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"Grrr… AAAAAARGH!"
A low, strained roar tore from Madara Uchiha's throat. Every feature on his face contorted with effort. Manipulating the Gedo Statue without his Rinnegan was clearly taking a massive toll.
What a shame. If it weren't for the system reward, summoning the Senju brothers right now might actually finish Madara off.
Chiba shook his head inwardly. He began cooperating, helping Madara seal the tailed beast chakra one by one.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
After Madara exerted every ounce of his strength, the Gedo Statue's colossal maw slowly creaked open. A faint, tendril-like stream of attractive chakra extended out, reaching for the equally weakened tailed beast chakra nearby.
It strained. Pulled. Tugged.
Nothing moved.
With a frustrated grunt, Madara had no choice. He glanced at Chiba. "Chiba. Help me."
"Right."
Following Madara's guidance, Chiba landed on one of the statue's massive fingers. He shouldered a portion of the burden.
WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!
The attractive chakra solidified, growing more potent. Finally, streams of tailed beast energy flowed smoothly into the statue's waiting mouth.
Once all nine portions were devoured, the Gedo Statue's jaws slammed shut. Its titanic form began to tremble, a deep vibration rumbling through the earth as it started synthesizing the power of the Ten-Tails.
"Mmmh…"
Soon, a torrent of pure, potent life force flooded Madara's withered body. It was so revitalizing, so exquisite, he couldn't suppress a groan of pure pleasure.
"Senior Madara, allow me to treat you!"
Chiba's eyes lit up. Finally. This was the moment he'd worked so hard for, collecting all that scattered chakra.
SWISH!
He leaped down from the statue, landing beside the ancient Uchiha. His hands came to rest on Madara's shoulders, glowing with medical chakra.
ZZZT—ZZZT—
Chiba funneled his own chakra into Madara's system. But he wasn't just using his own power. He was guiding, steering, the Ten-Tails' energy now flowing into Madara, using it as the ultimate fuel for his medical ninjutsu. He stimulated cell activity, forced regeneration.
And with each circuit the energy made through Madara's body, a tiny, almost imperceptible strand… stayed behind. Diverted. Flowed into Chiba himself.
This brat. He's stealing the Ten-Tails' power right under my nose. Madara shot him a sidelong glance. Hmph. Let him have his scraps. He's still useful.
Madara's body was a ruin. Even with the Ten-Tails' power mending it, restoring his flesh from the brink of decay was a monumental task.
…
The treatment lasted three full days.
Madara's hay-like white hair fell out in clumps. In its place sprouted a wild, spiky mane of jet black. His desiccated, wrinkled skin peeled away like a serpent's shed, revealing fresh, taut skin beneath.
To the naked eye, Madara had shed twenty or thirty years. He now looked like a man in his vigorous forties.
The system judged the job complete. Even if his "life support" were cut now, Madara would survive. The reward chimed in Chiba's mind.
[Ding! Treatment successful. Host awarded: "Uchiha Bloodline (Strong)", "Mangekyō Sharingan"!]
A wave of warmth surged through Chiba. It remolded his optic nerves, supercharged his bloodline.
With the Uchiha bloodline enhanced, the three powerful lineages within him—Senju, Uzumaki, and now Uchiha—achieved a more perfect, stable equilibrium. His body underwent another qualitative leap.
As descendants of Asura and Indra, the Senju and Uchiha bloodlines inherently carried fragments of their progenitors' power. They simply weren't as vast or pure as in chakra reincarnates like Madara or Hashirama.
Now, catalyzed by the system and stimulated by the Ten-Tails' energy, Chiba too had acquired the "seed" of the Power of All Creation. Perhaps in a few decades, he could awaken the Rinnegan naturally, just like Madara.
"Damn it… Just a piddly Mangekyō Sharingan? No Rinnegan?" Chiba closed his eyes, sensing the changes within, a flicker of dissatisfaction crossing his mind.
Madara was already brushing against the threshold of the Six Paths. That practically made him a Six Paths-level powerhouse. And curing him only netted a Mangekyō? The system was getting stingy.
System: […]
"But the good news is I don't need to sacrifice Nawaki anymore. And the physical boost from the bloodline upgrade is better than expected. Overall, still a win."
He was basically a budget, cut-rate version of Hashirama plus Madara now. In a straight fight, he should be able to hold his own against either of them in their prime.
"Right! Gotta check what my Mangekyō abilities are!"
After his little mental victory lap, Chiba finally remembered the main event. He eagerly pulled up the system interface, commanding it to explain his new eyes.
["Izanagi (Left Eye)": Consume visual prowess to reset the user's physical state. Cost varies with severity of injury. When visual prowess is exhausted, the eye temporarily reverts to the Three Tomoe Sharingan.]
"Holy shit… A permanent Izanagi? I knew you wouldn't let me down, System-bro!"
Chiba practically drooled. No time limit. No need to sacrifice the eye. Just burn visual prowess to stay in a state of permanent super armor? This wasn't a skill—it was pure, unadulterated cheat codes.
If he'd had this back in the Chūnin Exams finals? He'd have steamrolled everyone.
System: […]
"If the left eye's this broken, the right eye can't be bad. Let's see…"
["Izanami (Right Eye)": Consume visual prowess to reset another's physical state. Cost varies with severity of injury. When visual prowess is exhausted, the eye temporarily reverts to the Three Tomoe Sharingan.]
"(òwó?)! The hell?!"
Chiba's brain short-circuited.
The left eye was a god-tier support skill for himself. He'd assumed the right eye would be some devastating offensive power. Instead… he'd become a walking med-nin?
"Ermmm… Because I'm always thinking about saving lives, both my Mangekyō abilities are related to 'recovery'?"
When he put it like that, it made a twisted sort of sense. Chiba could only pinch his nose and reluctantly accept the second ability. It wasn't like he had a choice.
If he could freely pick? He'd take Kamui and Kotoamatsukami in a heartbeat.
"Whatever. Actually, healing someone just by glaring at them… that's pretty badass too," he consoled himself.
The right eye's power might not be directly combat-oriented, but the enhanced, spammable Izanagi in his left eye was the real deal. With his margin for error skyrocketing, his overall combat effectiveness had just jumped by at least thirty percent.
Hmph. It seems this boy Chiba has gained quite a bit as well.
Madara was busy reveling in his own renewed vitality. He noted Chiba's heightened aura but dismissed it. The boy had absorbed a fair bit of Ten-Tails' energy; some improvement was expected.
"My peak power isn't fully restored… but it is more than enough to deal with the insects crawling over this pathetic world."
Madara clenched his fists. He felt the blood pumping, the strength coursing through rejuvenated muscles. A fierce, burning excitement ignited in his chest. "Are you ready, Chiba? To join me in trampling this ninja world underfoot!"
"The lands available for conquest in this world are pitifully small… but I suppose they're enough for the two of us to play with! HAHAHAHA!"
Facing the cackling Madara Uchiha, Chiba didn't answer immediately. A flicker of something dark, something calculating, passed through his newly awakened eyes.
The reward was secured. Now he had a choice to make.
Keep using Madara to siphon more Ten-Tails' power?
Or cut his losses and eliminate the legendary Uchiha for good?
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