"Sosuke... Aizen..."
"Oh, you've briefly broken free from the eternal hell. You Uchiha wretch."
Seated on a wooden bench with his back against a massive, nearly withered tree, Uchiha Madara watched Kagami Uchiha panting before him, a hint of disdainful amusement on his aged face.
Kagami Uchiha possessed every quality Madara despised. His love for Konoha, for one. His overestimation of himself, for another. The Uchiha's uniform arrogance followed by getting beaten down. And being betrayed by those he trusted, or deliberately or inadvertently kept in the dark by them. All of it disgusted and sickened Madara.
And he had even listened to someone called Senju Tobirama, trusting him from beginning to end and regarding him as the best of men. He had never truly considered doing anything hostile against him. What made Madara feel even worse was that Senju had never betrayed Kagami Uchiha from beginning to end either. Though he had treated the Uchiha Clan poorly in countless ways, he alone had never had a problem with Kagami.
That made Madara feel even more disgusted, disgusted enough for killing intent to spread through him.
It was the sort of disgust that came from seeing the most shameful side of his former self, making him want to kill him outright.
Especially when he watched Kagami Uchiha struggle through endless cycles, Madara had to admit that he felt a malicious thrill.
It was as though he were seeing a reflection of his former self, endlessly repeating the cycle of malice—accepted again, drawn in, cast aside, living from beginning to end like a pile of garbage.
But now, Madara had no choice but to admit one thing: he had no better option. It seemed that this disgusting little brat before him was his only real choice. Because from beginning to end,