The source of that heartbeat was suspended above the ferocious head of Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
An amorphous embryo of flesh and blood, it is Ten-Tails that has not yet fully formed.
Scarlet chakra surged out from the embryo like countless poisonous vines, and was forcibly restrained and shaped by Madara Uchiha's one-handed Hand Seals below with the power of Rinnegan. His arrogant posture seemed to be carving an ultimate work of art that could destroy the world.
On the battlefield, the formation set up by Five Kage is already in danger.
Chakra light pillars with the five attributes of earth, fire, water, wind and thunder soared into the sky, intertwining in mid-air to form a web of despair covering the heaven and earth, trying to cut off the connection between the demon and the earth and prevent the arrival of Divine Tree.
However, amidst the beating of the drum-like heartbeat, the Five Elements Seal light network flickered on and off, each flash dimmer than the last, as if it would be completely broken by the pure malice at any time.
At this critical moment, a figure tore through the space and appeared silently on the edge of the battlefield.
Xuan's figure was hidden in the shadows. In his right eye, complex golden lines slowly flowed, and [Myriad Phenomena Return to the Eye·Xianxu] was activated.
In his vision, the entire world turned into an ocean of energy flow, and the Ten-Tails embryo was the eye of the most turbulent storm in the ocean.
Through the layers of violent chakra, he clearly saw the core of the storm - five vague afterimages of Tailed Beast intertwined with each other like chains, forming the lifeline of Ten-Tails.
But this context is not perfect. There is a tiny gap that has not been completely closed, which is proof that the final puzzle piece has not yet been put into place.
"Do it." Xuan's voice calmly reached Saori's ears several kilometers away through the micro communicator.
The next second, three Shadow-Erosion Puppet disguised as rocks were activated at the same time on three dangerous highlands in the southeast, northwest, and south of the battlefield.
They did not launch any physical attacks, but only released the chakra stored inside at a specific frequency.
That fluctuation was cold, strange, and filled with the aura of greed that devoured everything. It was exactly the same as the "Black Mist Devouring" ability characteristics that Xuan once displayed.
"Report! At three o'clock, seven o'clock and due south, traces of chakra activity were found in three suspected targets at the same time!" Torune Aburame in the sensing unit immediately noticed the abnormal movement. His Kikaichū sent back heart-stopping feedback, asking him to report loudly to the command center immediately.
"Three places?" Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki, who was maintaining the main formation's eyes, frowned. In his distraction, the light beam trembled.
"Is it a clone or a trap?"
"You can't gamble!" Fourth Raikage A has a violent personality and makes a decisive decision, "Our manpower is almost at its limit, we must not let him sneak attack from behind! Ōnoki, Tsunade, you guys stabilize the formation! Mei Terumi and I will deal with these flies!"
Before he finished speaking, Raikage turned into a blue lightning, and together with Mizukage Mei Terumi, broke away from the core circle of the sealing array and sped away in two different directions.
They must eliminate the threat as quickly as possible, otherwise it will only be a matter of time before the frontal battlefield collapses.
In an instant, a fatal gap appeared in the impregnable Five Kage defense circle that may last less than ten seconds.
In the shadow in the distance, the curve of the corner of Xuan's mouth became more and more obvious. He whispered to himself, as if explaining to an invisible audience, "You see, they would rather believe in their own eyes and the cold data on the instrument, but I believe more in the... fear rooted in their hearts."
Fear is the best bait.
Before he finished speaking, his figure suddenly disappeared from where he was.
[Speed characteristic switching: Eight-Tails mode!]
There was no earth-shattering loud noise, only a blue arc that could hardly be caught by the naked eye, accurately flashing through the gap between the two five-element light beams at a speed that exceeded the Raikage limit sprint.
That gap became extremely unstable due to Raikage's departure, but it also became Xuan's only way to break in.
"It's you bug again!" Madara Uchiha noticed this familiar chakra almost the moment Xuan passed through the seal.
His eyes were cold and he didn't even bother to turn around. He just pushed back with his free hand.
Demonic Statue of the Outer Path As if receiving a silent command, that huge arm, heavier than the mountain, swept towards the blue arc with a roar that ripped through the air!
Facing this attack that could easily shatter a mountain peak, Xuan refused to give in.
In the flash of lightning, the blue lightning on his body faded away in an instant, replaced by thick and solid earthy yellow chakra.
[Defense mode switch: One-Tail Shukaku!]
A huge sand shield made of compressed high-density sand quickly condensed and formed behind him. Its shape was ferocious, just like the carapace of a legendary evil beast.
Boom--!!!
A deafening loud noise echoed through the sky.
The moment the sand shield came into contact with the giant arm of the golem, it only supported for less than a tenth of a second before it shattered into pieces and turned into yellow sand all over the sky.
But this short buffer completely offset the fatal impact.
Xuan's figure did not retreat but advanced in the air wave of the explosion. With the unparalleled thrust, his body writhed incredibly in the air, like a roaring cannonball, heading straight for the core area directly below the Ten-Tails embryo.
"Hahahahahaha!"
On the top of the highest mountain outside the battlefield, Grey Valley, with disheveled hair, looked up to the sky and laughed wildly.
His laughter was wild and satisfying, as if he was enjoying a long-awaited feast.
"Did you see it? Did you see it! Red-Eyed God came to this dinner in person! And this table of dazzling dishes... are all prepared for him alone!"
The long-dried branch in his hand cracked with laughter and broke into several pieces. Then it turned into fly ash and was swept away by the strong wind on the top of the mountain and disappeared without a trace.
At the same time, Silver Crow hovering above the clouds, the left eye that was constantly leaking golden liquid, suddenly and strangely stopped flowing.
The liquid solidified in the corner of his eyes, as if time had stood still.
The invisible "Eye of Judgment" behind it seemed to have recognized a fact for the first time through the eyes of this agent - this time, the target that appeared on the chessboard had changed from a "prey" being chased to a "hunter" capable of overturning the chessboard.
At this moment, Xuan has arrived directly below the Ten-Tails embryo.
He raised his right hand high, and in the palm of his hand, a miniature Uzumaki Clan, as dark as an abyss, began to spin rapidly, pulling in the surrounding light and energy crazily.
His right eye [Myriad Phenomena Return to the Eye] shone brightly at this moment, and the system's deep protocol was activated.
"Myriad Phenomena Devouring System, start. Command input: lock target, Ten-Tails embryonic core, immature state. Execution priority: highest!"
In an instant, the black hole Uzumaki Clan in the palm suddenly expanded and turned into a huge mouth of black mist that blocked the sky and the sun. It completely ignored the violent chakra defense on Ten-Tails's body and followed the unclosed energy anchor chain in the Xuan vision to invade in reverse!
"Ouch--!!!"
A shrill cry, unlike anything any living thing could utter, erupted from the inside of the Ten-Tails embryo.
The bloody body twitched and spasmed violently, as if it was being eaten alive from the inside by some kind of natural enemy.
"Impossible!" Madara Uchiha turned around suddenly, his eyes filled with incredible horror and rage, "You don't even have Rinnegan, not even Jinchūriki, how could you possibly interfere with the origin of Divine Tree?!"
In the black mist, Xuan's cold and indifferent response came. Every word was like a sharp needle, piercing into Madara's proud heart. "Because you are still cautiously begging it to grow up quickly, and I... specially eat those that haven't had time to be weaned."
As soon as he finished speaking, the huge mouth of the black mist suddenly closed!
Click!
The sound of breaking glass resounded deep in everyone's souls.
The core of the Ten-Tails embryo, the lifeline composed of five Tailed Beast afterimages, was abruptly torn off!
A small piece of crystal clear Chakra crystal, like the purest diamond in the world, broke away from the black mist and accurately fell into Xuan's palm.
The crystals are gentle to the touch, but contain heart-stopping life energy.
A series of cold mechanical prompts sounded simultaneously in his mind:
"Warning: Successfully captured primary Divine Tree cells x1."
"Analysis completed... Gene sequence unlocked... New function enabled: [Cellular Regeneration]. Effect: As long as the core consciousness is immortal and the energy is sufficient, severed limbs can be perfectly regenerated in a short time."
"Warning! Warning! A sharp increase in the high-dimensional will lock signal from unknown coordinates has been detected! Please leave the host as soon as possible and leave the current area!"
Xuan tightened his grip on the crystal in his hand, and the surging power instantly surged through his body, repairing the hidden wounds he had suffered from the attack from the demon statue.
He raised his head and looked at the livid-faced man on Demonic Statue of the Outer Path through the billowing smoke.
"Madara Uchiha, you said you want to create a new world with Lin?" His voice was not loud, but it reached Madara's ears clearly, "It's a pity... the gods of the new era don't need the old scripts like you who live in the last century."
Having said that, he no longer had any nostalgia, jumped up, and his entire body instantly merged into the chaotic smoke and dust of the battlefield below, completely disappearing.
And in the deepest part of the distant Moonshadow Forest, in that mysterious cave wrapped in countless roots, a crow perched on a dead branch slowly opened its eyes.
One eye is an ordinary Three-Tomoe Sharingan, while the other eye is a purple wavy...Half-Pupil Rinnegan eye!
It tilted its head, as if it heard some call across time and space, and then issued an ancient and hoarse whisper, echoing in the cave of Kongji.
"... it's time... to wake up..."
"... the true master."
When Xuan opened his eyes again, the wind had brought with it the dryness and heat of another continent, and his nose was filled with the unique smell of sand and steel.