There was no doubt that if he had really escaped, it would have only worsened the conflict between Madara and Uchiha Tajima. Madara wasn't a fool—he understood that staying put was the only way to avoid escalating the situation. So, he remained confined for several days until Uchiha Tajima's anger subsided. Of course, Izuna played a big role in this. He had worked hard to plead for his older brother.
Over the past few days, whenever Su Xiuyu had free ti, he would visit Madara and subtly influence him with his "Grand Unified Theory." He wanted to prepare Madara, ensuring that if he ever encountered Black Zetsu at his lowest point, he would be able to resist its manipulation.
"Xiuyu! Let's go to the old place!"
Madara was still just a stubborn teenager at heart. The "old place" he ntioned was the riverbank, the sa spot where he had first t Hashirama and Su Xiuyu.
"Xiu Yu, I haven't sparred with you in a while. How about a match today? Let teach you how to properly use the Uchiha Sharingan."
It was clear that Madara had co with the mindset of a teacher, eager to pass down his knowledge.
"Fine, let's do this. I'm ready."
[System Notification]:
In your head-to-head battle with young Uchiha Madara, you find yourself at a disadvantage. Having only recently embarked on the path of becoming strong, you require further growth.
Mission:
Use Earth Release techniques as much as possible during the fight.
Feel the natural rhythm of the earth in combat and gradually awaken your affinity for it.
Gain mastery over Earth—one of the four divine bending arts from Avatar: The Last Airbender.
Reward:
Toph Beifong's earthbending talent.
Penalty:
No penalty for failure.
The damn system panel, which had been silent for months, finally spoke up again. This ti, it was offering the chance to grasp the rhythm of the earth. Toph's earthbending talent? Damn, I'd kill for that.
In his past life, Su Xiuyu had watched Avatar: The Last Airbender. In the show, Toph was a blind girl from a noble family. At first glance, she seed fragile and weak—her overprotective father certainly saw her that way.
But in reality, she was a natural-born genius in earthbending. Despite her young age, she could single-handedly defeat every elite earthbender who stood against her. Because she was blind, she had honed her ability to sense vibrations through the ground, making her practically untouchable in battle. She was even able to manipulate tal and sand with ease and could detect lies by feeling the subtle tremors in the earth.
If Su Xiuyu could reach that level of mastery, his Earth Release techniques would be unstoppable. Eventually, he could even refine his skills to manipulate tal, a perfect counter to Wood Release users.
No matter what, I have to give this my all.
"Earth Release: Rock Cannon!"
Su Xiuyu launched his attack first, spitting out a dozen pebbles from his mouth. As they soared through the air, they rapidly expanded into massive boulders, hurling toward Madara like cannonballs.
"Madara, this is a technique I developed myself! Be careful—each of these rocks packs serious power!" Su Xiuyu warned.
"Hmph, Xiuyu, do you take for a fool?"
Madara, clad in his red armor, drew his sword with a swift motion. With the Sharingan's dynamic vision, the incoming projectiles seed to slow down. With one precise swing, he sliced through them effortlessly, reducing them to rubble.
"As expected, warriors of the Warring States era have no obvious weaknesses in taijutsu, ninjutsu, or kenjutsu. Anyone with a flaw would have already died on the battlefield."
But Su Xiuyu wasn't discouraged—he knew that a single jutsu wouldn't be enough to defeat Madara.
"Earth Release: Earth Splitting Palm!"
Slamming his palm into the ground, he sent powerful tremors through the terrain, causing jagged rocks to erupt toward Madara.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Spear!"
Suddenly, a barrage of sharp stone spikes erged behind Madara.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
With a final burst, he fired a volley of solid rock projectiles at his opponent.
In just a few seconds, Su Xiuyu had unleashed three Earth Release jutsu back-to-back, depleting nearly half of his chakra.
"Not bad, Xiu Yu. But did you really think I wouldn't know Earth Release?"
Madara barely flinched.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Three massive walls of rock surged up, shielding him from every direction and blocking all of Su Xiuyu's attacks.
"Earth Release: Yellow Spring Swamp!"
Suddenly, the ground beneath Madara turned into a swamp. But before he could sink, he propelled himself upward, flipping over Su Xiuyu and appearing behind him in an instant.
The blade glead as it slashed down.
Su Xiuyu's head rolled.
But the body that collapsed onto the ground dissolved into mud.
"You used an Earth Clone. Not bad." Madara nodded approvingly. "Quick thinking—using a substitution jutsu so fast after casting three high-level techniques. You're worthy of the Uchiha na."
Su Xiuyu reappeared where Madara had been standing just monts before. "If I hadn't prepared the substitution ahead of ti, I'd be dead right now."
"Fire Release: Dragon Fla Song!"
Madara turned around and unleashed a powerful stream of fire. At the sa ti, he threw dozens of shuriken, their sharp edges trailing the flas.
Su Xiuyu had no choice but to defend.
"Earth Release: Return of Earth and Land!"
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Two layers of defense barely managed to block the barrage.
"Hahaha! Xiu Yu, you're too weak!" Madara laughed. "You have plenty of chakra and powerful techniques, but you don't know how to ti your attacks properly. And you still haven't mastered your Sharingan. Your close combat is trash."
In an instant, he closed the distance, striking down with his sword.
Su Xiuyu blocked with a kunai, but Madara's sheer strength overpowered him.
Madara ford a one-handed seal.
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"
A flaming dragon roared forward at point-blank range.
"Damn it! Earth Release: Hardening Technique!"
The flas slamd into Su Xiuyu, sending him flying. He barely managed to withstand the impact, but blood spilled from his mouth.
Before he could recover, Madara appeared behind him.
A paper bomb was slapped onto his back.
The explosion sent smoke billowing into the air.
When the dust settled, Su Xiuyu was sprawled on the ground, coughing up blood.
"Enough! Are you trying to kill ?!" he groaned.
Madara scoffed. "If I went all out, you'd be dead already. If you fought like this on the battlefield, you wouldn't last three days."
Su Xiuyu lay on the ground, panting. Despite everything, he had survived.
[System Notification]:
Mission barely completed—reward granted: Toph Beifong's earthbending talent.
Suddenly, knowledge flooded his mind. He could feel the earth beneath him, the faintest vibrations. He sensed Madara standing nearby, even felt the river flowing beside them.
So this is the rhythm of the earth? Damn... this is incredible.
Exhausted, Su Xiuyu closed his eyes and drifted into sleep.
Madara, watching him, let out a small chuckle. "Just like Hashirama... this idiot is completely out of sync with the Uchiha mindset."
With a sigh, he hoisted Su Xiuyu onto his back and carried him ho.
----
Two figures, their backs illuminated by the fading sunset, cast long shadows on the ground.
"It hurts—damn it, Madara!" Su Xiuyu groaned, jolted awake by a wave of pain. Unfortunately, being conscious only made it worse. His entire body was wrapped in white gauze like a damn mummy. He swore to himself—he'd get back at Madara one way or another. That bastard. Right now, there wasn't a single spot on his body that didn't ache, except for his head and face.
The wooden door creaked open, and a young man stepped in. He looked strikingly similar to Uchiha Sasuke from the future—there was no mistaking it. This had to be Madara's younger brother, Uchiha Izuna.
Su Xiuyu cursed internally. Great. Izuna must have heard what he just said about Madara. Getting caught badmouthing soone's older brother? That was embarrassing.
"Nice to et you. I'm Uchiha Izuna, Madara's younger brother," Izuna introduced himself. "Our clan leader is holding a eting, so my brother had to attend as the eldest son. He asked to stay behind and take care of you."
Yeah, he definitely heard , Su Xiuyu thought. This was awkward.
Izuna, however, seed unfazed. Maybe he was just trying to explain things on Madara's behalf.
"Thanks, I appreciate it," Su Xiuyu replied, brushing off his earlier embarrassnt. "I just hope your father doesn't give Madara too much trouble. Things were bad that day, and we didn't have many options—"
"You don't need to worry about that," Izuna cut in. "My brother already told —if it weren't for your help, Chisato would be dead. We owe you."
Izuna spoke with genuine gratitude, not a trace of the usual Uchiha arrogance in his tone.
"I've used our clan's best dicine on you," he continued. "You should be fine in a few days. But it's going to hurt—a lot. This honey-based redy works wonders, but the pain is part of the process. You should rest for a while longer."
Su Xiuyu finally understood why his body felt like it was being ripped apart—Madara had done this on purpose. The bastard knew how painful the treatnt was and still went through with it.
Screw it. If he was stuck in bed, he might as well take full advantage and rest properly.
For the next two days, Su Xiuyu stayed put, using the ti to refine his earth manipulation skills. As his second ability, he wanted to rge the earthbending techniques of Beifong Toph with his Earth Release jutsu. If he could perfect it, he might develop an even more terrifying Earth Release, one that could allow him to match Madara and Hashirama. His goal? Mastering jutsu without the need for hand seals.
Izuna, anwhile, stuck around, chatting with him about all sorts of things. He seed to be trying to get close to Su Xiuyu, but Su Xiuyu kept his guard up. He knew very little about the different clans during the Warring States period. If he slipped up and said sothing wrong, it could get awkward.
Finally, Madara showed up. "Su Xiuyu, you're awake. Good to see you."
Su Xiuyu raised a brow. "You say that, but you don't look all that happy."
Madara scowled, clearly not expecting that response. "Your injuries are healing well. Now, about what we discussed before—are you ready to go after the Blood Pond Clan? The Uchiha must avenge our fallen comrades."
Judging by Madara's determined expression, he had already made up his mind. He needed more battlefield experience, and this was his chance.
"You can't fight like that," Madara added, tossing a bundle at him. "Here's so proper Uchiha gear."
Inside was a set of armor similar to Madara's—dark red plates, a high-quality chakra tal sword, along with explosive tags, kunai, and shuriken.
Su Xiuyu inspected the gear. "Is that everything?"
"Yes. I have another eting to attend," Madara said before turning and walking out.
With nothing holding him back, Su Xiuyu decided it was ti to explore. Using the Body Flicker Technique, he slipped out of the Uchiha compound unnoticed.
Now that he wasn't completely helpless, he figured it wouldn't hurt to see more of the world. Before, he had been too weak to run around freely, but now? Things were different.
After a long stretch of traveling, thirst got the better of him. Spotting a secluded lake, he made his way over to drink so water. That was when he noticed a rare beauty nearby.
She stood by the lake, her striking red hair cascading over her shoulders. Her porcelain-like skin made her look almost unreal, and she seed to be a few years younger than him.
"Who's there?!" The girl spun around, eyes sharp with caution. She pulled out a kunai and pointed it straight at him.
"My bad, I didn't an to intrude," Su Xiuyu said quickly, raising his hands in a non-threatening manner. "I was just passing through and wanted a drink. I didn't expect to run into anyone here. Are you from the Uzumaki Clan?"
The girl's tense posture relaxed ever so slightly. "You guessed from my hair, didn't you?"
Su Xiuyu nodded. That, and the fact that her chakra signature felt ridiculously strong.
Unbeknownst to him, the girl had a natural ability to sense emotions. When she first saw him, she had been instinctively wary, sensing sothing dangerous about him. However, his words rang true—she could tell he wasn't lying. If he had been following her, his initial statent would have contained deception.
Su Xiuyu studied her face. There was sothing familiar about her, though he couldn't quite place it. Had he seen her before? No, that was impossible.
"Here," he said, tossing a small box toward her. "It's a dessert from my family."
The red-haired girl caught it, then smirked. "You didn't poison it, did you?"
Su Xiuyu blinked, caught off guard by her bluntness. "What? No! Why would I do that?"
The girl chuckled. "My mother always told never to accept food from strange n."
She stared at him, amusent dancing in her eyes, as if waiting to see how he'd react.
Su Xiuyu grinned. "Well, my mother told that the prettier a girl is, the more likely she is to lie."
The girl covered her mouth and laughed. It had been a while since she t soone this interesting. In the Uzumaki Clan, most people were either battle-hardened warriors or elderly scholars obsessed with sealing techniques. The kids her age were too afraid to go against the rules.
But this guy? He was different.
"I'm Su Xiuyu, a—let's just say—ninja. A traveler."
The girl smiled. "I'm Uzumaki Mito. You might have heard of , or maybe not."
Su Xiuyu's mind blanked for a second.
"What?" he asked, voice slightly higher than he intended.
"I said my na is Uzumaki Mito. Is sothing wrong?"
Su Xiuyu stared at her, his thoughts racing.
Taking a deep breath, he finally asked, "Just one thing—"
"Go ahead," Mito said, tilting her head. "Why are you suddenly so shy?"
Su Xiuyu hesitated for a split second before blurting out, "Uzumaki Mito... are you engaged?"
"Eh?!"
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