Awakening Lord Madara's Reward! My Sage Body Is Perfect!

The moment Madara Uchiha's withered hand clasped Uchiha Xuan's tightly, and he declared, "Let us Uchiha overturn it with our own hands."

Inside Uchiha Xuan's mind.

The long-silent system prompt exploded one after another like the most dazzling fireworks on New Year's Eve!

[ Ding! Detected that the host has successfully persuaded Madara Uchiha to abandon the "Eye of the Moon Plan" and formed an alliance with him! ]

[ Ding! Legendary quest: Awaken the Sleeping Legend, perfectly completed! ]

[ Quest rating: SSS+! Not only did you awaken a sleeping lion, you also aimed its fangs at the enemy you designated! Well done! ]

[ Ding! Calculating quest rewards... Opening a legendary gift pack for you! ]

It's here!

Xuan's heart gave a violent thump!

He forcibly suppressed his excitement, maintaining an outwardly calm expression as he watched Lord Madara perform.

Madara Uchiha slowly turned his head, his Rinnegan brimming with endless killing intent locking firmly onto Black Zetsu beneath Xuan's foot.

"You... insect... that betrayed me!"

Madara's voice was hoarse, yet it carried a chill cold enough to freeze the soul.

"L-Lord Madara... I was wrong! I really was! For the sake of all the years I spent by your side, spare my life!"

Black Zetsu was frightened out of his wits and let out a shrill plea for mercy.

"Spare you?" A cruel smile tugged at Madara's lips. "I will make you experience a despair... ten thousand times worse than death!"

He was about to make his move.

"Wait, Lord Madara."

Xuan suddenly spoke, stopping him.

"This thing has Kaguya's immortal body. Physical attacks are useless against it. Keep it alive for now; it'll be useful later."

As Xuan spoke, he exchanged a specially made sealing scroll from the system shop, kicked Black Zetsu into it, and sealed him away.

"From now on, you'll serve as the first bag of fertilizer for my Earthly Divine Kingdom."

Only after dealing with Black Zetsu did Xuan immerse his full attention in the System Space.

The [Legendary Gift Pack], radiating boundless golden light, slowly opened before his eyes!

[ Ding! Congratulations, host, for receiving the legendary reward—Perfect Sage Body! ]

[ Reward description: Your Basic Sage Body will undergo an ultimate evolution! By completely fusing the essence of Hashirama Senju's cells, your chakra reserves will rise to a level comparable to the Tailed Beasts! Your physical strength, recovery ability, and affinity for natural energy will reach the theoretical limits of the Ninja World! You will possess the potential to perform every Wood Release ninjutsu and faintly touch upon the threshold of Six Paths power! ]

Boom!

A golden life energy a hundred times more immense and ten thousand times purer than when he had obtained the Basic Sage Body surged into him without warning through the crown of his head, like a breached celestial river!

"Ugh—!"

Uchiha Xuan let out a muffled groan, feeling as though his body had been tossed into a furnace forging divine weapons!

Every cell in his body cheered, leaped, and evolved wildly beneath the wash of that incomparably domineering life energy!

His chakra reserves were no longer mere rivers, lakes, and seas—they were... an endless ocean!

He could even clearly "hear" the sharp clang of metal from his bones, while his muscle fibers were being rewoven in an utterly inconceivable manner, becoming tougher and brimming with explosive power!

Most astonishing of all, he felt that he had reached an unprecedented state of "resonance" with the natural energy around him.

He no longer needed to deliberately sense or absorb it.

All he had to do was stand there. With every breath and every heartbeat, vast amounts of natural energy rushed into his body of their own accord, becoming part of his strength!

This... this was practically a humanoid self-propelled perpetual-motion machine!

Amazing!

Xuan could not help but let out a thoroughly delighted cry in his heart!

If the previous Basic Sage Body had merely given him a "ticket" to becoming strong.

Then this Perfect Sage Body had directly carried him into the top VIP box of the Ninja World!

He felt that, even now, he had faintly touched the threshold of the Six Paths—the ceiling of power in the Ninja World!

"Kid, what's wrong with you?"

Madara Uchiha frowned as he looked at Xuan, who had suddenly frozen in place while radiating a life aura powerful enough to make even him feel alarmed.

Why did it feel like this kid's presence had become several times stronger in an instant?

"Nothing, Lord Madara."

Xuan slowly opened his eyes, and a trace of golden divine light flashed through his black pupils.

Feeling the immense power within him that seemed ready to overflow, he looked at the old man before him, whose ambition had been restored but whose body remained withered and reliant on the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to sustain his life. A confident smile curved across his lips.

"I just feel that the odds of success for our 'Earthly Divine Kingdom' plan have increased a little."

He reached out and tore away the ugly black tubes connected to Madara's back.

"Lord Madara, stop drinking that secondhand energy. The efficiency is too low."

"What are you doing?!" Madara's expression changed. Having lost the chakra supply from the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, his already dwindling life force began to drain away rapidly.

"Don't panic."

Xuan smiled and gently placed his hand, brimming with immense life force, against Madara's gaunt back.

"System, activate every last bit of the First Hokage's cells in Lord Madara's body that hasn't fully awakened yet!"

"If we're going to accomplish something great, how can I leave my number-one partner in this half-dead state?"

A calculating gleam flashed in Xuan's eyes.

What he wanted was not merely to awaken Madara's will.

He wanted this legendary Asura of the Ninja World to once again reign over the world in his strongest and most perfect state!

Boom!

Pure golden life energy, so pure it even carried a hint of sacredness, streamed continuously from Xuan's palm into Madara Uchiha's decayed body!

"This... this is... Hashirama's power?!"

Madara's Rinnegan filled with incredulous shock!

He could feel the Hashirama Cells that had lain dormant within him for decades being activated and fused at a frenzied pace under the stimulation of this power!

His shriveled skin began to grow plump and rosy again at a visible rate!

His head of white hair rapidly turned black, starting from the roots!

His back, hunched from old age, slowly straightened once more!

In just a dozen seconds.

A withered old man with white hair and beard, on the verge of death, miraculously returned to his youth within the golden radiance!

When the light faded.

A figure clad in black armor from the Warring States era, with flowing long hair, a cold face, arrogant eyes, and boundless dominance, stood once again within the underground cavern!

Madara Uchiha at his peak!

He had returned!

Madara felt the strength within him, strength that had returned and was even greater than it had been in his prime. Then he looked at this Uchiha junior before him, glowing with golden light like a god.

In that moment, his proud heart was utterly shaken.

"You brat..." he said hoarsely, his voice filled with complicated emotions.

"Just... what kind of monster are you?"

"A monster?" Xuan withdrew his hand and let out a long breath.

"No, Lord Madara."

A wildly arrogant smile curled across his lips.

"From today onward, you may call me... a god!"