c2: The Snake Man in the Desert
The vast, boundless desert was scorched relentlessly by the blazing sun.
Under the harsh sunlight, the endless sand dunes reflected waves of heat that distorted the air itself, turning the surrounding landscape into a trembling mirage.
In one remote region of the desert, dozens of fully armed snake-men were scattered across the sands.
Their upper bodies resembled humanoid warriors, but from the waist down their bodies extended into thick serpentine tails that left winding trails across the sand.
Each of them tightly gripped long poisoned spears.
Their cold vertical pupils glimmered with a predatory sharpness as they carefully surveyed every inch of the surrounding desert.
Any creature that was not a member of the snake-man race would immediately become their prey.
Once discovered, such intruders would suffer a swift and merciless slaughter.
This particular snake-man squad moved in coordinated patrol shifts.
Their bodies slithered across the sand with practiced ease, leaving behind long, winding tracks formed by their heavy snake tails.
The group advanced slowly while maintaining formation, their eyes constantly scanning the surrounding dunes for any suspicious movement.
"These damned humans… how dare they trespass so brazenly into the depths of the desert!"
"If we capture them, we will make them experience the agony of being devoured alive by thousands of venomous snakes!"
Under the scorching sun, a snake-man who appeared to be the leader wiped the sweat from his brow and cursed with a sinister expression.
Unlike the others, his body was covered with darker scales, and his presence clearly carried the authority of someone used to commanding others.
"Captain, what exactly happened? Why has the tribe suddenly entered such a strict state of alert?" one snake-man asked.
He flicked his long tail impatiently while sweeping his sharp gaze across the empty desert in front of him.
Being forced to search through the desert during the most intense heat of midday was not an easy assignment even for creatures that were naturally adapted to the desert environment.
Hearing the question, the dozen or so snake-people nearby also turned their attention toward the leader.
Most of them were ordinary warriors with relatively low status within the tribe, so none of them had been informed of the actual reason behind this sudden large-scale patrol.
Their eyes were filled with curiosity and unease.
"Hmph! You fools don't even know something this important?"
The snake-man captain snorted coldly.
"Last night, a group of extremely powerful humans forcefully broke through the defensive perimeter of the Enchanting Serpent Tribe and entered the deeper regions of the desert."
"According to the intelligence sent by the Enchanting Serpent Tribe, that group of human experts contains one Dou Huang level powerhouse, three Dou Wang level fighters, and several Dou Ling experts."
As he spoke, the captain's already sinister face grew even darker.
Such a lineup of human experts entering the desert was definitely not normal.
One Dou Huang and three Dou Wang?
The moment those titles were spoken, the expressions of the surrounding snake-men changed drastically.
Even the more experienced warriors could not hide the shock in their eyes.
Such terrifying strength was not something an ordinary patrol force could handle.
Was the human empire preparing to wage war against the snake-people tribes?
Among the many snake-man tribes scattered across the desert, only the temple located at the very center of the desert where their supreme ruler resided possessed the strength to directly confront a Dou Huang level powerhouse.
Aside from the royal temple itself, none of the eight great snake-man tribes possessed the ability to independently resist such an overwhelming force.
"All snake-man tribes throughout the desert have already been placed under martial law," the captain continued in a low voice.
"According to the information I received earlier this morning, the leaders of the eight major tribes have already received orders personally issued by Her Majesty the Queen."
"They are currently rushing toward the royal temple located in the central region of the desert."
"If they travel at full speed, they should arrive before nightfall."
When the captain mentioned Her Majesty the Queen, the previously sinister expression on his face instantly transformed into one of deep reverence and almost fanatical devotion.
For every snake-man living in the desert, the Queen was not merely a ruler.
She was the supreme symbol of the entire race.
None of the snake-men noticed that at that very moment, far away across the desert dunes, a faint chakra presence was silently approaching their patrol position at an extremely high speed.
The presence moved across the sand like a sudden storm.
It was Madara Uchiha.
The legendary shinobi who had once stood at the pinnacle of the ninja world and who had become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki during the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Using his vast sensory perception, Madara had already detected this group of life signatures from more than a kilometer away.
The orderly formation of the group, combined with the strong energy fluctuations within their bodies, clearly indicated that these creatures possessed intelligence.
And intelligent beings meant information.
Madara crossed the scorching desert like a crimson meteor, chakra erupting beneath his feet as he accelerated forward.
Within only a few seconds, the distance between him and the snake-man patrol squad rapidly shrank.
The first inhabitants of this new world that Madara Uchiha would encounter were about to appear before him.
"Once three leaders reach the temple, Her Majesty the Queen will order a thorough search. So what if they have a Battle Emperor? Since they dare to provoke our snake-people, we will show them what it means to overestimate oneself." The leader sneered coldly.
Suddenly, the leader's sharp vertical pupils contracted.
A figure was rushing toward them across the desert at incredible speed, kicking up a long trail of sand behind him.
"Human tracks detected."
"Prepare for battle," the leader immediately ordered.
Although Uchiha Madara was not deliberately releasing large amounts of chakra at this moment, his physical strength alone was already terrifying.
Even without using ninjutsu, the body of a shinobi who had become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki possessed monstrous power, enough to overwhelm opponents through sheer physical ability.
In the Fourth Great Ninja War, Madara had easily dominated entire divisions of shinobi, and even the massive tailed beasts were nothing more than tools of war in his eyes.
His movement speed alone rivaled the high-speed Body Flicker Technique used by elite shinobi.
Within only a few moments of the snake-man leader spotting him, Uchiha Madara had already arrived directly in front of the group of snake-people.
"What exactly are you?"
Madara Uchiha frowned slightly when he saw the dozens of snake-men standing before him.
Their upper bodies resembled humanoid warriors, yet their lower halves were clearly serpentine.
Was this world filled with strange beast races and hybrid creatures?
Since arriving in this world, the only creatures he had encountered were the desert scorpion from earlier and now these strange snake-men.
None of them were ordinary humans.
Such a situation would have been almost impossible in the ninja world.
In the shinobi world, humans dominated every major nation and village.
The rulers of that world were shinobi.
Even the strongest beings such as the Nine Tailed Beasts entities born from the chakra of the Ten-Tails and divided by Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki were still ultimately beasts rather than rulers of civilization.
In Madara Uchiha's eyes, even those legendary tailed beasts were merely powerful animals that could be controlled through strength.
In short,
the current situation of this strange world made him feel slightly displeased.
"A mere Douzhe dares to act so arrogantly here? Who gave you the courage?"
"Let this human witness the terror of the snake-men!" The leader of the snake-men shouted fiercely.
At first, he had been somewhat wary because of Madara Uchiha's frightening movement speed.
However, after sensing the faint energy fluctuations around Madara and mistakenly judging that his strength was only at the level of an ordinary Douzhe, the snake-man leader immediately regained his confidence.
After all, he himself was a Great Dou Shi.
In his eyes, the weak flickering power of a Douzhe was nothing more than a candle compared to the bright moonlight of a Great Dou Shi.
Madara Uchiha frowned slightly when he heard these strange words.
"I ask you again," Madara said calmly.
"Where is this place? What exactly are you? And which faction do you belong to?"
"Go to hell, human!"
The leader of the snake-men completely ignored Madara's question.
With a sudden burst of power, he threw the poisoned spear in his hand forward.
A sharp whistling sound cut through the air as the spear shot forward like an arrow.
At the same time, the leader's Great Battle Master–level battle aura erupted violently.
He intended to kill Madara Uchiha in a single strike.
Madara Uchiha's eyes narrowed slightly, and his gaze instantly became much colder.
"It seems you still fail to understand."
"I was not negotiating with you."
The moment the spear approached, Madara raised one hand casually.
His fingers closed around the incoming weapon with effortless precision.
The momentum that should have pierced straight through a human body stopped completely within his grasp.
Then, with a slight movement of his arm, Madara unleashed an overwhelming amount of physical strength.
The spear instantly flew back at an even faster speed than before.
The snake-man leader only had time for his pupils to shrink in shock.
In the next instant, the spear pierced straight through his body.
A large amount of blood immediately burst out from the wound.
Many of the scales covering his body cracked apart as blood rapidly stained them crimson.
"You… who exactly are you?!"
"You are clearly only a Battle Master… how can you possess such terrifying strength?!" the snake-man leader shouted in disbelief and terror.
"You cannot even provide me with amusement."
Madara Uchiha had already lost interest.
Without wasting another second, he stepped forward and appeared directly in front of the snake-man leader with speed comparable to the Body Flicker Technique.
Madara's originally dark eyes suddenly changed.
First they transformed into the crimson pattern of the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Immediately afterward, the crimson color faded, replaced by the purple ripple-patterned eyes of the Rinnegan.
One of the Six Paths abilities activated instantly.
The Human Path.
Madara reached forward and placed his hand upon the snake-man leader.
In an instant, he forcibly extracted and read the memories stored within the creature's soul.
During the process of soul extraction, the snake-man leader's eyes rolled back and turned completely white.
His body twitched violently as his consciousness was forcibly stripped away.
When the other snake-men saw their squad leader defeated so easily, panic immediately spread through the group.
"The captain is dead!"
"Run!"
The remaining snake-men scattered in every direction like frightened birds.
But by that time, Madara had already finished reading the leader's memories.
Madara slowly raised his right hand and aimed it toward the fleeing snake-men.
The power of the Deva Path activated.
"Banshō Ten'in."
A terrifying gravitational force erupted from his palm.
The escaping snake-men were instantly dragged backward through the air as if pulled by an invisible hand.
Before they could even scream, Madara released the second half of the technique.
"Shinra Tensei."
A violent repulsive force exploded outward from his body.
The opposing forces of attraction and repulsion collided violently at the center point.
The snake-men caught between those forces were subjected to overwhelming pressure.
Their bodies were instantly torn apart.
A cloud of bloody mist exploded across the desert sand.
Madara Uchiha glanced briefly at the blood-stained desert before calmly withdrawing his gaze.
Then he began processing the memories he had just taken from the snake-man leader's soul.
Information about this world, its races, its power system, and the desert tribes flowed through his mind.
"So that is the situation."
After a short moment, a faint smile slowly appeared on Madara Uchiha's lips.
He now clearly understood exactly what kind of world he had arrived in.
.....