At the same time as Kiyohara fought Kaguya.
Madara suddenly raised his head.
Just moments ago, an extremely massive and extremely distant chakra fluctuation had come from the direction of the Land of Fire. The fluctuation had lasted for only a few breaths before abruptly disappearing, as though something had forcibly suppressed it.
However, Madara could not have mistaken it.
The quality of that chakra, as well as the oppressive sensation it gave him, was enough to make even someone who was already dead feel a sense of unease. It was definitely not something an ordinary human could possess.
"You felt it too?"
Obito stepped out of the swirling vortex, the Sharingan behind his mask filled with seriousness.
Madara did not answer.
His fingers slowly tightened around the armrest of the stone chair.
It seemed that the shinobi world was not nearly as peaceful as he had once imagined.
First, that monster Kiyohara had appeared out of nowhere. Now, another completely unfamiliar chakra fluctuation had emerged, one powerful enough to stand on equal footing with Madara at the height of his strength.
Even if he managed to return to his peak, he could not say with absolute certainty that he would be able to deal with such an opponent.
At that moment, the space around them split open without warning, forming a black crack.
A middle-aged man slowly walked out of the crack.
He was dressed in the robes of a monk, and his face was thin and gaunt.
Jigen.
More precisely, he was the vessel in which Ōtsutsuki Isshiki resided.
"!"
Madara and Obito immediately became vigilant.
"There is no need to be nervous."
Isshiki raised one hand and made a gesture meant to reassure them.
"I merely wish to discuss cooperation with the two of you."
Madara rose from the stone chair.
The power of his Mangekyō Sharingan erupted without the slightest restraint. Deep blue chakra condensed around his body, forming the skeletal frame of Susanoo. In the blink of an eye, the skeleton expanded and transformed into its complete form.
A colossal deep-blue chakra giant rose from the ground. Two enormous chakra swords condensed in its hands, and one of them came crashing down toward Isshiki.
Isshiki did not even raise his eyelids.
He merely shifted his body slightly to the side, allowing the enormous chakra sword, powerful enough to cleave through mountains, to pass by his shoulder and strike the ground.
Rocks exploded in every direction.
Then Isshiki punched Susanoo.
The chest armor of Susanoo suddenly caved inward beneath that tremendous force. Blue fragments of chakra burst outward from the point of impact, and the entire giant was sent sliding backward for several meters.
Inside Susanoo, Madara was shaken so violently that he was forced down onto one knee. Cracks spread across his Edo Tensei body, extending from his fingertips all the way to his shoulder.
Obito attacked from the side.
"Kamui!"
His body transformed into a swirling vortex as he attempted to drag Isshiki into the alternate dimension.
Isshiki did not even turn his head.
He simply swung his other hand backward.
The spatial vortex surrounding Obito was forcibly flattened, and Obito was violently expelled from his Kamui state. His body slammed heavily into the stone wall of the underground chamber.
"I already told you."
Isshiki slowly lowered both hands.
"There is no need to be nervous. If I wanted to kill you, both of you would already be dead."
However, even Isshiki himself could not help feeling troubled.
Neither of these two men was simple.
He could not use too much power. Once the amount of power he released exceeded a certain limit, this vessel would collapse.
Madara climbed out from the remains of Susanoo. The cracks across his Edo Tensei body were already beginning to heal.
The more he fought, the more shocked he became.
This man was actually this powerful.
Although Madara's current strength was inferior to the peak he had possessed while alive, the might of his Susanoo and Mangekyō Sharingan was by no means something an ordinary shinobi could withstand.
Yet the monk-like man standing before him had suppressed him with only two casual moves.
"Who are you?"
Madara's voice became colder.
"Ōtsutsuki Isshiki."
Isshiki's expression remained calm.
"The partner of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, whom you are familiar with. A thousand years ago, when we descended upon this planet, she betrayed me and ambushed me, nearly killing me. I have been barely surviving within this vessel for a thousand years, waiting for an opportunity to take my revenge."
Upon hearing this shocking secret from Isshiki, Madara's pupils contracted.
Ōtsutsuki Kaguya.
The Rabbit Goddess.
Of course, Madara knew that name.
It was the name recorded on the Uchiha stone tablet, the ancestor of chakra itself.
"And the reason I came to seek cooperation with you is very simple."
Isshiki's voice remained calm and unhurried.
"That guy Kiyohara has actually already become a slave of Kaguya. Her resurrection should be part of Kaguya's plan. Do you really think Kiyohara is fighting for Konoha, or fighting for the sake of the world?"
"How laughable. He was tempted by Kaguya's power long ago and has become nothing more than her tool."
From Isshiki's perspective, there was no other explanation for Kiyohara's extraordinary power. If he was that powerful, then he must have obtained the strength of Kaguya.
He had failed to understand it in the past.
Now, everything finally made sense.
Madara's heart trembled.
A slave of Kaguya.
What surprised him even more was that the legendary Rabbit Goddess had actually been resurrected.
Obito leaned against the stone wall. Although his expression could not be seen behind the mask, a thought had already surfaced in his mind, one that even he had never expected himself to have.
That bastard Kiyohara was surrounded by romantic scandals wherever he went.
Rin, Tsunade, Konan, Kurenai, Pakura, and now even Kaguya.
Could that bastard Kiyohara actually be some kind of... gigolo?
No wonder that guy was so powerful.
It turned out he had been living off a woman with overwhelming power all along. He had actually managed to cling to a woman of this level.
"Kara will provide technological support to the Akatsuki."
Isshiki raised his hand.
From the black crack behind him, a modified human stepped out. It held a scroll wrapped in layer upon layer of fuinjutsu seals.
"This is a gift for our first meeting."
The modified human carried the scroll over to Madara.
The fuinjutsu seals automatically unraveled.
Inside the scroll was a small piece of dark-red flesh.
The flesh was still moving slightly.
"The cells of Ōtsutsuki Shibai."
Isshiki's voice remained indifferent.
"He is the existence closest to a god among the Ōtsutsuki clan. He has already transcended this universe. His cells contain the power of numerous 'Shinjutsu.' If you can successfully transplant them, the power you obtain will far surpass that of the 'Hashirama cells.'"
"Your Akatsuki organization possesses a genius scientist who is no less capable than my chief researcher. Give these cells to him, and he will naturally know what to do."
Madara looked at the scroll, his expression still cold and unreadable.
He did not know exactly what had been given to him, but he had always respected those who possessed great strength.
This man named Isshiki had demonstrated with his strength that he had the qualifications to sit at the negotiating table.
As for the specific terms of their cooperation, those could be discussed later.
"It can be considered."
Isshiki gave a slight nod.
A black crack opened once more, and his figure disappeared into it.
After his chakra fluctuation had completely vanished, Obito straightened himself from the stone wall.
He looked at Madara's face, which was even more solemn than usual, and suddenly let out a laugh.
"What are you laughing at?"
"Nothing."
Obito crossed his arms.
"It is just the first time I've seen you make that expression. What happened? Doesn't it feel good to be beaten down by someone else?"
Madara snorted coldly and did not respond.
Instead, he looked directly at Obito.
"Go find the 'Speak of Heaven.'"
Obito's laughter immediately stopped.
"You only have a name. You don't even have an approximate location. Where exactly do you expect me to find it? The world is huge. Do you want me to dig through every inch of land in the entire world?"
"That is your problem."
Obito stared at Madara for a long while.
Then a curse came from behind his mask.
His body was swallowed by a spatial vortex, and he disappeared.
Madara remained alone in the stone chair.
He held the scroll containing the cells of Ōtsutsuki Shibai in his hand.
His fingertips slowly rubbed across the sealing formulas on the scroll.
Then he stood up and walked toward Orochimaru's laboratory.
Orochimaru was currently hunched over an experimental table, holding a syringe filled with dark-red liquid.
When he heard footsteps approaching, he straightened his back.
"Madara-sama."
He licked his lips.
"What are your orders?"
Madara casually tossed the scroll onto the experimental table.
"Cells belonging to someone named Ōtsutsuki Shibai. Take a look and see whether they are useful."
Orochimaru picked up the scroll and opened it.
As was his habit, he immediately began examining the contents.
Then his movements suddenly froze.
His normally calm golden slit pupils contracted sharply into two extremely thin vertical lines the instant he saw the dark-red piece of flesh inside.
His breathing stopped for a moment.
Then his breathing became increasingly rapid.
"This is... What kind of cells are these?"
Orochimaru's voice was hoarse.
He carefully placed the scroll beneath the microscope, adjusted the focus, and then sucked in a sharp breath.
The cellular activity was far beyond that of Hashirama cells.
The chakra transmission efficiency within them was countless times greater than that of Hashirama cells.
Furthermore, these cells seemed to possess a consciousness of their own.
Inside the culture dish, they continuously divided and reorganized themselves.
"Ōtsutsuki Shibai. They were given to me by a monk."
Orochimaru slowly straightened his body.
An unprecedentedly fanatical light burned within his golden slit pupils.
Once upon a time, he had believed that Hashirama cells were already a miracle worthy of being called divine.
He had been fascinated by them for decades, and he had regarded Madara and Hashirama as the two peaks of the shinobi world.
He had never imagined that there were even greater heights beyond them.
So there really were stronger existences out there!
Compared with these cells, what were Hashirama cells?
They were practically nothing.
"Ōtsutsuki Shibai."
Orochimaru repeated the name once more.
"Madara-sama, I will study them carefully."
Madara looked at Orochimaru, who was almost unable to contain his excitement, and said nothing more.
For someone like Orochimaru, the most precious experimental material was naturally the best means of motivating him.
"Accelerate the process of resurrecting powerful individuals. From this point onward, we need as much combat power as possible."
"Of course."
Orochimaru's smile widened.
"Coincidentally, I was just planning to resurrect my sensei's sensei as well."
"Resurrect your sensei's sensei?"
Hashirama had sensed Madara's chakra and happened to enter the room at that exact moment.
"That's right, Lord First. And that person happens to be your younger brother."
Orochimaru clapped his hands.
A hidden door on the side of the laboratory was pushed open.
Several White Zetsu carried out a new Edo Tensei vessel.
Orochimaru walked over to the vessel and formed hand seals.
A sinister chakra suddenly surged through the laboratory.
Countless tiny pieces of paper-like material emerged from the air and rushed toward the vessel.
The outline of a man gradually took shape among the fragments.
Dark-blue armor.
A white fur collar.
Short silver-gray hair.
And a pair of sharp red eyes that resembled blades.
Senju Tobirama.
The first thing Tobirama did after opening his eyes was to lock his gaze onto Orochimaru.
A trace of confusion flashed through those red eyes.
Then that confusion quickly transformed into icy killing intent.
The Edo Tensei technique was a forbidden jutsu he himself had invented.
There was no one in the world who understood the meaning of this technique better than him.
"It is you."
Tobirama's voice was cold.
"You resurrected me?"
"Indeed."
Orochimaru gave a slight bow.
"I am Orochimaru, a disciple of Sarutobi Hiruzen."
Tobirama's pupils suddenly contracted.
"The Monkey actually taught a traitorous disciple like you!"
Tobirama's chakra instantly gathered around his body.
He was just about to unleash some kind of ninjutsu when the corner of his eye caught sight of a familiar figure.
The other man was standing nearby with a helpless smile on his face.
"Big Brother?!"
Tobirama froze.
"What are you doing here?"
"I was resurrected too."
Hashirama scratched the back of his head. He was still wearing the black robe decorated with red clouds.
"Madara dragged me into this. It is a long story. In any case, things are rather complicated right now."
Tobirama's gaze swept up and down Hashirama's body, and his brows furrowed deeply.
He raised his index finger and pointed at the red cloud on Hashirama's chest.
"What is with those clothes? They are strange and completely out of place. And what is that nail polish on your fingers? Since when did you develop such a strange habit?"
"This is the Akatsuki uniform Madara gave me."
Hashirama sighed helplessly.
"He said that I have to dress according to local customs and that I must wear it."
For a moment, Tobirama's expression became exactly like the famous subway old man meme.
He opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again. In the end, he could only squeeze out a few words.
"Uchiha Madara. Again with Uchiha Madara. Do you really listen to everything he says?"
"He threatened me. He said that if I refused to wear it, he would make a trip to Konoha."
Hashirama looked completely helpless.
Only then did Tobirama notice Madara standing nearby.
Madara, meanwhile, was hardly pleased to see Tobirama either.
This man had killed his younger brother.
If Hashirama had not stopped him back then, Madara would have personally killed Tobirama long ago.
Seeing the tension between the two, Orochimaru let out a low chuckle from the side.
He turned around and walked out of the laboratory, leaving the space to the two brothers who had finally reunited after so many years.
He still had plenty of work to do.
There was the mass-production plan for Edo Tensei, as well as the preliminary analysis of Ōtsutsuki Shibai's cells.
Orochimaru pushed open the laboratory door and entered another, much more spacious underground chamber.
Dozens of Edo Tensei vessels were arranged neatly throughout the room. Each vessel contained a DNA sample belonging to a powerful individual who had once made a name for themselves throughout the shinobi world.
Orochimaru's fingers lightly brushed across a row of vessels as he selected several of the most important ones.
Then he continued forming hand seals.
Cold and sinister chakra surged through the chamber once again.
Dozens of beams of white light illuminated the underground space simultaneously, making the entire chamber look as bright as day.
One after another, powerful figures who had once died in the long river of history slowly opened their eyes inside their vessels.
Orochimaru looked at his masterpiece, and the smile on his face grew wider.
Things were becoming more and more interesting.
Orochimaru was genuinely curious about how the chaos engulfing the shinobi world would eventually come to an end.
...
Konoha, underground chamber.
Kiyohara stood in front of a row of execution racks, with several members of the Anbu interrogation squad standing behind him.
Several men with ashen faces were bound to the racks.
The crimes they had committed had already been thoroughly investigated by the Anbu.
Murder, arson, robbery, looting, and every other kind of evil deed imaginable.
Even the man with the least serious crimes among them had slaughtered an entire family of six ordinary farmers.
These men were originally scheduled to be executed publicly the following month.
However, they now had another purpose.
Kiyohara raised his hand and spread his five fingers.
The Edo Tensei seal slowly unfolded across the floor of the underground chamber.
Black curse-mark patterns spread outward like living creatures, crawling toward the several condemned prisoners.
The prisoners struggled in terror.
Their chains rattled violently as they desperately tried to break free, but the curse marks showed no mercy and burrowed directly into their bodies.
Countless tiny pieces of paper-like material emerged from the void, wrapping around their bodies layer by layer and reconstructing them.
Then Kiyohara encountered the problem he had expected.
Many of the souls he wanted to summon could not be reached.
It was not that there was anything wrong with the technique.
Rather, those souls had already been registered by someone else.
It was much like trying to make a phone call after someone had already taken the number you wanted.
At its core, Edo Tensei was a type of summoning technique. If a target soul had already been bound by someone else's Edo Tensei, it could not be summoned again.
The Akatsuki had clearly managed to claim a large number of the famous and powerful figures from shinobi history before him.
Kiyohara silently went through the list of individuals who were still available to summon.
Then he selected one name.
The paper fragments began to whirl once more.
In the center of the underground chamber, they gradually condensed into the slender figure of a man.
He was extremely young, appearing to be barely in his early twenties.
His facial features were delicate and gentle, bearing some resemblance to Sasuke. However, unlike Madara's sharp and domineering expression, his eyes and brows possessed a considerably warmer and more restrained quality.
His long black hair was loosely tied behind his head with a white hair ribbon.
His eyes were the distinctive black eyes of the Uchiha clan.
Slowly, the pattern of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan emerged within his pupils.
Uchiha Izuna.
He slowly opened his eyes.
The Three-Tomoe Sharingan rotated within his pupils for several moments before his gaze settled upon the unfamiliar man standing before him.
A moment of confusion appeared on Izuna's face.
Then it quickly transformed into vigilance.
He instinctively tried to form hand seals, only to discover that he could not control the movements of this body at all.
"Where am I?"
"Konoha. Underground chamber."
Kiyohara answered calmly.
"The Uchiha and Konoha made peace. They invited the other shinobi clans to establish the village together and create the shinobi village system. You have been dead for many years."
Izuna's eyes widened slightly.
Decades ago, during the battle at the Valley of the End, he had fallen beneath Tobirama's Flying Thunder God Slash.
His death had become the final straw that drove Madara and Hashirama apart.
Izuna had died far too early.
So early that he had never gotten the chance to see what his elder brother would become afterward.
"My brother?"
Izuna's voice trembled slightly.
"Is he still alive?"
"Your brother did not die. At least, he did not truly die."
Kiyohara's voice remained calm.
"Decades ago, he left Konoha and abandoned the Uchiha clan. He left alone, without anyone following him."
"Now, he has been deceived by someone and is preparing to destroy the Uchiha clan."
Izuna's pupils trembled.
"Impossible. My brother would never abandon the Uchiha. He loves that clan more than anyone."
Kiyohara did not argue with him.
He took a document that he had prepared beforehand from his sleeve and handed it to Izuna.
It was a record of the verbal accounts given by members of the Uchiha clan from that generation expressing their anger toward Madara after he betrayed Konoha.
Regardless of anything else, Madara had attacked Konoha several times.
Therefore, there were naturally members of the Uchiha clan who supported Madara, as well as those who opposed him.
There were also quite a few ordinary clan members who were dissatisfied with him.
Not to mention that Madara had left the village alone in the first place, with no one willing to follow him.
"How could this be? How could my brother have done these things?"
Izuna was unable to believe it.
Kiyohara did not answer.
Instead, he turned his head and gestured toward Uchiha Setsuna, who had been waiting outside the underground chamber.
Uchiha Setsuna walked inside.
He was already extremely old.
His face was covered with wrinkles, his hair had turned completely white, and his back was slightly hunched.
Yet his eyes still retained the sharpness characteristic of the Uchiha clan.
The moment he saw Izuna, his footsteps stopped.
His lips trembled slightly.
Then he slowly knelt down, pressing his forehead against the cold stone floor.
His voice was hoarse and trembling.
"Lord Izuna, it has been a long time. I am Uchiha Setsuna."
Izuna lowered his head and looked at the old man with white hair before him.
When he heard the name Setsuna, a young face flashed through his memories.
He remembered that the boy had once been extremely, extremely young.
Now, that same child had grown old enough to become the elderly man standing before him.
"You are... Setsuna?"
Izuna reached out.
His fingertips gently touched Setsuna's white hair.
"You have grown old."
Setsuna raised his head.
His cloudy old eyes were filled with tears.
There were so many things he wanted to say.
He wanted to tell Izuna about everything the Uchiha clan had experienced throughout all these years.
However, in the end, he said nothing.
He simply lowered his head once again.
Izuna straightened himself.
His Three-Tomoe Sharingan turned toward Kiyohara.
The confusion in his eyes had disappeared.
In its place was a sharpness that had been suppressed for fifty years.
"You said that my brother was deceived by someone and is preparing to destroy the Uchiha clan. Who is it?"
"Ōtsutsuki Isshiki."
Kiyohara slowly spoke the name.
Of course, this was originally Black Zetsu's responsibility.
But Kiyohara had simply placed the blame directly on Isshiki.
From now on, the person who had altered the Uchiha stone tablet was Isshiki!
Seeing Izuna's expression constantly changing, Kiyohara decided to give him some time to adjust.
Uchiha Setsuna understood immediately.
He took the initiative to approach Izuna and speak with him, inviting him to visit the Uchiha clan as it existed in the present day.
As for Kiyohara, he went to find Kaguya.
…
Kaguya's residence.
Kaguya was sitting beneath a maple tree outside the window.
The maple leaves rustled softly in the evening breeze.
When Kiyohara pushed open the door, Kaguya was reaching out her hand.
A maple leaf that had drifted through the window had landed gently in her palm.
Hearing footsteps, Kaguya raised her head.
Her lips moved slightly.
Then she smiled.
It was a very faint smile, so faint that it was almost impossible to notice.
Kiyohara's footsteps paused for a moment.
That smile was beautiful.
It was as though a goddess had just learned how to smile for the first time.
Kiyohara knew exactly why she was smiling like that.
Kaguya only took the initiative to show such an expression when she needed his help.
But knowing that was one thing.
Seeing that exquisite face smiling at him still made Kiyohara feel rather good.
Not bad at all, Kaguya.
Kiyohara then sat cross-legged on the cushion opposite Kaguya.
"Are you getting used to it?"
"It's fine."
Kaguya gently placed the maple leaf from her palm onto the low table.
"Can you tell me your story? There are some details that I do not know very well."
Kiyohara spoke calmly.
Naturally, he had a purpose for coming here.
First, he wanted to understand how the God Tree was cultivated.
Second, he wanted to extract more information from Kaguya.
So, for the moment, Kiyohara intended to sit down and listen to the story of Kaguya's broken family.
Kaguya did not hide anything from him.
"I am a member of the branch family of the Ōtsutsuki clan. In the eyes of the main family, members of the branch family are nothing more than sacrifices used to make the God Tree mature."
"I was selected and sent to this planet. The Ten-Tails was sealed within my body, and once the God Tree fully matured, I would be sacrificed to it."
"But later, I discovered that the natural energy on this planet was extraordinarily abundant. The amount of energy here was greater and purer than that of any planet I had ever seen in my homeland."
"Because of that, I began to have other thoughts."
"I did not want to die."
"I wanted to survive. I wanted to become stronger. I wanted to possess enough power to stand against the main family."
Her fingers unconsciously tightened.
"So I ambushed Isshiki and consumed the Chakra Fruit. You already know what happened after that."
After hearing this, Kiyohara immediately comforted her.
"This is not your fault. You simply did not want to die. The system of the Ōtsutsuki main family, where members of the branch family are treated as sacrifices, is wrong in itself. You resisted it because you did what anyone with a will to survive would have done."
Kaguya raised her head.
A trace of confusion flashed through her pure-white eyes.
She was confused about why Kiyohara would say such a thing.
The hierarchy of the Ōtsutsuki clan was extremely strict, with an absolute distinction between those of higher and lower status.
A branch family member was a branch family member.
A main family member was a main family member.
This was an ironclad law engraved deep within the blood of every Ōtsutsuki.
Although Kaguya did not know exactly which Ōtsutsuki clan branch Kiyohara belonged to, the purity of his bloodline was enough to secretly astonish even her.
He possessed both the Tenseigan and the Jōgan.
He could contain the chakra of all nine Tailed Beasts without his body collapsing.
He could suppress her resurrected body through his own strength alone.
A level of power like this was absolutely impossible for an ordinary member of the branch family to possess.
In Kaguya's eyes, Kiyohara was almost certainly a member of the main family.
Yet a member of the main family was actually speaking up on behalf of a branch family member like her?
(End of Chapter)