Chapter 371: Tobirama: I Need to Stall for Time Too
Huh?
Uchiha Madara was just about to ignore Senju Tobirama and grab what he needed first when a sudden thought flashed through his mind.
Why does this situation feel strangely familiar?
Even at such close range, Madara's sensory ability wasn't strong enough to detect whether there was any chakra fluctuation coming from Tobirama.
But he still considered another possibility.
Tobirama really was "playing dead", but not to lure him in.
Rather, just like before, he was pretending in order to avoid being discovered by his enemy while in a weakened state.
Thinking further, if Tobirama really was trying to bait him, then he would definitely intervene in whatever Madara was about to do to Uzumaki Naruto.
After all, Tobirama would never just sit back and allow him to recover his strength.
So in reality, Madara had no other choice. He could only gamble that Tobirama wasn't setting a trap.
With that thought, Madara picked up a bottle of milk from the bedside, meant to replenish Naruto's nutrition, and walked over to Tobirama, who was lying motionless on the ground as if dead.
Pop.
The milk bottle, like a sharp bayonet, was stabbed into Tobirama's body. The milk level inside rapidly dropped until the bottle was empty.
In the original story, after Madara was revived with Rinne Rebirth, one of the things he did was impale Tobirama all over with black rods, even driving several into his head.
It forced Tobirama to resort to spitting out Water Release, which he even gave the elegant name "Heavenly Weeping."
Now, Madara also wanted to stab Tobirama with Yin–Yang Release black rods. Unfortunately, he didn't have those, so he had to settle for the next best thing, using milk bottles.
But even milk bottles couldn't just be used casually.
With Madara's current strength, he couldn't break through Tobirama's defenses without tools.
Yet asking him to climb out the window, retrieve the tool he had used earlier to smash it, and then come back to deal with Tobirama felt unnecessary.
So Madara compromised.
He wouldn't "injure" Tobirama.
No need to break through defenses.
Wherever there was a gap, he simply stuffed in a milk bottle.
"Still no reaction?"
Seeing Tobirama covered in milk bottles yet completely motionless, Madara was somewhat surprised.
Was Tobirama truly knocked unconscious by that mysterious figure in the sky earlier, or was his tolerance just that strong, still playing dead?
Madara couldn't be bothered to think further.
His revenge on Tobirama was, for now, complete.
As for doing anything else, his current physical condition wouldn't allow it anyway.
Better to handle the important matter first.
Madara searched the bedroom but couldn't find what he was looking for, so he stepped out.
The moment Madara left the room, Tobirama, who had been lying on the ground, opened his eyes.
Madara had guessed correctly. Tobirama really was incredibly patient.
In Tobirama's view, his Impure World Reincarnation body had no sense of pain anyway. On top of that, his chakra was continuously being drained by the Yachihoko, and his sensory abilities had sharply declined. If he just kept his eyes shut, it was as if nothing was happening.
As long as he kept pretending to be dead, Madara might do something to him at first, but without any feedback, he would soon lose interest.
On the other hand, if he woke up now, he had no strength to resist.
Compared to the already weakened Madara, Tobirama's state, completely drained of chakra and unable to move, was even worse.
If Madara realized he was conscious, he would definitely subject him to continuous torment.
Tobirama glanced upward at Naruto, who was still trapped in genjutsu, and sighed inwardly.
It seemed Naruto wouldn't escape Madara's grasp today.
He wondered if Uchiha Sasuke could make it back in time.
As for what Madara had gone out to find, naturally, it was a "tool."
Madara had secretly observed multiple times before and noticed that Sasuke used a special device to obtain Naruto's cells.
He didn't know exactly what it was.
After all, he was a relic from the Warring States era. Even though he had lingered on for some time afterward, he had only lived up to the period of the Third Shinobi War.
Technology advanced rapidly; it was normal that there were things he didn't understand.
Madara vaguely remembered it being an electric device, somewhat cup-shaped, that rotated and made a buzzing sound.
"Found it."
After searching for a while, Madara finally found what he wanted in the kitchen. Feeling a bit excited, he brought it back to the bedroom and plugged it in.
Hmm?
Wait, plugged it in?
Tobirama, squinting as he secretly watched, sensed something was off.
Wasn't this thing supposed to run on batteries?
Since when did it plug directly into a power source?
Tobirama took a closer look, and was instantly stunned.
What Madara had brought back seemed… possibly… maybe… to be a blender.
Who knows whether Sasuke used it to grind meat for hamburger patties or beans for soy milk.
Sasuke really was quite the domestic type… No, was this really the time to be thinking about that?
This thing definitely wouldn't work!
This wasn't just a matter of possibly missing the opportunity, it was guaranteed!
At this rate, Naruto was really going to turn into a cute girl.
Tobirama opened his mouth, intending to give up pretending and warn Madara, but his rationality immediately stopped him.
Given the relationship between him and Madara, if he spoke up to advise him, not only would it fail to stop Madara, it would instead make Madara more convinced he was doing the right thing.
So he could only stall for time in another way.
Tobirama knew Sasuke's Mangekyō ability was information-based. He might have already noticed something unusual here, he just needed time to get here.
The longer he could delay things, the higher the chance Naruto would survive.
"Madara, I didn't expect you to have such a fetish. Naruto is still just a child! You're a disgrace to Konoha, the Uchiha clan should be ashamed of you too!"
With great effort, Tobirama pushed the milk bottle out of his mouth with his tongue. The moment he could speak, he immediately began mocking Madara.
"…Tobirama, so you really were pretending to be dead. Can't keep it up anymore?"
Madara turned around, set down the multifunctional blender, crossed his arms, and looked down at Tobirama with disdain.
Madara was full of imposing aura, provided one ignored how negligible the strength of both of them currently was.
"Madara, back when you brought Uchiha Izuna back after I seriously injured him, did you ever check his lower body?"
Tobirama suddenly changed the subject.
He directly threw out a name that would provoke Madara into deep thought.
"What do you mean?!"
Madara angrily stepped on Tobirama's head.
"Heh. Back then, one of my Flying Thunder God slashes directly cut off one of Izuna's 'parts.' And you didn't even notice?"
"Seems Izuna knew it would be a great humiliation to lose that 'part,' so he died from anger without ever telling you. But don't worry, Madara, my Flying Thunder God Slash is very fast. Izuna didn't feel much pain."
"As for afterward, he probably used Fire Release to cauterize the wound himself…"
Tobirama spoke with a smile on his face.
At this moment, he truly felt that the people who wrote those bizarre novels were geniuses.
Who would have thought their plots could come in handy at a time like this?
(End of this chapter)