Snatching Chestnuts from the Fire, Intercepting Madara's Scheme!

Land of Grass, Kannabi Bridge.

"Shunsuke, your squad will hold off the Stone ninjas. We'll take the intel and retreat. This intel is crucial and needs to reach Leaf Village as soon as possible," a ninja who looked like a squad leader said.

"Alright, you guys go ahead." Shunsuke slowed his pace and shouted, "Aoi, Akiko, Taki, we'll hold off the Sand ninjas here and let Captain and the others retreat first."

"Yes!" The three youths who were charging forward immediately stopped.

"Aoi and Akiko, you two set up traps on the other side of the bridge."

"Taki, we'll set up explosive tags on the bridge as well. If necessary, we can even blow up the bridge to slow them down," Jonin Shunsuke gave his orders.

Everyone got busy. They were a genin squad assigned to protect intel. After being discovered by the Stone Village, they could only let the intel escape while they covered the rear.

Not long after, the Stone ninjas arrived.

"Quick, kill them! We must retrieve the intel!" A Stone Village squad of over a dozen ninjas caught up to the Leaf ninjas.

Swish, swish, swish!

Three Stone ninjas leaped forward, closing in on the Leaf squad.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The pre-set traps were triggered, and over a dozen kunai shot towards the enemy. The three Stone ninjas fell to the ground, covered in kunai.

"Careful, they've set up traps!" a Stone ninja warned.

Clink, clink, clink!

Seven Sand ninjas engaged Jonin Shunsuke, leaving him unable to support his students.

"Ah...!" Before long, all three had sustained wounds. How could the three genin possibly withstand the assault of several Stone ninjas?

Akiko activated the remaining traps, and dozens of kunai and shuriken flew towards the Stone ninjas.

"Haha, how could we fall for the same trick twice!" The Stone ninjas quickly formed hand seals and slammed their palms on the ground.

"Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!"

A wall of earth rose with a roar, blocking all the incoming weapons.

Jonin Shunsuke repelled two Sand ninjas and retreated quickly, shouting, "Hurry onto the bridge!"

The three followed closely onto the bridge.

"Don't even think about escaping!" The Sand ninjas formed hand seals together and slammed their palms on the ground.

"Earth Style: Dust Spreading Formation!"

Boom, boom, boom!

Stones the size of fists materialized from the ground and shot forward with a whistling sound.

Taki, who was at the rear, took the brunt of the attack. The flying stones struck with painful force, and if not defended against in time, they could hit vital areas and cause death.

Seeing that this was not working, Shunsuke pulled Aoi and Akiko, looking apologetically at Taki and saying, "Taki, thank you for covering our retreat. We won't forget you!"

Under Taki's shocked gaze, Shunsuke scooped up the two and left the bridge, detonating the explosive tags at the same time. Swish, swish, they turned and disappeared from sight!

Boom, boom, boom!

Flying stones and a violent explosion struck. Taki only remembered his teacher's final apology.

Rumble, rumble!

The bridge completely collapsed, sending Taki plunging into the water along with it.

"Captain, what should we do? Should we still pursue?" a Stone ninja asked.

A middle-aged man with a square face gazed deeply at the destroyed bridge and said, "There's no need to pursue. With the bridge destroyed, our pursuit time will be greatly extended, and we'll likely reach the Leaf ninjas' operational range."

After careful consideration, he gave the order: "Withdraw!"

Swish, swish, swish! The Stone ninjas disappeared.

Inside a dimly lit underground base.

"Did... did I die?" the young man slowly woke up. "Where is this..."

Taki looked at the scene before him, finding it hard to believe. He was lying on a large bed. Beside him stood a massive statue, and an old man sat on a stone chair, three tubes connected to the back of his neck.

This person was none other than Madara Uchiha!

Seeing the young man wake up, the old man stood and walked over, saying, "This is the space between the underworld and reality. A clansman of the Uchiha..."

The young man saw the blood-red pupils within the old man's left eye, containing three tomoe, and his own eyes had also become single-tomoe.

The young man exclaimed, "Could it be that you are also a clansman of the Uchiha, old grandpa?"

"Did you save me? How can I repay you?" the young man asked in surprise and joy.

The barrage of questions stunned Madara Uchiha. All his prepared words were thrown into disarray. Seeing this young man, he seemed rather happy to be able to repay him.

In reality, this was entirely the young man's psychological defense mechanism! Although he was an Uchiha clansman, he was 13 years old and hadn't even awakened his Sharingan, naturally being considered a failure!

And it just so happened that when the squad was on a mission, his teacher had abandoned him. That final scene filled him with despair, and in that moment, he awakened his Sharingan!

He began to deeply resent this world. Feeling the concern of what might be his clansmen, he clung to it like a lifeline, refusing to let go, all to prove his own worth!

Madara Uchiha's left eye, with its three tomoe spinning, probed the deepest memories etched into the young boy's heart as he asked, "What... are you truly thinking?"

The boy's Sharingan was pulled, slowly rotating, and memories from the depths of his heart surfaced:

"What a dummy. Come on, we don't play with dummies."

"My parents died right after I was born. How unlucky!"

In the scene, a group of children were bullying a child of the same age. Without parents, he could only be alone, hiding in a corner, watching others experience family and friendship together.

Being able to play happily with companions, being able to act spoiled in his parents' arms, while he was still alone...

When he entered the Ninja Academy, he finally had "friends." They said that if he wanted to be their "friend," he had to obey them obediently. He did his best to meet his "friends'" needs, helping with homework, bringing snacks, covering for them, becoming the target of their frustrations...

Until... his teacher abandoned him because he was useless. With no talent, he could only try his best to please everyone to get their "praise." This was the value of his existence.

"Were you abandoned too?"

Madara Uchiha's dead heart rippled, tasting a bitter sense of shared misfortune!

When he looked again, the boy's face was streaming with tears, and he said hoarsely, "I'm not useless!"

The single tomoe in the boy's pupils had already turned into three tomoe, slowly rotating!

Madara Uchiha turned back to the stone chair, his distant voice echoing, "From now on, you will be my servant!"

A week later.

"Well, you've recovered nicely!"

Madara Uchiha praised as he watched Uchiha Taki able to walk on his own.

His body had been injured by falling rocks. The explosion had happened right beside him, and his legs were blown off at the time. His internal organs were the most severely damaged, almost completely destroyed.

Madara Uchiha injected some modified Hashirama Cells into his body, and to his surprise, his body healed itself!

"Hey, hey, Grandpa, what do you want me to do?" Uchiha Taki gazed at Madara with hopeful eyes.

Madara Uchiha turned his head away, unable to stand such intense gazes!

"I want you to help me sever the karma of this world and create a world where only the victors exist, only peace, only love, only all of this exists!" Madara Uchiha clenched his fist.

"Okay, then quickly tell me how to achieve this!" Uchiha Taki asked with sparkling eyes.

He was needed by someone again, and this time, he was sure, this was the value of his life!

He would not be abandoned!

"Alright, look into my eyes!" Madara Uchiha's Sharingan activated, pulling Taki into a genjutsu space.

In the genjutsu space, Madara told Uchiha Taki about the Sage of Six Paths, the Ten-Tails, the Gedo Statue, the Infinite Tsukuyomi, the Rinnegan, and other matters. Taki was shocked; he never knew these things happened before the Ninja World!

Leaving the genjutsu space, Madara stood up and placed his hand on a White Zetsu beside him. "Taki, I will teach you the Uchiha clan's forbidden jutsu, the Six Paths techniques, and Yin-Yang Release!"

Zzzzt... Half of the White Zetsu's body turned black, and Black Zetsu was born!

"I've injected my will into it. You can consider half of it as me. This is also a degraded product. You can use these cultivated artificial bodies as pawns!"

Madara formed hand seals.

Zzzzt! Black rods appeared out of thin air in the chest of the Hashirama artificial body cultivated by the Gedo Statue!

"That black rod is the materialization of my consciousness. You can use it when using Six Paths techniques!"

After arranging everything, Madara stepped forward. Crack! Three pipes connected to the Gedo Statue broke. The aged Madara sat on the stone chair and said with his last bit of strength, "Go! Until I am resurrected, you are... Uchiha... Madara!"

After a long time, Madara gradually lost his life. Uchiha Taki's three-tomoe Sharingan spun and transformed into Mangekyo!

In his blood-red pupils, a Taijitu pattern appeared. That's right, this boy was Su Zheng!

Just like when he saved Sasori's parents last time, he orchestrated an accident and smoothly integrated into the identity of "Uchiha Taki"!

The "identity vest" he used this time only had an identity document; his body was still his own. To prevent Madara Uchiha from discovering his secret, he had sealed his body and memories in advance.

The personality of the "identity vest," Uchiha Taki, took over the dominant control of his body.

It had to be said, he was truly ruthless, daring to risk his own body. If he failed, he would be ruined!

Fortunately, he succeeded! Fortunately, he had given himself "insurance." After Madara Uchiha read his thoughts, the seal slowly opened, and "Su Zheng" appeared!

His Mangekyo evolved only after Madara injected the modified Hashirama Cells into his body. Because "Su Zheng" was sealed, it manifested as the single tomoe turning into three tomoe on "Uchiha Taki," what a brilliant strategy!