In an unknown deep underground, thick tree roots extend irregularly around, clinging to dry earth walls. Here, silence and darkness coexist, eerie and terrifying.
Deep in the darkness, stood a huge humanoid stone statue. The stone statue had nine closed eyes, a ferocious appearance, and its color and body were like dead wood.
Below the stone statue, several pipes stretched forward and were inserted into the body of a gray-haired old man. The old man was leaning on a cane and sitting on the stone platform. His expression was indifferent, and the two eye sockets under his bangs were empty, which added to the A bit scary.
The old man stared at the darkness ahead, or in other words, without eyes, he could only see darkness.
But what does it matter? As long as he is willing, there is nothing that the entire ninja world can hide from him.
The dark ground suddenly fluctuated and seemed to be slowly twisting. Finally, a pure white creature came out.
"Hey, Madara-sama, you woke up so early this time." The white creature expressed his surprise in an exaggerated tone, but it was a bit of a performance no matter how you looked at it.
"Well, how long have I slept this time?" Madara raised his head slightly.
"... Well, this is it." The white creature tilted its head and thought for a while, then said: "Seven thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven days..."
"It's been twenty years?" The old man's tone finally changed. After all, anyone who hears this number will find it... too scary.
"That's wrong, that's right, Master Madara." The white creature waved his hand quickly. "I was confused, this was the time I didn't poop."
"..."
"I'll count it. Every day that passes, I will make a scratch on it. You wait."
"..."
Madara snorted coldly, but didn't say anything else, nor was he impatient. For him, time... was the least valuable thing.
And Bai Zetsu, this clone of Hashirama's cells, can be regarded as a leisurely pastime for a long night.
Five minutes later, Bai Zetsu, who finally finished counting the notches, raised his head with excitement and shouted to the old man on the stone chair: "Madara-sama, I've finished counting. It's been 186 days in total."
"It's been half a year." Spot nodded, and then continued to ask: "Is there anything noteworthy recently?"
"Yes. The Third Kazekage was captured by Orochimaru, Hatake Sakumo, Jiraiya and Uchiha Tatsumi. Then Sunagakure Village surrendered and the agreement was just signed."
"Sunagakure's defeat is expected." Madara showed a look of understanding, but then shook his head and said disdainfully: "These three generations of Kazekage are really useless, each generation is not as good as the last one. Think of me and Hashirama back then. ..”
"You fought for three days and three nights, and it was a clash of muscles and a battle of souls! I know, you have described it several times."
"..."
For some reason, the old man felt that the sealed underground space seemed a little stuffy.
"What about Kumogakure and Iwagakure?"
"Still fighting." Bai Jue said immediately.
"That brat Onoki really hasn't made any progress at all."
Shiro asked in confusion: "Why did Madara-sama still help him? If you hadn't released the Eight-Tails, maybe this ninja war would have ended long ago."
"I'm not helping Ohnomu, but to help all humans." The old man replied calmly.
He learned from that stone tablet very early that in ancient times, there was no chakra.
People can only survive on this land like the most ordinary creatures.
Later, the Immortal of Six Paths appeared, and he spread this invisible power throughout the world... As a result, human beings have extraordinary abilities.
Under the leadership of the Six Paths Immortals, humans with chakra are like gods walking on the earth, building numerous temples to share wisdom and love with new believers from all over the world.
During that short period of time, human beings seemed to calmly sublimate themselves, transcend the constraints of the world, and achieve true peace.
However, humans are mortal and susceptible to the sins of pride, hatred, impatience, and greed.
As the years went by, some people began to disgrace the teachings of the Six Paths Immortal, twisting and abusing this power for personal selfishness.
From then on wars were born... wars that were more powerful, more direct and more destructive.
What followed was the fall of mankind.
And the darkness that lasts for thousands of years.
In Madara's view, the Great Ninja War was the pinnacle of the expansion of darkness.
If humans want to embrace the light, they must endure the darkness. The deeper the darkness, the greater the pain, and the more human beings yearn for light.
"And I, Uchiha Madara..." A blush appeared on his face. "Being the one who lights up the light."
After a long time, Bai Jue saw that the old man sitting on the stone chair was motionless, and couldn't help but ask: "Madara-sama, are you asleep?"
"no, what happened?"
"The guy named Uchiha Fugaku you asked me to monitor had an accident today."
Then Bai Zetsu told Madara everything he saw, including everything Fugaku showed in the battle, in vivid and detailed detail.
"Finally I went to check and found that the guy was obviously dead, but he came back to life in the end... "
"It's Izanagi." The old man touched his empty eyes and continued: "This technique can transform all the injuries suffered by the caster, including death, into dreams.
But the price is that the eyes will lose their light forever. "
"In that case, why isn't that guy's injury healed? Otherwise, I wouldn't have to give him any chakra."
"According to your description, he formed the seal while lying on the ground, so the Sharingan only recorded his physical condition while lying on the ground, and his injuries were naturally recorded as well."
"That's it." Bai Jue nodded with satisfaction after getting the answer, and then asked: "Then do I need to continue to monitor him?"
"Just keep an eye on it."
Although Fugaku's left eye was blind, from Madara's point of view, it was not a big deal. As long as he is willing, even a useless person can be trained!
Therefore, strength is not the key point. Being strong is good, and being weak is okay. The key is... love.
As long as there is love, the deeper the darkness you fall into and the stronger the power of hatred. Coupled with the Mangekyo Sharingan, you can walk in the ninja world as his substitute for Uchiha Madara and complete the preparations for the infinite moon reading. .
Fugaku is a man of love, otherwise he would not choose to sacrifice himself to protect his people.
But the only thing that dissatisfied Madara was that this person wanted to do something, but was a little cowardly.
If it were just these, it would be considered a low-end version of Hiruzen Sarutobi at best, but the key point is... his abilities are not good enough, and he is cautious about doing things.
For example, in this incident, since we knew we had fallen into the Sand Ninja's trap, we should immediately choose to disperse and break out. After all, the encirclement had not yet been fully formed at that time, instead of breaking out at the end.
So Madara just said let's wait and see, after all, he still has many candidates in his hands.
Even if this generation can't do it, he can still wait for the next generation of ninjas to be born. Again... what he lacks most is time!
"How's Nagato doing?"
"I still live in that cabin with Yahiko and Xiaonan. While practicing, I occasionally go to nearby towns to help ordinary people."
"That's it. It seems that it will take a long time for him to grow up."
"What about the Sharingan?"
"I have collected a lot and placed them next to the Heretic Golem. Do you want to put them on now?"
"I can do it myself. You can continue to monitor."
"Understood." Bai Jue nodded slowly, slowly blending into the ground like mud and disappearing invisible.
After Bai Zetsu disappeared, Madara stood up slowly, without holding on to his crutches, but walked tremblingly towards the Heretic Golem.
When he touched the body of the heretic demon, his hands were trembling slightly, and his face showed an expression of ecstasy.
"Soon... my successor will capture them all... and return them to your arms."
"Until then‥‥‥"
Madara opened his arms... .
“I will be resurrected and come back to this world;
I will transform and become the new Sage of Six Paths;
I will prove that there is only one path to peace;
And Hashirama will live forever in my infinite Tsukuyomi! "
The old man slowly raised his head and stared at the darkness somewhere. A smile slowly appeared on his old face.
I have been waiting for many years...
‥‥‥(To be continued)