Chapter 6

The respite lasted less than an hour before Madara sensed someone rushing toward them.

"Lord Patriarch!"

A young man with tousled hair and dusty clothes dropped to one knee and looked up. "My lord, thank goodness you're safe!"

"Get up and tell me what happened." Madara rose, his smile gone. "What's going on?"

"You've been missing for seven months. The Senju Clan spread rumors that you—"

"That I was dead?" Madara absently stroked the restless little squirrel in his arms.

Uchiha Yan bit his lip and nodded. "If it were only the Senju Clan, that would be one thing, but... even people within the clan..." he said resentfully. "The First Elder wants to appoint a new patriarch, but Lord Izuna disagrees. Others are trying to seize power while they have the chance. I took control of the clan's guard, and the Fourth Elder and Sixth Elder helped keep things in order, but everyone's in a panic..."

"What else?"

"The Third Elder says four major families in the Merchant Alliance have rebelled! He's asking you to return to the main compound as soon as possible and turn things around! Otherwise, the Uchiha Clan will fall apart!"

Madara was silent for a moment. "Let's return to the main compound first."

Uchiha Madara had always been confident and proud. He'd never imagined the Uchiha Clan under his rule could end up like this.

The prosperity and splendor of the past had gone up in flames. All that remained were fires blazing across the sky, fighting, weeping, and screams.

"H-how could this..." Uchiha Yan stared in shock.

Madara's body swayed as a strange pain stabbed through his mind. He bit down hard on his lip and forced it away.

Izuna... Where's Izuna?!

His cold gaze swept over the bodies on the ground. In three strides, he reached a half-dead clansman and grabbed him. "What happened?"

"P-Patriarch... Cough, cough..."

"Where's Izuna?!"

"A-at the sacrificial altar!"

The so-called sacrificial altar was actually a space-transfer array, disguised to conceal its true purpose. It was used only when the clan faced a crisis threatening its survival. How dire had things become for Izuna to have no choice but to leave...

Madara skirted the training grounds at the edge of the compound, passed through the guard pavilion, and reached the Medical Department in the middle ring. He leaped straight over the rooftops and crossed a sprawling garden. Along the way, he killed anyone who tried to attack him. At last, he stopped at the sacrificial altar in the inner ring, now reduced to ruins.

"Izuna?"

"Brother!"

Madara caught his blood-soaked younger brother and channeled chakra to heal his wounds.

Uchiha Yan said, "Lord Izuna's injuries are too severe. This isn't a good place to treat him."

Without even looking up, Madara replied, "The Family Medical Department is unusable. I'll treat him here for now."

"Brother... I'm s-sorry..." Izuna's expression was halfway between laughter and tears. "I couldn't keep the clan together for you. I..."

"Don't say anything. Let me treat your wounds first!"

Uchiha Etsu stumbled over, a thin line of blood at the corner of his mouth. "Watch out! He's—"

"He's a traitor!"

—Boom!

Uchiha Yan's body burst into more than a dozen pieces, his bloodied face twisted in a hideous smile.

A poisoned dagger plunged into Uchiha Izuna's back. They were too close for him to dodge—in that instant, Izuna had turned and thrown himself over Madara to take the blade, while Madara struck Uchiha Yan down with a counterattack.

"Uchiha Yan was... a traitor..." Uchiha Etsu murmured, kneeling on the ground in a daze.

Madara clutched his younger brother's body as dark mist slowly gathered and coiled around him.

In the darkness, Matatabi's golden eyes gleamed. The person he trusted most had betrayed him, the person he cared about most was dead, and the clan he'd placed all his hopes in had been destroyed... Hate! Kill! Fall into darkness, human!

The dangerous mist suddenly scattered. Madara looked up at the smoke-filled night sky, his voice calmer than ever. "Is that all?"

"That's all it takes to defeat me?" He turned. Ominous red filled his dark eyes, and his killing intent was sharp as a blade. Uchiha Etsu fearfully looked away.

"Has the clan's secret treasury been exposed?"

Uchiha Etsu froze. "N-no."

"Has New Moon Island been exposed?"

"...No."

"Then what? You rush into questions without knowing anything." Uchiha Madara fixed him with a cold stare. "You think you've won because you found something I care about?"

Uchiha Etsu's bewildered face vanished like mist. The wreckage and smoke all around them faded, replaced by a dense forest and a cliff above. Withered leaves carpeted the earth, and a light autumn rain seeped cold into the heart.

"W-when did you..." Matatabi turned in shock. Uchiha Madara was standing behind it, holding the squirrel. It hadn't even noticed him move.

Matatabi lived up to its name: a petite, deep-blue cat with golden eyes and two large tails.

Madara smiled faintly, though the smile never reached his eyes. "Creating illusions, distorting the senses, seeing through people's hearts, altering memories. Are those all your abilities?"

"Hey, you know quite a bit." Matatabi quickly recovered from its sense of defeat and curled its tails proudly. "The others only know about mind-reading."

"Is this little thing real?" Madara stroked the squirrel in his arms. The little creature stubbornly scratched at his sleeve.

"Yeah. Creatures with exceptionally pure hearts aren't affected by illusions." Matatabi scratched its cheek. "You still haven't answered me, human. And don't give me some nonsense about having a pure heart."

Uchiha Madara closed his eyes, then opened them. A swirling Mangekyo had appeared!

"Eh? The Mangekyo? No wonder." Matatabi swished its two tails. "Guess I can't complain about losing... Hey! Are you looking down on me? So what if you have the Mangekyo!"

Madara shook his head with a sigh. "I'm looking down on you for being ignorant."

Matatabi stared at him, its golden cat eyes wide with confusion.

"Uchiha Yan said I'd been missing for seven months... Even if it was impossible to track time in the darkness, could a normal human go seven months without eating?"

That one sentence left Matatabi speechless! "Meow! Tailed Beasts never have to eat! You humans are such a pain, meow!"

Uchiha Madara just smiled without replying. He wasn't about to argue with a puffed-up cat.

"Humans are so sneaky! You saw through the illusion ages ago, but still dragged things out forever."

Madara's lips curled up. "They say Matatabi can see through people's hearts. I had to confirm how deep you could see."

Matatabi tilted its head. "How deep? Can you seal your heart?"

"What do you mean by sealing your heart?" Madara asked.

Matatabi licked its paw. "Some guy came up with that method a long time ago. He sealed his memories in layers to resist enemy interrogation. Unless he willingly revealed something while fully conscious, no one could get important information out of him. I followed him for a while. I really couldn't see all of his memories."

"More or less." The process had just been different. That person had probably used deep self-hypnosis, while Madara's mental strength was so powerful that Matatabi couldn't break through all his defenses.

"Enough talking. If you want to make a contract, hurry up."

"You don't seem nervous at all."

Matatabi rolled its eyes. "I'm not one of those irritable idiots. Your chakra's strong... well, not weak! You've got the Mangekyo, and you're so devious. Why would I go out of my way to cause trouble? Besides, you humans don't live past a hundred. I can afford to spend a little time on this." Proud Matatabi might be, but even if it couldn't beat someone, it wouldn't lose face.

"You sure know how to talk."

"Why, thank you. Now hurry up. I still need to sleep."

Uchiha Madara unceremoniously scooped Matatabi up and tucked it into his arms. "A contract? No need. I'm saving that for the Nine-Tails. You can play with the squirrel."

"What! How dare you look down on Lord Matatabi!" Its golden eyes flew wide as chakra surged with its fury. A storm of power burst out, spreading from the center like a shock wave. The surrounding trees shattered into powder! Madara narrowed his red eyes and unleashed his vast mental energy, pressing down on Matatabi from all sides. The cat froze instantly.

After that illusion, Uchiha Madara decided Matatabi didn't deserve much courtesy.

"Since we'll be spending time together, it's best if we get along." The young man's voice was as gentle as if he were coaxing a child. "Don't you think, Matatabi?"

The golden-eyed cat glanced at the clueless, stupid squirrel beside it, then turned away. "Hmph!"