Teaching

Madara stood where he was, closed his eyes, and felt the flow of cursed energy within him.

All this time, Madara had been training desperately. At first, he had been unable to fully master Madara Uchiha's abilities.

Morning training, sparring, missions, extra practice-he devoted all his time to getting stronger.

Not because he liked fighting, not because he craved power, but because of... fear.

He was afraid he couldn't win.

Afraid he would lose against truly powerful enemies, like Sukuna in his complete form, like aliens, like the monsters that would appear in the future.

Afraid he couldn't change those damned plotlines or save the people he wanted to save, and would ultimately have to watch helplessly as his companions died and the world slid into the abyss.

So he trained desperately, learned desperately, and desperately developed cursed techniques.

Reverse Cursed Technique, Domain Expansion, six paths mode-he was trying to master every ability he could think of that Madara Uchiha should possess.

And now, he was certain.

Certain that he-the boy who had inherited the Uchiha name-possessed enough power to change everything.

He could use six paths mode, too.

He possessed all of Madara Uchiha's abilities, whether it was the complete Susanoo, Limbo: Border Jail, or even Tengai Shinsei.

As long as he wanted to, as long as he dared to try, he could reproduce them all in this world of jujutsu through cursed energy.

But he didn't use them.

He didn't want to reveal his strength too early, didn't want to draw the Higher-Ups' attention, and, even more, didn't want...

(I don't want the friends I worked so hard to find to see me as a monster.)

Madara looked at his hands, a trace of complicated emotion flashing through his black eyes.

Maki, Panda, Inumaki, Okkotsu, Fushiguro, Kugisaki, Itadori... and Satoru Gojo.

These people who had accepted him when he was lonely, who had guided him when he was lost, who had stood behind him when he fought.

He didn't want them to look at him as though he were a monster.

So he hid.

Hid six paths mode, hid the Rinnegan's true power, hid those world-destroying cursed techniques.

But now, he understood his own strength.

He-Madara Uchiha-was the strongest being.

Far away, in the shadows at the mountaintop.

Kenjaku stood there with his hands tucked into his sleeves, quietly watching Madara below.

Beside him, Hanami's body trembled slightly. Beneath her barklike skin, cursed energy churned like boiling magma.

"This guy," Kenjaku said softly, a hint of incredulous amusement in his voice, "actually killed Jogo outright."

He had thought Madara would spare Jogo's life.

Interrogating him for information, demanding to know about his accomplices, or at least confirming the organization behind him-these were standard procedures for a jujutsu sorcerer.

But Madara hadn't.

That meant one of two things.

First, Madara wasn't as smart as he had thought.

He was just a brat with terrifying strength but no experience or cunning, fighting purely on instinct and considering the matter finished once he had killed his opponent, never even thinking to keep him alive.

This was what Kenjaku hoped for most. No matter how strong a fool was, he was still a fool. There would always be a way to deal with him.

And the possibility he least wanted was the second-

Madara had already used some method within his domain to read all of Jogo's memories and obtain the information he wanted, so there had been no need to keep him alive.

If that was true, then Madara Uchiha's threat level would have to be reassessed.

Beside him, Hanami clenched both hands into fists, the moss on her body trembling violently.

Flames of rage burned in her eyes as she stared fixedly at Madara below.

Jogo was dead.

Utterly annihilated by a human brat in a clash of domains.

She wanted to charge down and kill Madara while he was weakened from having just finished his battle.

But Kenjaku's hand gently settled on her shoulder.

"Satoru Gojo will be here any moment," Kenjaku said calmly. "I'm leaving first. If you don't want to die, you should leave too."

He took a step back, his figure merging into the shadows like ink before disappearing.

Hanami stood where she was, staring fixedly at Madara. Finally, she gritted her teeth, and flowers enveloped her body as she dispersed into the forest, vanishing without a trace.

Satoru Gojo had Ijichi drive ahead to report the situation to Principal Yaga, while he went over to Madara.

He landed lightly, like a feather.

"Ran into a special grade cursed spirit?" Satoru Gojo asked.

Madara nodded. "Yeah. It could talk and use Domain Expansion. It was probably part of an organization."

"Really? So how did it go?"

Madara smiled, a smile filled with absolute confidence.

"Easy."

Satoru Gojo froze for a moment, then burst out laughing.

"Hahaha! Madara, the speed you're growing really does scare me~" He patted Madara's shoulder with considerable force.

"But nicely done. That's how special grade cursed spirits should be handled. Quick and clean."

He paused, his eyes lighting up as though he had suddenly thought of something interesting.

"Oh, right. Can you still expand your domain? Do you have enough cursed energy left?"

Madara checked his remaining cursed energy and nodded. "I can."

"All right, wait a moment." Satoru Gojo took out his phone and quickly sent a message.

"I'll have Itadori come over and give him a live lesson. That kid's been making good progress with cursed energy control lately, but he hasn't seen a real domain yet. Let's broaden his horizons~"

Madara nodded. "OK~"

Satoru Gojo put away his phone, looked around at the scorched ground, and rubbed his chin.

"Speaking of which, did you kill that cursed spirit? You didn't keep him alive?"

"Of course I killed him," Madara said matter-of-factly. "Keeping a special grade cursed spirit alive is too dangerous."

"Then doesn't that mean we can't question him?" Satoru Gojo tilted his head. "About the organization behind him, his accomplices, their plans, things like that."

Madara blinked, then let out an "Ah," looking as though he had only just remembered.

"I forgot!"

His expression was perfectly natural, with a hint of frustration and a hint of embarrassment-exactly the reaction a sixteen-year-old boy would have after getting so absorbed in a fight that he forgot what mattered.

Satoru Gojo stared at him for two seconds, then doubled over laughing.

"Haha! That's fine~ It wouldn't make much difference whether we asked or not. The cursed spirits are bound to keep making moves. Just remember next time."

He waved a hand, turned, and headed out of the woods.

"I'll go get Itadori. Wait here."

Madara watched Satoru Gojo's retreating figure saunter away. The frustration on his face slowly faded, returning to calm.

Madara stood among the trees, looking up at the moonlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves.

"A lesson, huh..."

He murmured to himself, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

"That works, too. Let Itadori see ahead of time what a real 'domain' looks like."

He found a reasonably flat rock, sat down, closed his eyes, and began regulating his breathing.

In the distance, Satoru Gojo's cursed energy was rapidly approaching.

Accompanied by another presence of cursed energy, faint but full of vitality-

Yuji Itadori.

Madara opened his eyes, a flicker of anticipation passing through his black pupils.

"Then let the lesson begin."