like ghosts, trailing three white wakes that lingered for a long time before silently landing atop a protruding reef. Their movements were perfectly synchronized, clearly marking them as highly trained elites.

The woman at the front had striking red hair that burned like flame amid the gray-white mist. She was none other than the Fifth Mizukage, Mei Terumi.

Her emerald eyes were icy cold, her sharp gaze seeming capable of piercing through layers of dense fog and reaching straight into one's heart.

Behind her, a solemn-looking shinobi knelt on one knee, pressing a palm against the water's surface with his eyes closed as he sensed something.

The other was her most trusted guard, Kiryu Kagami. He gripped a short blade wrapped in talismans, his vigilant gaze like that of a hawk, missing not even the slightest movement in the air.

"The source of the disturbance is nearby. It's very faint, but its nature is extremely similar to the rogue remnants from Aizao Island. It's Lava Release," the sensing shinobi reported in a deep voice.

Mei Terumi's brows furrowed slightly.

"People from Aizao Island? They have the nerve to appear near the main battlefield at a time like this?" Her voice was cool and carried unquestionable authority.

"Mizukage-sama," Kiryu Kagami stepped forward, lowering his voice, "I have checked the intelligence on every registered rogue shinobi. No one possesses both Boil Release and Lava Release bloodlines. This person is either an unrecorded fugitive due to faulty intelligence, or... an entirely new and unprecedented variant. Either way, the threat level is extremely high. I recommend immediate elimination."

Before he had finished speaking, a faint sizzle came from deep within the mist not far away.

All three instantly locked onto the source!

Xuan stopped hiding.

He knew that excessive concealment would only invite endless probing.

Against opponents of this level, the best strategy was to strike first and tear through the stalemate with absolute power.

He stood atop a floating fragment of rock, letting the thick fog coil around his black robes.

Slowly, he raised his right hand. A drop of dark green, viscous liquid fell from his fingertip into the lake, instantly corroding a small hole that emitted white smoke.

[Lava Release: Corrosive Rain].

This was not a large-scale destructive ninjutsu, but a signal—a brazen provocation.

"So it really is you!" Killing intent surged in Mei Terumi's eyes, and she hesitated no longer.

She had long grown weary of this meaningless war started by Madara Uchiha. In her eyes, anyone daring to stir up trouble at a time like this was no different from Madara—perhaps even more foolish.

"To disrupt the battlefield in the midst of war? It seems you have even less regard for your life than Madara Uchiha!"

Before her words faded, her hand seals were complete!

[Boil Release: Skilled Mist Technique]!

It was not some world-destroying ultimate move, but an acid mist with a wider range and even stronger corrosive power.

Yet just before the acid mist burst forth, Xuan moved.

Within the Mangekyo of his right eye, three tomoe spun at high speed. Everything around him—including the minute twitching of Mei Terumi's muscles as she formed seals, the flow of chakra, and the neural impulses that carried attack commands from her mind to her body—slowed infinitely in his sight!

To Mei Terumi's retina, Xuan was no more than a blurred afterimage.

But in Xuan's world, he had more than enough time to make the optimal choice.

Rather than retreating, he charged directly toward Mei Terumi!

Mei Terumi was battle-hardened, and her reactions were exceptionally swift.

The Skilled Mist Technique instantly changed form, becoming hundreds of bubbles rolling with scorching steam. Like cannonballs, they sealed off every route of Xuan's advance from all directions.

[Boil Release: Steam Sky Bubble Bomb]!

The lake water boiled violently under the intense heat, releasing an ear-splitting roar.

Every bubble contained enough heat and pressure to melt steel. Once enveloped, a person would be reduced to ash in an instant.

Yet Xuan weaved through those phantoms of death like a ghost dancing upon a blade's edge.

The tip of his foot tapped a bubble on the verge of bursting. Borrowing the explosive force, he abruptly changed direction at an unbelievable angle, narrowly evading another cluster of bubbles charging from the side.

At the same time, his left hand silently opened, and a handful of pitch-black iron sand scattered down like fine rain, soundlessly merging into the boiling water below.

He was waiting for a fleeting opportunity.

Mei Terumi was powerful, but her fighting style leaned toward using her two bloodline limits to create a wide-ranging "net," trapping and melting her enemies through overwhelming suppression.

This style of combat was undoubtedly powerful, but it also created an almost imperceptible delay in the rhythm of her movements—a delay measured in milliseconds.

It was the instant when she shifted from one technique to another, from the transformation of Boil Release to the altered properties of Lava Release.

To an ordinary shinobi, this was not a weakness at all.

But to Xuan, who possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, that fraction of a second was the distance between heaven and hell!

Now!

At the instant Mei Terumi formed her seals for the second time, preparing to use Lava Release to completely seal off these waters, the ocular power of Xuan's right eye erupted!

What he locked onto was not Mei Terumi's body, but her own reflection in her emerald pupils!

Through that reflection, he predicted the trajectory of her next Body Flicker Technique and caught the final point where her chakra would land half a beat ahead of time!

Xuan shot forward like black lightning. This time, he no longer evaded. Instead, with the most brutal momentum, he charged straight into the path Mei Terumi had to take!

The iron sand that had long since sunk to the lakebed transformed under his Magnet Release control into dozens of black chains, tougher than steel wire and deadlier than venomous snakes. They burst through the water from an utterly unexpected angle, striking straight for Mei Terumi's throat and limbs!

"Mizukage-sama, watch out!"

Kiryu Kagami's desperate roar rang out.

His reaction was incredibly fast. Almost at the same moment Xuan moved, he threw himself in front of Mei Terumi.

His short blade erupted with dazzling rune-light as he accurately slashed at the incoming iron sand chains.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Sparks flew as several iron sand chains were severed.

Yet Kiryu Kagami's expression suddenly changed.

A strange, irresistible invisible force of suction came from Xuan's direction, like an unseen vortex forcibly tugging at the chakra he had just mobilized within his body!

[Myriad Phenomena Return to the Eye]!

This was not mere gravitational force, but interference with a higher level of law, directly acting upon chakra's "leakage points"!

Whenever any shinobi used chakra, trace amounts of energy would inevitably escape. It was an unavoidable physical law.

Xuan's ocular technique twisted and amplified that law, turning that negligible energy leakage into a fatal opening!

For Xuan, that instant of imbalance was already enough.

Kiryu Kagami watched helplessly as Xuan's figure passed through the defense he had believed to be impregnable. A cold hand effortlessly pierced the barrier over his chest and pressed against his torso.

Squish!

Kiryu Kagami's eyes widened as he looked down in disbelief.

His heart had been precisely crushed in a hand.

Until his death, he could not understand why the defensive barrier he had always been so proud of was as fragile as paper before that hand.

Xuan coldly withdrew his arm. Blood dripped from his fingertips, evaporating in the boiling lake water.

He glanced sideways at Kiryu Kagami and said softly, "You were a good dog. Unfortunately, your master shines too brightly, leaving you unable to see where the real danger comes from."

"Kiryu!"

Mei Terumi's grief-stricken roar echoed across the lake.

Seeing her most trusted subordinate slaughtered so effortlessly at close range finally ignited the emotions of this formidable woman.

But rage did not cloud her judgment. Instead, in the depths of her fury, she became exceptionally calm.

She abruptly brought her hands together. No longer relying on any single bloodline limit, she combined the "steam" of Boil Release and the "acid corrosion" of Lava Release in an unprecedented manner.

Terrifying crimson-white energy rose around her, forming an expanding energy barrier. The surrounding lake water, mist, and even light were being swallowed and broken down by this force!

[Kekkei Mōra: Steam Perilous Explosion]!

This was the prototype of a forbidden technique powerful enough to perish alongside a Kage-level expert!

Xuan's eyes narrowed slightly.

His purpose in coming here—collecting combat data from a top-tier expert—had already been achieved.

There was no point in taking this attack head-on.

Without hesitation, he detonated the iron sand he had planted across the entire lakebed.

[Magnet Release: Iron Sand Boundary Law: Tornado Hell]!

Rumble!

A violent torrent of iron sand erupted from the lakebed, churning tens of thousands of tons of lake water into a colossal black vortex that connected heaven and earth.

This was no longer for the sake of attacking. It was to create chaos, to obscure those eyes that could see through everything.

Using the vortex as cover, Xuan rapidly retreated, vanishing into the depths of the dense mist after several flashes.

At the final moment before he left, the corner of his right eye caught sight of Mei Terumi's face at the center of the vortex.

The beautiful face no longer held the anger and hatred he had expected. In their place was a deep wariness that came from the very depths of her soul.

At the same time, a cold system notification quietly surfaced in Xuan's mind:

"First frontal suppression of a peak combatant below Six Paths level. Combat data collection complete."

"New function unlocked: [Combat Experience Compression]. Combat data can be converted into pure combat instinct. After the host absorbs it, reaction speed and combat intuition will be permanently enhanced."

A hundred miles away, on an unnamed island occupied by pirates.

A spy disguised as a pirate was using an encrypted communication scroll to send out intelligence he had just obtained through special channels.

The contents of the scroll were simple, yet enough to drive any major figure aware of the truth mad.

"Traces of an ancient temple discovered on the southern battlefield... Preliminary exploration suggests a possible connection to the legendary 'First Eternal Eye.'"

This encrypted intelligence was like a stone cast into the deep sea, stirring up a monstrous wave capable of overturning the entire shinobi world at a speed far beyond anyone's expectations.