Izanagi

Uchiha Kō could tell from Uzumaki Mito's expression that she had heard of it. Tsunade and Nawaki, however, just looked blankly confused. He shook his head.

"Izanagi of the Uchiha Clan is a forbidden technique. It was once all the rage among the Uchiha, and during that time, the clan descended into chaos," Uchiha Kō murmured.

"Izanagi is also known as the Reality Distortion Technique. It can alter reality after one has died, bringing someone back from the dead." Uchiha Kō sighed as he spoke.

Tsunade and Nawaki's eyes widened. Distorting reality? Reversing life and death? Wasn't that a little too absurd? If the Uchiha had an ability like that, they could have become the foremost ninja clan long ago!

"You don't believe it?" Uzumaki Mito asked her grandson and granddaughter. "It's all true. There aren't many records of it among the Uzumaki Clan, but activating the technique seems to come at a tremendous cost, doesn't it?"

Uchiha Kō nodded. "Lady Mito is right. The cost is indeed tremendous." As he spoke, his eyes instantly changed from black to blood-red, and three Tomoe spun within them.

Once Uchiha Kō activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, Tsunade and Nawaki froze for a moment. Then an oppressive force swept over them.

At that time, there was only one Mangekyō Sharingan wielder in Konoha: Uchiha Hirotomo. But he preferred to keep his true strength hidden, so he presented himself with a Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

In the eyes of Konoha's villagers, the Uchiha's Three-Tomoe Sharingan was the strongest form.

Tsunade, a powerful shinobi on the verge of Kage Level, had seen plenty of Three-Tomoe Sharingan, but this was the first time she had felt such oppressive force from one like Uchiha Kō's.

The Three-Tomoe Sharingan of others might have looked much like Uchiha Kō's, but to her, the oppressive feeling was different.

It wasn't strange that Tsunade felt that way. Uchiha Kō currently possessed Jonin Chakra, and all of his chakra was Natural Chakra.

Natural Chakra was stored in the body and constantly improved Uchiha Kō's physique. As one of his organs, his Sharingan was naturally strengthened as well.

In terms of ocular power, his Three-Tomoe Sharingan was already on par with an ordinary Mangekyō—in other words, Kage Level ocular power.

So it was only natural that Tsunade felt suppressed.

Back to the point.

"The price of Izanagi is one Sharingan," Uchiha Kō said calmly. "After activating Izanagi, you can distort reality and return yourself from the state of having been killed to your original, full-strength state. At the same time, one Sharingan pupil disappears, leaving only the whites of the eye. It becomes useless."

Tsunade and Nawaki sucked in a breath. Didn't that mean he had two extra lives?

"So you're saying Madara Uchiha really did die back then? He calculated the timing and prepared to activate Izanagi in advance?" Uzumaki Mito asked gravely.

"Yes. Madara was probably taking a gamble—betting that Hashirama wouldn't let anyone touch his body or take his eyes. Fortunately for him, he won." Uchiha Kō chuckled.

"Madara Uchiha is still alive! What are we supposed to do?" Tsunade asked anxiously.

Uchiha Kō only smiled. "So what if he's alive? The outside world thinks he's dead, and he hasn't come forward to deny it. That means that although he's still alive, his strength has declined considerably. We should just carry on as usual. He won't make a move."

Uzumaki Mito gave a slight nod, agreeing with Uchiha Kō.

One had to understand that Madara Uchiha's fearsome reputation as the God of Shinobi was well deserved. Compared with Senju Hashirama, who was simple and kind, the sort of person people called a "naive sweetheart," Madara was decisive and never hesitated. He truly was ruthless when it came to taking action.

Back at the First Five Kage Summit, Madara Uchiha had yet to leave the village. At the time, Senju Hashirama had actually planned to distribute the Tailed Beasts among the various nations to maintain what he called peace.

But when Madara Uchiha heard the proposal, he immediately retorted, "Give them out? Hashirama, you've got to be joking!"

Unexpectedly, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, who usually disagreed with Madara Uchiha, had also sided with him for once on this matter.

Unfortunately, Senju Hashirama was stubborn. He ignored everyone's objections and insisted on carrying out his plan. In the end, he did something shocking: he bowed to the other four nations, asking them to hear him out.

If the hot-tempered Madara Uchiha had handled the matter, he would probably have bellowed, "You bow to me, and we'll call it even!" How could he have swallowed his pride like Senju Hashirama?

Anyway, Uzumaki Mito sighed softly and shook her head helplessly. "It seems Madara knew Hashirama's temperament inside out."

Uchiha Kō nodded thoughtfully and added, "Madara probably manipulated Nawaki into going to the front this time because there's something about him that Madara is determined to get."

Tsunade shook her head vigorously, her face full of disbelief. "Nawaki is just a lowly Genin. How could someone like Madara possibly take an interest in him?"

Clearly, Tsunade couldn't accept this explanation.

But Uchiha Kō simply replied, "Don't forget, he has Hashirama's bloodline. In other words, Hashirama Cells."

At those words, Uzumaki Mito's face instantly turned ashen.

It was true. Although Nawaki had yet to awaken the Wood Release Technique, the blood flowing through his body was the closest to that of the First, Senju Hashirama. Even his older sister, Tsunade, couldn't compare to him in that regard.

Seeing everyone fall silent, Uchiha Kō continued, "If it really comes to that, and something happens to Nawaki while Madara's subordinates are lurking nearby, watching him like predators... then I'm sure I don't need to spell out what would happen to him next."

Those words struck Tsunade like a bolt of lightning.

A horrifying image involuntarily rose in her mind—Nawaki being brutally killed by the enemy. In an instant, Tsunade felt the world spin and her vision darken. Her whole body began to sway.

She stumbled backward, her steps unsteady. In a panic, Tsunade reached for the table beside her, trying to steady herself.

But fear and unease had overwhelmed her so completely that her arm wouldn't obey. Only after considerable effort did she manage to support her body and keep herself from collapsing to the ground.

Tsunade's eyes reddened as she looked at Nawaki. "You brat, could you please stay off the battlefield this time? Go talk to Orochimaru and tell him you're not going out this time. All right...?"

Tsunade's voice trembled as she pleaded.