Though the Uchiha Hidden Ninja's face was covered, nothing could conceal the fury in his eyes.
Seeing that look, Butsuma Senju sneered inwardly. In the end, he's just a Hidden Ninja. He'll never amount to anything!
The Uchiha Hidden Ninja knew full well that he was no match for Butsuma Senju.
The moment he became a Hidden Ninja, he had prepared himself for death.
I failed Clan Leader Tajima's trust. I couldn't protect Young Master Madara.
Please wait a little longer, Young Master Madara. I'll join you in the Pure Land!
Having made his decision, the Uchiha Hidden Ninja was just about to act when he felt a keen killing edge lock onto him.
Cunning and calculating, Butsuma Senju had used Madara's wretched condition to shake the Uchiha Hidden Ninja's composure, despite being far stronger than him.
Butsuma Senju had been waiting for the instant the Uchiha Hidden Ninja committed himself to attacking.
For just before a fist struck, it was clenched at its tightest, yet could no longer move freely.
It was the instant before the strongest attack, and also the instant of weakest defense.
A blade flashed. The Uchiha Hidden Ninja, whose elite Jōnin strength should have allowed him to withstand several exchanges with Butsuma Senju, was beheaded and died on the spot.
His disbelieving eyes seemed to accuse Butsuma Senju without mercy.
The reason was simple: the one who had slain him was not Butsuma Senju, but the Senju Elite Ninja who had been covering him all along.
Everything Butsuma Senju had done was meant to draw the Uchiha Hidden Ninja's full attention from the front, creating an opening for the Senju elite Jōnin to launch a fatal surprise attack.
This was a tactic the Senju had devised to counter the Uchiha's Sharingan.
It was precisely this effective "Two-Person Kill" tactic that left Uchiha Tajima, despite being strong enough to overpower Butsuma Senju, unable to do more than fight him to a stalemate.
"Clan Leader, I believe taking this Uchiha Young Clan Leader prisoner would be more valuable."
"An Uchiha who has been a prisoner will never become the Uchiha Clan's leader."
"We could exchange him for vast resources and obtain that powerful protective ninjutsu as well."
The Senju elite Jōnin offered his sincere advice.
But Butsuma Senju shook his head. "A genius who appears only once in several centuries? I'll only rest easy when he's dead."
"As for that powerful protective ninjutsu, once we defeat the Uchiha, how could we fail to obtain it?"
As he spoke, he prepared to plunge his tachi into Madara's chest.
Had the Uchiha Hidden Ninja remained calm earlier, he would naturally have noticed something strange about Madara's condition.
One could say he was dead, for his breathing and heartbeat had long since ceased.
Yet one could also say he was still alive, for the chakra inside him continued to circulate slowly.
At that moment, the scene of Jing Xiu teaching him the Golden Light Mantra kept lingering in Madara's mind.
Over and over, in an endless loop.
Bathed in golden light, Madara's eyes brimmed with excitement and disbelief. "Jing Xiu, what ninjutsu is this? It's incredible!"
But Jing Xiu shook his head, looking rather unimpressed. "Madara, what kind of ninja do you consider truly strong?"
Madara froze at Jing Xiu's question.
Uchiha Tajima had once asked him the very same thing.
In the years to come, Orochimaru and Jiraiya would also argue fiercely over this question.
Before Tajima, Madara had given his answer without hesitation: "One who possesses enough power to crush everything."
But when Jing Xiu asked him that question again, Madara fell into a long silence.
This time, he had realized something: what was the essence of power?
If he had no understanding of "power" of his own, how could he ever possess the power to crush everything?
When Madara had first encountered Fire Release as a young child.
He had believed that its range needed to be wide enough, its flames hot enough, and its spread fast enough.
Then he would possess the "power of fire" that surpassed everyone else.
Yet when he first fought a ninja who used Lightning Shield, he discovered a problem.
No matter how hot his Fire Release was, how wide an area it covered, or how quickly its flames spread.
The flames could never stop his enemy's Lightning Shield.
Before lightning, the power of fire seemed insignificant.
Yet that seemingly mighty lightning could not withstand the scorching heat of the flames either.
It appeared that fire could do nothing to lightning, and lightning could do nothing to fire.
And so Madara had been left deeply puzzled: what kind of power could truly overwhelm everything?
When Madara first manifested golden light, he felt that this was the power he had always sought.
Once the Golden Light Mantra was invoked, golden light could shroud his body, combining offense and defense and changing at his will.
That protective golden light was the powerful force produced when the chakra within his body merged with natural chakra outside it.
Thus, the answer Madara finally gave Jing Xiu remained the same: "One who possesses enough power to crush everything. And golden light is that kind of power!"
Jing Xiu shook his head, his face full of regret.
Seeing Jing Xiu's expression, Madara felt confused, but he soon let it go. Jing Xiu is only a child, after all. What does he know about power?
He must act so much like an adult that I've started treating him as one without realizing it!
Jing Xiu seemed to see through Madara's thoughts. "Madara, recite the Golden Light Mantra."
Madara did not understand why, but began reciting it anyway:
"The mystic source of heaven and earth, the root of all qi."
"Through countless eons of cultivation, I attain my divine powers."
"Within and beyond the three realms, the Dao alone reigns supreme."
"Golden light resides within my body, enveloping and illuminating me."
"Look, and it cannot be seen; listen, and it cannot be heard."
"..."
"Stop!"
Jing Xiu interrupted Madara. "As you are now, you've only reached 'Golden light resides within my body, enveloping and illuminating me.'"
"How do you understand 'Look, and it cannot be seen; listen, and it cannot be heard'?"
Madara thought for a long time before venturing an answer. "Does that mean I have to cultivate the golden light until it becomes invisible?"
"But that can't be right!"
"The golden light grows denser with cultivation. Eventually, it becomes solid, like a golden wall, forming an absolute defense."
"Could it mean cultivating the golden light until it covers an enormous area, like a barrier?"
"Whenever I fight an enemy, I could trap them inside my golden light barrier."
"That would count as 'Look, and it cannot be seen,' wouldn't it?"
Madara was uncertain of his answer, but Jing Xiu sighed. "You shouldn't blindly chase the sense of superiority that ninjutsu gives you."
"Whether it's Fire Release, Water Release, Wind Release, Lightning Release, or Earth Release."
"Even Yin Release and Yang Release are no different."
Madara looked bewildered. He had heard of the basic release techniques mentioned first, but Yin Release and Yang Release were entirely unfamiliar to him.
Jing Xiu did not explain further. He casually threw a kunai, striking the bull's-eye of a target dozens of meters away.
"What do you think pierced the bull's-eye?"
Madara seemed to grasp something, yet still felt confused.
Jing Xiu picked up a suitably sized pebble and threw it. It struck another target squarely in the bull's-eye, but failed to lodge in it.
"True golden light has never been about pursuing solidity or transformation."
"True golden light is an outward manifestation, a genuine state of being."
"It is a certain realm the practitioner naturally reaches."
"Just as the thing that pierced the bull's-eye was, in essence, sharp metal-not my throwing technique, nor my excellent eyesight."
"The metal itself had the ability to pierce the bull's-eye. I merely guided it and brought that ability into play."
"That is what it means to 'Look, and it cannot be seen; listen, and it cannot be heard.'"
Hearing Jing Xiu's words, Madara sank into thought.
Jing Xiu gazed at the sky, his eyes profound. "You may not understand what I'm about to say. You might never understand it in your entire life."
"But I still hope you'll remember it firmly."