Chapter 11 — Chakra Seed
At this moment, Madara's consciousness was wandering within his own mental world.
Just now, he had sensed that something extraordinary seemed to exist within his mind.
'Found it.'
A towering tree that blotted out the sky appeared abruptly in his consciousness. Countless white threads hung down from its branches, swaying gently despite the absence of wind.
'Is this… the spiritual form of the God Tree?'
Uchiha Madara's expression froze slightly as he noticed cocoon-like structures hanging from the branches.
Offerings?
After the failure of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, hadn't the God Tree been taken away by those two brats? Why would it appear inside his consciousness?
Madara forced himself to recall the details of the Fourth Great Ninja War.
When he became the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki, he had felt no discomfort whatsoever.
He remembered it clearly—whether it was the moment he became the Ten-Tails' host, the battles that followed, or even the instant of his defeat and death, his consciousness had never wavered in the slightest.
He lifted his gaze toward the God Tree before him.
'Then… after my death, is this the reason I was reborn in this world?'
Madara suddenly extended his hand toward one of the offerings hanging from the tree.
'Universal Pull.'
He dragged one of the cocoons directly toward himself. With a slight exertion of force, he tore it open and pulled out the person inside.
Looking at the face filled with terror, Madara frowned slightly.
He didn't recognize this person, nor were they wearing a ninja headband.
Just as he was pondering the origin of this corpse—
The space before the God Tree rippled like the surface of water, forming a mirror that began to display images.
A cold voice echoed:
"Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence Burial."
Countless branches shot into the sky, forming an enclosed space. Then, the branches tightened, crushing everyone inside to death.
Madara lowered his gaze again, looking at the corpse in front of him—and understood.
This was one of the crew members from the pirate group he had slaughtered earlier that day.
'So that's how it works… Those killed in the outside world become offerings to the God Tree within my mind.'
However, Madara felt little interest in this.
The number of sacrifices required for a Chakra Fruit or the Ten-Tails was simply too vast. If he attempted to kill that many people in this world, he would likely become a global enemy long before succeeding.
With only a small number of sacrifices, at most he could create White Zetsu—those strange creatures whose combat strength wasn't particularly impressive.
And since he had no intention of waging war, they were essentially useless to him.
As if sensing Madara's thoughts, the God Tree quickly extended a branch toward him. At its tip was a seed radiating a gentle white glow.
Madara took the seed into his hand. At first, he didn't understand what it was—but in the next instant, his pupils shrank, and a trace of excitement appeared on his face.
'This is… a Chakra Seed?!'
As someone who had frequently dealt with the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path in his previous life, Madara possessed a deep understanding of the God Tree.
'I see… The people I kill in this world are absorbed by the God Tree and converted into Chakra Seeds. With these, people in this world can learn to use chakra.'
With that realization, Madara turned to leave—
But the God Tree stopped him.
A branch slowly extended to his face, trembling slightly.
'You want me to touch it?'
Madara didn't hesitate. He grabbed the branch directly.
In an instant, a massive amount of information flooded into his mind.
It turned out that from the moment he became the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki in his previous life, a seed of the God Tree had already taken root within his consciousness, accumulating energy through the slaughter of the ninja war.
After his death, a portion of the Ten-Tails' body, carrying his soul, entered the dimension of Amenominaka—and from there, arrived in this world.
At first, it had appeared deep beneath the sea.
By absorbing a large number of marine life souls, and combining them with remnants of the tree's core and sap, it had barely managed to reconstruct his current body before falling into dormancy.
Only today, after he began killing and providing nourishment, did it awaken once more.
However, due to the loss of its core and essence, the original God Tree body that had crossed into this world had already died.
Now, it required Madara's help to rebuild its form—and together, ascend to the Six Paths once more, returning to the ninja world.
'Become the Ten-Tails' Jinchūriki again and return to the ninja world?'
Madara's expression turned cold.
'Don't joke with me. You ignorant tool… our stage has already come to an end.'
The existence of the God Tree and the Chakra Seed brought Madara a considerable surprise.
Originally, due to the difference in energy systems between worlds, teaching that little brat had been extremely troublesome. He had even been forced to study and experiment with converting chakra-based techniques into Haki.
'With Chakra Seeds and the chakra extraction method, that brat should have enough to learn for quite some time. Aside from the Three Basic Techniques, I'll pick a few suitable ninjutsu for her as well.'
Don't misunderstand—this was merely part of repaying a favor.
That brat was definitely not his disciple.
...
Knock knock knock.
Just as Madara exited his mental world, urgent knocking came from outside the door.
"Master~ Master~! I ran into a problem, open up~!"
Speak of the devil.
Madara hadn't even had time to select any jutsu before the brat had already come uninvited.
Just as he was about to get up to open the door, it suddenly swung open, and the girl rushed in, covered in dust and injuries.
Ah, right.
She had ripped off the doorknob when barging in…
Looking at the reckless girl charging inside, Madara expressionlessly grabbed her by the back of the neck and carried her back outside.
Gion: (°ー°〃)?
He closed the door.
'Wood Release: Restore Handle.'
From the broken hole, wood rapidly grew and formed a crude doorknob.
"I did not permit you to enter. That was rude. Do it again—properly."
Gion: …This ridiculous sense of ceremony. Master, are you a Virgo or something?
After repeating the process correctly, she was finally allowed inside.
"Speak. What is it?"
Gion suddenly put her hands on her hips, her face full of pride.
"Hehe, I've already mastered the swordsmanship you taught me, Master! n(≧▽≦)n"
Madara was slightly surprised.
How long had it been since he taught her? One hour?
"You're certain?"
Gion nodded eagerly.
"Yep, yep! I learned it in less than three days! I even told Vice Admiral Garp and Admiral Sengoku, but they didn't seem very happy…"
Madara paused for a moment.
Three days?
He had only spent what felt like a brief moment communicating with the God Tree—how had three days passed?
However, his expression remained unchanged.
"Oh? Show me."
Gion's expression faltered slightly. She poked her fingers together awkwardly.
"Well… I'm just a tiny bit short of mastering it. It's just… after every strike, I can't make the dummy's neck catch fire…"
As she spoke, she glanced nervously at Madara, ready to bolt at the slightest change in his expression.
Madara, however, showed no reaction.
That effect was merely a habit of his. From the beginning, he hadn't expected her to achieve it—what mattered was the power and footwork. After all, she didn't even possess chakra.
"Delayed chakra burst technique. Worry about that after you learn chakra."
Gion suddenly seemed to catch onto something.
"But… Teacher Zephyr told me your abilities can't be taught to me?"
Madara raised his hand.
A wooden spiral bud formed in his palm. As it slowly bloomed, it revealed a seed emitting a gentle aura.
"Chakra Seed. With this, you can use the same power as I do."
Gion stared blankly at the seed.
Images of Madara's techniques began flashing through her mind—
"Let me show you that technique… Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence Burial!"
"Pathetic ant! Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
"This world needs power—power like yours, the kind that can dance before me!"
"Then behold—the true power of Admiral Gion!!!"
At the thought of returning to Marine Headquarters and declaring those lines under the admiring gazes of her comrades—
Tears of emotion began flowing uncontrollably from her mouth.
Her eyes, as she looked at Madara, were filled with an almost obsessive admiration.