Xia Yuan's voice was clear and cold as ice shards. "Madara Uchiha, take your own life."
The casually delivered command was no panicked order improvised in the heat of the moment.
After one of his clones had rebelled, he had etched it into every clone as an absolute restriction.
Back then, his Saber Alter clone had nearly been taken over. If the Jewel Sword hadn't been just a moment faster, the entire coastal region might have suffered.
Relying on his reflexes to free a clone had ultimately been too slow. If he'd been even a little slower, the clone might have torn through his own side.
Now was the time for this contingency plan to prove its worth.
The eerie red light in the Rinnegan of Madara Uchiha's clone flickered wildly. The controller was clearly straining to suppress the clone's sense of self.
The controller intended to use the clone to unleash some world-destroying ocular technique and hit Xia Yuan with everything he had.
But the restriction descended like an iron law.
The clone's body, wrapped in red armor, suddenly stiffened. He forcibly stopped his hands just as they were about to complete the Hand Seals.
"Cough...!" His body trembled. His hands rose against his will, and dark blue lightning coiled in his palms.
The clash of Conqueror's Haki and chakra had now become a blade of suicide.
"No, stop!!!" Madara Uchiha's clone threw his head back and roared. His last vestige of self was fighting desperately against the inevitable.
He didn't want to die, much less end things this way.
But the restriction's force was as irreversible as the turning of the world's gears. His hands slammed hard against his chest.
Lightning coursed through his body. The red light in his Rinnegan abruptly went out, replaced by emptiness and