Uchiha Madara was intrigued by what Hirofumi Ito had just said, but let's be real—in his eyes, Hirofumi was still just a kid. A weak, pathetic kid at that, barely stronger than a wet paper towel.
Madara had his own plans, and even though Hirofumi had dropped that bombshell about him being played, he wasn't about to abandon his goals. Those dreams he shared with his old friend weren't something he'd toss aside lightly. If he could give up on his dreams that easily, he wouldn't be Uchiha Madara!
Still, this kid was worth keeping an eye on. The way he talked reminded Madara of himself when he was younger—same vibe, same audacity.
For a fleeting moment, Madara felt a strange connection, like he was looking at a younger version of himself. His lips curved into a faint, barely noticeable smirk. Without any further pleasantries, he grabbed some food from the table and started chowing down.
Hirofumi's mouth twisted into a lopsided grin. The Smirking Dragon King makes his grand return!
But just as Madara bit into a juicy pig's trotter, a voice echoed out of nowhere in the void.
Madara froze. That's my voice!
A sinking feeling hit him. Those words… they sounded way too familiar.
"…You think you can win me over with some fancy food? No way! Absolutely not! I'd rather jump off this villa, fall to my death, than eat a single bite of your food!"
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As the voice faded, Hirofumi shot Madara a teasing, almost smug look, watching him munch on the trotter.
Madara's face went through a kaleidoscope of colors—white to green, green to purple, purple to red, and back to white. Talk about a colorful meltdown!
"Damn! You! Brat!" Madara roared.
Hirofumi feigned shock, eyes wide. "Oh my gosh, where'd that voice come from?! So weird! And it sounds so familiar… wait a sec, I swear I've heard it before! Where, though? Madara, don't you think those words sound kinda familiar?"
Bang!
Madara hurled the pig's trotter away, though he clearly didn't want to—it was delicious.
"Kid!" he bellowed. "You want me to train you? Fine, let's do this! No more eating! Today, I'm gonna show you what real training looks like! You're about to learn what it means to train—what it really means!"
Madara knew he couldn't attack Hirofumi directly; that strange contract power would stop him. But as long as he didn't intend to kill the kid, the system wouldn't interfere. Teaching ninjutsu and taijutsu meant he'd have to get physical, right? Perfect excuse to rough this kid up a bit.
Heh heh heh heh heh! "Kid, today I'm gonna show you what it means to be the Asura of the Ninja World!"
Madara grabbed Hirofumi by the collar and dragged him outside to an open area near the villa.
Hirofumi, meanwhile, was thrilled. This was exactly what he'd been waiting for! Getting Madara to fight for him was a long shot, but the guy had already promised to train him. And judging by Madara's fury, he wasn't going to hold back.
Hirofumi could tell Madara was itching to "teach him a lesson" through this training. But Hirofumi didn't care. If it meant getting stronger, he'd take whatever Madara dished out. Getting beaten up by Uchiha Madara? Not embarrassing at all. Plus, with Indra's chakra in him, maybe getting pummeled would awaken his Sharingan!
Time to add some fuel to the fire.
"Madara, don't make me look down on you!" Hirofumi taunted. "You're supposed to train me, right? If I don't get stronger after all this, that's on you! The great Asura of the Ninja World can't be worse than some Chunin teacher at the academy, can he? I mean, Iruka-sensei's not the strongest, but he's damn good at teaching. You're not gonna lose to a Chunin, are you? That'd be hilarious!"
"Hmph!" Madara growled, his pride stung. "Kid, you watch yourself!"
A Chunin? That was nothing! Madara could wipe out a dozen of them with a single jutsu!
"In a ninja fight, you need to be fast, precise, and ruthless!" Madara declared. With that, he grabbed Hirofumi and tossed him into the air.
In the blink of an eye, Madara vanished. Before Hirofumi could even react, Madara was behind him.
Boom!
One punch. Just one punch. Hirofumi went flying.
Since Madara had no intent to kill, the system's power didn't stop him.
"Kid, your reflexes are pathetic!" Madara sneered. "Is this really all you've got? You're a complete failure! I've never seen anyone more useless than you! You're slower than a six-year-old Uchiha! Slow reactions, weak strength, terrible stamina—you're just bad! And you think you can unify the ninja world with this? Don't make me laugh!"
Madara was reveling in finally getting to put this annoying kid in his place, throwing verbal jabs left and right.
But Hirofumi? He was thrilled. Madara was actually training him, and since the system wasn't stopping him, it meant Madara had no intention of killing him. This was perfect!
Heh heh heh heh heh! The Smirking Dragon King was back in action!
"Madara!" Hirofumi shouted, grinning like a maniac. "Come on! Don't go easy on me just because I'm a delicate flower!"
Boom!
Hirofumi went flying again.
"Damn brat!" Madara barked. "Your expression is downright creepy! A ninja doesn't waste time with pointless moves or faces in a fight! That kind of nonsense will get you killed!"