Impure World Reincarnation

"Why did you do this?"

From their conversation, Elder Itachi had already guessed that Uchiha Madara had likely set his sights on Aokiji long ago. "With your strength, you have no need for a child's power."

"To borrow your own words, the only constant in this world is change. Everyone changes. One day, I will become a frail old man, while that child will grow into a strong and capable ninja. When that time comes, I will need him to help me with certain things. Even if I die, he will inherit my will and fulfill my long-cherished wish."

Elder Itachi said coldly, "You will not succeed. Human ability truly has limits. Over my long life, I have learned that the more a person plays with schemes, the more likely he is to stumble over unforeseen events."

Uchiha Madara let out a soft breath. "You're right."

Elder Itachi stared fixedly at him. He knew that, with Uchiha Madara's personality, he would not agree with him so easily.

The best way to refute someone's view was to first agree with it, then calmly lay out one's own argument. That was far more lethal than blindly contradicting them.

Sure enough, Uchiha Madara's next actions confirmed Elder Itachi's guess. Uchiha Madara spoke slowly, the corners of his mouth curling into an enigmatic smile. "That is why I must become something beyond human."

"What do you mean?"

Elder Itachi understood every word in that sentence, yet when put together, he could not comprehend it at all.

"I no longer want to be human!"

Uchiha Madara clenched his right hand at the empty air. His presence surged to its peak, flames flickering in his eyes as he gave off an ominous aura.

"What exactly are you talking about?!"

"I will become the Sage of Six Paths."

"Have you lost your mind?"

"Heh heh... An old man is still an old man. Your thinking is traditional and conservative."

"What nonsense. The Sage of Six Paths is nothing more than a legend."

Elder Itachi looked at Uchiha Madara as though he were insane. It was hard to imagine a man like him saying such things.

"The Sage of Six Paths truly existed. Your existence and mine are the best proof of that. The power of the Sharingan came from the Sage of Six Paths."

"Hmph."

Elder Itachi fell silent and began pondering the meaning behind those words.

"Beauty lasts only for an instant. Only reality is eternal, and reality can never be beautiful! But with the power of the Sage of Six Paths, all of that can be overturned, allowing 'beauty' to become eternal."

"You saw this information on the Stone Tablet at Naka Shrine, didn't you?"

"Heh heh. Even at your age, with your legs no longer working properly, your mind is still as sharp as ever. So, how about it? Will you lead the clan back under my command...?"

Uchiha Madara extended the invitation once more.

Elder Itachi resolutely met Uchiha Madara's icy gaze. His gaunt body erupted with immense chakra, terrifying killing intent flickering around him and coursing through his body as naturally as breathing. This was the aura of a powerhouse who had survived that age of slaughter.

Compromise was useless. Before the Sharingan's powerful Dojutsu Power, any lie meant to maintain false friendliness would be mercilessly exposed. That was true for Aokiji, and it was true for him as well.

"So that is your answer... What a pity. Well... in the end, I only asked on a whim because we are of the same clan. It seems that, to accomplish such a great feat, the power of outsiders truly cannot be relied upon. I will have to do it myself."

Faced with Elder Itachi's overwhelming killing intent, Uchiha Madara merely shook his head dismissively and took a casual step forward.

That unremarkable step brought the two of them within a distance where either could kill the other.

Suddenly, accompanied by a loud bang and White smoke, concealed weapons whipped up a fierce gale and shot toward their target from all directions with lightning speed.

The rain-dense barrage could turn an enemy into a sieve in an instant.

Elder Itachi was not naive enough to believe such an attack could kill Uchiha Madara—or even injure him. His goal had always been only to delay him slightly, then use a forbidden technique to release an explosion centered on himself and perish together with Uchiha Madara.

Against an expert like Uchiha Madara, he would have only one chance.

Yet something happened that he had never expected. Uchiha Madara was struck by countless hidden weapons, blood covering his body.

Elder Itachi's face instantly turned pale. His eyes widened in horrified disbelief as he stared ahead, frozen and speechless.

"What are you so surprised about? Are you really that shocked after falling under my, Uchiha Madara's, Genjutsu?"

"..."

At some unknown point, Uchiha Madara had walked up in front of Elder Itachi. As though rewarding him, he lightly patted his shoulder.

Though Elder Itachi had clearly hurled a great number of hidden weapons just moments ago, the room now looked as though nothing had happened. It remained exactly as before.

Uchiha Madara slowly raised his right hand, held up two fingers, and began forming hand seals.

Uchiha Madara's strength was far inferior to what it had once been, but that was only compared to his former self. Facing an old man with one foot in the grave was naturally effortless. A mere glance was enough to subdue him.

Elder Itachi let his hands hang limply at his sides.

"Stubborn to the end. You have brought ruin upon yourself."

Uchiha Madara snorted and lowered his hand from the seal. He looked up at the ceiling and muttered to himself, "Since Tobirama is absent, this is perfect. There is a ninjutsu he developed in the past that has always interested me. Perhaps it may be of use to me in the future."

It was night, dark and windswept.

A black-haired man quietly slipped into a secret chamber. Bookshelves lined both walls, filled with scrolls and documents, while ninja tools were arranged in an orderly yet scattered fashion.

But those were merely decoys. The truly valuable things would naturally not be stored here. After a brief search, he soon discovered a hidden door and took out a white scroll from within.

Far from the center of the village, at its outskirts, no one came here during the day. Naturally, no one would come at this hour deep in the night.

Uchiha Madara stepped out from the shadow behind a tree, took the scroll from the black-haired man, and opened it. Written upon it was the forbidden technique: Impure World Reincarnation.

Uchiha Madara nodded in satisfaction.

He then gave the black-haired man a look. The man vanished from the spot, evaded the guards' sight, and left the village. In a deserted forest far from Konoha, he formed hand seals and summoned a clone, then handed his Samurai sword to it.

Holding the Samurai sword, the clone unexpectedly stabbed the man's throat from behind, blood spraying everywhere.

The man's eyes widened in disbelief as he collapsed into a pool of blood, his face filled with unwillingness.

Uchiha Madara slowly opened his eyes, lowered his hand from the seal, and smiled faintly.

With that, the scene had been arranged to look like a betrayal of the village followed by silencing the traitor. When Tobirama returned and discovered that a subordinate he had trusted had betrayed him, stolen a forbidden technique, and sought personal gain, he would surely have quite a headache.

Seeing was believing; hearing was uncertain.

But sometimes, eyes could deceive.

Sometimes, what people saw and believed was precisely nothing more than what others wanted them to see.