The cave was collapsing.
Rubble fell like rain, smashing into the swamp with dull plops. The chakra storm left behind by the fusion creature's collapse still raged, gouging countless deep scars into the rock walls. The air was thick with the stench of burned rotten flesh, mixed with blood and the rank smell of mud.
Hyuga Xiao stood at the edge of the swamp, the azure glow of his Tenseigan especially dazzling within the dim cave.
Three meters in front of him, that unstable energy core was spinning wildly—the third Covenant Stone Fragment was wrapped layer upon layer in rampaging chakra, like a heart about to explode. Every pulse sent visibly distorted ripples through the surrounding space.
"Xiao!" Kurenai Yuhi's voice came from behind him, accompanied by weak, ragged breaths.
She was kneeling beside a pile of rubble, her face pale as paper. The forbidden technique she had used earlier had nearly drained all her chakra. Strands of hair at her temples were soaked with sweat and stuck to her skin, while her crimson eyes brimmed with worry.
Hyuga Xiao did not turn around.
His gaze remained fixed on the energy core as his mind completed the calculations in one thousandth of a second—the chakra density around the fragment had reached its critical point. It would completely lose control in five seconds at most. Once it exploded, not only would the fragment be reduced to dust, but the entire mountain might be flattened.
Four seconds.
He raised his right hand, palm facing upward. The two Covenant Stone Fragments inside him resonated at once, pale golden chakra seeping from beneath his skin and gathering in his palm into a rotating miniature domain—the ability he had comprehended from the second fragment, the Pact Stone Domain, capable of temporarily stabilizing and absorbing energy