Chapter 100: The Invading Uchiha Madara
Within a hundred-mile radius, the land was scorched red and barren, devoid of any obstacles. Franklin's feet pressed into the ground as he surged forward with astonishing speed. While rapidly absorbing spiritual energy to strengthen his cultivation, he kept close behind the Great Demon King Piccolo, maintaining a distance of only thirty to forty meters.
Seeing Son Goku chasing after them once again on his Nimbus Cloud, Franklin tossed all his senzu beans and valuable belongings toward him.
"Take these and wait for me three kilometers away. Once the clouds in the sky disperse, then you can come back."
Without hesitation, Goku nodded in agreement, immediately steering the Nimbus away. Franklin, however, continued to tail the Great Demon King Piccolo closely.
Realizing he couldn't shake Franklin off, Piccolo grew increasingly agitated. He tried to ascend higher, but the ever-growing thunderclouds above him made him too afraid to cross the invisible boundary.
"Brat, are you trying to drag me down with you? If you really want me dead, don't think you'll be any better off!"
Franklin didn't respond. He merely smiled silently, continuing to follow without a word. Seeing that expression, the Great Demon King Piccolo felt an unbearable sense of disgust, as though he'd swallowed a fly.
Just as he was about to speak again to threaten Franklin, the thunderclouds in the sky suddenly froze. The earth-shattering power within them vanished in an instant.
The abrupt change caused both of them to stop at once. The dark clouds above turned transparent, and when they looked upward, it was as if another world existed beyond that clear layer.
Centered on Franklin, the transparent clouds split apart like shattered glass. The next instant, they completely broke open, and a massive lightning sphere, several dozen meters wide, burst through the clouds and came crashing down toward them.
Seeing this, even Piccolo didn't dare to stay in the air any longer. He dropped down to the ground near Franklin.
"Brat, this can't possibly be your power! What the hell is that thing?"
Franklin chuckled. "You're right—it's not my power. This is my tribulation. And now… it's yours too. You're done for."
With a wave of his hand, Franklin summoned the golden lightning sigil of the Yang Thunder from his spiritual sea. Feeling its resonance with the thunder tribulation above, he infused it with spiritual energy, the power of lightning spreading throughout his body.
Seeing the shock and fear on Piccolo's face, Franklin smiled faintly and unleashed the golden lightning toward him.
Piccolo tried to dodge, but lightning's affinity and spread made evasion impossible. In the blink of an eye, his body was paralyzed where he stood.
Just as he struggled to resist, the seventh bolt of tribulation lightning detached from the heavenly sphere and came crashing down.
Franklin activated his lightning affinity—not to control the tribulation, but to separate the lightning covering his body, forming multiple layers of interception above him.
Meanwhile, the lightning connection extended toward Piccolo. With a deafening boom, most of the tribulation's power was redirected to him.
Piccolo's green skin turned completely black, his body charred through. The air filled with the smell of burning flesh.
A small portion of the lightning still struck Franklin. At the last moment, he thrust out his left arm—the entire limb was scorched black, yet still intact. This made Franklin's eyes brighten in realization of his body's strength.
The remaining tribulation energy within him was partly absorbed by the Yang Thunder, while the rest he guided outward.
The clouds above churned violently as the lightning sphere grew larger, as though enraged by Franklin's trickery. From it, two golden bolts split off simultaneously, striking downward.
Seeing this, Franklin rushed toward Piccolo's corpse, grabbed it, and hurled it into the twin bolts of lightning. In an instant, Piccolo's body was torn apart and vaporized into nothingness.
Witnessing the destructive power of the two bolts, Franklin's pupils contracted sharply. Pouring his spiritual energy into the Guardian Sword in his hand, he quickly formed a protective barrier around himself.
By the time his spiritual energy was almost completely exhausted, the two bolts of lightning had finally dissipated.
The ninth strike concluded, and Franklin exhaled deeply. He had just survived the heavenly tribulation for his spiritual breakthrough—his body's trial had yet to begin.
Looking up at the thunderball still hanging in the sky, Franklin knew this was only the beginning.
Just as he braced himself for the physical tribulation, his vision went dark. An intruder had entered his sea of consciousness.
Inside that spiritual space, Franklin found himself facing two figures—one was the Great Demon King Piccolo, and the other was Uchiha Madara.
Both souls were as large as his own. The malicious gleam in Piccolo's eyes made Franklin's heart sink as he silently considered his options.
"Relax, kid. I won't touch you," Madara said calmly. "At least you're human. This thing isn't even that. If you don't like him, I can kill him right now."
Franklin didn't believe a word of it.
Seeing the suspicion in his eyes, Madara didn't bother explaining further. With a flick of his hand, Piccolo's soul let out a single scream before shattering completely.
The released soul energy turned into pure essence that was directly absorbed into Franklin's consciousness space.
Franklin's eyes widened in shock, his vigilance skyrocketing.
"How did you do that? Your soul energy isn't much stronger than his. Why could you destroy him so easily?"
Madara shrugged. "Simple. He'd lost his body—he was just a remnant soul. Using it as a medium to invade your body had already drained almost everything he had left. If you wanted to, you could've crushed him yourself."
Hearing this, a thought flashed through Franklin's mind. "Then Yamcha… he was the medium you used last time to invade Piccolo?"
"You guessed right," Madara replied with a smirk. "When I first arrived in this world, I was in a ruined body, coexisting with him. Later, he was healed by those three brats. Unfortunately, he was too weak—killed instantly by Piccolo right after being unsealed. So I used his soul as a vessel to invade Piccolo instead.
"It's the same this time. Since you know so much—and you're far stronger than Piccolo—abandoning him to merge with you isn't a bad trade."
Franklin's eyes widened in disbelief. "Merge with me? That's impossible."
As soon as the words left his mouth, his will surged. Waves of spiritual force roared through his consciousness sea, crashing toward Madara.
Madara frowned, faint golden light flickering over his body. The oncoming waves were completely repelled.
"I possess the Six Paths Ninja Tools as protection. You can't harm me. Sharing memories and coexisting with me is your best option right now."