The air trembled as copious amounts of Natural Energy was absorbed by Yuna and distributed between Kurama and her. While that was happening, Yuna opened the seal that blocked the energy she stole from the Juubi, increasing the energy flow even further.
Again and again, she broke through cultivation level after cultivation level, solidifying her cultivation instantly after every single one of them.
Yuna glanced at the sky, half expecting tribulation clouds to gather due to her ungodly cultivation speed, but nothing happened.
'Hee~ As expected, everything that happens below the level of an immortal is beneath the heaven's notice.'
[*Urgh* How do you have time for idle thoughts like that, I feel like my body is about to burst.]
'Hehe, how does it feel to be stuffed to the brim by me?'
[Shit, I walked straight into that.]
A few minutes later, the onslaught of Natural Energy stopped due to everything in the surroundings getting sucked dry. By now, the density of the Natural Energy in the air had more or less returned to normal.
'Well, Kurama, how did it feel? What was it like to finally experience the true glory of using proper technique names?'
[*Urgh* I feel disgusted with myself, but somehow... well... mhh~]
'Hehe, good, come and join the right side, Kurama.'
[*Sigh* Might as well do this. *Ding* Congratulations, Individual: Kurama has reached 100% corruption. Title: Ultimate Corrupter has been awarded.]
'HAHAHAHA!!!'
Meanwhile, a few minutes earlier, Naruto and the rest of the gang were facing Madara with severe expressions on their faces, while Madara eyed them with indifference.
Madara's eyes wandered over the gathered people and quickly analyzed them. First, his gaze landed on Naruto, but he averted his eyes from him rather quickly since he had already fought him. He knew what Naruto was capable of and that he could at least cause him a bit of trouble, but he wasn't too worried about him at the end of the day.
Next, Madara's eyes landed on Anko, causing him to frown. He could easily tell that Anko was using Natural Energy, but the way she used it was very different from the way he knew. The problem with using Senjutsu is that it will be influenced by the environment you are in. For example, if someone were to use a Sage Mode that was aligned with fire, it would become significantly weaker when used on an ocean.
Due to the Rinnegan, Madara could tell that Anko was aligned with fire, and since they were inside a desert, the compatibility wasn't that bad. However, from what he could tell, the Natural Energy Anko used was perfectly aligned with her own chakra, which should be impossible.
'Did she store it somehow and absorb it in a moment of need? No, that should be impossible. After all, Natural Energy can't be stored inside seals.
Madara also noticed the snake hanging off Anko's body, and he couldn't help but be surprised by it.
'The fact that I have never seen that species aside, how in the world did she manage to make such a deep bond between the snake and herself? The only clan that can form such a deep bond with their shinobi animals is the Inuzuka clan. However, developing a bond with a dog and creating one with a snake are two completely different matters. While dogs tend to be inherently loyal, snakes are pretty much known for the opposite. Interesting.'
Next, Madara's eyes landed on the Lee, Guy combo. Although his eyebrows twitched a little due to their weird looks, he decided to ignore that for now.
'Let's see. their chakra level is nothing special, and as far as I can tell, they don't have any unique bloodline either. Maybe... Taijutsu?
In my current state, only Senjutsu and Taijutsu can hurt me, so that might be their specialty. However, considering how little pressure those two give off, I can only think of a single technique that might make them dangerous for me: The Eight Inner Gates.'
Madara's eyes shone when he thought of that technique. No matter how often he claimed that he was fighting for world peace, he was not someone that could say no to a good fight. Facing the Eight Inner Gates Formation was something he truly wanted to experience.
'I doubt the younger one can open too many gates. Three, maybe four, I guess, so he is no threat. However, the older one... could he possibly open all eight of them? I'm looking forward to this.'
Finally, Madara's eyes landed on Kakashi, but honestly, he wasn't too interested in him. Well, that wasn't entirely true since Kakashi's Sharingan would allow him to follow Obito and collect his missing eye. Aside from that, the only technique Kakashi had that could hurt him was the Kamui, but Madara didn't believe for even a second that a non-Uchiha could use that technique fast enough to it the current him.
In addition to these five people, Madara constantly felt another pair of eyes on him, but he simply couldn't locate the owner. His body stilled for a moment as he closed his eye to sharpen his sense to the limit. A short moment later, a sneer appeared on his face as he decided to ignore the sixth person.
'Pah, I know the feeling of that gaze. The Byakugan. Guess some random Hyuuga is observing me from a few kilometers away, huh? I'll go and kill them as soon as I'm done with this bunch.'
A few seconds earlier, Hinata was sitting deeply hidden in the shadows around 20 meters away from Madara, her gaze wandering from one vital point to the next.
Suddenly, she felt Madara trying to find her location, so she carefully spread chakra through her whole body, causing her heart to temporarily stop beating while her blood stopped flowing. In this state, not even Yuna could find her.
Additionally, she activated her Byakugan and directed an unfocused gaze at Madara, making it look like she was far away. Madara Uchiha was a war veteran who went through countless battles, so he was undoubtedly used to being observed with a Byakugan and numerous other methods. Just knowing how you were monitored was already a massive boon in battle, so Hinata did not doubt that Madara had that kind of skill.
And, as she expected, Madara quickly stopped bothering about the additional observes while a disdainful sneer appeared on his face.
Seeing Madara's arrogant facial expression, Hinata couldn't help but lick her lips in excitement while a wide grin appeared on her face.
'Haa~ I know my Yuna is showing, but I wonder what it feels like to assassinate the legendary Madara Uchiha~'
***Author Note***
Powerstones... *poke*, *poke*
***End of Author Note***