Black close-fitting combat attire, layered over with red stacked armor plating.
And that familiar hedgehog-like head of hair.
"Uchiha Madara?"
The Rinnegan alone couldn't distinguish whether this was Uzumaki Nagato or Uchiha Madara. But the spiky hair gave it away.
Yet at this point in time, Uchiha Madara should have been dead.
Even if he hadn't died, he should have appeared in the withered form of an old man.
Edo Tensei?
Chen Yu frowned as the thought crossed his mind—but dismissed it immediately.
An Edo Tensei body would already be showing signs of decay, crumbling into dust. And beyond that, his Observation Haki could sense the overwhelming vitality radiating from this man. A reanimated corpse would never carry life force like that.
"Could it be..."
Suddenly, a conjecture surfaced in Chen Yu's mind.
He shifted his gaze to the man from before—the one who had radiated a feral, wolf-like wildness.
White hair. A black coat. Underneath, what appeared to be a suit.
"A God-Slayer—Sasha de Youngsdahl Voban?"
"A system? Main God Space? Or... a chat group?"
Chen Yu murmured this aloud while simultaneously addressing his system internally:
"System—how much energy do I have left? Can I activate the next world crossing?"
No matter what it was—a system, a Main God, or a chat group—he could not afford to dismiss the threat posed by the four individuals standing before him.
Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan had clearly been reactivated, his power restored. His strength fell just short of the Six Paths by the margin of a single Ten-Tails—though even that was the most generous estimate. In all likelihood, Madara had already stepped fully into the Six Paths realm, or surpassed it entirely.
Marquis Voban was the oldest God-Slayer from the God-Slayer World. Though his destructive output in the anime didn't appear particularly imposing, that meant nothing. God-Slayers were not weak. To Chen Yu, Voban remained a deeply threatening existence.
The other two he did not recognize—but they could very well be powerhouses drawn from some other franchise.
As for their objective, that was already abundantly clear.
They had come to hunt him—the crossover traveler.
All he could hope for now was that the energy reserves he had accumulated were enough to open another world crossing. If not, there was a very real chance he would die here today.
"What rotten luck."
Even after countless battles and trials in the One Piece World, Chen Yu had cultivated the unshakeable mindset of a sovereign. He would not be driven to fear by the strength of his enemies.
But if he had a choice between living and dying—who would willingly choose death?
"Ding. Host currently holds 70,000 energy points. An additional 130,000 energy points are required to activate a world-crossing opportunity."
"Ding. Please collect mysterious items in this world to exchange for energy points, Host."
The system's cold voice rang in his ear. He let out an unavoidable sigh, then turned his gaze back to Uchiha Madara and the others.
"Is there any possibility of negotiation?"
"No."
Marquis Voban's tone was ice.
Whether it was the task reward points, the 50% enhancement chance, or the rewards from recovering the Rule-Level item—he wanted all of it. Every last scrap.
"Then there's nothing to be done."
Chen Yu shook his head upon hearing Voban's answer. His expression sharpened into something hard and resolute.
No matter what, he had no intention of going down without a fight.
But at that very moment, a mysterious force acted upon his body. His eyes met Uchiha Madara's gaze directly.
The next instant, his entire being fell into a state of absolute vacancy.
"Ding. Unknown force detected interfering with Host. Initiating countermeasures."
"Ding. Countermeasures complete."
The system's voice sounded once more. In a single instant, Chen Yu's eyes snapped back to full clarity. He retreated a full hundred meters in one explosive burst.
"Genjutsu?"
"It seems a conjecture from a past life has proven true after all."
Naruto World genjutsu operated by controlling the five senses and disrupting chakra flow. Many had long speculated whether someone entirely devoid of chakra could even be affected by it.
This had originally been one of the directions he had planned to test.
"No—chakra is formed by combining life energy and spiritual energy. As long as one possesses either spiritual energy or life energy, that qualifies as having chakra in some form."
"But regardless of which it is, neither Observation Haki nor Conqueror's Haki freed me from the genjutsu's hold. Had the system not intervened, I might already be dead. It is precisely because of the system's power, however, that genjutsu is rendered ineffective against me."
"This is good news."
"The Infinite Tsukuyomi has failed. The Rule-Level item's protective effect on the spirit, perhaps."
Uchiha Madara was mildly surprised—though not to any great degree.
Had the opponent been unable to break free from the Infinite Tsukuyomi, that would naturally have been the better outcome, sparing them considerable effort. But even if he had broken free, it didn't matter in the end. It simply meant a little more work ahead.
"So—who's going next?"
Roxie Vale, after satisfying her initial curiosity by sizing Chen Yu up for a brief moment, quickly lost interest in him.
It wasn't as though she could beat him anyway. She was simply here to contribute what support she could.
Brandon White, for his part, was entirely indifferent. He still had one guaranteed-success enhancement opportunity in reserve—he would deploy it when the time was right. His strength had not yet come close to reaching its peak, and there was no reason to be greedy over this particular opponent.
Participating was sufficient. Nothing more.
Uchiha Madara and Marquis Voban exchanged a glance. Brandon didn't care—but they could hardly afford not to.
As though something had just occurred to him, Madara let the corner of his mouth lift, and said:
"You go first, Voban."
"If I make my move, you won't have a chance to participate at all."
Marquis Voban's expression turned cold in an instant.
"Your meaning is that I am not this man's equal?"
Uchiha Madara did not answer. But his expression already wore the answer plainly on its face.
"Heh."
Marquis Voban felt as though he might laugh from sheer indignation.
One defeat. A single defeat, and already Madara looked at him like this.
Who did he think he was dealing with?
He was the Most Ancient God-Slayer—Marquis Voban.
"After I cut him down, you had better not come crawling to me with regret."
With that, Voban rolled his neck and loosened his collar. He turned to Chen Yu and spoke in an unhurried, deliberate tone:
"Boy. You are the first crossover traveler to die at my hand. But you won't be the last."
"If you can manage it."
"BOOM—"
Flame and thunder collided in the air with a violent crash. Amid the thunderous roar, two figures launched into a brutal exchange.
"Are we just going to stand here and watch?"
Roxie Vale watched for a while, then rubbed her eyes and asked.
"You could choose to join in as well."
"If you don't mind Voban's fury."
Brandon said this with an easy calm.
Whether Voban could win remained to be seen—but if they joined now, it would read as a statement of distrust. A declaration that they didn't believe he could handle it on his own.
Even if it came from a place of good intentions, it would still carry that weight.
"Forget it, forget it. I'm just here to freeload on the assist."
"After the fight I'll patch him up. A one-percent sense of participation is all I need."
Roxie Vale waved her hand dismissively. From somewhere—no one quite saw where—she produced a bag of chips and a can of cola. She thought for a moment, then added a rocking chair to the mix, set it down on the ground, and settled into it. She munched on chips and watched Voban and Chen Yu tear into one another.
"Only at times like these do I realize just how convenient the Group Shop really is."
"It's basically a portable supermarket."
"The only downside is that everything costs points. Sometimes it just feels like a raw deal."
Roxie Vale lounged in the rocking chair and spoke with easy contentment.
(End of Chapter)