The white light suddenly contracted.
A figure appeared in the middle of the tavern.
Crimson armor, long black hair spilling down to his waist, a hard, cold face. His hands hung loosely at his sides, yet he looked ready to topple all of Konoha at any moment.
Madara Uchiha.
The real Madara Uchiha.
Not a portrait, not a legend, not a name in a history book.
He was standing there, alive, right in front of Zhang Yu.
Zhang Yu swallowed.
At that moment, he finally understood what it meant to feel an overwhelming presence.
Even with the system's rules in place, he had to admit that an ordinary person facing a monster of this caliber would be brave just to keep his knees from buckling.
Madara Uchiha slowly opened his eyes.
His pupils were black at first, and then his gaze swept across the room.
Wooden tables.
Wine jars.
A bar counter.
A sign that had yet to be hung on the wall.
Finally, his gaze settled on Zhang Yu.
"This isn't a battlefield."
His voice was quiet, but it carried the cold hardness of someone long accustomed to power.
Zhang Yu didn't answer.
Madara glanced down at his palm, then flexed his fingers.
"A living body..."
He clenched his fist.
His knuckles cracked softly.
Then his Chakra circulated through his body, and his expression finally changed.
"Something's wrong."
"This body is more complete than I expected."
He had assumed Nagato had used Rinne Rebirth according to plan and truly brought him back to life.
But the state of this body was far too clean.
There were none of the cracks left by Impure World Reincarnation.
No remnants of a sacrifice.
No trace of any technique binding him.
He was even stronger than he had been before his death, when he was on the verge of dying.
That made no sense.
Madara raised his head, his gaze locking onto Zhang Yu.
"Where's Nagato?"
Zhang Yu looked at him, barely able to contain his excitement, but did his best to keep his face composed.
At a time like this, he couldn't afford to show fear.
He pulled out a chair and sat down, then pointed to the seat opposite him.
"Nagato isn't here."
Madara didn't sit.
He just looked at Zhang Yu.
"Not Nagato?"
"Then who brought me back?"
Zhang Yu leaned back in his chair, his tone calm.
"I did."
Madara stared at him.
A few seconds later, he looked as though he had just heard something absurd.
"You?"
An ordinary person with no Chakra fluctuations.
A guy so physically weak he wasn't even a match for a Genin.
He claimed to have brought Madara Uchiha back from the dead?
When had the Shinobi World become so ridiculous?
Madara's gaze instantly turned cold.
"A pointless lie."
The moment the words left his mouth, his eyes changed.
A scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan appeared.
The moment those eyes appeared, the entire tavern seemed to fall silent.
An ordinary person who met those eyes would have their consciousness dragged into a genjutsu in an instant.
Zhang Yu met his gaze too.
But he didn't lower his head.
He didn't scream.
He didn't go blank.
He even picked up the cup on the table and poured himself some water.
Madara's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
The genjutsu hadn't worked.
That was impossible.
Even if the man were a ninja, he shouldn't have been completely unaffected.
Much less when the man before him didn't have a trace of Chakra.
Madara took a step forward.
"What did you do?"
Zhang Yu took a sip of water, suppressing his heart, which was nearly pounding out of his chest.
This feels good.
So damn good.
That was Madara Uchiha's genjutsu!
So many powerful figures in the Shinobi World didn't even have the courage to look a Sharingan in the eye, yet an ordinary person like him had blocked it while sitting there drinking water.
The system is fucking awesome!
Zhang Yu put down his cup.
"I told you, I'm the one who brought you back."
Madara didn't speak immediately.
His gaze began to turn serious.
An ordinary person could ignore Sharingan Genjutsu.
That alone defied all common sense.
But Madara Uchiha never admitted to an error in judgment easily.
The three Tomoe spun in his eyes, and the next moment, the pattern changed abruptly.
Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan!
The pressure it gave off was more than a level stronger than before.
If the Three-Tomoe Sharingan was a blade being drawn, then the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan was a monstrous beast opening its eyes.
Zhang Yu's fingers tightened slightly.
His body tensed beyond his control.
But that was all.
His mind remained clear.
The tavern before him was still the tavern.
The table was still a table.
He hadn't been pulled into a genjutsu space, nor had his senses been taken from him.
Madara's ocular power struck an invisible wall without raising so much as a ripple.
This time, Madara Uchiha's expression finally darkened.
Not with anger.
With shock.
He had seen monsters like Hashirama, who used their life force to withstand everything.
He had seen geniuses like Tobirama, who maneuvered with Flying Thunder God and forbidden techniques.
He had also seen the Five Kage, the Tailed Beasts, and countless ninja.
But he had never seen an ordinary person ignore his eyes like this.
It was as if his power had been erased outright by some higher-level rule in the presence of this man.
Madara slowly withdrew his ocular power.
"You're not a ninja."
Zhang Yu nodded.
"I never said I was."
"But you can ignore my Sharingan."
"To be precise, none of your attacks can hurt me."
Madara's gaze sharpened abruptly.
"Any attack?"
Zhang Yu spread his hands.
"You can try, but there's no need to waste your strength."
The words were delivered casually.
But to Madara, they were more grating than a provocation.
Who was he, Madara Uchiha?
A shura who had fought his way through the Warring States era.
A man who had stood at the pinnacle alongside Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi.
In the entire Shinobi World, the number of people worthy of his attention could be counted on one hand.
And now, an ordinary man who looked incapable of dodging even a Kunai sat on a shabby wooden chair and told him: "You can't hurt me."
Absurd.
Yet the two failed genjutsu just now were like two resounding slaps to his judgment.
Madara didn't attack again.
He wasn't stupid.
Something that could nullify the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan could not be explained by simple strength.
He glanced around.
"What is this place?"
Zhang Yu tapped the tabletop.
"The Undead Tavern."
"Undead?"
Madara repeated the word.
Zhang Yu's tone remained unchanged.
"A place where the dead return."
"You brought me here just to show me your tavern?"
A hint of danger had entered Madara's voice.
Zhang Yu smiled.
"Not to see it."
"To work."
Madara looked at him, and the tavern fell silent for two seconds.
Then he looked as though he had heard the most outrageous joke in the Shinobi World.
"You want me, Madara Uchiha, to work for you?"
Zhang Yu nodded.
"That's right."
"Doing what?"
"Being an employee."
Madara's gaze swept over the bar counter and the wine jars.
"Selling wine?"
"You can also wipe tables, serve dishes, and watch the place."
If anyone else had said something like that to Madara Uchiha's face, they probably wouldn't even have left an intact corpse behind.
But Zhang Yu said it so naturally.
As naturally as a boss assigning work for the next day.
Madara did not smile.
Instead, he fell even more silent.
The man before him was either mad or possessed a confidence he could not comprehend.
And the two failed genjutsu attempts made the latter more likely.
Zhang Yu looked at the silent Madara, feeling absolutely ecstatic.
Was this the joy of having a system?
A moment ago, he had been a small business owner fretting over opening day.
Now, the Asura of the Ninja World was standing in his shop, and he had assigned him a job as an employee.
Who wouldn't be thrilled?