Uchiha Madara found it somewhat unbelievable—he had never encountered such a situation before.
While maintaining his optimal combat state, he had been silently followed by another ninja, even allowing the opponent to infiltrate within ten meters of him without the slightest awareness.
You must understand that Uchiha Madara was someone extremely confident in his own abilities, and it was precisely against this backdrop of confidence that Yūshin's extraordinary stealth capabilities stood out.
Madara was stunned momentarily, then without showing any reaction, turned his head back and continued walking forward.
If Yūshin wasn't within his field of vision, Uchiha Madara had absolutely no perception of him. This first triggered his extreme vigilance, then his extreme interest... Of course, he didn't feel he was in any danger, but he was very curious about how Yūshin managed this.
"Is he there, or not anymore?"
After walking forward for some distance, Uchiha Madara tried to make a judgment, but the information collected within his sensory range didn't support him reaching the correct conclusion at all.
So he turned to look behind him again.
Yūshin was indeed still behind him, though the distance between them seemed to have increased somewhat.
Uchiha Madara continued forward, thinking about how Yūshin achieved complete "invisibility" beyond optical stealth, while speculating why the other party kept following him.
He couldn't possibly want to deal with me, could he? Uchiha Madara found this thought rather amusing.
A frog in a well? An ant trying to topple a tree? A mantis trying to stop a chariot? Not knowing one's place?
A whole basket of similar phrases could be pinned on Yūshin.
But even though he felt Yūshin was somewhat overestimating himself, Uchiha Madara still wanted to continue this game of "Red Light, Green Light."
He continued forward, but no matter how much Uchiha Madara enhanced his focus and sensory abilities, he still couldn't detect Yūshin's traces. Just as he was preparing to look back again, he suddenly sensed something unusual behind him.
The back of his neck detected faint breathing—it seemed someone was pressed against his back like a vengeful spirit!
This wasn't Yūshin making a mistake; he was deliberately giving a warning.
Uchiha Madara felt his hair stand on end. In an instant, he swung his arm horizontally and twisted his body clockwise, launching an incredibly swift elbow strike toward his back.
The armor plates he wore made slight metallic friction sounds with his movement, immediately followed by a violent impact sound.
Bang!
Yūshin raised his forearm and directly blocked Uchiha Madara's elbow.
With one strike, Yūshin's form didn't move an inch, while the massive recoil actually made Uchiha Madara's body tend to lean forward.
Madara stepped forward half a step with his left foot, using his left leg as an axis and borrowing this force to instantly change his body's rotation to counterclockwise. Simultaneously, his left hand gripped a kunai in reverse, tracing a semicircular killing trajectory toward his back while his body changed from facing away from Yūshin to facing him.
The kunai naturally didn't achieve a hit, but this was originally Uchiha Madara's feint.
After turning around, he suddenly drove his knee upward in his most skilled attack posture, aiming for Yūshin's abdomen while pressing down on Yūshin's shoulder with one hand to force his upper body down.
However, Yūshin's body didn't move at all. At the same time, as if he had anticipated Uchiha Madara's attack pattern, he pressed down on the opponent's right knee with one hand!
Blocking this strike wasn't the end. The next moment, he reversed the situation completely—massive amounts of steam erupted from his body, and his shoulder, elbow, and wrist exerted force in sequence. Like dribbling a ball, he directly batted Uchiha Madara's attacking leg back along its original path.
Boom!
Uchiha Madara's leg slammed down on the street's stone slabs, directly pulverizing them into powder. Spider-web cracks spread outward from his foot as the center, instantly spanning the entire street.
Several unlucky passersby were immediately knocked about by the impact.
Uchiha Madara felt the surrounding heat, then looked at the steam rising from Yūshin's body. The surprise on his face could no longer be concealed:
"Kekkei Genkai... Boil Release?"
Yūshin thought to himself that Uchiha Madara was indeed well-informed—even such an obscure Kekkei Genkai couldn't escape his eyes.
"Yes. Have you encountered it before?"
"Never seen it, but I've heard of it... Why have you been following me?"
"Nothing much. You bought so many ninja tools, I forgot to tell you we're running a promotional campaign, so I wanted to ask if you'd like some free gifts."
"I don't need them. That's not what you really wanted to say, is it?"
Yūshin had both followed and attacked—how could it possibly be about free gifts?
"Fine. I just wanted to say something very simple that you surely understand: Uchiha aren't omnipotent, and we're not worthless either. So if we can get along amicably, it's best to maintain amicable relations."
"Is this intimidation or a warning?"
"Just simple communication. You're being overly tense."
Ninja of Uchiha Madara's caliber often respond to soft approaches rather than hard ones. Yūshin's words instead made him feel this was a form of arrogance. Just as he was preparing to use his strength to correct Yūshin's perception...
Yūshin and Uchiha Madara almost simultaneously turned to look toward the eaves on one side, where a white fox with a somewhat square face was looking down at them from above.
The white fox appeared languid, its tail swaying absently behind it, its gaze carrying a hint of curiosity and inquiry.
Uchiha Madara quietly withdrew the palm pressing on Yūshin's shoulder.
"I understand your meaning."
Leaving behind these words, Uchiha Madara glanced at that fox once more before preparing to leave.
But immediately after, he stopped again and asked Yūshin:
"Speaking of which, I still don't know your name."
"Yūshin."
Madara nodded, as if saying he'd remember this name.
"I'm Madara."
Then he turned and left, soon walking out of Kikyō Castle's gates.
This time, Yūshin didn't follow him again.
Uchiha Madara, skilled in combat, was equally afraid of the ultimate move commonly known as "calling for backup."
After quickly leaving Kikyō Castle, Uchiha Madara saw no one around and finally couldn't help but start lightly patting his right leg, because after Yūshin's merciless pressure, his leg was still somewhat numb.
The kind of numbness where even stomping doesn't help.
Undoubtedly, in that brief conflict, Madara was actually the one who suffered.
After some rough muscle relaxation, Uchiha Madara finally returned to normal. Only then did he exhale deeply and murmur in a low voice:
"My genjutsu didn't seem to take effect..."
After realizing Yūshin had the status of "clan leader" or "chief," during that very brief contact period, Uchiha Madara had used genjutsu on Yūshin more than once, yet none of these techniques had been effective.
Although Uchiha Madara hadn't activated his Sharingan, the opponent's complete "genjutsu immunity"—wasn't that a bit unreasonable?
If Yūshin knew his thoughts, he'd definitely scoff.
Knowing you're an Uchiha with ill intentions, wouldn't I guard against your genjutsu?
Do you think I'm a pig?
One could only say neither should criticize the other—both men had rather dark minds.
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