Chapter 228: Encounter
Mifune was a well-traveled man who had crossed blades with powerful ninja before. He had even fought one-on-one against the man known as the "Demi-God," Hanzō of the Salamander, and lived to tell the tale.
In that instant, he realized immediately—he had fallen under a genjutsu.
Though he wasn't a ninja, ordinary illusions from an average shinobi could not easily subdue him. Otherwise, he never would have been able to fight Hanzō to a standstill back then and survive under the "Demi-God's" hands.
After all, even the "Three Legendary Sannin" of Konoha together could only barely fight that man to a draw.
Which meant that this illusion the enemy had used was anything but simple.
His body could not move, yet his mind remained clear—this kind of terrifying genjutsu was something Mifune was experiencing for the first time.
Shocked, he demanded, "Who exactly are you?"
He locked eyes with Uchiha Madara, who was walking toward him step by step.
Madara clearly found such a boring question beneath him and didn't bother to answer.
Before long, he stood right before his target.
Seeing the unwillingness in Mifune's expression—struggling to resist yet utterly powerless—Madara changed his mind.
"Fine."
"Before you die, I'll tell you. My name is Uchiha Madara."
"Uchiha Madara?? You—you're that… Uchiha Madara?"
"You've heard my name, then? Good. Now obediently become my sacrifice for the Reanimation."
With that, Madara formed a shadow clone.
The clone immediately performed a modified version of the Impure World Reincarnation technique—on Madara's real body.
"Impure World Reincarnation!"
Before Mifune's stunned eyes, Madara's body rapidly broke apart and vanished.
Only a few seconds later, the same ash-like motes appeared in the air once more.
They quickly gathered together, condensing into Madara's form again.
But in return, Mifune's living body began to dissolve at alarming speed.
He could clearly feel his life force draining away.
That sensation—having his vitality stripped from him, yet being powerless to stop it—was an agony like no other.
Fortunately for him, it didn't last long.
In less than ten seconds, Mifune had completely dissipated, becoming dust scattered into the wind.
Where he had stood was now only a small mound of gray-brown soil—more fittingly described as ash.
The newly revived Madara calmly inspected his own palm.
Killing a stranger was nothing worth mentioning to him.
"Stronger than before, indeed… but still far from my power in life…"
"It seems the sacrifice this time was still not strong enough."
After murmuring to himself, he looked up at the distant sky.
Compared to his previous Reanimation, his strength was now about five times greater.
Still, it was not the result he wanted.
For now, though, there were no more suitable sacrifices for him to use, so he would have to settle for this.
"Are you going after Uchiha Dali again?"
Black Zetsu's clone appeared behind him.
"Not yet," Madara replied, offering no further explanation. His body rose into the air.
All he could think about was reclaiming his Rinnegan.
Until those eyes were back in his possession, he would not fight Uchiha Dali or the other strong Konoha ninja again.
Seeing him take to the sky, the Black Zetsu clone immediately sank underground, using Mayfly to follow closely.
He had no desire to let any more unexpected incidents occur.
…
In the true headquarters of Kara within a different dimension, Jigen—who had been resting—suddenly opened his eyes.
He had sensed Mifune's chakra signature vanish.
"Was he killed? Or…"
Sensing carefully again, Jigen confirmed that Mifune's chakra had completely disappeared.
There were only two possibilities: either Mifune had been killed, or he had been sealed away somewhere.
"What a useless man."
"Looks like I'll have to find a vessel myself."
Muttering to himself, Jigen stood.
His figure flickered—and he vanished from the other dimension.
The next second, he reappeared in the ninja world.
Almost immediately, he sensed a very distinctive chakra presence nearby—along with faint traces of Mifune's chakra still lingering in the air.
The two signatures weren't far apart, and they were in the same direction.
Without hesitation, Jigen shot forward.
Before long, he reached the spot where Madara had used Mifune as a sacrifice for the Reanimation. His gaze instantly fell upon the pile of ash on the ground.
One glance was enough—he knew it was Mifune.
The Ōtsutsuki clan's Kāma allowed them to convert all their biological information into data and store it digitally.
Given that principle, it was easy for Jigen to sense Mifune's residual DNA within the ash.
"So he was killed after all…"
He looked up toward the distant horizon.
That powerful chakra signature was moving away.
So that was the killer.
Jigen didn't think twice—he rose into the air, ready to pursue.
Of course, it wasn't to avenge Mifune.
A pawn like that could die as many times as fate allowed; it didn't matter.
What intrigued Jigen was that Mifune had died while searching for a suitable vessel for him.
If that was the case, then the killer might very well be the perfect vessel.
Even more interestingly, Jigen sensed that this powerful chakra carried his own Kāma—fully intact, no less.
"No matter how you managed to take that man's power or even his body, your actions were unquestionably foolish."
"You even absorbed my Kāma along with it… heh…"
With that murmur, Jigen's body rose into the sky.
Then, like a fighter jet entering supersonic cruise, he suddenly erupted with explosive force.
With a booming sonic crack, his body broke the sound barrier, leaving a shockwave in his wake as he streaked toward Madara's direction.
At the same time, Madara—flying toward the Land of Lightning, intending to bring trouble to the Cloud Village brutes—sensed the powerful pursuer coming up from behind.
Without a second thought, he halted in midair, crossed his arms, and turned to face the newcomer.
"An accomplice?"
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