Land of Grass, Kannabi Bridge.
"Shunsuke, your team hold off the Iwa ninja. We'll withdraw with the intelligence first. This information is important and must be delivered back to Konoha as soon as possible," said a ninja who looked like the team leader.
"Alright, you go first." Shunsuke slowed down and shouted, "Aoi, Akiko, Taki, we'll hold off the Sand Ninja here and let the captain's group withdraw first."
"Yes!" The three youths who had been racing forward stopped at once.
"Aoi and Akiko, set traps on the other side of the bridge."
"Taki, we'll also set Explosive Tags on the bridge. If it comes to it, we can blow up the bridge and slow their advance." Jonin Shunsuke issued his orders.
Everyone immediately got to work. They were a genin squad assigned to protect the intelligence. After being discovered by Iwa, they could only let the intelligence leave first while they stayed behind to block the enemy.
Before long, the Iwa ninja arrived.
"Quick, kill them! We must recover the intelligence!" A squad of more than ten Iwa ninja caught up with the Konoha ninja.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three Iwa ninja leaped over, closing in on the Konoha squad.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!
The traps were triggered, and over a dozen kunai shot toward them. The three Iwa ninja collapsed, their bodies bristling with kunai.
"Careful! They set traps in advance!" one Iwa ninja warned.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Seven Sand Ninja entangled Jonin Shunsuke, leaving him unable to support his students.
"Ah...!" Before long, all three of them had been wounded. How could three genin possibly withstand the attacks of several Iwa ninja?
Akiko activated all the remaining traps, sending dozens of kunai and Shuriken flying at the Iwa ninja.
"Haha, how could we fall for the same trick twice?" The Iwa ninja rapidly formed hand seals and slammed their palms against the ground.
Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!
A wall of earth rose with a boom, blocking every incoming weapon.
Jonin Shunsuke drove back two Sand Ninja, quickly retreating as he shouted, "Get on the bridge!"
The three followed him onto the bridge.
"Don't think you can escape!" The Sand Ninja formed hand seals together and struck the ground.
Earth Style: Dust Spreading Formation!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless fist-sized stones burst from the ground and shot forward with howling winds.
Taki, at the rear, took the brunt of the attack. The flying stones hurt terribly, and if he failed to defend in time, they could strike vulnerable parts of his body and kill him.
Seeing that this would not work, Shunsuke grabbed Aoi and Akiko. Looking apologetically at Taki, he said, "Taki, thank you for covering our retreat. We won't forget you!"
Under Taki's shocked gaze, Shunsuke picked up the two girls and leaped off the bridge. At the same time, he detonated the Explosive Tags. Whoosh, whoosh! He turned and vanished from sight!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The flying stones and violent explosions crashed down on him. Taki only remembered his teacher's final apology.
Rumble!
The bridge completely collapsed, taking Taki down into the water with it.
"Captain, what do we do? Are we still pursuing them?" an Iwa ninja asked.
A square-faced middle-aged man stared deeply at the destroyed bridge and said, "There's no need. Now that the bridge has been destroyed, our pursuit will take much longer. By then, we'll probably have entered the area where Konoha ninja operate."
After careful consideration, he still gave the order. "Retreat!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The Iwa ninja vanished.
Inside a dim underground base.
"Am I... dead?" The youth slowly woke up. "This place is..."
Taki looked at the sight before him in disbelief. He was lying on a large bed. Beside him stood a gigantic statue, while an old man sat in a stone chair with three tubes connected to the back of his neck.
That man was none other than Madara Uchiha!
Seeing the youth awaken, the old man stood and approached him. "This is the gap between the underworld and reality, child of the Uchiha Clan..."
The youth saw the blood-red pupil in the man's left eye, containing three tomoe. His own eyes also changed into single-tomoe Sharingan.
The youth exclaimed, "Could it be that you're also a member of the Uchiha Clan, Grandpa?"
"Did you save me? How can I repay you?" the youth asked joyfully.
The barrage of questions left Madara Uchiha dumbfounded. All the words he had prepared were thrown into disarray. This youth, on the other hand, seemed delighted at the chance to repay him.
In truth, this was entirely the youth's psychological defense mechanism! Though he was a member of the Uchiha Clan, he was already thirteen and had not even awakened his Sharingan. Naturally, he had been considered worthless!
Then, during the team's mission, his teacher abandoned him. That final scene had driven him into despair, and in that moment, he awakened his Sharingan!
He began to deeply hate this world. Feeling what might have been concern from a clansman, he clung to it like a drowning man grasping at a lifeline, refusing to let go, all to prove that his existence had value!
The three tomoe in Madara Uchiha's left eye revolved as he searched through the deepest memories in the youth's heart and asked, "What... are you really thinking?"
The youth's Sharingan was drawn along, slowly turning as the memories buried deep in his heart surfaced:
"What an idiot. Come on, let's not play with an idiot."
"His parents died the moment he was born. What bad luck!"
In the scene, a group of children bullied a child their own age. With no parents, he could only remain alone, hiding in a corner and watching others experience familial affection and friendship together.
They could happily play with their companions and freely act spoiled in their parents' arms, while he was still alone...
After entering the Ninja Academy, he finally had "friends." They said that if he wanted to be their "friend," he could only obediently listen to them. So he did his best to satisfy his "friends'" needs—helping with homework, bringing snacks, covering for them, becoming the target of their venting...
Until... his teacher abandoned him because he was worthless. Without talent, he could only desperately please everyone else to earn their "praise." That was the value of his existence.
"You were abandoned too?"
Ripples stirred in Madara Uchiha's dead heart. He tasted the bitterness of shared misery!
When he looked again, tears were already streaming down the youth's face as he rasped, "I'm not worthless!"
The single tomoe in the youth's pupils had already become three tomoe, slowly revolving!
Madara Uchiha turned and returned to the stone chair. His distant voice drifted over. "From now on, you will be my servant!"
One week later.
"Hmm, you've recovered quite well!"
Seeing that Uchiha Taki could already walk, Madara Uchiha praised him.
His body had been injured by flying rocks, and the explosion had happened right beside him. Both his legs had been crippled at the time, while his internal organs had suffered the worst damage and were nearly completely destroyed.
Madara Uchiha injected some modified Hashirama Cells into his body. To his surprise, Taki's body actually healed itself!
"Grandpa, what do you want me to do?" Uchiha Taki asked, gazing at Madara with hopeful eyes.
Madara Uchiha turned his head away. He could not stand that fervent gaze!
"I want you to help me sever the karma of this world and create a world with only victors, only peace, only love—a world where only all of that exists!" Madara Uchiha clenched his fist.
"Alright, then quickly tell me how we can achieve all that!" Uchiha Taki asked, his eyes shining.
He was needed again, and this time, he was certain that this was the value of his life!
He would not be abandoned!
"Good. Look into my eyes!" Madara Uchiha activated his Sharingan and pulled Taki into a genjutsu space.
Within the genjutsu space, Madara told Uchiha Taki about the Sage of Six Paths, the Ten-Tails, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, the Infinite Tsukuyomi, the Rinnegan, and more. Taki was utterly shocked. So these things had existed before the shinobi world!
After leaving the genjutsu space, Madara stood up and placed his hand on the White Zetsu beside him. "Taki, I will teach you the Uchiha Clan's forbidden techniques: the Six Paths Techniques and Yin-Yang Release!"
Crackle... Half of White Zetsu's body turned black, and Black Zetsu was born!
"I have infused it with my will. You can treat half of it as me. This is also an inferior product. You may use these cultivated artificial beings as chess pieces!"
Madara formed hand seals with both hands.
Crackle! A black rod appeared out of thin air in the chest of the Hashirama artificial being cultivated by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path!
"That black rod is the embodiment of my consciousness. You can use it when wielding the Six Paths Techniques!"
After arranging everything, Madara stepped forward. Crack! The three tubes connecting him to the statue snapped. The aged Madara sat in the stone chair and, using the last of his strength, said, "Go! Until I am revived, you are... Madara... Uchiha!"
After a long while, Madara gradually lost all signs of life. Uchiha Taki's Three Tomoe Sharingan spun and transformed into Mangekyo!
A taiji pattern appeared in his blood-red pupils. That was right—this youth was Su Zheng!
Just as he had done when saving Sasori's parents last time, he directed an accident and successfully integrated into the Identity Vest of "Uchiha Taki"!
This time, the "Identity Vest" he used only provided an identity. The body was still his own. To keep Madara Uchiha from discovering his secret, he had sealed his body and memories in advance.
The personality of "Uchiha Taki," the Identity Vest, took over control of Su Zheng's body.
It had to be said, he was truly ruthless. He dared to risk his own body. If he had failed, he would have been ruined!
Fortunately, he succeeded! Thankfully, he had placed "insurance" on himself. Only after Madara Uchiha read his thoughts did the seal slowly open, allowing "Su Zheng" to emerge!
His Mangekyo evolved only after Madara injected the modified Hashirama Cells into his body. Since "Su Zheng" had been sealed, what manifested in "Uchiha Taki" was a single tomoe turning into three tomoe. What a brilliant strategy!
Before you continue