Madara's Prying!

North of the Land of Fire.

Beneath the Graveyard Mountains.

The tangled trees intertwined, their sprawling roots like enormous dragons winding beneath the earth.

Yet, as if controlled by some mysterious force, they consciously avoided a certain underground cavern.

This was the very place Uchiha Madara had chosen as his tomb all those years ago.

The enormous Demonic Statue of the Outer Path was buried beneath earth and stone, its shackled hands spread before its chest.

One tube after another extended from the statue, connecting to the seat below—or, more precisely, to Uchiha Madara, who sat upon it.

Decades had passed since his battle with First Senju Hashirama.

Once in the prime of his life, an invincible Asura of the Ninja World, he was now a white-haired old man at death's door.

Perhaps he would die this very second. Or perhaps the next.

No.

If the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path behind him weren't constantly supplying him with Chakra, even the Asura of the Ninja World would have passed away long ago.

The only thing sustaining him now was an ambition yet to be fulfilled!

"You're saying there's an oddball in the Uchiha Clan?!"

Uchiha Madara opened his half-lidded eyes and looked at the White Zetsu below.

Though he had long since lost the immense power with which he once dominated the Shinobi World, the pressure in his Sharingan hadn't weakened in the slightest. If anything, the passage of time had made it even more imposing.

Just one glance was enough to leave anyone struggling to breathe.

The White Zetsu was already familiar with Uchiha Madara's presence, but even so, it still felt an instinctive fear.

Only those who had lived through Uchiha Madara's era could truly understand what the title Asura of the Ninja World meant.

The White Zetsu bowed even lower and said:

"Yes, Lord Madara."

"His name is Uchiha Shingen. He was Obito Uchiha's classmate."

"He used to be an unremarkable nobody on the sidelines, but lately he's become a prominent figure connecting Konoha and the Uchiha."

"More importantly, the strength and talent he's displayed far surpass those of our previous target, Obito Uchiha."

"He's already awakened the Three-Tomoe Sharingan. He's only one step away from the next level, the Mangekyō Sharingan."

"Uchiha Shingen, is it?!"

Madara nodded, his lowered gaze betraying little interest.

The Sharingan was one of the Shinobi World's most powerful and distinctive Kekkei Genkai.

Its most counterintuitive trait was that the clan members with the greatest talent and strength weren't necessarily the ones most likely to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.

Instead, it was those of ordinary ability who harbored an extraordinary obsession with something who were more likely to awaken it when that obsession was shattered or something they cherished was destroyed.

The more one knew and understood love, the deeper one's attachment, the greater the ocular power it gave rise to—and the more powerful the unique ocular jutsu they awakened.

This had been proven countless times over the Uchiha's centuries of history.

It was also why, ever since the Second Hokage's time, Konoha's High Command had kept the Uchiha under close watch.

This power was formidable, but it could also drastically change a person's nature, for better or worse. That was a major taboo for Konoha, which valued stability.

"If it's only exceptional talent, he's not worth our attention."

"After a strong enough emotional shock, someone with Obito's pure-hearted nature is more likely to develop powerful ocular abilities."

"No, Lord Madara!"

The White Zetsu unusually interrupted Madara and explained:

"That brings me to the second point."

"Uchiha Shingen's personality is an absolute anomaly, even among the Uchiha Clan."

"What he pursues is different from what other Uchiha—or even ordinary shinobi—want."

Uchiha Madara's interest was piqued.

He slowly straightened up, waiting for the White Zetsu to continue.

"That guy seems to want a peaceful, stable, routine life."

"Everything he does is motivated by that."

"Whether he trains to gain strength or goes about his work, it's all so he can..."

The White Zetsu's expression turned strange. Seeing impatience flicker across Uchiha Madara's face, it hurriedly said:

"Slack off."

"In other words, Uchiha Shingen is a slacker who just wants to clock in and out at the Police Force, stick to the same daily routine, and live a peaceful life."

"Are you sure he's an Uchiha? He sounds more like a Nara!"

Madara looked genuinely surprised.

He had been the Uchiha Clan Head himself. Though he had left Konoha long ago, he had never stopped keeping tabs on the Uchiha.

If anything, hiding in the shadows and having the White Zetsu do the legwork let him see things more clearly.

Even if the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's Malice Perception kept him from spying on Konoha's most closely guarded secrets, the Uchiha—as outsiders within Konoha—were another matter.

But after living for so many decades, he'd never encountered an Uchiha like this!

"I'm sure."

The White Zetsu nodded and handed Madara a report it had prepared earlier.

Madara took it and immediately began reading. The more he read, the stranger his expression became, until an unusual excitement began to shine through.

"I think I've found a pawn with even greater potential than Obito!"

"Even among the Uchiha, whose love twists them from birth, this guy is one of the most twisted and dangerous!"

In that moment, Madara clenched the scroll in his hand. His Sharingan spun uncontrollably.

"The more twisted the love, the more powerful the ocular abilities it can give rise to!"

"If this kid realizes that the peaceful life he's been pursuing was nothing but a fleeting illusion, a castle in the air, the intense emotional shock could awaken a jutsu more powerful than any seen before!"

"Someone like him is meant to serve me."

Black Zetsu stood to one side, wondering whether to point out that the man might simply be a slacker.

After all, the Uchiha might not have many people content with the status quo, but there were plenty of such slackers elsewhere.

But when it noticed the look on Madara's face, Black Zetsu wisely kept quiet.

It had waited nearly a thousand years. It could afford to try one more time. Besides, even if this failed, Obito—the replacement Madara had chosen in advance—was still an option.

"I want everything there is to know about him!"

"And I want detailed intelligence on the Uchiha Clan's recent movements!"

"As long as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki's Malice Perception doesn't detect you, the rest won't be a problem!"

"Yes!"

The White Zetsu replied and burrowed back into the earth.

Silence settled over the area. Madara stared at Uchiha Shingen's photograph, his smile growing more and more twisted.

"Achoo!"

At the Uchiha Clan Compound, Uchiha Shingen returned to his residence, washed up, and couldn't help sneezing.

He had planned to go straight to bed, but the Earth Release jutsu scroll he'd just gotten was still too fresh in his hands for him to sleep.

"Forget sleep!"

"First, I'll take a look at the Earth Release jutsu I just got!"

"After all, this concerns my grand plan to happily slack off at the Police Force. It's the most important thing!"

"Staying up a little late to cram now is so I won't have to cram later!"

"Once I'm stronger than that old geezer, I can slack off however I want at the Police Force!"