Chapter 155: The Ancestor Abuses His Unworthy Descendant
Three days later, the Akatsuki members arrived as a group, clearly having convened a small meeting beforehand.
After all, the person they were about to meet was none other than the "Shinobi World's Grim Reaper," a name that struck fear throughout the ninja world.
Although Uchiha Madara promised not to hunt them down, they dared not take the risk.
After all, they were the only ones in the entire ninja world who knew about Akatsuki's Tailed Beast plan: to capture all the Tailed Beasts and create an ultimate weapon.
Uchiha Madara's words might have been a test.
Moreover, they were all very curious why Nagato's Rinnegan eyes were now Uchiha Madara's eyes.
What other secrets did the Gedo Statue hold besides sealing the nine Tailed Beasts and creating an ultimate weapon?
Rational individuals like Uchiha Itachi and Sasori of the Red Sand even believed that this secret likely held the truth of the world.
The super-standard combatants led by Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara might be connected to this world's truth.
Upon seeing all the Akatsuki members assembled, Uchiha Madara didn't ask if they had made their decision. Instead, he directly used Yin-Yang Release to implant a curse mark into their brains and hearts. This mark would activate if they revealed any information.
Even if they died, Konoha's Yamanaka clan wouldn't be able to extract information from their brains.
Not only that, but Uchiha Madara also secretly injected them with the Spore Technique, allowing White Zetsu clones to constantly monitor them.
If they dared to risk revealing information, Uchiha Madara could instantly end their lives.
"Now that the curse mark has been planted, can you tell us the truth?" Sasori of the Red Sand asked Uchiha Madara after putting his uniform back on.
The others also stared intently at Uchiha Madara.
"Of course. Let me enlighten you on the origin of chakra."
Uchiha Madara didn't go back on his word; he needed like-minded subordinates.
So, Uchiha Madara used the Rinnegan's genjutsu to pull everyone into an illusory world.
The Akatsuki members, led by Sasori of the Red Sand, found themselves in a mountainous area.
The sky was the twilight of a setting sun.
In the mountain range not far away, two figures were clashing: one enormous, larger than a mountain, and the other small, like themselves.
Surprisingly, both figures were pure black shadows, possessing only three distinct characteristics.
The larger black figure had ten tails, each swing causing the ground to shake. Its head had only one eye, a scarlet Sharingan with the circles of a Rinnegan and nine tomoe.
The smaller black figure, on the other hand, wielded a tin staff and a long sword, its eyes the same purple Rinnegan as Uchiha Madara's.
Before Sasori of the Red Sand and Uchiha Itachi could even begin to guess, Uchiha Madara's voice echoed in their ears.
"A millennium ago, a monster appeared in the ninja world, named the Ten-Tails."
"This monster was immortal; as long as this planet had life force, it could heal from any damage."
"To suppress the Ten-Tails and protect this world, the Sage of Six Paths developed a ninjutsu that has been passed down to this day, known as… the Jinchuriki sealing technique system."
"The Sage of Six Paths, who created this sealing technique, sealed the Ten-Tails within himself to suppress it, becoming the first Jinchuriki, also known as… the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki."
As Uchiha Madara's voice faded, on the battlefield of the illusory world, the humanoid black figure suddenly absorbed the colossal, mountain-like monster shadow into its body.
The Akatsuki members knew that figure was the legendary Sage of Six Paths.
Uchiha Madara's voice continued.
"After becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, the Sage of Six Paths founded Ninshu, sharing chakra with the world, giving birth to ninjas. His name and story have been passed down forever, worshipped as a god, a true God of Shinobi."
"However, even the powerful Sage of Six Paths eventually reached the end of his lifespan."
"To prevent the immortal Ten-Tails from plaguing the ninja world again after his death, the Sage of Six Paths, before his demise, split the Ten-Tails' chakra within him into nine, creating nine chakra materialized animals, known as… the Tailed Beasts."
The scene in the illusory world changed again.
In a dark space, still a black figure, the Sage of Six Paths, with only a pair of Rinnegan eyes and a Sage Staff, stood in the center of a massive jutsu. The vast and boundless chakra within him surged out, splitting into nine, transforming into nine grotesque animals of varying tail counts around him. These were the One-Tails to the Nine-Tails.
Finally, the Ten-Tails reappeared.
However, having lost its chakra, this monstrous beast that plagued the ninja world had lost consciousness, regressing into a giant humanoid monster.
"The Ten-Tails, having lost its chakra, became the Gedo Statue. The Sage of Six Paths, who created the moon, sent it to the unreachable sky."
"Logically, the ninja world should have entered an era of peace without the Ten-Tails' scourge."
"However, in his later years, the Sage of Six Paths witnessed the harm and wars brought by chakra. He might have regretted sharing chakra with the world, so he carved instructions on how to obtain the Rinnegan, revive the Ten-Tails, become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, and create true peace with a ninjutsu, onto a stone tablet."
"This stone tablet requires powerful ocular power to decipher. Each stage only reveals a limited amount of text. Only eyes closest to the Rinnegan can decipher the stage of obtaining the power of all creation."
The scene changed once more, and the Akatsuki members found themselves in a shrine where a stone tablet stood erect.
Upon seeing this stone tablet, Uchiha Itachi's expression finally changed drastically.
The others had a slight realization, as they also saw the Uchiha clan crest in the shrine.
"One day, a person who obtained eternal eye power appeared before this stone tablet. He learned the way to obtain the power of all creation and create true peace."
"Thus… came the Valley of the End battle."
"In that battle, the person with eternal eye power obtained what he desired, escaping through a feigned death."
"Decades later, on the verge of dying of old age, he finally transcended the limitations of dimensions and obtained the power of all creation."
The scene shifted to a cave where an old man, who spent more time sleeping than awake, suddenly opened his eyes—a pair of purple Rinnegan.
The Akatsuki members all knew that this old man was Uchiha Madara.
A glimmer of realization flashed in the eyes of Sasori of the Red Sand and others. They finally understood why Konoha's two founders suddenly erupted in the shocking Valley of the End battle.
The illusory world slowly faded, and the Akatsuki members returned to the real world.
Uchiha Madara, resting his cheek on the back of his right hand, said calmly, "Because I was about to die of old age at the time, I couldn't create true peace. I could only devise a plan to revive myself in my prime and transplant the Rinnegan onto the then-young Nagato. Now that the plan has been realized, the Rinnegan naturally returned to me."
"You want to collect all the Tailed Beasts, revive the Gedo Statue as the Ten-Tails, and become the second Ten-Tails Jinchuriki and Sage of Six Paths?" Sasori of the Red Sand cut to the chase.
"Precisely."
"What is true peace?" Uchiha Itachi suddenly asked.
"It's also a ninjutsu."
Uchiha Madara pointed to the sky and chuckled, "Once I become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, my ocular power will reach an unprecedented level, allowing me to project my eyes onto the moon and cast a massive ninjutsu that covers the entire ninja world, named… the Infinite Tsukuyomi."
"This ninjutsu will pull all humans into a perfectly real genjutsu world. Each of them will be the protagonist of that world, where all their dreams will come true. There will be no conflicts, no sickness, and no signs of aging."
"Their spirits will live eternally in a beautiful genjutsu world, while their bodies will be nourished by the power of the Ten-Tails until their deaths."
"…"
The Akatsuki members fell silent, looking at each other.
Their reactions varied.
Deidara scratched his face, somewhat intrigued. "A world where everyone acknowledges my art? Sounds pretty interesting!" "Idiot, that's a false world," Sasori of the Red Sand chided, though he himself was secretly quite tempted.
If he could live in a world with both his parents, even if it were false, he would be very willing.
Over the years, countless nights, he had such beautiful dreams and often wished they could last forever.
And now, it seemed he could truly fulfill this wish.
Uchiha Madara didn't know Sasori of the Red Sand's thoughts. Instead, he smiled playfully, "Aren't you rogue ninjas precisely those who discovered the falseness of this world and couldn't accept it, which is why you chose to defect?"
Hearing this, Kisame Hoshigaki, who rarely showed emotional fluctuations, couldn't help but grin.
"A world where everyone worships Lord Jashin? I'm also very excited!" Hidan likewise exclaimed with enthusiasm.
Kakuzu also felt tempted; he had long grown disgusted with this false and terrible world.
Only Uchiha Itachi said coldly, "This is not true peace. You are escaping!"
"This is indeed escaping, yet countless people wish to escape this terrible world, and I am their savior," Uchiha Madara replied, the same response he gave Nagato.
"Not everyone is willing to enter a dream world. Haven't you considered other people's feelings?" Uchiha Itachi countered.
"Every war results in countless ninja and civilian casualties; they are all victims of war. Did those high and mighty individuals ever consider their feelings?" Uchiha Madara sneered. "While the Infinite Tsukuyomi will strip them of their real happiness, it will compensate them in the dream world, allowing them to enjoy greater happiness, free from worries of birth, aging, sickness, and death, free from abandonment by loved ones, and free from endless conflict. How do you know they wouldn't want that?"
"What is false will forever remain false; it will never become reality," Uchiha Itachi stood firm, just like Nagato.
Uchiha Madara became interested and gestured to the others, "You all leave. Let me have a private chat with this junior."
The others, who had been hoping to witness the spectacle, reluctantly left, especially Deidara, who wanted to see the Uchiha ancestor beat up his unworthy descendant who annihilated his own clan.
After everyone had left, Uchiha Madara continued to rest his cheek on the back of his hand, tilting his head slightly as he observed the expressionless Uchiha Itachi, who showed no fear of him. He suddenly asked, "I'm curious, why did you annihilate the Uchiha clan?"
"To test my own capacity," Uchiha Itachi's reply was exactly the same as when he answered Uchiha Sasuke years ago.
"Heh…"
Uchiha Madara's smile, however, became more playful. He continued, "Then you deliberately left your younger brother behind to obtain the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, didn't you?"
"Precisely," Uchiha Itachi said indifferently. "The reason I left him was to emulate your method, to provoke him into awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan, then take his eyes and become a second you."
Uchiha Madara wasn't angered by Uchiha Itachi's words, nor did he explain how his own Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan was obtained.
His Rinnegan's ocular power seemed to see through something, and he taunted, "Eternal Eyes alone aren't enough. To become a second me, you also need to obtain the Rinnegan. I possess ways to gain eternal eye power without transplanting a loved one's eyes, and a method to awaken the Rinnegan. Since you were willing to annihilate your own clan to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan, then you should be willing to kill your own brother for the Rinnegan, right?"
"I'll give you these two methods right now. Then you go to Konoha and kill your brother. How's that deal?"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than Uchiha Itachi's eyes immediately transformed into the Mangekyo Sharingan. A line of blood tears streamed from his right eye as he shouted at Uchiha Madara, "Amaterasu!"
Black flames appeared out of thin air, engulfing Uchiha Madara.
Uchiha Madara, however, remained completely still, propping up his face and watching Uchiha Itachi's performance.
A black crow emerged from his body, its left eye surprisingly bearing the pattern of a four-point shuriken.
"Kotoamatsukami!"
As soon as the crow appeared, it unleashed Kotoamatsukami, a technique requiring a cooldown of over a decade, on Uchiha Madara.
At the same time, Itachi consumed ocular power to create a red skeletal arm, grasping a red gourd, and fired a red flaming sword of light towards Uchiha Madara.
Unfortunately, this sword of light couldn't reach Uchiha Madara; it stopped in mid-air before him.
"The unextinguishable black flames of Amaterasu, the genjutsu eye that can modify will, Kotoamatsukami, and the Sword of Totsuka recorded in history. You're quite lucky, brat, to possess such impressive eyes and weapons," Uchiha Madara commented, absorbing the black flames covering his body. Then, his expression suddenly twisted into one of disdain. "Too bad. This meager ocular power is truly too weak before an ultimate ocular technique! As a return gift, let me show you the power of an ultimate ocular technique."
Thump!
The sound of a fist hitting flesh echoed. Uchiha Itachi, encased in his Susanoo skeleton, suddenly seemed to take a blow to his chin and was sent flying into the air.
Immediately, a series of thumping sounds followed, and Uchiha Itachi bounced around like a rubber ball in front of Uchiha Madara.
After about fifteen seconds, Uchiha Itachi, his Susanoo now dispersed, finally collapsed to the ground, covered in wounds.
Uchiha Madara stood up and walked over to him, stepping on his head. He finally showed a look of disgust. "This proves you never considered the feelings of your clan members either. Since you chose to sacrifice the clan that raised and nurtured you in favor of Konoha, then don't come before me with that preachy attitude."
As the most exceptional member of the Uchiha clan, no one understood the Uchiha clan's love and arrogance better than Uchiha Madara.
Having personally orchestrated Obito Uchiha's descent into darkness, he couldn't be deceived by truly twisted individuals, as his Rinnegan and Yin Release chakra could discern them.
From Uchiha Itachi's earlier rebuttal of the Infinite Tsukuyomi, Uchiha Madara had already seen through his disguise.
This guy was a spy planted by Konoha.
A person who could unhesitatingly choose the village over his clan was as extreme as Obito Uchiha.
Or rather, it was arrogance!
This guy was so arrogant that he believed everything he did was right.
If nothing went wrong, his younger brother should have also been thoroughly manipulated by him.
As the man who cherished his younger brother most, Uchiha Madara strongly disliked Uchiha Itachi.
Brothers were meant to be loved, not abused.
"Let me see what you're thinking."
Uchiha Madara first used a sealing jutsu to deprive Uchiha Itachi of his body control, then knelt down, placed his hand on Itachi's head, and whispered, "Human Path: Soul Absorption!"
The part of Uchiha Itachi's soul located in his head was forcefully pulled out by Uchiha Madara, and then a vast amount of information surged into Uchiha Madara's mind.
Rapidly scrolling through Uchiha Itachi's memories, Uchiha Madara's eyes couldn't help but widen in disbelief.
"Three pairs of Mangekyo Sharingan, and Tobirama's disciples could play them like this?" Uchiha Madara somewhat understood why the Uchiha clan perished, sighing faintly. "Truly… like father, like son! Such a glorious generation, yet three useless individuals awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan."
Pressing the soul back in, Uchiha Madara stood up and looked down at the pale-faced Uchiha Itachi, saying coldly, "You worthless trash don't deserve to be a brother. But out of consideration for our shared clan, I'll spare your life and let you keep your eyes for your brother."
After reading Uchiha Itachi's memories, Uchiha Madara also learned of his plan and conceived a small idea.
That Uchiha Sasuke, both in appearance and personality, was very similar to Izuna when he was young.
Moreover, he still didn't know the truth behind the clan's annihilation.
Perhaps once he learned the truth, he could also be swayed to Madara's side.
Having lost everything, he should also yearn for the world of the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Uchiha Madara decided to make amends to this descendant.
Perhaps remembering his own brother, Uchiha Madara's gaze toward Uchiha Itachi grew even more disgusted.
All brothers were so similar, yet Uchiha Itachi's way of protecting his brother was completely opposite to his own.
He even tried to use Kotoamatsukami on his own brother, modifying his will to make him forever protect Konoha.
"You would do something like this, and you still have the nerve to question the falseness of the Infinite Tsukuyomi?" Uchiha Madara was disgusted by Itachi's hypocrisy and kicked him away. "Seeing you, you piece of trash, sickens me. Get out of here."
....
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