Chapter 77: I'll Be Back Later
"So…"
Ryōichi hurried after the Great Elder and asked in surprise, "Why do you look like you're on your way to your own execution?"
The Great Elder glanced at him and said firmly, "Otherwise, how will the younger generation ever learn of this old man's fearless spirit?"
"How will they know what this old man did for the clan back then?"
This old man wasn't unafraid of death.
It was simply that fearlessness had overcome his fear of death.
This old man would surely be recorded in the clan's history because of this.
Ryōichi frowned.
"What exactly did you do?"
The Great Elder pointed at himself, then at Ryōichi, and slowly spoke in his aged voice.
"Although this old man technically did nothing…"
"This old man understands that doing nothing was actually the greatest thing he could have done."
"On a small scale, this was saving the clan from disaster."
"On a grand scale, this was saving Konoha and the entire shinobi world."
"If he had made a move, the two of us would definitely have been the first to die."
"But because he didn't act…"
"We will become the greatest heroes in the clan."
Ryōichi looked at the Great Elder as though he were looking at an idiot before scoffing.
"What a beautiful dream you have. 'We'?"
"I'm the one taking the greatest risk. What does any of this have to do with you?"
"You can't put it that way."
The Great Elder turned his head and glanced toward Ryōichi's courtyard before lowering his voice.
"I've kept this matter secret from everyone in the clan."
"As for those who met Uchiha Madara back then, as well as the clan members who still have opinions about him, I deliberately separated them for the time being."
"You know very well that there are people in the clan who don't like him."
"Alright, alright."
Ryōichi impatiently waved his hand.
Then he remembered the matter Asuka had entrusted to him.
"Don't forget about Asuka's matter."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"The matter concerning Pakura."
"Pakura…"
The Great Elder's eyes widened slightly.
"This old man actually still remembers the Hero of Sunagakure, Pakura…"
He suddenly covered his mouth.
His eyes widened as he stared at Ryōichi in disbelief.
How had that kid gotten involved with Pakura of the Sand Village?
---
That night.
When Uchiha Madara realized that he was unable to see anything through ordinary observation, he finally made up his mind to control Asuka.
After dinner, he called Asuka into his room.
After finding an excuse to send Ryōichi away, Madara's Three-Tomoe Sharingan began to slowly spin within his eye sockets.
The dōjutsu activated without the slightest problem.
The result, however, was somewhat unexpected.
"…"
Looking into Asuka's clear eyes, Madara's pupils contracted slightly.
Then he felt his own ocular power being consumed, and his expression immediately turned solemn.
He recalled the scene from half a year ago, when that foolish Spiral Zetsu had confidently handed Asuka's data over to Uchiha Madara.
Madara's eyelid twitched.
A jōnin who had only been promoted six months ago…
Yet he possessed such powerful resistance to dōjutsu?
When he saw Asuka looking at him with a puzzled expression, Madara hesitated for a moment.
For the sake of keeping his plans for tomorrow hidden for the time being, he began telling Asuka the story of his grandfather.
---
The following night.
After taking a brief day of rest, Madara once again leaped onto the rooftop.
There, he found Shukaku counting the stars.
He began recreating what had happened the previous night.
The control experiment succeeded.
The interrogation failed.
After successfully controlling Shukaku, whenever Madara tried to guide it into expressing its suspicions, the tiny tailed beast would tightly shut its mouth, as though it had turned into a silent statue.
But whenever Madara asked other questions, the palm-sized little creature behaved as though it were completely under his control, answering every question.
"…"
After failing twice in succession, Uchiha Madara silently remained standing on the rooftop for the entire night.
Only when dawn broke did a White Zetsu emerge beneath his feet.
It looked up at Madara, whose clothes had been dampened by the morning dew, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke.
"Lord Madara, the One-Tail in Sunagakure has gone berserk."
"The information transmitted through the Will created by Yin–Yang Release confirms that the One-Tail in Sunagakure is genuine."
"The plan can proceed as usual."
A glimmer flashed through Uchiha Madara's murky eyes.
He lowered his head and looked at the Sharingan reflected in Shukaku's eye socket.
Then he asked in a low voice,
"Then what exactly is wrong with it?"
White Zetsu instinctively glanced at the teapot nearby.
How was it supposed to know?
Black Zetsu had desperately ordered it to return, insisting that the One-Tail was real.
And aside from being somewhat stupid and possessing an excessive desire for destruction, the One-Tail in Sunagakure showed no other abnormalities.
However…
The fact that there were no abnormalities was itself the greatest abnormality.
Black Zetsu had previously mentioned two possibilities while talking to itself.
First, perhaps Shukaku's temperament had simply become more irritable after being imprisoned for such a long time.
Second, when the Sage of Six Paths divided the Ten-Tails into the One-Tail through Nine-Tails, they had essentially been nothing more than nine enormous masses of chakra that were given form and life.
Now, the second Shukaku in Konoha seemed to have lost its consciousness altogether.
The Ten-Tails had been born from the fusion of the Divine Tree and the Mother.
The Mother had been the dominant force.
The Mother's consciousness was equivalent to the Ten-Tails' consciousness.
As for the personalities of the Nine Tailed Beasts, they were ultimately superfluous. They had no impact on the plan.
Now that the plan could proceed smoothly, Black Zetsu's objective had changed.
It now wanted Madara to die as soon as possible.
Then it would find Obito and carry out the next stage of the plan.
At that moment, Uchiha Madara stared at White Zetsu's vacant eyes before slowly closing his own.
To think that a mere tool could provide him with an answer even he himself couldn't figure out…
That was ridiculous.
However, since his own Will had indicated that the plan could proceed as usual…
It was time to leave.
This decaying body…
This old man…
Had truly had enough.