"Wait a moment!"
Just as Uchiha Madara and Raijin were about to resume their fight, Orochimaru appeared between them.
Of course, he wasn't foolish enough to physically stand between them—one wrong move, and he'd be done for.
"What is it?"
Raijin turned to look at Orochimaru, and Madara did the same.
"The kid you brought back earlier... he's gone."
Orochimaru directed his words at Raijin.
"Gone?"
Raijin froze for a second, looking at Orochimaru in surprise.
"Did you mess up the anesthesia?"
"You were there when we tested the dosage, weren't you?"
Orochimaru sighed, clearly exasperated.
"Then what are you saying?"
Raijin asked in return.
"What we need to do now is take Tatsu to Mito-sama and check if the seal has changed. If it hasn't, then we can be fairly certain—Jigen used that seal to revive himself in the kid's body."
Orochimaru kept his explanation brief.
"Can your Rinne Sharingan do something like that?"
Raijin nodded and turned to Uchiha Madara.
"Maybe... but I can't do it yet."
Madara pressed his lips together and shrugged.
Ever since becoming the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki, his previous understanding of power had completely shattered.
There were many abilities he was still figuring out.
After all, even in the entire shinobi world, there were very few precedents for this eye.
"Idiot."
Raijin scoffed and shot Madara a disdainful look.
The moment he finished speaking, Raijin vanished right in front of Madara.
"Is he always like this?"
Madara watched the direction Raijin disappeared into, then turned to Orochimaru with a helpless expression.
"Uh… more or less."
Orochimaru gave an awkward smile and spoke in a low voice.
It wasn't that Raijin had always been like this, but as he grew stronger, his personality had definitely gotten worse.
"He just had a rough childhood."
Madara snorted at that, then disappeared as well.
One could imagine what life was like for a Uchiha prodigy in Konohagakure, not long after Senju Hashirama's death.
—
"Dad!"
As soon as Raijin appeared, Tatsu came running toward him excitedly.
"What do you want?!"
Raijin instinctively dodged to the side, looking at Uchiha Tatsu with suspicion.
"You're amazing!"
Tatsu's expression froze for a moment, but remembering what he had done in the past, he decided not to say anything about it. Instead, he just continued speaking.
"Ah… it was nothing, just normal for me."
Raijin let out a relieved sigh and waved a hand dismissively.
"Did you win then?"
Tatsu grabbed onto Raijin's arm and looked up at him expectantly.
"Of course I won. I haven't lost a fight in years, alright?"
Raijin lifted his chin slightly, looking quite proud of himself.
"So… does that mean Uchiha Madara is dead?"
Tatsu blinked and asked curiously.
"Uh… no, not exactly."
Raijin raised an eyebrow and answered casually. Then he added in a low voice,
"Madara and I have some differences in ideology, but it's not to the point where we need to kill each other."
"Oh… so that means Uchiha Madara is your friend?"
Tatsu blinked again and continued asking.
"In this world, do you really think there's such a thing as friends forever?"
Raijin didn't answer directly. Instead, he threw the question back at Tatsu.
Were he and Madara friends right now? He wasn't sure. It all depended on what the future had in store.
"By the way, have you noticed anything unusual with your body lately?"
Raijin pulled his hand away from Tatsu and asked him.
"No, I don't feel anything strange."
Tatsu was momentarily surprised by the question but answered Raijin honestly.
"Alright, let's go see Grandma Mito for a check-up."
Raijin nodded and spoke to Tatsu.
"Okay."
Tatsu nodded back without any hesitation.
…
"Damn it! A bunch of damn fools!"
Inside Otsutsuki Isshiki's secret base, Jigen's body was gone. Instead, he now inhabited Kaguya Yukito's body.
It was younger, had more potential, and could better contain his power.
Thinking back to the smug satisfaction he had felt earlier, Isshiki now realized he had been a complete idiot.
Seriously…
But for now, he needed to find another vessel.
Otherwise, something just felt… off.
…
Konohagakure.
"Alright, get some rest."
Raijin patted Tatsu's shoulder, watching as he left the room.
"According to the Anbu's investigation, no one has entered or left the lab since we left. There are also no traces of any living creatures moving inside.
The mark on Tatsu's body hasn't shown any abnormalities either. If we rule out the possibility that the boy just woke up on his own, there's only one explanation left."
Senju Tobirama leaned back in his chair and spoke to Raijin.
"Jigen resurrected himself through the mark he left on that kid…"
Raijin rubbed his chin, deep in thought.
"If Tatsu and that kid have the same kind of mark, then why did Jigen revive through the kid instead of Tatsu?"
Raijin voiced his confusion.
"Maybe it's because the mark on that kid is far more developed than the one on Tatsu."
Tsunade, who was standing nearby, offered her thoughts.
"Does that mean the mark's development is linked to how much power is used from it?"
Raijin paused and looked at Tsunade.
"I think that's very likely."
Tsunade nodded, confirming her belief.
"Regardless of whether that's the case or not, we don't have a way to deal with it right now."
Senju Tobirama shook his head, cutting off Raijin and Tsunade's discussion.
"Let's set this aside for now. Time will give us the answer."
Tobirama Senju continued speaking.
"I was thinking, since that mark is on Tatsu's hand, if we cut off that part, would the mark disappear?"
Hearing this, Tsunade suddenly spoke up.
"Amputation sounds scary, but honestly, for the current Konohagakure, losing a hand isn't a big deal. We can completely create a new arm."
"In theory, it should work. The mark is completely sealed, so if we remove that part, it should separate the curse mark from Tatsu's body."
Uzumaki Mito nodded in agreement, acknowledging that Tsunade's idea was reasonable.
"But a hand grown from cultivated cells will never be exactly the same as the original, especially when performing certain jutsu."
Tobirama added his own thoughts.
"This can be considered a backup plan, but we're not at that stage yet."
"Alright."
Tsunade nodded and looked at Uchiha Raijin.
"For now, let's wait. Time will give us the answer."
Raijin pressed his lips together and spoke to Tsunade.
Right now, there really wasn't a perfect solution to this problem.
So, all they could do was pin their hopes on the future.
Maybe Senjutsu could solve it? Or perhaps the Tenseigan?
Sitting quietly in his small courtyard, Uchiha Madara stared at a rock near the entrance.
His heart felt empty. That long-forgotten feeling of loneliness crept over him once again.
The last time he felt this way was when Hashirama stabbed him from behind.
Black Zetsu had deceived him, that was true, but they had been together for decades.
How could Black Zetsu mean nothing to him at all?
And now, in this vast world, he was once again left to walk alone.
"Tatsu?"
Madara suddenly looked toward the entrance, where a small figure was peeking in curiously.
"Uchiha Tatsu greets Madara-sama."
Hearing his name, Uchiha Tatsu ran up to Madara and bowed respectfully.
"Did your father send you to find me?"
Madara nodded slightly. This kind of formal greeting was common in the Uchiha clan, nothing unusual.
What intrigued him more was why Tatsu had come looking for him.
"No, I came on my own. I hope I'm not disturbing you, but I wanted to ask you something, Madara-sama."
Tatsu lifted his head and looked at Madara.
"Oh? Let's hear it."
Madara crossed his arms and examined the little one in front of him.
"Can you defeat my father, Uchiha Raijin?"
Tatsu asked, looking straight at Madara.
Madara let out a cold laugh almost instinctively.
"Sure, maybe your father is strong to others, but to me, he's just a kid who hasn't grown up yet."
Tatsu blinked at his words, a hint of understanding surfacing in his mind.
His father had said he had never lost a fight.
Uchiha Madara said defeating his father was easy.
But in reality, his father was currently in a meeting at the Senju clan.
That meant their strength wasn't that far apart.
"Do you take students?"
With that thought in mind, Uchiha Tatsu carefully asked Uchiha Madara.
Tatsu knew himself well.
Senju Tobirama was good to him because they were related by blood.
The members of the Hokage's guard were good to him because his father was their superior.
But the man in front of him had no reason to go easy on him.
After all, when it came to who was stronger between him and his father, Tatsu wasn't sure.
But he did know that in this village, besides his father, no one dared to stand in front of Madara.
Maybe… even his father didn't want to stand in front of Madara, but he had no choice—he was the only one strong enough in the village.
"Hmm?"
Madara was taken aback. He looked at Uchiha Tatsu, blinking unconsciously, unsure whether to agree or refuse.
If he agreed, this was Raijin's kid. If he took him in as a student, would Raijin misunderstand?
That brat had been acting more and more unpredictable lately.
But if he refused… this was Raijin's kid.
Thinking about it, if he ever had a conflict with Raijin, and Raijin's own son stood by his side…
Madara's lips curved into a subtle smile.
Besides, Tatsu had both Senju and Uchiha blood. Madara was curious about how far this kid could grow.
But still…
"Why do you want to be my student?"
Madara asked, looking at Uchiha Tatsu.
"I want to defeat my father. Among the people I know, you're the only one who can do it."
Tatsu answered without hesitation.
That was his true goal—to defeat his father, so his father wouldn't have to bear all that pressure every day.
"Why do you want to defeat your father?"
Uchiha Madara nodded slightly but remained unconvinced. He continued questioning Tatsu.
As far as he could tell, there was no major conflict between Tatsu and Raijin.
And knowing Raijin's personality, he wasn't someone who would easily have serious conflicts with others.
Sometimes, Raijin seemed oddly downcast, but Uchiha Madara could see that, deep down, Raijin wasn't someone obsessed with control.
"A lazy person's biggest wish every day is to sleep in peacefully. As this lazy person's child, I think I should help make that wish come true."
Tatsu said this to Uchiha Madara, confirming what Madara had guessed.
There was no conflict between Tatsu and Raijin. In fact, they got along quite well.
But that wasn't really a problem. After all, Madara had no intention of using Tatsu against Raijin.
As for the Eye of the Moon Plan...
With Black Zetsu dead, Madara had pretty much given up on that idea.
Instead of using the plan to create eternal peace, what Madara wanted more now was to find the right time and opportunity to dig Otsutsuki Kaguya out of the moon and completely get rid of her—together with Raijin.
But now was clearly not the right time.
"Come here."
Madara gestured to Uchiha Tatsu and grabbed the hand that Jigen had marked with a curse seal.
"I'm different from your father. Our paths to power are completely different. The person who left this mark on you—he knows things that your father doesn't. I don't know them either. But I can figure it out. Because at our core, he and I are the same."
Madara said as he looked at Uchiha Tatsu.
"Then I'll have to trouble you, teacher!"
Tatsu grinned at Madara.
"You have both Senju and Uchiha blood. Your future achievements will definitely be high, and you'll grow much faster than the average child. But training under me will be harder than you expect, so you better be ready."
Madara told Tatsu.
"Don't worry, I won't let you down!"
—End of Chapter—
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