第38章 枭雄年老但不弱

"This is... the First Hokage's Wood Release!?" Uchiha Narong exclaimed, truly shaken this time. Having fused with Hashirama cells, he was all too familiar with this power. Yet, the Wood Release Madara Uchiha unleashed, while perhaps lacking the scale of Hashirama in his prime, possessed a sharpness, dominance, and effortless control that bore a distinct Uchiha flair. This was no mere result of a standard cell transplant. This was the true manifestation of fully mastered Hashirama cells.

That was not all. The light in Madara's Mangekyou Sharingan intensified. He raised an arm, withered as a dry branch, and pointed toward the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path standing in the center of the cavern.

"Awaken!"

Hum—!

The Demonic Statue, which had been as lifeless as a corpse, jolted violently. Its nine eyes, long kept shut, suddenly snapped open, revealing several of them. They radiated an eerie, terrifying light. A massive surge of chakra, enough to freeze the soul and saturated with destruction and hatred, swept through the cavern like a tidal wave. The statue let out a silent roar, the tubes connected to its body writhed frantically, and the entire space groaned under its pressure.

Madara stood beneath the statue, his gaunt frame appearing infinitely small against its backdrop, yet his pair of Mangekyou Sharingan seemed to be the very core controlling it all. The vitality of Wood Release and the deathly stillness of the statue—two diametrically opposed yet equally terrifying powers—were integrated by him in a way that felt almost paradoxical.

"Now... do you believe?" Madara's voice remained hoarse, yet it carried the authority of one who held life and death in his hands. He slowly withdrew his power; the rapidly growing trees ceased their spread, the eyes of the Demonic Statue gradually closed, and the suffocating pressure in the cavern slowly dissipated.

However, wielding this power clearly took a massive toll on Madara. He began to cough violently, his body hunching over as if it might fall apart at any moment. The grey, deathly pallor on his face deepened, and even his breathing became intermittent. This display had accelerated the fading of his life.

Uchiha Narong stood where he was, his chest heaving, cold sweat seeping from his temples. The "doubt" and "disdain" on his face had long since vanished, replaced by genuine, unmistakable "shock" and "horror." Could Wood Release be faked? Perhaps with a very unique bloodline. Could the Mangekyou Sharingan be faked? Almost impossible. But to possess both the Uchiha Mangekyou and the Senju Wood Release, and to control a terrifying entity like the Demonic Statue... throughout the history of the ninja world, besides that legendary Madara Uchiha, who else could it be?!

"...Madara...-sama..." Narong's voice carried a hint of dryness and "awe." He slowly lowered his head. "This junior... Uchiha Narong, was blind and offended you! Please... please forgive me!" At this moment, he performed the perfect amount of respect and trepidation. Internally, however, he was calculating rapidly: Madara was indeed at the end of his rope; that display had been a life-draining overdraft. But his remaining power was still terrifying! He had to extract every secret and resource before the old man died!

Seeing that Narong finally "believed" and showed a posture of "submission," Madara seemed somewhat satisfied. He leaned back against the stone chair, panting heavily. His voice grew even weaker, but the paranoia and idealism in his words remained undiminished: "Rise... my time is running out. I have lingered in this world until now, not out of a fear of death, but to complete a great plan—a plan to end this world filled with pain, war, and endless hatred: the Eye of the Moon Plan."

"The Eye of the Moon Plan?" Narong stood up, his face showing the appropriate amount of "confusion" and "curiosity."

"That is correct." Madara's Mangekyou flashed with fanatical light. "You must have seen the pain of this world with your own eyes. Endless wars, brothers turning against one another, parents losing children, children losing their homes... Hatred spreads like a plague, never-ending. The wounds of the Second Ninja World War have yet to heal, and the fires of the Third Ninja World War have already ignited. Konoha, Hidden Stone, Hidden Cloud... countless lives vanish in this game of power. What meaning does such a world have?"

Madara's words seemed to carry magic, stirring the fragments of real memories in Narong's mind: villages destroyed by war on the borders of the Land of Fire, the vacant eyes of orphans who had lost their families, refugees fighting over a single scrap of food... The tragic scenes he had witnessed while on patrol, that heavy, helpless feeling—it was all real. He could not help but let a trace of profound pain and agreement show on his face; this was not acting, at least not entirely. He, too, deeply loathed this chaotic world filled with oppression and conflict.

Madara keenly captured this trace of agreement and continued: "True, eternal peace is a fool's dream in reality. As long as humans have desires and selfishness, the fighting will never cease. Therefore, I will create a world of dreams—a perfect world without pain, without war, without loss! By gathering the scattered Tailed Beasts, resurrecting the Ten-Tails, becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, and then casting the Infinite Tsukuyomi upon the moon, I will allow everyone in the world to enter an eternal, blissful dream! There, everyone can realize their dreams and attain true satisfaction and peace!"

Narong listened quietly, sneering inwardly. An eternal dream? It was nothing more than high-level mass hypnosis and a mental prison. Uploading everyone's consciousness into a virtual world where life and death were controlled by someone else—what kind of peace was that? It was the ultimate deception and dictatorship!

Yet, what he showed on his face was an increasingly intense interest and longing. The level of power Madara described—gathering the Tailed Beasts, resurrecting the Ten-Tails, becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, casting a genjutsu that enveloped the world—this was truly god-like power capable of overturning the entire ninja world! This power was what Narong craved deep in his heart! Not to create some illusory peace, but to... control! To control his own destiny, to control the lives and deaths of others, and to control the entire ninja world! To unify the ninja world, end this damned chaotic age, and establish a powerful, orderly empire under his absolute rule! All those bullshit Daimyo and the Kage system should be utterly crushed!

"The Ten-Tails Jinchuriki... like the Sage of Six Paths?" Narong's voice held a hint of barely perceptible "yearning."

"Indeed." Madara affirmed, his voice weak yet carrying a seductive power. "By becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, you will obtain the heaven-shattering power of the Sage of Six Paths. When that time comes, the entire ninja world will crawl at your feet. The Five Great Nations, the Kage—they are nothing but ants before the power of the Ten-Tails. You could easily... implement whatever order you desire and create the peace you envision." Madara's words were filled with temptation, as if he saw through Narong's ambition for power and his hatred for the existing order.

Narong took a well-timed deep breath, his eyes flashing with "excitement" and "determination," as if conquered by a great ideal and immense power: "If... if I could truly obtain such power... perhaps... I really could change this damned world! At the very least, I could end this endless cycle and stop those pointless sacrifices!" His words were half-truth, half-lie; stopping the slaughter and establishing order were his genuine thoughts, but the method would certainly not be through some Infinite Tsukuyomi—it would be through absolute military unification and authoritarian rule!

He looked at Madara, whose breath was growing weaker and weaker, and said in a "firm" and "devout" tone: "Madara-sama, I have seen too much suffering with my own eyes and know how rotten this world is. If your plan can truly bring about ultimate peace, I am willing... to become your successor and swear to execute the Eye of the Moon Plan!" He had to secure the title of "successor" and the subsequent resources first!

Madara watched the sincere pain, the craving for power, and the expression of being moved by a great ideal on Narong's face. A trace of imperceptible satisfaction flashed in his clouded Mangekyou. He had succeeded; he had found a suitable, potential pawn. As for what this pawn was truly thinking? Madara did not entirely care. As long as he walked the path he had paved, Black Zetsu would naturally have ways to guide and control him. He had two contingencies; if Narong failed, there was still Nagato in the Land of Rain.