Inside the seal space, the water surface had lost its usual ripples, becoming as still as a stagnant pool.
Naruto sat on the water surface, hugging his knees.
His blond bangs drooped down, covering his eyes, and he was curled up into a small ball.
The Nine-Tails exhaled a puff of hot air from its nostrils and gently poked Naruto’s back with the tip of its tail.
“Hey, kid, stop playing dead.”
Naruto didn’t react, only burying his face deeper.
Madara’s soul stood not far away, his brow furrowed.
He had never seen Naruto like this—the usually noisy and endlessly energetic brat was now as quiet as an empty shell.
“Listen, Naruto,” Madara tried to lower his voice, but it still carried a stiff, commanding tone.
“On the battlefield, it’s either you die or I die. Those Root ninjas—”
“I know!” Naruto suddenly looked up, his blue eyes brimming with tears.
“I know Dad did it for me…”
As he spoke, Naruto’s voice choked.
“But just now… I could hear the sound of bones breaking…”
Madara’s expression froze.
He opened his mouth, but found that his usual taunts and reprimands were all stuck in his throat.
The Nine-Tails’ tail silently wrapped around, gently resting on Naruto’s trembling back.
“Hmph… Humans are so troublesome.”
Although it said so, the tip of its tail carefully patted Naruto’s back, as if comforting a startled cub.
Madara looked at the scene, feeling a sense of irritation for some reason.
He strode forward and crouched in front of Naruto, stiffly reaching out a hand, but froze mid-air just as he was about to touch Naruto’s hair.
In the end, that hand simply pressed heavily on Naruto’s shoulder.
“…The first time killing someone is always like this.”
Madara’s voice was so low it was almost inaudible.
“When I was seven, I vomited for a whole day after cutting open a Senju clansman’s throat with a kunai.”
The Nine-Tails’ ears perked up sharply.
“Huh? Uchiha Madara says things like that?”
Naruto looked up, tears still clinging to his eyelashes.
“…Really?”
“Shut up, beast,” Madara glared at the Nine-Tails unhappily.
Then he looked back at Naruto.
“But remember this: only those who survive have the right to suffer. If you were the one who died today, those guys wouldn’t shed a single tear for you.”
The Nine-Tails covered its mouth with its paw and mockingly imitated in a nasal voice, “‘Only those who survive have the right to suffer’~ Why are you so mushy now, old man?”
Madara’s forehead veins bulged.
“I think you’re getting too comfortable because I haven’t beaten you lately, huh?”
Naruto looked at them bickering and suddenly let out a “pfft,” a laugh escaping despite the tear tracks.
“Dad… were you comforting me just now?”
Madara stood up abruptly and turned to leave.
But his reddened ear tips betrayed him.
The Nine-Tails grinned widely and curled its tail around Naruto, pulling him closer.
“Don’t mind that tsundere old man. I’ll tell you a joke—once upon a time, there was an Uchiha clan head who clearly cared about his son but insisted on putting on a grumpy face…”
“NINE-TAILS!”
Madara’s roar echoed through the seal space, along with Naruto’s laughter and the Nine-Tails’ unrestrained teasing.
The water surface finally rippled.
Meanwhile, in the real world, Madara could only continue to control Naruto’s body to prevent the Root from pursuing them.
Naruto’s small body carried an adult at a rapid pace through the dense forest.
The Nine-Tails flicked its tail.
“Hey, old man, where are you taking this kid?”
Madara snorted.
“Say ‘old man’ one more time, and I’ll beat you up right now.”
Naruto sat on the water surface and asked in a small voice, “Dad… is that person okay?”
Madara didn’t answer, but his footsteps unconsciously quickened.
Before long, Madara found a small wooden cabin used by hunters for rest.
Madara kicked open the dilapidated wooden door, and dust rained down.
He placed Shisui on the simple straw mat.
His movements weren’t exactly gentle, but he avoided all fatal injuries.
“Troublesome brat,”
Madara muttered, tearing off a piece of his clothes to use as a bandage, and gathered some herbs to crudely treat Shisui’s wounds.
Although Madara was better at crippling people than saving them, his survival experience from the Warring States period allowed him to master the most basic first aid techniques.
Half an hour later, Shisui’s eyelashes fluttered, and he suddenly coughed violently.
In a daze, Shisui instinctively reached for his ninja tool pouch with his left hand but grasped at empty air—
“Don’t move recklessly,” a childish yet cold voice came from beside him.
“I’ve taken your weapons.”
Shisui’s remaining left eye snapped open wide.
In his blurry vision, a blond child sat by the campfire, the firelight flickering in those scarlet Sharingan eyes.
“Nine-Tails Jinchūriki?!” He instinctively recoiled, but his wound pulled, causing him to gasp in pain.
“Why do you have the Sharingan?”
Madara leisurely tossed a kunai.
“That’s a question I should be asking you—Uchiha prodigy, how did you end up with Danzō gouging out your eyes?”
Shisui’s pupils contracted sharply.
“You know Danzō? Wait…”
He suddenly reached for his bandaged right eye socket, which was empty.
“My eyes…”
“Got them back,” Madara casually tossed him a glass bottle, inside which floated a scarlet eyeball.
“Although I don’t understand why you went to all this trouble.”
Shisui trembled as he caught the bottle. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
The Mangekyō Sharingan slowly rotated in the culture medium.
His expression shifted from shock to confusion, and finally to complex gratitude.
“Why… why did you save me?”
Madara stood up and walked to the window, his back to him.
“Just passing by.”
Madara’s pretense was fully observed by the Nine-Tails, who couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
“So pretentious.”
Naruto’s eyes lit up.
“Dad is so cool! I want to be like that too!”
After a moment of silence, Shisui took a deep breath.
“Regardless, thank you. I am Shisui Uchiha.”
Madara turned around and asked, “There was once an Uchiha named Kagami in the Uchiha clan. You resemble him greatly. What is your relation to him?”
Shisui was startled.
“You know my grandfather?”
Grandfather was a figure from the First Hokage’s era, loyal to the Second Hokage’s guard unit.
This person who was inhabiting the Nine-Tails Jinchūriki actually knew his grandfather, meaning this person must have been born at least in the Warring States period.
Madara chuckled at this.
“Grandfather… You two are truly alike, both in appearance and personality.”
Madara suddenly turned, his Sharingan directly at Shisui.
“Tell me, why did Danzō want to gouge out your eyes?”
The campfire crackled, illuminating Shisui’s pale face.
Shisui lowered his head, his voice hoarse.
“Because… I wanted to use Kotoamatsukami to stop the Uchiha’s coup.”
“Coup?” Madara’s voice suddenly rose dangerously.
“Those good-for-nothings want to rebel?”
Back then, he, as the clan head, wanted to lead the Uchiha clan out of Konoha, but not a single person followed him.
And this group of people actually wanted to rebel?
Shisui didn’t know about this.
He thought Madara was surprised by something else, so he just nodded with a bitter smile.
“Lord Fugaku has already gathered the clan’s elites and will act in three days. I originally wanted to use Kotoamatsukami to change his mind, but Danzō…”
Madara suddenly burst into laughter, his laughter filled with mockery.
“Use the strongest genjutsu to stop a bunch of idiots from rushing to their deaths? Shisui, you’re more naive than your grandfather!”
Shisui retorted, “But, this is currently the only way to peacefully resolve the issue between the Uchiha and Konoha.”
____________________
Update: “Monday to Friday – Update 3 Chapters a Day”
“Saturday and Sunday – Off”