A hundred meters underground, the air was filled with a strange scent, a mixture of ozone and old dust.
Hyuga Xiao took a deep breath, feeling the chakra within him slowly and greedily recover, like a dried-up riverbed receiving sweet rain once more. The exhaustion from battling a higher existence deep within his soul still clung to him like gangrene, leaving him weak in waves.
But compared to the savage, conqueror-like satisfaction in his heart, that weakness was not worth mentioning.
His gaze fell upon Kurenai Yuhi, who was kneeling on one knee.
A perfect weapon had finally been forged.
Just then, Hyuga Xiao's eyes shifted slightly.
His azure Tenseigan pierced through over a hundred meters of rock and howling snow, accurately catching several extremely faint chakra fluctuations brimming with greed and malice.
Like hyenas that had caught the scent of blood, they were silently closing in from every direction.
"Lord... Xiao?"
Kurenai Yuhi seemed to have sensed something as well. She raised her head, and for the first time, a thirst for battle appeared in those Eyes of Time that gleamed with starlight and silver radiance. The newborn power surging through her body desperately needed slaughter to vent and calibrate itself.
"Your blade has been forged." Hyuga Xiao's voice was cold and devoid of emotion, as though a blacksmith were evaluating his work. "But whether it is a divine weapon capable of severing stars or worthless scrap that only looks impressive must be proven with blood."
He gave Kurenai Yuhi no time to think before directly issuing an order.
"There are thirty-two flies outside."
"Go clean them up."
"Yes, Lord Xiao."
Kurenai Yuhi answered without the slightest hesitation. She slowly rose to her feet, and the temporal ripples that had only just subsided around her spread out once more,