Uchiha Madara

"Who are you? It's about time you showed yourself, isn't it?"

Over the past few days, Shisui had keenly sensed someone watching him from the shadows.

He had tested for them several times, but even with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated, he couldn't detect anything out of the ordinary.

It wasn't until Shisui returned home that the feeling of being watched grew even stronger.

"Heh heh heh, so you did notice me."

In the courtyard of Shisui's home, a white, humanoid creature poked its head out of the ground.

"White Zetsu?" Shisui recognized the white creature at a glance. It was White Zetsu, a product of the first Infinite Tsukuyomi.

And at this point in time, there was only one person who could command White Zetsu: Uchiha Madara.

Shisui grew fully alert at the thought.

"What kind of creature are you, following me all the way here?"

Although Shisui Uchiha knew who the other party was, he still had to pretend he knew nothing.

"Me? I'm your lord and master, White Zetsu! Kid, I don't want to waste time talking to you. Someone wants to meet you."

As soon as White Zetsu finished speaking, his eyes changed into the shape of the Sharingan.

"Are you Shisui Uchiha?"

The voice was still White Zetsu's, but the tone had clearly changed.

"Who are you? Why did you control this white monster to follow me?"

"And how do you have the Sharingan? Are you also from the Uchiha Clan?"

Though Uchiha Madara had already transplanted his Rinnegan to Nagato by this point, who knew what other trump cards the old monster who had lived from the Warring States period to the present still had? Shisui didn't dare let his guard down for even a moment.

"The Uchiha Clan? Heh. What a distant term. I left that rotten clan long ago. My name is Uchiha Madara."

As far as Madara was concerned, he had abandoned the very notion of family ever since the Uchiha Clan betrayed him many years ago.

"You're Uchiha Madara? Then I'm your father. Lord Madara clearly died during the Battle of the Valley of the End." Though Shisui said this, he was ready for the other party to turn hostile. With the body of a single White Zetsu, even if the one on the other end were the Sage of Six Paths, Shisui was confident he could fight him.

Unexpectedly, Uchiha Madara didn't get angry at Shisui's mockery. He was almost a hundred years old and had been through too much; nothing could stir his emotions very much anymore.

"Everyone thinks Hashirama Senju beat me in the Battle of the Valley of the End, but they don't know I was the one who outmaneuvered him."

"But that doesn't matter anymore. In the end, it's all just the limitations of ordinary people."

Maybe it was just Shisui's imagination, but he could sense Madara's emotions on the other side through White Zetsu's eyes.

"To tear away the façade of this false world and create a new, perfect one, I devised a workable plan and named it the Eye of the Moon Plan."

"I came to meet you because I want you to join my plan."

As he spoke, the Sharingan in White Zetsu's eye sockets stared at Shisui, as if trying to see right through him.

But Shisui gave him a thoroughly unexpected answer.

"What do I get out of it?" Shisui asked curiously.

Uchiha Madara: "..."

When the other party didn't respond for a long time, Shisui tentatively asked, "Was that too much to ask?"

After a long while, a mechanical, emotionless voice came from White Zetsu's mouth. "No, your request is reasonable."

"Then tell me your offer and your terms. If they suit me, I'm willing to help you."

Shisui had his own reasons for making this decision.

Even if he directly refused Uchiha Madara, there was no guarantee Madara wouldn't seek out a second or third successor. Rather than severing contact, Shisui would join in and keep the situation within his control.

"My plan requires gathering all Nine Tailed Beasts. If you agree to join, you'll be responsible for collecting them." Uchiha Madara on the other end revealed only limited information. He couldn't, and wouldn't, completely trust anyone.

"As for your reward, I can tell you how to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan and help you solve the problem of going blind from overusing your eyes. You should have read the clan records. If you can't evolve your eyes into the Mangekyō Sharingan, you've reached the limit of what you'll achieve in this life."

Uchiha Madara was right. The Sharingan, a Kekkei Genkai, was both a gift and a constraint on the Uchiha Clan's development. The Uchiha Clan had dominated the Shinobi World thanks to the Sharingan, but most of their strength was likewise dependent on those eyes.

If Shisui Uchiha couldn't awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan, his strength wouldn't make any great leaps from that point onward.

There were two ways this version of Shisui Uchiha differed.

First, he put his clan before the village. Second, after experiencing the tragedies of his previous life, he now had something called ambition in his heart.

"These benefits aren't enough. I refuse."

With the system's help, Shisui was confident he could awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan and solve the problem of going blind from overusing his eyes.

All Uchiha Madara could offer was Hashirama Senju's cells. Wasn't there a ready supply in the White Zetsu body right in front of him?

"You're actually refusing me? Do you already know the secret of the Sharingan?" Madara wasn't angered by Shisui's refusal. Through White Zetsu, he studied Shisui suspiciously.

"Your offer isn't enough. You'll have to pay more," Uchiha Shisui said calmly.

Uchiha Madara: "..."

After a long pause, Madara finally sighed. "You really are an unusual Uchiha. Tell me, what do you want?"

"If you really are Uchiha Madara, then when you left, you took many of the clan's secret techniques, as well as the Uchiha Clan's treasured Gunbai. I want all of them. In return, I'll help you capture the One-Tails through Seven-Tails." Uchiha Shisui stated his terms.

"I can agree to your conditions. I'll also give you my personal insights on using the Sharingan. I have just one additional request: you must become my representative in the Shinobi World."

That was what Uchiha Madara really wanted.

"Are you about to die?" Shisui asked again.

Uchiha Madara: "..."

"All right, I agree. But I want to see the benefits first." Shisui was worried that if he kept teasing the other party, Uchiha Madara might lose his temper.

"You will. I'll first give you the method for awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan. After you awaken it, remember to come find me in Kirigakure."

After saying this, White Zetsu produced a scroll and tossed it to Shisui.

"Don't disappoint me." With that, Uchiha Madara stopped controlling White Zetsu.

Shisui caught the scroll and found that it recorded the circumstances that had led the Uchiha predecessors who awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan to do so.

Shisui couldn't use the information himself, but he could keep it for someone else.