White Zetsu? What Trash, Don't Get in My Way of Seeing Lord Madara!

"Who are you trying to scare?"

Uchiha Xuan's heavily sarcastic words echoed through the vast underground cavern.

The old man on the stone throne abruptly widened his clouded Rinnegan the moment he heard those words.

An overwhelming, terrifying pressure swept madly outward from him like a tangible storm!

This was Madara Uchiha's unique Asura-like might—enough to make heaven and earth change color even when he was grievously injured and on the verge of death!

The ore embedded in the cavern ceiling trembled violently, as though it might collapse at any moment.

Yet Uchiha Xuan, standing at the heart of the storm, remained completely unfazed. The Sage Body Chakra within him circulated automatically, effortlessly dispersing that pressure as if it were no more than a gentle breeze.

"You've got guts, brat."

Madara's hoarse voice rang out again, carrying a hint of surprise, but even more cold killing intent at having been offended.

Just then.

"Kehehehe..."

A spine-chilling cackle suddenly came from every corner of the cavern.

The once-solid rock walls rippled with strange waves, like melting wax.

Then, one after another, pale creatures with no discernible facial features, like humanoid plants, emerged densely from the walls, the ground, and even the thick roots of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!

White Zetsu!

Hundreds, thousands of White Zetsu surrounded Uchiha Xuan like a white tide.

"Anyone who trespasses in Lord Madara's territory dies!"

A larger White Zetsu split open its lipless mouth and let out a piercing shriek.

"Tear him apart!"

"Eat him!"

"Kehehehe!"

Hundreds upon thousands of White Zetsu pounced at Uchiha Xuan like a swarm of locusts, baring fangs and claws.

They knew no fear, felt no pain, and could even use basic Wood Release techniques without forming hand seals.

Sharp wooden spikes sprouted from their palms and stabbed toward the black-clad youth at the center of the encirclement from every direction.

Faced with this terrifying assault, enough to instantly annihilate an entire regular shinobi force,

Uchiha Xuan's expression did not change in the slightest.

He did not even spare the charging White Zetsu a glance.

His eyes remained fixed on the aged man sitting on the stone throne.

"What a bunch of noisy flies."

Xuan frowned impatiently.

"A bunch of low-grade defective products cultivated from the First Hokage's cells, and you dare make such a racket in front of me?"

He stood where he was, neither dodging nor retreating.

He merely slowly raised his right hand.

Forming a hand seal with one hand.

"Sage Art..."

Natural Energy, purer and more immense than even that of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, surged madly toward his right hand!

"Fire Release..."

The golden flame patterns in Xuan's deep eyes erupted with a brilliance as dazzling as the sun!

"Golden Flame Scorched Earth!"

"BOOM—!!!"

Accompanied by an earth-shattering explosion!

A terrifying blaze composed entirely of Sage Jutsu Chakra, glowing with an eerie golden color, erupted from Uchiha Xuan and swept in all directions like a nuclear explosion!

This was no longer an ordinary Fire Release.

It was the ultimate flame, fused with the Sage Body's tremendous vitality and the "true damage" attribute of the [Golden Flame Divine Eyes]!

"Aah!!!"

"It hurts! What kind of fire is this?!"

"Help! Lord Madara, save us!"

The previously arrogant army of White Zetsu screamed in absolute agony the instant they touched the golden flames, like ice and snow meeting the blazing sun!

The wooden spikes capable of piercing steel were instantly vaporized.

Their prized regenerative power, granted by Hashirama Cells, became a complete joke before these golden flames that carried the attribute of burning souls!

Wherever the golden flames passed, not a blade of grass remained; all things fell silent!

In less than three seconds.

The hundreds upon thousands of White Zetsu did not leave behind even a single intact corpse.

They were all burned into white ash that drifted through the air!

Only a foul scorched stench lingered throughout the cavern.

The entire underground space returned to its deathly silence.

Uchiha Xuan slowly lowered his right hand, and the golden flames obediently withdrew into his body as if they possessed life.

He patted off dust that did not exist, then looked at the white powder still falling around him and curled his lip disdainfully.

"What trash. You think you can stop me from seeing Lord Madara?"

On the stone throne.

Madara Uchiha's clouded Rinnegan suddenly contracted into a pinpoint.

He stared fixedly at the youth standing unharmed amid the ashes.

The burst of energy from that instant had made even his decaying body instinctively tremble.

"...That was Sage Jutsu Chakra?"

Madara's voice was no longer as lofty as before. It was filled with shock and disbelief.

"This pure vitality... and this tyrannical Fire Release..."

His heart, which had not pounded violently in decades, actually began to beat faster.

"A brat from the Senju Clan?"

He narrowed his eyes, trying to see through the youth before him.

But before those golden pupils burning with strange patterns, even his all-seeing Rinnegan encountered a trace of obstruction.

"No..."

Madara shook his head, an extraordinarily rare look of shock appearing on his withered face.

"The taste of the chakra in those eyes of yours... and that arrogance beyond all measure..."

He stared intently at Uchiha Xuan's [Golden Flame Divine Eyes].

"Is that a mutation of the Sharingan?!"

"You're from the Uchiha clan!"

Madara abruptly leaned forward, pulling the tube connected to the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path taut.

In a hoarse voice filled with pressure, he demanded sternly,

"Brat! Who exactly are you?!"

"State your name!"

Faced with the questioning of the legendary Asura of the Ninja World,

Uchiha Xuan showed not the slightest fear. Instead, he took two steps forward and arrived beneath the steps of the stone throne.

He slightly raised his chin and looked at the old man who had once been invincible, but now could only cling to life through a tube.

A brilliant, provocative smile curved across his lips.

"My name?"

"Easy."

"My name never changes, no matter where I stand."

Xuan looked directly into that purple Rinnegan and said, word by word,

"My name is Uchiha Xuan."

"One who will soon replace you and become the new god of the Uchiha clan."