Dead

Uchiha Gen had to admit, if one didn't have to worry about eye strain or chakra consumption, the Susanoo was truly convenient. The moves were old-fashioned, but they worked, and Naruto had been spamming Rasengans all the way to the series finale, hadn't he?

Taking this opportunity, Itachi's eyes narrowed slightly, the tomoe within shifting into the shape of a shuriken. Suddenly, a mass of black flames erupted over Han—Amaterasu!

"What the hell is this?!" After struggling to push himself up, Han was struck with sudden panic. He had intended to jump into the water to extinguish the flames, only to find they couldn't be put out, and the black fire was continuing to spread!

Feeling the threat, Han made a split-second decision and quickly stripped off his Steam Armor, which was already engulfed in black flames.

However, when Han looked around again, he found the surrounding environment had returned to calm, as if nothing had happened—including the giant hand that had appeared out of nowhere.

Damn it! Han looked at the burning Steam Armor beside him with a grave expression. He couldn't wait any longer; he secretly channeled chakra within his body, forcing it into a chaotic, turbulent state.

At the same time, the surrounding scenery began to distort again, slowly revealing reality, but in a trance, "reality" was on the verge of being overwritten by genjutsu once more!

Seeing this, Han finally began to panic. If things continued like this, he might actually die here today!

Escape! He had to escape!

Watching the Five-Tails Jinchuriki on the verge of entering the next stage of Tailed Beast transformation while Itachi remained motionless, Uchiha Gen pondered for a moment. Forget it; a worker's soul is a worker's toil. If he helped out this much, surely Itachi wouldn't refuse to give him an autograph.

Executing the Instantaneous Shift, Uchiha Gen suddenly appeared behind the Jinchuriki. After reinforcing the technique, he used Susanoo to empower his own Susanoo. In an instant—just that single arm—its volume grew exponentially, carrying a violent, air-tearing shriek as it slammed heavily down onto Han!

After a cloud of smoke cleared, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki hadn't even managed to complete his full Tailed Beast transformation before being flattened and knocked unconscious!

A total crush!

After landing on the ground and steadying himself, Uchiha Gen mused to himself that he hadn't even expected this sneak attack to be so effective.

This provided him with a new perspective: no matter how strong a Jinchuriki was, as long as one could achieve an overwhelming combat advantage in a single instant, it was highly possible to suppress the eruption of their Tailed Beast.

Of course, this was limited to situations where the human and the Tailed Beast were not in sync. After all, the Tailed Beast and the Jinchuriki were essentially two separate individuals; in a situation like the one just now, the Tailed Beast could have fully warned the Jinchuriki.

Thinking of this, Uchiha Gen signaled to Itachi that he could come over.

Itachi walked out slowly and asked with a puzzled look, "Are your eyes alright?"

"They're fine. Let's discuss this—how about I carry him for a stretch, and then you carry him for a stretch on the way back?" Uchiha Gen suggested, then suddenly thought of something. "Or, you could give me an autograph, and I'll carry him the whole way."

However, after he finished speaking, Itachi noticed Uchiha Gen's gaze lingering on his own hanging left arm, as if he were contemplating whether that hand could still write.

"..."

Itachi chose to ignore him: "What do you want an autograph for?"

Uchiha Gen didn't hesitate to state the reason he had prepared earlier: "As a keepsake, to record my first teammate in the Akatsuki, even if it's only temporary."

"Fine. Can you answer a question for me?"

"?"

The next moment, Uchiha Gen felt Itachi using Tsukuyomi to try and pull him in. Thinking Itachi must have something to say to him, Uchiha Gen chose not to resist and successfully entered the blood-red world of the Tsukuyomi.

The scene shifted. Entering Tsukuyomi for the first time, Uchiha Gen looked around with curiosity. It was indeed different from the feeling the system provided. Come to think of it, that red moon in the sky was truly eerie.

Itachi stood before Uchiha Gen and asked after a moment of hesitation: "Are you... already dead?"

Uchiha Gen remained silent for a long time, doubting his life: "...Where did I leave a flaw?" Uchiha Gen didn't deny it, and couldn't be bothered to. Since Uchiha Itachi had already guessed this much, denying it probably wouldn't help. Should he say, as expected of Itachi?

"It was a guess." Dead people were different from the living in certain details, but Itachi had no conclusive evidence. He hadn't expected Uchiha Gen to admit it directly: "Did 'Madara' resurrect you? What is his true goal?"

Uchiha Gen sighed: "No, the situation is a bit complicated. In short, I am not being controlled. Also, that guy in the mask is likely not 'Madara.' As far as I know, if it were Madara, he would crush people with raw strength rather than scurrying about."

"...!" Uchiha Itachi felt the massive amount of information revealed in that sentence and was suddenly speechless. Could the person in front of him really be a predecessor of the Uchiha Clan?

Seeing Itachi's expression, Uchiha Gen suddenly thought of something fun and put on a serious face: "Itachi, listen well. I will only say this intelligence once..."

By the time they emerged from the Tsukuyomi space, less than a second had passed in the outside world. Itachi walked forward as if nothing had happened, digesting the massive amount of information, and it took him a long while to calm down.

"Madara" was actually Obito. According to Uchiha Gen's speculation, the Uchiha Clan's Stone Tablet might have been tampered with, and the Infinite Tsukuyomi recorded on it was more like a means to unseal a certain existence, while the Rinnegan was evolved from the Sharingan.

Although Uchiha Gen said it was all his speculation, intuition told Itachi that these were likely facts.

What puzzled Itachi was how Uchiha Gen had died. Regarding this question, Uchiha Gen chose to avoid the topic and did not answer.

It made Itachi wonder: if such a person hadn't died back then, would the Uchiha Clan have reached this point? Who killed him? As he thought this, his vision suddenly blurred, and his sight grew a bit dimmer.

White Zetsu had seen that giant hand from the periphery, and since then, everything inside had gone completely quiet. He had only ever seen a Susanoo of that size on Madara. Was it over? The Five-Tails Jinchuriki hadn't even managed to open a full Tailed Beast transformation?

Upon receiving this information from White Zetsu, Obito couldn't help but feel glad he hadn't chosen to fight head-on and had instead recruited Uchiha Gen. Otherwise, even if he could have killed him, the price he would have had to pay would have been unimaginable.

Moreover, once he started fighting, he probably wouldn't have been able to keep up the act of being Uchiha Madara.

"I disagree."

Tsunade said this while drinking tea and reviewing documents: "The place you want to go is too far, and your own strength is relatively poor. Do you have any idea what it means for other ninja villages that you are of the Uzumaki Clan and possess the Adamantine Sealing Chains, which pose a massive threat to Tailed Beasts?"

"Hmm~ I suppose I do, otherwise I wouldn't have come to Konoha seeking asylum."

"Since you know, why come and ask me?"

"Because I promised someone that I would return to see them at this time."

"Who is it?"

"A dead man..." In a sense, the main body was indeed a dead man.

"..."

Tsunade supported her head, her fingers tapping the desk incessantly. Shizune suddenly knocked and entered, placing another stack of documents on Tsunade's desk.

Due to the issues left behind by Danzo and the inheritance that needed to be processed, there was a severe shortage of manpower during this period. Tsunade had no spare strength to send anyone to protect Uzumaki Reikawa.

This was different from Yamato's Wood Release; Yamato was an unrepeatable, special case, whereas Uzumaki Reikawa was of the Uzumaki Clan, which made a fundamental difference.