Chapter 18

In the mountains, there are no markers of time, and one does not know the passing of years when the cold ends.

In a clearing in the forest, a young man dressed in black stood quietly, his long black hair flowing in the wind, revealing a handsome and exotic face, with two short swords tucked into his waist.

At this moment, he had his eyes closed, and a gentle breeze blew, causing a few leaves to fall before his eyes.

Swish!

The young man suddenly opened his eyes, and three tomoe appeared in his blood-red irises. He drew one of the swords, swung it lightly, and sheathed it again with a click. The leaves instantly split in half and fell to the ground.

"Ban, what are we having for dinner today?" A black cat jumped in front of the young man and spoke in a human voice.

"Do we still have the plant modification fluid?" The young man turned his head and asked.

"Alas, we ran out of it a while ago, and you haven't drawn any recently," the black cat sighed.

"What about the seeds from the Field Restaurant?"

"We don't have those either."

"Then let's have canned food!" The young man said helplessly.

"Alright!" The black cat pouted.

The young man walked deeper into the forest, with the black cat by his side. A ray of sunlight filtered through the trees, casting a desolate atmosphere on the young man.

The young man and the black cat were naturally Uchiha Madara and Cat Xiaoxian. Time flew by, and three years had passed in the blink of an eye. Madara had already reached the rank of Jonin and had recently opened his Mangekyou Sharingan with three tomoe. His strength was now vastly different from what it was three years ago.

Madara was now fully confident in his ability to fight against Senju Hashirama. If he used the hundreds of secret gadgets he had obtained over the past three years, he could easily defeat Senju Hashirama.

The two returned to their underground cave. What was once a simple cave now glowed with a golden light and was divided into several rooms for Madara's training. He had already adjusted the gravity regulator to five times the normal gravity.

After finishing lunch, Madara and Cat Xiaoxian lay on the sofa. Madara said to Cat Xiaoxian, "Xiaoxian, it's time for us to go back."

"Ah! Didn't you say a year ago that we should wait until you opened the Mangekyou Sharingan before going back?" Cat Xiaoxian was taken aback and asked in confusion.

"Mangekyou Sharingan!" Madara corrected her, smiling. "I originally planned to use the power of the secret gadgets to open my Mangekyou Sharingan. But over these three years, while my strength has greatly increased, and I've obtained many secret gadgets, none of them have helped me open the Mangekyou. So I don't want to wait any longer. I want to open the Mangekyou with my own power."

"Oh! When are we leaving then?" Cat Xiaoxian asked excitedly. The three years of cave life had made her, who was naturally active, feel bored and uninteresting.

Every day, Madara trained intensely, leaving her little chance to talk to him.

"Now!" Madara stood up from the sofa.

Over the past three years, he had trained tirelessly, waiting for this moment. It was time for the world to know Uchiha Madara.

Cat Xiaoxian put all the gadgets back into the fourth-dimensional space and looked at Madara, who was sitting on a rock. "Madara, everything is packed. What about the cave?"

"Leave it here. We might need it someday." Madara stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes.

After covering the entrance to the cave, Madara said to Cat Xiaoxian, "Xiaoxian, take out the 'bamboo dragonfly.'"

"Okay!" Cat Xiaoxian nodded and took out two 'bamboo dragonflies.' They were T-shaped, with a horizontal blade like a propeller and a small hole in the middle, into which a straight bamboo stick was inserted.

She handed one to Madara and placed hers on her head, pressing the switch. The bamboo dragonfly spun rapidly, and Cat Xiaoxian rose from the ground, hovering in mid-air.

[Bamboo Dragonfly]

Gadget Description: Contains an anti-gravity device. Place it on any part of the body, press the switch at the base, and the propeller will start spinning. Just think about the direction and speed of flight, and the brain waves will transmit the command to the computer, adjusting the propeller's speed accordingly. Effective time: 8 hours. Maximum speed: 80 km/h. When the battery runs out, it needs to be replaced.

Gadget Evaluation: I have special flying skills.

"This is a treasure, one of the most useful gadgets I've obtained in the past three years," Madara said, looking at the bamboo dragonfly in his hand.

He had obtained ten bamboo dragonflies in total, but he usually didn't use them because he couldn't buy the batteries they needed. For Madara, the bamboo dragonfly was a one-time use gadget. Once the battery ran out, it was useless.

He was in a hurry to return, so he used the bamboo dragonfly. Without the Rinnegan, flying could only be done with the bamboo dragonfly. With this, he could be invincible.

The bamboo dragonfly is an ancient Chinese children's toy. When played, the hands are rubbed together, and then released, the bamboo dragonfly flies into the sky. After spinning for a while, it falls back down. It is a very ingenious invention, and this simple yet magical toy once amazed Western missionaries, who called it the "Chinese Helix." In the 1930s, Germans invented the helicopter propeller based on the shape and principle of the bamboo dragonfly.

The secret gadget bamboo dragonfly is controlled by the user's brain waves. Just imagine the direction of flight, but don't think too hard, like when we walk without mentally reciting "turn right next." The bamboo dragonfly can immediately detect the user's thoughts, even through clothing, making it very convenient. New users might feel uncomfortable at first because the bamboo dragonfly starts flying as soon as it's turned on, causing panic. Besides staying calm, practice is needed.

Madara placed the bamboo dragonfly on his head, pressed the switch, and immediately floated up. He had used it a few times before, so although he wasn't fully proficient, he could handle the basic operations.

"The feeling of flying is amazing." Madara rose into the sky, looking down at the forest below, marveling.

"You've used it before, so why are you so surprised? Are we going or not?" Cat Xiaoxian flew beside Madara, giving him a disdainful look.

"Let's go!" Madara flew forward, finally leaving the forest where he had lived for three years.

Madara and Cat Xiaoxian flew through the blue sky, enjoying the beautiful scenery below, feeling refreshed and invigorated.

They soon reached a small river at the edge of the forest. Madara glanced at it, intending to continue flying, but suddenly his pupils contracted, and he stopped in mid-air.

"What's wrong?" Cat Xiaoxian also stopped and asked in confusion.

"That person!" Madara activated his Mangekyou Sharingan, and the blurry figure became clearer, revealing a young man with a bowl-cut hairstyle.

"It can't be him!" Madara muttered, a name coming to mind. He thought that his arrival in this world had changed some things, and while they might intersect, they wouldn't meet by the stream.

For the past three years, he had been training deep in the mountains, with no time for playing games like skipping stones.

"Xiaoxian, let's land ahead. I need to meet someone," Madara said to Cat Xiaoxian.

"Okay!" Cat Xiaoxian nodded, looking curiously at the figure by the stream.

;

Page flip AD starts

Page flip AD ends