Chapter 318: Waiting by the Stump for a Rabbit
Crack!
A soft sound suddenly rang from Jigen's chest.
Jigen's brow furrowed. His originally wildly surging momentum immediately slowed.
His gaze circled Madara and Obito's faces before suddenly feeling this fight held no value whatsoever.
Clearly these two fools found the wrong person.
They sought the Sage of Six Paths—had absolutely no relationship with him, Otsutsuki Isshiki.
If the invaders were weaklings, casually killing them was killing them—nothing major.
But clearly, these two enemies before him weren't trash easily resolved. Couldn't eliminate them without paying some price.
This was completely unnecessary!
What he wanted was accumulating power, cultivating a "vessel" capable of bearing his full power sooner, using "Karma" for reincarnation—not showing bravery and fighting for petty gains in countryside small places like the shinobi world.
Even if these two Uchiha before him proved extremely capable—so what?
After a hundred years, still just dust and dirt!
Mere short-lived species—quarreling with them purely meant asking for suffering.
Thinking thus, Jigen's heart grew retreat intentions.
He deeply looked at the two enemies before him. His black eye fluctuated. A pitch-black spatial door appeared before him.
Jigen stepped through the door, instantly vanishing from the shinobi world.
"Don't flee!"
Madara furiously shouted loudly while charging over with Body Flicker. But he didn't understand space ninjutsu—completely unable to find Jigen's traces.
Conversely, Obito's gaze lightly swept through the air, finding some clues.
However, he said nothing to Madara. Only a spatial vortex appeared before him, swallowing his body inside too.
After entering alternate space, Obito followed that slight spatial fluctuation, soundlessly pursuing.
"Damn it!"
Madara just wanted deploying his full abilities, fiercely fighting Jigen to recover lost face. But the enemy actually turned tail and ran—completely not giving him revenge opportunities.
This made him extremely depressed—only feeling that stifled breath in his chest had nowhere to vent, suffocatingly uncomfortable.
"The leader fled?"
"What should we do?"
Jigen's subordinates watched helplessly as their own boss escaped, only leaving them here. They immediately were dumbfounded.
They'd just witnessed Madara's might—how dared they opposing him? Immediately turning to flee like frightened rabbits.
Madara's purpose this trip was the Sage of Six Paths hiding behind Jigen. Now Jigen fled—he didn't feel remaining trash could know the Sage of Six Paths' whereabouts, so he didn't plan continuing wasting time here.
He furiously stomped before turning to leave.
But before he could leave, an urgent voice rang behind him.
"Lord Madara, wait!"
Madara stopped and turned. He saw a shinobi rapidly running from inside the manor.
Previously battle aftershocks had already destroyed most of the manor's above-ground portions. This shinobi also bore wounds all over. But he didn't care at all—instead eyes shining while running toward Madara.
"Lord Madara, please stay and become our exchange's leader!"
"Our exchange ranks among relatively prosperous locations amid nearby islands. The vault contains countless treasures."
"As long as Lord Madara stays, we're willing to serve Lord Madara as master, presenting everything from the vault to Lord Madara."
Reminded by this person's words, those fleeing people immediately grew tempted.
These rogue ninja never had any loyalty concepts—always listening to whoever gave more benefits, or whoever had bigger fists.
Betrayal was merely routine.
The original boss was beaten and fled—meaning the new boss proved more formidable!
Then merely changing bosses meant interests on the island could still be guaranteed. Completely unnecessary fleeing here to wander the mainland like stray dogs running everywhere!
Everyone's gazes met briefly before immediately reaching unanimous agreement. They also stopped successively, beginning to swear loyalty to Madara.
"Correct, Lord Madara—please stay here!"
"That vault contains many treasures. We're willing to offer all to Lord Madara!"
"Lord Madara also needs subordinates serving in the shinobi world, right? Whatever needs you have, merely one command—we can help you accomplish it."
Only that shinobi previously inscribed with "Karma" differed from these rogue ninja.
He was a Kara Organization inner member—always valued by Jigen, cultivated like a trusted subordinate. Naturally his loyalty proved more faithful.
Seeing everyone betraying successively, he immediately grew furiously angry while roaring at them:
"What are you doing?"
"You want betraying Lord Jigen?"
"Don't forget Lord Jigen masters immortality techniques—a powerhouse ruling this island for centuries! How many people attempting to shake Lord Jigen's rule were eliminated by him?"
"He'll definitely return for revenge! People like Uchiha Madara will be driven from this island sooner or later!"
"Also, look—he's already a dead ghost! How could he possibly match Lord Jigen?"
Originally Madara fundamentally looked down on this rabble. Having White Zetsu handle matters would be done—weren't they a hundred times better than these fence-sitting people?
But hearing this person say Jigen would definitely return for revenge, his thoughts immediately changed.
If that Jigen truly operated here for centuries, he'd most likely be reluctant abandoning this foundation.
If unable to find Jigen's whereabouts, waiting here by the stump for a rabbit also proved a clever method!
Moreover, that fellow's shouted words proved extremely grating—making Madara very unhappy.
He wasn't someone soft-hearted like Senju Hashirama. Immediately his expression darkened before clapping both hands.
Amid earth's roaring sounds, a towering giant tree rose from the ground. Vines swung, stabbing this loud-mouthed fellow completely through before instantly draining marrow from bones, sucking this person into a human husk while hanging him in midair.
Others immediately startled. But hearts instead grew more submissive. They successively prostrated on the ground, loudly swearing loyalty.
That shinobi running from the manor seemed wanting to perform more before the new leader. He pointed toward the manor while loudly saying:
"Lord Madara, that vault was built underground—should still not be destroyed."
"The treasures inside—many were collected by original leader Jigen. Accumulated over these centuries, who knows how many good things exist."
"Besides ninja tools, secret technique scrolls and such treasures, quite a few are ancient secrets passed down."
"Supposedly, some are even things passed down from the Sage of Six Paths era."
"Would you like viewing them?"
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