Chapter 197: Madara and Nagisa's First Meeting
Drip. Drip.
In the damp subterranean cavern, a drop of cold water landed on Uchiha Nagisa's face, waking her once more.
Thanks to White Zetsu's treatment, Nagisa's physical condition was much improved. However, a strange and powerful chakra was coursing through her body, aggressively eroding her own. But consumed by a feverish urgency, the young woman had no time to worry about it.
She struggled to sit up. The powerful insight of her Sharingan allowed her to see her surroundings clearly, even in the pitch-black cave.
Two bizarre, plant-like figures, and... an old man? What kind of strange group was this?
Uchiha Nagisa found the "trio" before her to be incredibly odd, but that didn't stop her from asking the questions burning in her mind.
"Where am I? Did you save me?"
From her memories, she knew with absolute certainty that she should be dead. There was no way she could have survived that jutsu without someone intervening. Death should have been her only fate.
Although she didn't know why these people had saved her, Nagisa wanted to express her gratitude and, more importantly, ask how to leave the sealed cavern.
Just as her thoughts began to wander, the old man sitting in a stone chair spoke. "Indeed. It was I who saved you."
Before the girl could offer her thanks, he continued. "It is too soon for gratitude. You will repay me for saving your life."
"Uh..." Nagisa was taken aback, rendered speechless. A bitter smile formed in her mind. Can't anyone just have a normal conversation?
Left with no choice, she pressed on. "Excuse me, but how do I get out of here? There's something urgent I must do."
This time, the original White Zetsu chimed in. "Oh, there's no way in or out of here. You're probably stuck."
"How can that be?" Nagisa's mind, now clear and rational, instantly found the flaw in his statement. "Then how do you survive down here? And how did you bring me in?"
"You were in extremely poor condition," White Zetsu explained. "I was only able to absorb you into my body and bring you here because you were on the verge of death. That method won't work now." He pointed a finger toward a massive boulder behind him. "Of course, if you can shatter that rock, you can leave."
"As for survival," he continued, answering all her questions with an unnerving frankness, "Madara and I do not require food to sustain ourselves. We can stay underground for as long as we wish."
"Madara..." That name is so familiar. Uchiha Nagisa searched her memory as she turned her gaze toward the old man.
The moment their eyes met, Nagisa's body tensed. A look of utter disbelief crossed her face as she whispered, "The Sharingan... Are you a member of the Uchiha clan?"
Madara... the Sharingan... Could it be?! A forbidden name, a legend from the clan's history, surfaced in her mind. To confirm her impossible suspicion, she asked the old man directly. "Are you... Ancestor Uchiha Madara?"
"I am," the old man—Uchiha Madara—replied with a faint nod, confirming her guess.
The confirmation hit her like a physical blow. A thousand questions swirled in her head, but in the end, she fell silent.
Seeing this, a slight smirk touched the corner of Madara's lips. He glanced at White Zetsu, giving him a subtle look to continue the explanation.
Zetsu nodded in understanding. He walked over to Nagisa, pulled back the sleeve of her tunic, and pointed to her now-white arm. "Actually, there is a way to leave this cave. You just have to master the power this arm gives you."
Nagisa's pupils contracted. Only now did she realize her arm was completely different, clearly a grafted limb. She didn't have to ask what happened to her original arm; it was undoubtedly destroyed by the enemy.
But after the battle she had endured, Nagisa faced this new reality with a surprising calm. At least it's better than being dead, she thought.
If I died, Grandfather, Kyosuke... everyone would be so sad. For their sake, I have to live. With her resolve hardened, the young woman began asking how to control the power in her new arm.
She could feel what was happening inside her. The powerful, alien chakra was just as Zetsu described; if she could master it, breaking the boulder would be a simple task.
But in the time since she'd woken up, she hadn't made any progress in controlling it. On the contrary, the foreign cells had already consumed a large portion of her own chakra-producing cells. If this continued... the consequences were easy to predict.
Fortunately, White Zetsu was intimately familiar with the Hashirama cells. Under his guidance, Nagisa slowly began to suppress the volatile power rampaging within her.
"I did it! Its spread has stopped!" she exclaimed, her voice filled with excitement.
"This little girl..." The original White Zetsu looked her up and down with an expression of pure astonishment before offering a compliment. "You are the second-fastest person I have ever seen master this 'body'."
However, Nagisa completely ignored his leading statement, her attention fully focused on testing the capabilities of her new arm.
Seeing that the girl had simply "used" him and then cast him aside, White Zetsu shrugged and went to sit on an empty patch of ground. Silence once again fell over the cavern.
Meanwhile, in the Land of Grass, at the Iwa front-line encampment.
"Cough, cough... that fat guy's punch is no joke. Hiss... hey, take it easy!" Han, heavily injured, sat on a chair while several medical-nin worked diligently to treat his wounds.
Hearing her leader complain, a nurse couldn't help but retort, "It serves you right for being reckless, charging in alone against so many enemies. Of course you got hurt."
"Haha!" Han let out a hearty laugh, winking at her. "It was all for the sake of victory! Just a small sacrifice from yours truly."
The nurse, a rather beautiful woman, rolled her eyes and ignored him, continuing her work.
Just as Han was about to say something else, a figure entered the tent. It was "Tōshi," returned from his mission.
"I see." After listening to his subordinate's report, Han, though disappointed, accepted the mission's failure. At least the operation wasn't a total loss; the captured Uchiha clan members could certainly be put to use.
After a moment of thought, Han looked down at the bandages wrapped around his body and sighed. "Your plan is good, but in my current state, I won't be much help."
"It doesn't matter," Tōshi said calmly. "I already have a complete plan for this."
"Alright, then," Han agreed. "Let's proceed with the plan to lure the enemy as scheduled."
❃❃❃
⤑ Show your support with Power Stones!
⤑ Unlock a Bonus Chapter every time we hit 100 Power Stones!
❃❃❃
♕ Get early access to 30+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
🔗 https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Hollowborn
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to open the link!)
💬 Enjoying the story? Drop a review!
Your support really helps the series grow—thank you!