Uchiha Madara's Return

"Ka... Lord Kakuzu! Are you all right?!"

Inside one of Gato's branch offices, Kakuzu clutched his chest and used the tendrils of Earth Grudge Fear to stitch up his battered body. Just then, Gato suddenly looked as if he'd seen a ghost.

"What's wrong? Are you afraid of me?"

The life-loving Gato had hidden the moment the fighting began, so Kakuzu naturally assumed he was frightened by his tentacled appearance. But the next moment, he realized he was wrong...

Gato pointed at Kakuzu's side in terror. As Kakuzu turned in confusion, a face exactly like his own appeared beside him.

"A mirror? No, wait?!"

Relaxing after surviving the battle, Kakuzu suddenly realized that the image before him had chakra! What's more, it was exactly the same as his own!

Without thinking, Kakuzu swung a tentacle punch, but an identical fist met his.

--Bang!

Their fists collided. Both Kakuzus frowned at the same time. "Looks like it's not a genjutsu..." And a strange sense of familiarity was telling each of them that the other was "himself."

"Who the hell are you?!"

Both Kakuzus demanded an answer at once, leaving Gato gaping at the sight. "Isn't this your Clone Technique, Lord Kakuzu?!"

Gato's fear at first sight of the two Kakuzus had finally shifted to the belief that this was probably just a Clone Technique any ninja could use, and nothing to be afraid of. But then came the thought: if that wasn't Lord Kakuzu's clone... then it had to be a ghost!

As Gato was scared half to death, the two Kakuzus stared at each other, seemingly realizing something as well. "Could it be... that Talisman?!"

The sensation of one soul in two bodies was incredibly strange. The two Kakuzus looked exactly alike, knew the same ninjutsu, and even shared the same hearts. The only difference was their expressions: one looked vicious, while the other seemed honest and down-to-earth.

After checking several times and asking each other about their secrets, such as the details of their fight with the First, Senju Hashirama, and what had happened when they stole Takigakure's secret Earth Grudge Fear technique, Kakuzu confirmed that the other really was another version of himself.

If there were two of them...

Remembering how he'd just been ganged up on, the Kakuzu representing the "evil" side only wanted to get even! He'd rip the hearts out of those bastards, chop them up, and toss them into the sea as fish food!

Meanwhile, the Kakuzu representing the "good" side looked unwilling to hurt anyone. His beady green eyes even welled with tears. "The world is so beautiful, yet you're so irritable. That's not right... Can't we just make peace with them, shake hands, and become friends?"

Honestly, seeing Good Kakuzu wear such a sentimental expression nearly made Evil Kakuzu throw up. He immediately punched the other, though his fist was caught...

"You! Don't make such a disgusting expression with my face!"

"Come on... Don't be so irritable..."

"Damn it! I told you! Don't make that face!"

Land of Frost.

It was an unremarkable little country north of the Land of Fire.

"Ha..."

Uchiha Madara stood on a hillside, breathing in the fresh air he hadn't experienced in decades. He had to admit, being alive felt wonderful.

He had taken off his dark blue robe and changed into the black, form-fitting combat clothes he'd worn when he was young, topped with layered red armor.

"Lord Madara~ Lord Madara~"

White Zetsu's drawn-out voice interrupted Madara's "quiet time" yet again. Madara felt a headache coming on and said coldly, "You'd better have news about the Talisman."

Unlike the action squads from the other villages, Madara hadn't chosen to track the Shadowkhan to find the Talismans. Instead, he'd sent his tens of thousands of White Zetsu to cast a wide net across the Ninja World and gather information.

"I do, Lord Madara~ But you'll probably have to retrieve this Talisman yourself~"

"Hmm?"

Madara was a little puzzled. White Zetsu weren't very strong, but they should have had no trouble dealing with a few Chunin. With enough of them, they could even overwhelm a Jonin. He immediately asked, "What's wrong?"

"The Talisman carved with a 'Sheep' is currently in the hands of Roshi from Iwagakure~"

"Roshi... the Four-Tails Jinchūriki...?"

Madara had once sent White Zetsu to gather information on all the Jinchūriki, so he knew them well.

Still... weren't Jinchūriki usually forbidden from leaving their villages?

Oh well... this saved him a trip. He could just take the Four-Tails for himself while he was at it!

There was no time to complain about the absurd matching system. Uchiha Madara moved incredibly fast. By the time Roshi, holding the Sheep Talisman, tried to test its abilities, Madara was already blocking the road ahead.

He made no attempt to hide and didn't send White Zetsu in his place. He simply stood in the middle of the road, brazen as could be.

"Who's there?!"

Madara looked like a hale, elderly man, but the pressure his chakra placed on Roshi was undeniable.

It was as if a giant beast stood before him... Roshi immediately gathered his chakra and prepared to fight.

"I never thought the Ninja World would forget the name of Uchiha Madara..."

"What? Uchiha Madara?!"

Madara said it so casually that Roshi shuddered. As the oldest of the Jinchūriki, he'd grown up hearing about Uchiha Madara's title, Asura of the Ninja World.

Roshi suspected the man might be an impostor. His face was wrinkled with age and his skin sagged, but he could still see the domineering features Madara must have had when he was young.

"So... what business does a relic of the old era have with me...?"

Killing intent rushed toward him. Madara had no intention of talking with Roshi for long; he opened with "Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!"

Roshi had Lava Release, so in theory he shouldn't have been particularly afraid of Fire Release. But reason told him that the sea of flames rushing toward him, swallowing everything in its path and reducing it to ashes, wasn't something he could easily stop.

But he wanted to try!

"Lava Release: Granite!"

Roshi immediately activated Lava Release Chakra Mode. Flowing magma coated his body, while Lava Release chakra surged wildly in his palms as he met the oncoming sea of fire head-on.

"AAAAAAH!"

There was a difference between the temperature of magma and that of flames. Roshi felt as if his entire body were melting, the pain unbearable.

After the sea of flames had burned for several minutes, Uchiha Madara stopped making Hand Seals. The Eye of the Moon Plan needed a living Jinchūriki. If the Jinchūriki died, the Tailed Beast would respawn somewhere at random in the wild, which would be a terrible loss.

But as soon as Madara stopped, he noticed wisps of unusual red chakra emerging from the sea of fire.

"Partial Tailed Beast Transformation...?"

--Roar!

A howl burst through the flames. Roshi dropped to all fours and crouched on the ground. Although he still retained his human shape, his body had changed noticeably. Tailed Beast Chakra poured from him, covering his body in a layer of dark red chakra.