Uchiha's Warning

London Chinatown at night was noisy, yet imbued with a strange sense of isolation.

The wooden sign of the "Eastern Pavilion" antique shop looked somewhat indistinct beneath the spill of neon light.

Jingle—

The shop door was gently pushed open, and the brass bell on the doorframe gave a soft chime.

Inside, a gaunt man with eyes as sinister as a venomous snake was lowering his head, carefully polishing a magical dagger with a piece of velvet cloth. He was "Viper," Tsuchimikado Kenji—the top broker who had openly put the Flamel Bloodline up for sale on the global black market.

Hearing the bell, he did not even look up. He waved impatiently, his voice hoarse. "We're closed. Whatever you need, come back tomorrow..."

Out of habit, he waited for the customer's departing footsteps and the doorbell to ring again. Yet after a long while, there was nothing. The shop sank into dead silence, with only the faint noise of the street outside filtering in.

His hand paused over the dagger. An instinctive unease made him raise his head. At some point, a figure had appeared before him. Not especially tall, even somewhat thin, the figure wore an inconspicuous dark cloak, with the hood's shadow concealing most of his face.

And beneath that shadow... two points of scarlet light shone with startling brilliance! Like rubies flowing through the darkness—cold, cruel, and carrying an inhuman air of scrutiny.

When had he gotten here?!

How had Viper failed to notice him at all?!

Viper's heart suddenly clenched, and a chill shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. He sprang from his chair almost instinctively, stumbling slightly in his panic. His back slammed hard into the display shelf behind him, making several porcelain bottles sway.

Viper's heart suddenly clenched, and a chill shot from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. He sprang from his chair almost instinctively, stumbling slightly in his panic. His back slammed hard into the display shelf behind him, making several porcelain bottles sway.

His right hand tightly gripped the magical dagger he had just polished, its dark green tip aimed at the shadowy figure. Meanwhile, his left hand quietly reached beneath the counter toward an alarm rune.

"Who are you?!" Viper's voice cracked with tension. A terrifying glint erupted from his triangular eyes. Like a venomous snake driven into a corner, every muscle in the hand gripping the dagger tensed as cold, dangerous magical energy began gathering around the blade. It was clearly coated in deadly poison.

However, Viper was fast, but Madara was faster!

Facing Viper's guarded stance and poised attack, Madara made no dramatic move. His figure blurred in an instant. The next moment, Viper found that his stab had missed, and a searing pain in his wrist made him drop the magical dagger.

In the next instant, a pale hand clamped around his throat, lifting his entire body and slamming him hard against the wall!

"Urgh... hhk..." Viper's feet dangled in the air as he struggled painfully like a fish out of water. He clawed and kicked desperately, but his opponent did not react. That hand remained utterly motionless.

In agony, he looked downward and met the face raised beneath the hood—

Such beautiful... red eyes.

Buzz—!!!

In that instant, Viper felt as though an invisible sledgehammer had smashed his brain to pieces!

His gaze was completely locked onto those scarlet eyes, as if he had fallen into the thickest mire, unable to pull away even a fraction! That red seemed to come alive, turning into a sea of blood that violently dragged all his consciousness, magic, and will... into the abyss!

The Occlumency he had been so proud of, the unyielding will he had tempered over years on the edge of life and death—before those eyes, they were as fragile as thin ice beneath the sun, shattering instantly!

Genjutsu: Hell Seeing Technique!

Even without the Sharingan, such a basic genjutsu could achieve terrifying effects in Madara's hands. Using magic as a catalyst, he directly dragged his victim into a mental hell.

"Arghhh—!!!"

Viper let out a brief, piercing shriek in reality, then his voice abruptly stopped!

His eyes rolled back, his pupils dilated, and his body collapsed onto the floor like boneless sludge. The magical dagger in his hand clattered onto the wooden floor.

He curled up as his body began convulsing violently beyond his control. Drool mixed with white foam flowed uncontrollably from the corners of his mouth, spreading into a small filthy puddle on the ground.

His throat produced hoarse, tuneless rasping sounds, while his face twisted into utter terror—as though he were suffering endless mental torture.

Just one look!

A Dark wizard notorious throughout London had not even managed to cast a single spell before becoming a witless wreck.

Madara looked indifferently at the convulsing Viper on the floor, as if he were watching an insect struggling as it waited to die.

He slowly raised his right hand, pressing his index and middle fingers together. A thread of sharp magical energy gathered at his fingertips, emitting a faint hum.

From afar, he casually slashed three times at Viper's right hand.

Slash! Slash! Slash!

Blood burst forth!

Viper's right thumb, index finger, and middle finger—severed cleanly at the base!

The cuts were incredibly smooth, as though those fingers had never existed. There was not even time for much blood to spurt out.

"Ah—!!!" Even immersed in the mental illusion, the agonizing pain born of instinct still made Viper let out a miserable scream. His body convulsed even more violently.

Madara's fingertips twitched. The three severed fingers were seized by an invisible force and precisely dropped into a glass jar beside the counter, one filled with thick, bubbling green venom.

Plop... plop... plop...

The severed fingers sank into the venom, gradually blackening as their flesh dissolved and they slowly descended.

"Trash belongs in the garbage heap." Madara's voice was flat, as though he were merely stating the simplest fact.

As Madara released him, Viper's body crashed heavily onto the floor. Madara flicked his foot upward.

Viper flew up like a torn sack and slammed heavily into the display shelf behind him!

Crash—!!!

Porcelain bottles and jade ornaments shattered at once! Shards flew everywhere!

Viper rolled to the floor amid the broken porcelain, his body studded with fragments from various ornaments. Yet he seemed unable to feel the pain, merely curling up and letting out a foolish, clicking laugh. Drool mixed with streaks of blood continuously ran from his mouth, dragging glistening trails across the dusty floor. His eyes were vacant and unfocused, and now and then his limbs twitched involuntarily, making him look exactly like a broken puppet.

Madara did not spare the miserable sight another glance. With a slight movement of his fingertips, a strand of magic precisely swept up the ledger from the counter and placed it in his hand. From beginning to end, his breathing remained as steady as ever, as though he had merely brushed away a speck of dust. His scarlet eyes lowered as he began flipping through the ledger. The wreckage around him and the mindless figure writhing on the floor seemed to exist in a world entirely separate from his.

After a while, he gave a faint snort, set down the ledger, and turned toward the blank wall beside him.

He raised his hand. Scarlet magical light flickered from his fingertips like burning blood, rapidly etching into the wall—

The lines were sharp, the design grim.

It was the Uchiha Fan Crest!

Having finished, Madara silently merged into the shadows just as he had come, disappearing from the antique shop.

All that remained was wreckage strewn across the floor, the heavy stench of blood, severed fingers floating in the glass jar, and the Uchiha Seal on the wall, seemingly painted in blood and radiating an ominous aura.

The next day, the news that "Viper" had been crippled spread through the underground world with astonishing speed, like a plague!

"'Viper' is finished! He was already insane when they found him at Eastern Pavilion!"

"Three of his fingers were cut off! They were soaking in the shop's venom jar! The wounds have already necrotized! There's no way to reattach them!"

"They say all he can do is drool and grin stupidly. Even the best healers at St. Mungo's are helpless!"

"They say the Ministry of Magic's Auror Office dispatched a strike team! They searched inside and outside the shop, but the defensive wards showed no sign of intrusion. The only clue was that strange symbol on the wall!"

"They say the Aurors used not only Legilimency, but Veritaserum too! But apart from all of Viper's shady accounts, every memory concerning the killer was a complete mess. There was only... only those eyes!"

"Red! Eyes as red as blood! He... he only looked at him once! Just once!"

"A demon... those were a demon's eyes!"

"It was him! The ghost of the Flamel Family! They must have returned! Returned for revenge!"

"The Blood Lord... he is the Flamel Blood Lord!"

Fear, like an icy tide, silently drowned the hearts of everyone who heard the news. The title "Blood Lord," born from ultimate terror, carved itself deep into the shadows of London's magical world and Chinatown, branded with the stench of blood.