Syura pushed aside the stones pinning him down. Feeling his broken ribs and the scrapes covering his body, he stared at the devastated Imperial Palace, his eyes filled with horror.
"Cough, cough... You... who the hell are you?"
"Are you awake now, insect? Do you understand the gap between us?" Madara stood with his arms folded, his hair drifting behind him despite the lack of wind.
"Cough! Damn you, don't think you've won!" Syura forced himself upright, still refusing to back down.
"Haha! Then let me send you to hell!" Madara used the Body Flicker Technique to appear before Syura, curled his fingers into claws, and thrust his hand toward Syura's chest.
"Don't kill me!" Feeling death rushing toward him, Syura widened his eyes and trembled as he begged for mercy.
"Hmph. Coward!"
Thud! Madara's hand pierced straight through Syura's chest. Syura stared at him in despair and coughed up a mouthful of blood before his head drooped lifelessly.
"My son!" The minister, who had narrowly escaped the destruction, cried out in horror at the sight of Syura's lifeless body.
"Oh? You heap of rotten flesh, you're still alive?" Madara withdrew his bloodstained hand and slowly approached the minister.
"Stay back! I'm telling you, I'm the most powerful man in the Empire! What do you want? I can give you anything!" The minister sat sprawled on the ground, scrambling backward as he poured out promises to tempt him.
"Haha, you can't afford what I want!" Madara looked at the minister with amusement and a hint of contempt.
"Damn it, you forced me to do this! Imperial Arms Nullification!" The minister suddenly raised his right hand, revealing the faintly glowing ring on his index finger, then pulled a pistol from inside his clothing.
"Haha! Feeling weak all over, aren't you? This