Dead

Uchiha Gen had to admit that without having to worry about his eyes or chakra, Susanoo was truly convenient to use. The moves might be old-fashioned, but as long as they worked, that was enough. Naruto had been making Rasengan all the way to the ending, after all.

Taking this chance, Itachi slightly opened his eyes. The tomoe within shifted into the shape of shuriken, and black flames suddenly erupted across Han's body. Amaterasu!

"What the hell is this?!" Han struggled to prop himself up, then suddenly froze. He had intended to jump into the water and put out the flames, only to discover that they could not be extinguished at all—and the black fire was still spreading!

Sensing the danger, Han decisively stripped off the Steam Armor covered in black flames!

Yet when Han looked around again, he found that the surroundings had returned to peace, as if nothing had happened—including the enormous palm that had appeared earlier.

Damn it! Han stared gravely at the burning Steam Armor beside him. He could not wait any longer. He secretly mobilized the chakra in his body, maintaining it in a chaotic state.

At the same time, the surrounding scenery began to distort again, gradually revealing reality. Yet in a daze, "reality" seemed about to be covered by the genjutsu once more!

Seeing this, Han finally began to panic. If this continued, he might really fall here today!

Run! He had to escape!

Seeing the Five-Tails Jinchuriki about to enter the next stage of Tailed Beast Transformation while Itachi made no move, Uchiha Gen thought it over. Fine. A worker had a worker's spirit. If he helped out this much, Itachi probably would not refuse to give him an autograph.

Using Instantaneous Shift, Uchiha Gen suddenly appeared behind the Jinchuriki. After enhancing Instantaneous Shift, he used Susanoo to reinforce his Susanoo. In an instant, the single arm that had appeared expanded several times over, tearing through the air as it smashed heavily down toward Han!

After the smoke cleared, the Five-Tails Jinchuriki had not even had time to use Complete Tailed Beast Transformation before he was smashed down and knocked unconscious!

Overwhelming!

After landing steadily, Uchiha Gen pondered to himself. Honestly, even he had not expected that sneak attack to work so well.

But it gave him an idea. No matter how strong a Jinchuriki was, as long as one could establish an overwhelming advantage in combat strength at a certain moment, there was a high chance of suppressing the Tailed Beast's eruption.

Of course, that only applied when the host and Tailed Beast were highly incompatible. After all, a Tailed Beast and its Jinchuriki were essentially two people. In a situation like earlier, the Tailed Beast could have warned the Jinchuriki.

With that in mind, Uchiha Gen gestured to Itachi, signaling that he could come over now.

Itachi slowly stepped out and asked in confusion, "Are your eyes all right?"

"They're fine. Let's discuss this. I'll carry him for part of the way, then you carry him for the rest of the way back. How about that?" Uchiha Gen said, before suddenly thinking of something. "Or you could give me an autograph, and I can carry him the whole way."

However, after he said that, Itachi noticed Uchiha Gen's gaze fall upon his suspended left hand, as if he were considering whether that hand could write.

"..."

Itachi chose to ignore it. "What do you want an autograph for?"

Without the slightest hesitation, Uchiha Gen gave the explanation he had prepared long ago. "For my collection. To commemorate my first teammate in Akatsuki, even if it's only temporary."

"Fine. Then can you answer one question for me?"

"?"

The next moment, Uchiha Gen felt Itachi use Tsukuyomi to pull him in. Thinking that Itachi probably wanted to tell him something, Uchiha Gen did not resist and successfully entered Tsukuyomi's blood-red world.

As the scene changed, it was Uchiha Gen's first time entering Tsukuyomi, and he looked around curiously. Sure enough, it felt different from the system. That red moon in the sky was really rather eerie.

Itachi stood before Uchiha Gen, hesitated for a moment, then asked, "You... are you already dead?"

Uchiha Gen fell silent for a long while, questioning his life. "...Where did I give myself away?" He did not deny it, nor could he be bothered to. Since Uchiha Itachi had already guessed this much, denying it would probably be useless. As expected of Itachi, perhaps?

"It was a guess." There were ultimately subtle differences between the dead and the living, but Itachi had no conclusive evidence. He had not expected Uchiha Gen to admit it so readily. "Did 'Madara' revive you? What is his true goal?"

Uchiha Gen sighed. "No, it's a little complicated. In any case, I'm not being controlled by anyone. Also, that masked guy probably isn't 'Madara.' As far as I know, if he were Madara, he would crush people directly with his strength rather than sneaking around everywhere."

"...!" Itachi felt the enormous amount of information contained in those words and suddenly found himself speechless. Could the person before him truly be a senior member of the Uchiha Clan?

Seeing Itachi's expression, Uchiha Gen suddenly thought of something amusing and turned serious. "Itachi, listen carefully. I'll only say this information once..."

By the time they emerged from Tsukuyomi's space, less than a second had passed in the outside world. Itachi continued onward as if nothing had happened, while processing the enormous amount of information. 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 altered. The Infinite Tsukuyomi recorded upon it seemed more like a method for unsealing some existence, while the Rinnegan had evolved from the Sharingan.

Though Uchiha Gen said they were merely his guesses, Itachi's instincts told him that they were very likely the truth.

What Itachi could not understand was how Uchiha Gen had died. Uchiha Gen chose to avoid the question and gave no answer.

It made Itachi wonder: if someone like this had not died back then, would the Uchiha Clan have avoided reaching this point? Who had killed him? As he thought that, his vision suddenly doubled, becoming a little blurrier.

White Zetsu had seen that enormous palm from the perimeter, and everything inside had gone completely quiet afterward. He had only seen a Susanoo of that size on Madara. Was it over? Had the Five-Tails Jinchuriki not even managed to activate Complete Tailed Beast Transformation?

After receiving this information from White Zetsu, Obito could not help but feel fortunate that he had not chosen to confront Uchiha Gen head-on back then, and had instead drawn him over. Otherwise, even if he could truly kill him, the price he would have to pay would be unimaginable.

And once they fought, he probably would not be able to maintain his identity as Uchiha Madara anymore.

"I don't agree."

While drinking tea and reviewing documents, Tsunade said, "The place you want to go is too far away, and your own strength is rather lacking. Do you even know what it means to other ninja villages that you are a member of the Uzumaki Clan and possess Adamantine Sealing Chains, which pose an enormous threat to Tailed Beasts?"

"Mm, I should know. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to Konoha seeking protection."

"Then why ask me?"

"Because I promised someone that I would go back to see him around this time."

"Who is it?"

"A dead person..." In a sense, his original body really was a dead person.

"..."

Tsunade supported her head with a headache, her fingers continuously tapping the desk. Shizune suddenly knocked and entered, carrying a stack of documents before placing them on Tsunade's desk.

Because of all the unresolved issues Danzo had left behind, as well as the handling of his various assets, there was a severe shortage of manpower during this period. Tsunade had no extra personnel to send to protect Uzumaki Reikawa.

This differed from Kino's Wood Release. Kino was a unique and irreplaceable case, whereas Uzumaki Reikawa was a member of the Uzumaki Clan. Fundamentally, they were different.