[Chapter Size: 2500 Words.]
Third Person POV
Northern kingdoms.
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Madara continued walking calmly beside Morenn, while the woman herself looked at him with curiosity, as Madara seemed quite calm, unaware that something was wrong.
"You act very strange..." she murmured, noticing that Madara seemed relaxed next to her, even though she was still carrying the unconscious and collapsed Cirilla. It was true, after all, she didn't even know she was under the genjutsu he had cast, which was influencing most of her decisions and would make her obey his orders as soon as he gave the signal with the commands he had programmed when he cast the genjutsu, all without her even realizing her current situation.
"Just take me to your capital," was the only thing Madara said, in a neutral tone.
She looked at him for a few seconds before, without saying anything, continuing to walk forward while heading toward the forest. And so it went for two hours, walking through the woods, even encountering a dryad here and there who quickly approached them. But Morenn explained the situation, and the dryads allowed them to pass, though they glanced at Madara and how he was being led by Morenn. The number of dryads increased as they got closer to the capital. Every dryad that approached them was met with Morenn explaining the situation.
Finally, they began entering a denser part of the forest with slightly lower ground, where a village hidden among well-placed trees stood. Both outside and within this place called Duén Canell, there were huts made of wood, vines, and leaves scattered throughout.
There was a larger building in the center, as Madara could tell, observing the details despite not being able to see everything due to the thick trees. In the middle of the village, women with green bodies walked back and forth, bows in hand, and there were even some children. After all, dryads not only grew by bringing in other women, but they could also procreate themselves.
"Let's go," Morenn said, and they began to enter the village. It didn't take long for the villagers to notice Morenn's presence, carrying Cirilla, and Madara walking beside her, looking rather stunned, due to the fact that Madara wasn't wearing a blindfold, which was a rule for any outsider brought to the capital. But Morenn didn't notice this at all, being under the boy's control, and they continued passing through the streets without anyone really wanting to confront them, assuming that Morenn would explain this to their leader.
Thus, they headed toward the central building with many guards at the entrance, and after Morenn spoke with them, they were authorized to enter after a guard went in and returned. They began to enter the place, and Madara found himself in a large space, a type of religious center and home to the leader of the dryads.
In front of the group, as Morenn led them, they saw a woman sitting in a wooden chair, waiting for them with an expression that resembled a hawk's gaze.
"You got them... but they passed the Dryads I sent last night... before that explosion in the forest," she began.
"Yes, they managed to get past all the sentinels without being seen," Morenn replied.
"I see... so I should send someone to notify them, but something's wrong here..." The woman, with a firm tone, didn't seem very pleased. "You brought them... but he's without a blindfold. Why is that?" the leader immediately asked Morenn.
"I don't know, I just brought them," Morenn murmured, awkwardly, trying to understand why she hadn't placed the blindfold on Madara as she always should to keep their home hidden, but unable to find an explanation.
The leader immediately frowned as she scrutinized one of her best archers. She didn't like it at all. Her gaze shifted to Cirilla, still unconscious, then to Madara beside her, analyzing him too, but as if he weren't much of a threat. Even a look of disappointment crossed her dark eyes.
"What are you thinking, boy?" she asked with a severe tone, clearly offended by his gaze.
"So you are Eithné, the leader of the dryads," Madara said, already knowing everything about the woman thanks to Morenn's knowledge.
She was a woman with a firm posture and a strong expression. Her voice was quite eloquent, like a leader with years of experience, which wasn't surprising.
Her magical abilities were tied to nature, following the path of the druids, and she lacked mental abilities, except for a strong intuition to recognize people's emotions. Madara wasn't surprised to see that her mind wasn't trying to be violated by his gaze.
"Yes, I am. And who might you be, unknown boy?" she said, analyzing Madara even more intensely than she had during the magical explosion of Cirilla. Although she had been surprised by how dense the girl's magic was, she could at least understand it. But this boy before her was different. He couldn't even manipulate chaos, which was impossible, making her wonder what kind of anomaly she was dealing with.
Her suspicion only deepened as she noticed how calm his gaze and expression remained in this place, with Morenn acting submissively at his side. 'He is dangerous...' her instincts screamed inside her. "Who are you?"
"I am Madara Uchiha, if that's what you want to know," Madara introduced himself, seeing that she was having some sort of inner conflict. He continued before she could decide anything. "I'm here on purpose, for a special reason. I want to enter the Sanctuary of Power."
Eithné was surprised by this.
"You know about the Sanctuary of Power? Don't tell me you read Morenn's mind!" she accused, already understanding what was happening, while Morenn looked stunned.
"What...?" Morenn murmured.
"Shut up," Madara said simply, and the woman fell silent immediately, while Madara looked at Eithné, who was now the one stunned, losing some of her composure.
"Yes, I know you have to go through a test called the Brokilon Challenge to be deemed worthy of entering the Sanctuary, and I want to invoke the test. Since anyone can, and there are no restrictions for foreigners according to your law," Madara said calmly. He had read Morenn's mind and understood how the dryads' culture worked.
At that moment, he had seen something interesting: a place of power in this region. Madara had never encountered one before, and perhaps this was his chance to see if the system would react to such a place. He just had to pass the test of this people.
"Why would I let you take the test? There are no restrictions against foreigners because no one from outside Brokilon has ever been able to utter those words!" she said, now frustrated, realizing that this stranger had learned everything about her race, making him a very dangerous threat.
"If you don't..." Madara began, and Morenn placed Ciri on the ground, calmly pulling out a dagger and moving it toward her own neck, causing Eithné to raise an eyebrow.
"This woman tricked Ciri into thinking she was poisoned, so I'll do the same," Madara said in a firm tone before delivering his final words.
"You may not know... but I could try to force my way into your sanctuary, though I don't think that would be as fun for you. So, I'm giving you the best option and preserving your lives by only threatening one of your own," he said calmly, as Eithné grew increasingly frustrated with what she was witnessing.
"Her life, her fate, in exchange for my chance to take the challenge and enter your place of power," Madara said.
Eithné couldn't believe those words—after all, who would believe a stranger could come here and claim to be able to kill them all? Even so, she had no choice and eventually nodded in agreement.
"Alright, but know that in the challenge, I can decide which participants will face you. So, don't complain if I send ten monsters to kill you," she said in the end, while Madara shrugged.
"Cirilla and Morenn will stay with me. I want to make sure you don't do anything," Madara said, and Eithné didn't say anything as she stood up, frustrated.
"Follow me," she said, walking ahead of Madara, keeping her distance. She had already decided she would get rid of whatever Madara was. He had irritated her to the point of no return. As they stepped outside, Eithné summoned everyone for the Brokilon challenge.
"Summon all our warriors to the arena. A Brokilon challenge has been made," she exclaimed. Immediately, all the nearby dryads looked at their leader in astonishment.
"Who made it?" they asked, shocked, as it hadn't even crossed their minds that it was the boy walking behind her, along with Morenn carrying the still unconscious Cirilla, who had issued the challenge.
"The boy is issuing the challenge," Eithné said at last, while everyone stood there, surprised, but without saying anything further. They immediately spread the leader's words, while Madara calmly followed the woman to a kind of stone arena, where the Brokilon challenge would take place.
"Stay here and give me 50 minutes. You may keep Morenn with you, but if she gets hurt, I promise you'll be met with a barrage of arrows immediately. Are we clear?"
"As long as you're part of the agreement, I have no problem," Madara replied calmly.
"I hope you don't regret this... Certainly, all of my dryads will be wanting to kill you," she responded, leaving for another place.
Madara and his companions stayed there, in what appeared to be a resting room. There were some bones scattered around, likely from previous human battles the dryads enjoyed watching in this very arena.
He remained there, calmly waiting while taking the opportunity to manipulate his chakra once again. The Brokilon challenge, once issued, required everyone to gather in the arena. Only once a year did the dryads have the chance to go to the sanctuary, as reaching the Sanctuary of Power was an extremely sacred act. For the dryad culture, it granted great power. Morenn had already reached it, which explained why she was so strong by dryad standards, making her one of their best archers.
The place quickly became bustling outside, and Madara could hear the sounds of the dryads as if they were attending a show. It was then, half an hour later, that Ciri finally woke up, opening her eyes, still a bit dazed.
Ciri looked at him, confused as soon as she saw him, as he came out of his lotus position with her movement, trying to ask what they were doing and what all the noise was about.
"You're awake. We're in the dryad capital, and I'm about to participate in a tournament. You'll stay here and won't leave, understood? I left a clone in this kunai," he said, handing her the kunai. If he needed to act to protect her, he would do so much faster to avoid what had happened before.
"Alright... but why are you doing this, how long did I sleep... what's going on, and why did I pass out..." She said a series of things, still not understanding much, while Morenn stood nearby, silent and expressionless.
But before Madara could respond to her, two dryads began to appear from the corridors at the end of the room.
"Hey, you're being summoned, human," the women said in a hostile tone.
Madara nodded and looked at Ciri. "Remember, stay alert. We're not in a friendly place," he warned once more before heading into the corridor. As he walked, memories of the events that had taken place in Cintra's capital many years ago resurfaced in his mind. Passing through a few more corridors, escorted by dryads who glared at him with hatred for this human treading on their sacred grounds, he finally crossed the doorway to the arena, where a crowd of dryads awaited. All of them were armed with bows, shouting at him from the stands.
"A human, get rid of him!"
"Do you think you can come here and do whatever you want?"
"Feel the wrath of the dryads, you wretch!"
"Do you think you'll step on the sacred sanctuary?"
"You really have the nerve! I can't wait to see your blood spilled on the arena floor!"
The exclamations continued, but Madara wasn't fazed by any of their words. He gazed at them with boredom as he walked to the center of the arena, waiting for the challenge to begin once he stopped, his eyes fixed on the woman seated in the center on a chair similar to the one she had in the main house.
Eithné watched him, clearly displeased with his arrogance. She raised her hand, signaling for silence, which quickly hushed the crowd.
"At this moment, the Brokilon challenge has been issued. This young human believes he can pass," she said, her tone betraying a hint of anger. She didn't believe he could win against several dryads, even though her intuition told her he was dangerous.
"That's why, for the first challenge of the night, we'll begin with one dryad. There are ten challenges, and we will send enemies in increasing numbers corresponding to the challenge. The first will be one dryad, and the tenth could be ten. So, let's begin!" she declared.
Immediately, a dryad jumped into the arena before the others, confidently striding toward the center.
"I challenge you first! Do you think you can come here, to our land, and trample on our culture, human? It's time to teach you a lesson!" No dryad was pleased with the fact that a mere human had requested the Brokilon challenge, and even more so that the queen had accepted it. They didn't know the details of why, but they were obviously here to defeat this human, and they would do so confidently, intending to kill him.
Unfortunately for them, that confidence didn't last as long as they had imagined, because as soon as Eithné raised her hand and said, "Prepare to fight. At my signal, begin!" she initiated the battle.
The dryad quickly drew her bow, taking her eyes off Madara for only 0.001 seconds as she lifted it to aim and fire. But Madara was no longer there, as if he had vanished like magic. This made her raise her eyes, wondering where he had gone. The entire arena fell silent at that moment, with everyone looking in one direction.
At that moment, the dryad felt a pain at the back of her neck, as Madara delivered a swift slap, causing her to faint instantly and collapse to the ground. The entire arena remained in stunned silence, wondering what had just happened as Madara directed his gaze toward a bewildered Eithné, waiting for her to continue with the next challenge.