Kyoto, a hidden underground facility.
Kokichi Muta soaked in the cold nutrient solution.
It was a specially made life-support pod, like an oversized bathtub.
It was filled with Life-Sustaining Fluid of a complex composition, connected by tubes to various precision instruments around it.
Heart rate, blood pressure, blood oxygen saturation, and several other readings flickered across the screen. The machines gave off a steady, low hum, keeping this fragile life going.
The nutrient solution replaced water, and it replaced air as well.
Kokichi Muta was completely submerged, his body wrapped in layer upon layer of thick white bandages.
Like a mummy freshly unearthed from an ancient tomb, not a sliver of skin was visible, let alone his face.
Only the occasional glimpse of limbs through gaps in the bandages, pale and swollen from prolonged immersion, hinted at just how ravaged the body inside was.
He simply sat quietly in the tub, leaning against its wall, motionless.
Only the extremely faint rise and fall of his chest, and the vital signs flickering on the screen, proved that he was still "alive."
Why should I believe him...?
Kokichi Muta's thoughts drifted through the cold silence.
Because... he knows about me?
That was the most straightforward reason.
Madara Uchiha knew not only that "Mechamaru" was merely a Puppet, but also the true condition of the person controlling it-paralyzed, lonely, and in pain.
Apart from a tiny number of core personnel, no one should have known these secrets.
But Madara knew.
And he did not merely know. He knew clearly and specifically, knew the difficulties surrounding his treatment, and even knew... the longing in his heart.
Perhaps... it was his tone?
Kokichi Muta recalled how Madara had looked when he spoke.
Calm, certain, carrying an almost omnipotent confidence.
When he said, "I can cure