Madara Uchiha felt the fluctuations from the magical pearl in his hand wax and wane, his heart burning with anxiety.
"Father, aren't we going to act yet? The Hyuga have already surrounded that hill."
At his words, Uchiha Tajima listened impassively to his subordinate's report. "Madara, I know you're worried about Jing Xiu."
"But he's fighting for the glory of our clan. That glory belongs to him alone. We shouldn't steal his moment to shine."
Uchiha Tajima had long since received word that Hyuga Tennin had personally led a force to hunt down Black Wolf. Yet Hyuga Tennin still hadn't shown himself, and that filled Tajima with unease.
Only once Hyuga Tennin acted would Uchiha Tajima make his move. Otherwise, if Hyuga Tennin joined forces with the others to surround and attack him instead, he would become a sinner of the Uchiha Clan.
If he held his position, he would lose, at most, one son-Jing Xiu.
But if he underestimated the enemy and rushed in, he might drag the entire Uchiha Clan to its grave.
Just as Uchiha Black Wolf broke through the Hyuga Special Jōnin's blockade, an overwhelming presence locked onto him.
Under its crushing pressure, Black Wolf could barely stay on his feet.
"To think you only have one Sharingan left. That makes you considerably less valuable."
"Fortunately, that Uchiha brat is still here. With his bloodline, I'm very eager to see what powerful kekkei genkai a union of the Sharingan and Byakugan will produce."
Uchiha Black Wolf stiffly raised his head. The man who entered his sight was none other than Tennin, one of the Three Shinobi World Heroes.
The other two heroes were Butsuma Senju, the Buddha Ninja, and Uchiha Tajima, the Blood Ninja.
At Hyuga Tennin's words, Uchiha Black Wolf's expression grew even more bitter. He understood that he would certainly die today, while Uchiha Jing Xiu could be spared.
He scoured his memories. Only now did he realize that no matter how outstanding he was, how many ninjutsu he had learned, or how many battles he had fought-
Before absolute strength, he lacked even a means of hurting his opponent.
So I was this weak all along!
With that thought, Uchiha Black Wolf hesitated no longer. He drove the kunai in his hand straight toward his remaining right eye.
"I may have betrayed the Uchiha, but I hate the Hyuga even more. This eye of mine will never fall into Hyuga hands!"
Displeased by his words, Hyuga Tennin moved both hands as though plucking the strings of an instrument.
Just as the kunai in Black Wolf's hand pierced his eye socket and was about to destroy his last Three-Tomoe Sharingan, his body became like a bound puppet, unable to move another inch.
"Trying to destroy your Sharingan in front of me? Don't you think you're overestimating yourself, Uchiha Black Wolf?"
Hyuga Tennin's cold words shattered Uchiha Black Wolf's last hope.
Atop the hill, Jing Xiu weathered another eight punches from Hyuga Sesei.
After a full twenty-four punches, Jing Xiu had exhausted every yin spirit he carried, and his body had reached its limit.
Just as he was about to activate the Golden Light Mantra sealed inside his magical pearl, Hyuga Tennin's voice finally reached the hilltop. "That's enough, Sesei. Remember to spare the boy's life."
"He's still too young. If you damage his chakra pathways and leave him unable to father children, our Hyuga Clan will suffer a great loss!"
Although he had already suspected as much, hearing Hyuga Tennin say it outright still left Jing Xiu feeling strange, as though he had become a breeding boar.
The next instant, Hyuga Sesei struck the back of Jing Xiu's neck with a tremendously powerful palm, temporarily cutting off the blood supply to his brain.
This was a physiological attack. No matter how powerful Jing Xiu's primordial spirit was, he couldn't prevent the changes in his body.
It was just like how even the finest computer software couldn't run without enough memory to support it.
Just before Jing Xiu lost consciousness, he saw a fiery-red figure racing toward him.
At the sight of that figure, a smile unconsciously appeared on Jing Xiu's lips.
The first magical artifact containing the sealed Golden Light Mantra activated the instant Jing Xiu fell unconscious. It was that golden barrier that blocked Hyuga Sesei's killing blow.
The moment Hyuga Sesei saw Madara Uchiha, he wanted to kill the small child in his grasp, because Madara's appearance was enough to tell him a great deal.
He never considered using Jing Xiu to threaten the Uchiha and bargain for his life.
As he saw it, Uchiha Tajima had been willing to use this son as bait to lure the Hyuga into acting.
Whether the Hyuga acted for the Sharingan bloodline or to restore their reputation in the shinobi world made no difference.
In any case, someone used as bait could not possibly be a core member of the Uchiha Clan, because that person was very likely to be sacrificed the moment the plot succeeded.
But the protective golden light surrounding Jing Xiu was something Hyuga Sesei had never seen before.
Under its protection, Hyuga Sesei's palm strike, powerful enough to shatter a boulder, was actually blocked.
The golden light was likewise shattered and tattered, and blood even spilled from the corner of Jing Xiu's mouth.
Even so, that golden light had truly stopped an elite Jōnin's all-out strike.
Shinobi had always possessed strong offense and weak defense. This was the first time Hyuga Sesei had seen a defensive method so convenient yet so astonishingly powerful.
When Madara Uchiha saw the blood at the corner of Jing Xiu's mouth, a senseless fury blazed up from deep within him. In that instant, the three tomoe of his Sharingan almost joined into a single line.
Before Hyuga Sesei could use Rotation to defend himself, Madara's Sharingan subdued him.
"Genjutsu: Unknown Fire!"
Hyuga Sesei felt as though he stood amid a sea of fire. Everything he saw and everything his body touched was flame.
Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch-every one of his five senses told him that he was engulfed in a sea of fire.
In the real world, Hyuga Sesei's body was indeed swallowed by flames. They came from Madara Uchiha's signature ninjutsu, Fire Release: Majestic Destroyer Flame.
Madara paid no attention to Hyuga Sesei as he turned to ash in the sea of fire.
He reached Jing Xiu's side as quickly as he could. Seeing the golden light on the verge of dissipating, he breathed a sigh of relief.
After giving Jing Xiu some medicine to replenish his blood and vitality, Madara hoisted him onto his back and headed for the clan grounds by the Naka River.
As for the battlefield between the Hyuga and Uchiha, he couldn't even be bothered to spare it another glance.
No matter how much profit war could bring, in Madara's eyes, none of it was worth a single hair on Jing Xiu's or Izuna's head.
Uchiha Tajima, occupied with fighting Hyuga Tennin, never received the support he had expected from his eldest son. Disappointment stirred within him. Madara, you still chose to disappoint your father.
Tajima was already stronger than Tennin. With Tajima beside him to keep Tennin in check, Madara could have freely fought Tennin.
Fighting Hyuga Tennin would have greatly benefited both Madara's combat experience and his reputation.
Yet Madara had chosen to take Jing Xiu straight back to the clan grounds, much to Tajima's displeasure.
When the Blood Ninja grew angry, rivers of blood were bound to flow.
There was a saying in the shinobi world: "Only one of the Three Heroes can stand against another."
But in the minds of Butsuma Senju and Uchiha Tajima, Hyuga Tennin was still a little beneath them.
And because of that slight disparity, the two elite Hyuga Jōnin whom Hyuga Tennin had brought with him-the Hyuga Clan's strongest spear and shield-both met their end on the battlefield in the Land of Rain.
Looking at the Uchiha Clan's impressive gains, Hyuga Tennin gave a cold smile. "Uchiha Tajima, don't celebrate too soon."
"What do you think Butsuma Senju is doing right now?"