"How was it?"
"If you haven't eaten it, then what?"
The White Snake Immortal asked, her tone languid but her gaze sharp.
Logan's eyes, gleaming like the scorching sun, locked with the immortal's ancient gaze. The two forces met in the silence between them.
"I haven't eaten yet. But we can talk... about the Cloud Shinobi Village."
"I've eaten," the White Snake Immortal replied with a slow, curling smile.
"Then die."
A beat.
The White Snake Immortal sneered.
Suddenly, the earth trembled and split open. A giant red serpent—massive even among the monstrous snakes of Ryūchi Cave—slithered out of the ground.
This was the legendary giant serpent: Xinya.
It had lost one eye long ago, and the remaining one blazed with unquenchable hatred—especially toward humans.
"Xinya," the White Snake Immortal called lazily, "go kill him. I'll give you the same reward I promised Wanshe."
"Don't give me orders!" Xinya roared, his voice like an avalanche.
Xinya was different from Wanshe.
He didn't kill for rewards.
He didn't kill for promises.
He killed because he loved it. The act itself was its own reward.
The ground groaned under his weight as he fully emerged, scale by glowing red scale. Each one shimmered like molten metal under the harsh light of the sun. His fangs bared wide, dripping venom from twin poisonous teeth that glowed with a feral, icy light.
"Rrrooooaaarrr—!"
It was hard to believe such a guttural sound could come from a snake.
A shockwave of sound pulsed outward as Xinya roared and shot up into the air. His massive form blocked out the sun itself—like a living dragon, coiling above the battlefield.
He glared down at Logan, opened his jaws, and sprayed venom with reckless abandon. The foul green-black liquid hissed as it hit the rocks and instantly began to corrode.
Xinya may have been insane, but he wasn't foolish.
To him, Wanshe was trash—but Wanshe was still the top trash in Ryūchi Cave.
And Logan had exploded Wanshe's skull in mere minutes.
Clearly, he wasn't just some human to be looked down on.
So, Xinya didn't hesitate.
He led with his deadliest move.
His venom—enhanced with natural energy—was potent. Just a single drop could petrify any living being. It would spread through the victim's body, calcify their flesh, and render them a brittle statue, ready to be shattered by a single strike of his tail.
And that's exactly what Xinya planned to do.
As his tail coiled with violent intent, he locked eyes with Logan.
And that's when it struck him—something felt off.
In Logan's eyes, there wasn't just cold killing intent. There was... curiosity. Expectation. A glimmer of anticipation.
It was the same kind of joy someone might feel biting into a plain cupcake and suddenly finding fresh strawberries hidden inside.
Natural. Effortless.
Logan looked delighted.
Why?
Because Wanshe had given him 800 soul fragments.
And Xinya?
He was just as powerful—if not more.
Another 800 soul fragments.
A profit.
A bonus.
Chill spread from the tip of Xinya's tail to his brow. His serpent heart skipped a beat—then surged with fury.
"Who do you think you are?!"
"Even that wrinkled hag Baishe doesn't dare look down on me like this!"
Xinya screeched and vomited venom again, even more concentrated this time. A tide of gray-black poison rained down like a tsunami.
And then he lunged, his gigantic body streaking forward like a missile.
Venom in the air. Fangs bared. Death from above.
And yet, Logan didn't even reach for the Sword of Destruction on his back.
He simply stepped in front of Sasuke and waved a hand.
A gust of wind howled into existence, formed from pure natural energy, and blew most of the venom away in an arc.
But not all.
A few droplets—dense and deadly—landed on Logan's exposed hand.
"Idiot! You're done!" Xinya shrieked triumphantly. "Turn to stone!"
He surged forward, fangs aiming to smash Logan's body into shards.
But Logan...
Logan just shook his hand.
The venom dripped off his skin, sizzling against the ground.
His hand?
Still pale. Still whole. Still strong.
"...What?!" Xinya froze, his single eye wide with disbelief.
The venom's petrification was based on the infusion of Ryūchi Cave's senjutsu. It mimicked the toad oil petrification effect seen in Mount Myōboku.
But Logan's body—rebuilt, reinforced, and endlessly evolved—was far beyond what such a weak version of senjutsu could affect.
It didn't even itch.
Logan took a slow step forward.
The closer he got, the stronger the stench of blood radiated from Xinya's enormous body. Logan wrinkled his nose slightly.
"You've eaten a lot of humans," he muttered.
His hand rose and pointed at the monster.
Star Platinum appeared behind him with a glimmer of light.
On one side: Xinya, towering like a living fortress, body brimming with destructive power, every scale bristling with malice.
On the other: Logan. Calm. Composed. With a stand spirit that exuded terrifying potential.
Even the White Snake Immortal raised her eyebrows.
Qingshe and Tuanjinji held their breath.
"Will he win?" someone whispered.
A young snake, barely the size of a twig, stared wide-eyed and murmured: "Come on… Big Brother with red scales..."
All eyes locked on Xinya.
Power radiated from his coils as he snapped his jaws toward Logan.
"Ora!"
BOOM!
A dull, thunderous impact.
One punch from Star Platinum.
Just one.
The entire momentum of Xinya's attack stopped in midair.
The giant serpent—hundreds of tons of mass—hovered for a brief moment, suspended half a meter above the ground.
Everything froze.
To the onlookers, it was like time stood still.
Then—movement.
"ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!"
Star Platinum launched a flurry of rapid-fire punches, each blow echoing like a thunderclap.
Then he turned and calmly floated back behind Logan.
Xinya hung in the air, his body seemingly suspended like a broken marionette.
CRACK.
The sound of bones breaking.
His entire face caved in. Scales shattered. Blood sprayed.
A wave-like ripple burst across his body, starting from the first punch's impact point.
Like an earthquake, it spread backward—bones breaking, muscles tearing, organs collapsing.
Blood. More blood.
And then…
BAM!
Xinya crashed to the ground, his body stripped of scales, red flesh exposed and twitching.
"You... I..." the great serpent gasped.
But the words didn't finish.
Pain engulfed everything.
And then—nothing.
> "You have slain the Great Serpent Xinya. Soul Fragments +800."
Blood and brain matter painted the ground.
Logan stepped through it, his boots crunching against shattered bone and scale. Every step echoed. Every sound was like the ticking of a death clock to the snake fairies.
Logan turned and walked back into the ruined cave.
He glanced to the side.
The snake fairies followed his gaze.
The White Snake Immortal remained reclined on her cushioned throne, puffing on her pipe with a faint smile.
"I'm a bit older than you, so allow me to shamelessly call you little brother," she said lightly.
"Brother Logan, you've destroyed my cave. You've killed two of my best subordinates—and the two snake princesses before them. That's four in total."
"Isn't it time we calmed down?"
She gestured lazily.
"You can take the bodies of Wanshe and Xinya back with you. If that's not enough, I have treasure—gold, silver, jade, you name it. Take some."
"In this way, you leave with both face and profit. And the grudge between us? Consider it resolved. What do you say?"
The White Snake Immortal knew better than to keep fighting.
Humans—those violent, tenacious monkeys—were a pain.
From the time of the Sage of Six Paths, to Senju Hashirama, Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Itachi... and now Logan.
Could she fight Logan?
Certainly.
But why?
Wanshe and Xinya were getting harder to control. They were disobedient, reckless. Logan had done her a favor by killing them.
Why waste her own strength?
Logan would die in a few decades anyway. When that happened, she'd simply retrieve the Dragon Snake Orb from his corpse.
She thought she'd given Logan enough face.
Logan nodded slowly.
"You're smart."
"So you agree?" she asked.
Logan's gaze sharpened.
"…But you haven't answered my question yet," he said. "Have you eaten humans?"
The White Snake Immortal's eyes narrowed.
Of course she had.
What did her snakes beg her for if not snacks?
And beneath her throne, in a sealed chamber, there were hundreds—no, thousands—of humans. Her personal pantry.
She stared at Logan. Her smile faded. Her body swelled.
A monstrous white snake emerged.
Her true form.
Pure white scales gleamed like jade. A purple satin forehead protector wrapped around her head, a glowing red jewel embedded in the center. Golden rings adorned her tail, pulsing with ancient power.
The pressure of her natural energy flooded the cave.
She opened her mouth, her voice hoarse and deep:
"I gave you face."
"I gave you wealth."
"I gave you the lives of two giant snakes."
"And you still want to kill me?"
"I have lived from the age of the Sage of Six Paths. Do you think slaying a few Tailed Beasts qualifies you to kill me?!"
Logan's expression didn't change.
"Face?"
He raised his hand, eyes gleaming with divine clarity.
"Do I need face… from a man-eating monster?"
A pulse of energy surged around him.
He snapped his fingers.
「Star Platinum: The World!」
Time cracked.
The final battle began.
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