"Get a good taste of the captain's terrifying power!"
"Keep your eyes wide open and watch, you bastards!"
Uchiha Cong's eyes were scarlet as he laughed wildly.
He knew better than anyone that his current physical foundation could not sustain this berserk state for long.
But right now, he felt as though his entire body brimmed with inexhaustible strength!
Swinging his fists, Uchiha Cong looked like a red yaksha who had activated the Eight Gates Released Formation. Under everyone's horrified gaze, he plunged straight into the elite ranks of the Kumogakure Envoy Mission!
In an instant, the sounds of snapping bones and tearing tendons mingled with screams!
The sliver of power Xuanye had lent him amounted to less than a few hundredths of his own strength.
But one could not forget that the monstrous numbers on Xuanye's attribute panel had undergone countless system enhancements.
Even a thousandth of his Taijutsu and strength, once added to Uchiha Cong, was enough to produce a fundamental transformation.
Dealing with these elite jonin from Kumogakure was as easy as slicing vegetables.
But...
What the hell was this kid's Mangekyō Eye Technique, anyway?
Xuanye stood where he was, watching Uchiha Cong tear through the crowd with a strange expression.
He was beginning to wonder whether he had transmigrated into the wrong show.
Where was the promised Amaterasu? What about Kamui?
Even without those big space-time techniques, Tsukuyomi or Kagutsuchi would have been fine!
What kind of lousy eye technique did you awaken?
"Invoking a god"-forcibly copying and borrowing someone else's power, with the added prerequisite of getting the "god's" own consent...
So you're telling me that if I'd shaken my head just now, your Mangekyō would have awakened for nothing and been nothing more than decoration?
But looking at it another way...
As long as Xuanye agreed to lend him power, Uchiha Cong would possess the most brutally overwhelming destructive power in the entire Shinobi World, second only to Xuanye himself!
That's just like you.
The most devoted, loyal number-one lackey under my command!
Xuanye was actually rather pleased. He only hoped the kid would take better care of his eyes and not blind himself so quickly.
"You're fighting me, and you still dare let your mind wander?!"
Though his right ankle had been crushed, Fourth Raikage A had seized the opportunity to break free and regain his balance.
For a ruthless man who could sever his own arm without hesitation even when Amaterasu's black flames engulfed it, what did a shattered ankle matter?!
As long as he still drew breath, the battle was not over!
"Lightning Oppression Horizontal Chop!"
The Raikage let out an earthshaking roar.
Xuanye rolled his eyes at the sound.
What did that puppet-playing old lady Chiyo ever do to you? Why insist on making her come out and dance?
A dazzling bolt of lightning flashed. The Raikage concentrated all his chakra in his right hand, forming a knife-hand strike capable of cleaving mountains and shattering stone, and chopped viciously at Xuanye's neck at a terrifying speed that broke the sound barrier!
This was the Raikage's most powerful single-target killing blow!
Apart from the Double Lariat he performed together with Killer B, no other move surpassed its destructive power!
Back then, he had used this very Lightning Release knife-hand strike to sever one of the Eight-Tails Gyuki's horns!
The Raikage was absolutely confident that even if this Konoha Police Force Captain's strength was unfathomable, he could never withstand this blow that staked his life!
Unfortunately...
Xuanye really had been a little distracted just now.
But that was purely because an opponent of the Raikage's caliber did not warrant even the slightest seriousness from him.
His attention had been entirely on Uchiha Cong, his Sharingan active as he studied the flow of chakra inside the kid's body.
When the Raikage's lethal knife-hand strike reached him amid the roar of wind and thunder...
"You're too loud."
Xuanye's tone was flat.
Smack!
Without so much as a glance, he casually raised his left arm before him, effortlessly caught the Raikage's descending wrist, then wrenched it outward!
Before the Fourth Raikage could even grunt in pain...
Xuanye moved like lightning, lunging forward as his right fist became a storm of blows that struck precisely at the Raikage's one remaining good arm and leg!
Crack!
Crack!
In a single exchange...
The joints of all four of the Fourth Raikage's limbs had been brutally shattered, leaving him completely crippled!
Xuanye slowly withdrew his fist and pointed into the distance at the Raikage, who lay collapsed like a heap of mud, his face filled with utter horror.
"Please shut your mouth and keep quiet."
"Don't interrupt me while I'm observing the Uchiha Clan's newly awakened eye technique."
At Konoha's entrance.
At that moment, the scene was exceedingly bizarre.
Arms folded across his chest, Xuanye rested his right foot casually on the Fourth Raikage's head and watched the melee ahead with interest.
There, Uchiha Cong was like a berserk beast, single-handedly pounding the remaining members of the Kumogakure Envoy Mission into the ground.
The entire plaza at the village entrance had become a one-sided slaughterhouse.
The members of the Konoha Military Police Force's Third Squad did not even get a chance to fight. They could only follow behind in orderly fashion, cleaning up the scene and binding prisoners.
The looks that the Konoha Ninja on guard and the villagers who had come to watch gave Xuanye had completely changed.
To those ninja accustomed to political maneuvering, the Police Force's performance today was plainly a brazen display of strength.
Uchiha Genya was taking this opportunity to openly challenge and provoke the Third Hokage!
Just how much trouble would it cause to cripple the supreme leader of Kumogakure and trample him underfoot?
Would the Third Hokage use this as a pretext to strip Uchiha Genya of his captaincy?
Would Konoha and Kumogakure enter an all-out war over this?
These were all deeper issues the ninja had to consider.
But the simple-minded ordinary villagers cared nothing for all those twists and turns.
They believed only what they had seen with their own eyes: at first, that Kumogakure brute who looked like a black bear had shouted arrogantly at the village entrance and even smashed Konoha's desk.
Destroying public property was unquestionably a flagrant violation of the Public Security Administration Regulations!
The Police Force had enforced the law impartially and demanded compensation, but that thug had not only refused to listen-he had even dared to openly assault an officer!
So, to the villagers, that big fellow now lying beneath the Police Force Captain's foot with his legs broken had brought it entirely upon himself!
Had the Police Force Captain gone too far?
Of course not!
That barbarian had been the first to provoke them and throw a punch!
Without Captain Xuanye keeping things under control today, who knew how many innocent civilians that madman would have hurt if he had charged into the village?
Well done, Captain Xuanye! That beating felt so satisfying!
Konoha was the foremost village in the Shinobi World. How could it tolerate barbarians from another village coming to shit and piss on its doorstep?!
Tap, tap, tap, tap-
A flurry of hurried, disorderly footsteps came from within the village.
Everyone turned to look.
Their "beloved" Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi was racing toward the village entrance with a large contingent of elite Anbu, sweat covering his head.
Just moments earlier, the Hokage's Office had finally received an urgent report from the frontline sentries.
The Fourth Raikage had personally led men right up to the Konoha Gate!
Hiruzen Sarutobi had been utterly stunned when he heard the news.
The Kage of a village had secretly entered the Land of Fire, so why hadn't Konoha's intelligence network caught even a whisper beforehand?
Who exactly had been neglecting their duties?!
Hiruzen Sarutobi hurried forward in furious frustration, while a flicker of cold mockery passed through the eyes of Shimura Danzō beside him.
His Root had long since obtained the top-secret intelligence that the Raikage was coming to Konoha in person!
Just an hour earlier, he had even made a special trip to the Hokage's Office, intending to negotiate terms with his old friend using this information.
Unfortunately, for the sake of his pitiful dignity as Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi had cursed him straight out the door.
Serves you right, making a fool of yourself here!
Danzo cursed inwardly. That indecisive old fool should have stepped down for someone more capable long ago!
However...
When Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo led their men out through the village gate and saw the scene before them, both froze in place, their eyes nearly popping out of their heads.
Who was that brawler bulldozing through Kumogakure's ranks, dropping an opponent with every punch?!
"Is that... Uchiha Cong?!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes were sharp, after all, and he quickly recognized the police squad captain who usually loved nothing more than currying favor.
He first glanced at the Fourth Raikage beneath Xuanye's foot, his fate unknown, then turned toward the imposing Uchiha Cong, his mind buzzing.
Since when had Uchiha Cong, that notorious good-for-nothing, become such a capable fighter?!
In an instant, Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze shifted repeatedly as he rapidly calculated a new plan of checks and balances.
Beside him, Danzo likewise narrowed his single eye. Undisguised greed and fervor filled his gaze as he looked at Uchiha Cong, as though he had discovered some peerless treasure.
Bam!
The final heavy punch landed, and the last Kumogakure elite collapsed to the ground, foaming at the mouth.
Uchiha Cong proudly withdrew his fist and vigorously shook the blood from his wrist.
Even panting with exhaustion, he did not forget to strike an exceedingly arrogant pose.
He raised a hand, pointed at the Kumogakure ninja scattered across the ground, and roared:
"Whoever offends our Police Force will be slain, no matter how far away they flee!"
Thud.
The instant the words left his mouth, the Mangekyō patterns in Uchiha Cong's eyes vanished.
What followed was an overwhelming weakness that seemed to drain his very soul.
The aftereffects of borrowing Xuanye's power erupted in full. Without so much as a grunt, Uchiha Cong's eyes rolled back, and he passed out stiff as a board.
He really could not stay cool for even three seconds.
Looking at his unconscious lackey sprawled on the ground, Xuanye pursed his lips helplessly.
It seemed the kid's Mangekyō Eye Technique still had some considerable flaws.
Even borrowing less than one percent of his power was far more than Uchiha Cong's currently frail physique could withstand.
If he did not want to end up half-paralyzed every time he unleashed a major move, the kid would have to steel himself and seriously toughen his body once he got back.
Before you continue