Struck by the utterly devastating force of [Water Release: Rasengan],
Madara Uchiha's chest was instantly torn apart, leaving behind a gaping, head-sized wound!
Kei Yamanaka vanished instantly using the Flying Thunder God Technique.
The next instant, the [Out of Control] Water Release: Rasengan erupted violently out of control!
Buzz—
In an instant, the once head-sized [Water Release: Rasengan] swelled into a monstrous spherical vortex spanning over ten meters.
Within the vortex, countless razor-sharp water blades whirled at high speed, tearing apart anything caught inside.
A piercing buzzing sound echoed across the entire battlefield!
Madara Uchiha's body nearly instantaneously dissolved into a storm of blood particles, dyeing the azure [Water Release: Rasengan] a deep crimson!
Unlike [Wind Release: Rasenshuriken], which appears deceptively minor on the outside yet slices through every cell and meridian internally,
although both attacks operate at the cellular level,
water release lacks the penetrating power of wind release. However, it possesses adhesion and friction that wind release does not!
As long as the target is hit,
forget about leaving behind an intact corpse like [Wind Release: Rasenshuriken],
if even a shred of flesh remained on the ground, Kei Yamanaka would have considered his technique miscalculated.
A bone-chilling winter wind swept across the battered battlefield.
More than ten Wood Clones of Madara Uchiha, their chakra spilling out like a flood bursting through a broken dam.
Their Susanoo dispersed, Wood Release techniques halted.
Even their own bodies began to slowly morph into twisted, grotesque trees of bizarre shapes.
Yet before vanishing entirely, each and every Wood Clone exerted their final bit of strength to transform prominent Wood Release forms—like wooden giants and wooden dragons—into nothing more than ordinary trees.
Kei Yamanaka's brow slightly furrowed as he immediately understood the purpose behind this act.
As the legendary Ninja God who founded the hidden villages,
Hashirama Senju's Wood Release Kekkei Genkai symbolized ultimate, unmatched power to most.
And as the top-tier warrior who once stood equal to Hashirama Senju,
Madara Uchiha's ideology of authoritarian rule had also instilled fear into countless hearts.
No one wanted Madara alive; even less did anyone wish for a living Madara capable of using Wood Release!
After hiding away for decades without appearing in the ninja world,
anyone would likely suspect some grand conspiracy lurking beneath.
To ensure the smooth progress of the Moon's Eye Plan,
the best course was to make people question whether he had ever truly survived until now!
It might sound difficult.
Yet in reality, as long as no irrefutable evidence remained,
those who only knew him from myths wouldn't believe he could still be alive.
And those who had experienced his strength absolutely would not want him to be.
People tend to believe what they want to believe.
Without sufficient proof, Madara would forever remain someone who died by Hashirama Senju's hands, perishing back then at the Valley of the End.
As for mere words unsupported by evidence,
how many would truly believe that an unexpected foe like Kei Yamanaka had fought him at all—
was no longer in his hands.
[Ding～ Early elimination of a villain boss. The world line progression has shifted. Rewards obtained: Skill Copy opportunity x1, Concept Skill Draw opportunity x1, Skill Draw opportunity x3, Skill Gift opportunity x3, Skill Downgrade opportunity x1, Skill Reset opportunity x2.]
The system notification chimed in late.
Hearing this familiar tone, Kei Yamanaka's eyes lingered on the word "elimination" for several seconds before finally exhaling deeply in relief.
Just moments ago, he had personally witnessed Madara Uchiha completely engulfed by the Water Release Rasengan.
After the technique dispersed, all that remained inside the elliptical dome over ten meters wide was a faint pink-tinged water stains.
The mighty Wood Clones, once the original body vanished, lost all strength and disintegrated into nothingness.
Yet back then, Madara had used transcribed seal techniques to delay activation of Izanagi sealed within his eyes, successfully fooling even Hashirama Senju, the Ninja God.
And just now, Madara had told him they would meet again.
He'd be insane not to suspect it!
"Inhale~!"
Kei Yamanaka took a deep breath.
Glancing at the dazzling list of system rewards totaling no less than eleven chances overall.
He made a one-handed seal and first restrained the Shōhiganbi clone whose size continued surging, leaving it behind to keep watch around the battlefield.
Then, he activated the Mind Body Transmission Technique.
Linking his consciousness to the shadow clones'.
The thirty-two shadow clones that previously fought against Madara Uchiha, thanks to the Flying Thunder God Technique and [Zero-Frames Start], had perfect evasion.
Only two unfortunate clones were caught in a wide-area ninjutsu attack and destroyed.
Following Kei's orders, the remaining thirty shadow clones sprang into rapid action.
One clone pursued in the same direction as the earlier shadow clone that had moved away after relocating the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Two clones immediately arrived at the edge of the semi-circular crater created by the Water Release Rasengan.
They performed the relatively simple C-rank ninjutsu, Earth Release: Land Return, gradually lifting the ground inch by inch.
They pried up three feet of earth from every spot that might have been stained with residual blood or tissue fragments from Madara.
Then they packed all that soil into sealing scrolls and tossed them toward the original body.
As for the remaining clones, they employed Earth Release: Underground Projection Fish Technique and Earth Release: Subterranean Voyage en masse, burrowing underground altogether.
Earlier, Kei's fight against Madara had erupted suddenly.
The noise from their battle was deafening, collapsing and burying the entire underground base.
Despite the White Zetsus' fearless nature and disregard for life, they couldn't possibly evacuate everything quickly enough.
Moreover, since acquiring the [Sage Transformation] enhancement, Kei now possessed all seven chakra natures.
Previously costly and moderately effective Earth Release techniques had significantly improved.
Even beneath the surface,
he wouldn't risk unnecessary losses against regular White Zetsus.
Whatever treasures Madara had stored in this hidden base—take as much as possible.
If not entirely obtainable, capturing additional White Zetsus was still a win.
These creatures, soldiers transformed by the God Tree thousands of years ago, had uniquely valuable physiological traits, making them ideal hosts for Impure World Reincarnation and possessing immense research value.
"What if I don't capture a few more clones? What happens if later on, when I want to use them, they hide themselves too well for me to locate?"
"I guess there shouldn't be any problems now."
Kei Yamanaka accepted the storage scroll filled with bloodstained earth handed over by his shadow clone and carefully stowed it inside his ninja tool pouch.
The first prerequisite for the Impure World Reincarnation was acquiring part of the deceased's physical remains.
He had thoroughly eliminated all traces of residual flesh and biological data from Madara Uchiha at the scene.
There was nothing more he could do.
If Madara Uchiha could still be revived through the Impure World Reincarnation under these circumstances, then Kei would have no choice but to admit—Damn it... they really are that good!
After thinking for a moment and double-checking everything, he found nothing major had been overlooked.
Only then did Kei shift his attention toward the system reward he had obtained.
[Keyword Copy] opportunity—granted only when the fate of main plot characters shifts and alters the course of the main storyline. Its rarity went without saying.
[Concept Skill Draw] opportunity—this was the first time he'd encountered one, guaranteed to produce a skill listing involving concept interference. Just thinking about it made clear how valuable this item was.
[Keyword Draw]—he'll skip that. After seeing better examples before, and after being scammed so many times, his trust in Keyword Draws had already plummeted past zero!
[Keyword Gift]—also skip.
[Skill Downgrade]—combined with the one he already had, that totaled two.
While not as potent as [Keyword Detach], its effects were still reasonably effective. If ambushed by a powerful opponent, he wouldn't be entirely defenseless.
[Keyword Reset]? This is a whole new gameplay mechanic!
"Once you confirm the reset of a keyword, it will randomly change into another skill listing of the same series and tier..."
Kei read the description for [Keyword Reset] and blinked in surprise.
Not sure… let me give it another glance~
Wait a second...
Could this mean his White-Rank Skills might finally break free from mediocrity?
Hold on...
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