Chapter 148: Because He Really Treated Me Like His Grandson
Madara's feelings about the movie were complicated.
Even though the Izuna on the screen was fake, simply being able to see his brother again was enough to make him smile whenever he woke from a dream.
However...
Even after the movie ended, Madara couldn't shake the image of that bizarrely glowing blue Susanoo.
It was ugly.
The movie was so ugly that even though the protagonist looked like Izuna, Madara had no desire to watch it a second time.
He had never seen such an eye-searing Susanoo in his life.
If he had been present during filming, he would have stopped the production immediately.
Seeing Uchiha Madara walking ahead with an expressionless face, Ryoichi gently nudged Asuka with his elbow and whispered,
"Why did you make the Susanoo so bright?"
Asuka's cheek twitched. He lowered his voice as well.
"Don't you think that dazzling Susanoo is unforgettable?"
"Uh..."
Ryoichi paused before instinctively nodding.
It was true.
If he dreamed tonight, the Susanoo in his dream would probably be that exact shade of blue.
"Asuka."
Hearing Madara's deep voice from ahead, Asuka immediately walked over.
"Do you want me to take the recording home and watch it again?"
"One bout of mental pollution is enough."
Several black lines appeared on Madara's forehead.
Then he felt his life force continuing to drain away. He raised his head and looked at the full moon in the sky.
After a moment of silence, he asked,
"Do you remember what this old man once told you?"
Seeing Madara suddenly become serious, Asuka followed his gaze toward the moon. His voice carried a hint of uncertainty.
"That plan that would make everyone happy?"
Madara's expression darkened.
He couldn't understand why his Eye of the Moon Plan always sounded so much less impressive whenever Asuka described it.
Even though it really was about everyone's happiness.
"That's right."
After a brief silence, Madara nodded.
"This old man's life is nearing its end. When he dies, it will be an eternal sleep."
He glared fiercely at the two of them again.
If these two hadn't acted on their own, his previous death would already have become that eternal sleep.
Ryoichi whistled and looked up at the moon, deliberately avoiding Madara's gaze.
What's wrong with living another two months?
For these two months, he could eat, drink, and occasionally teach children a few lessons whenever he got bored.
That was what an old man should be doing.
"Are you still interested in carrying out this plan?"
Hearing Madara's question, Asuka hesitated as he looked at the moon.
The pure white moon suddenly transformed into the image of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
Their eyes met.
Kaguya smiled faintly at him, a trace of approval in her expression.
Damn it!
This had to be an illusion.
Asuka reached up and pinched his cheek.
The sharp pain immediately brought him back to his senses.
He looked at Madara's calm expression and shrugged.
"I'll observe the shinobi world for now."
"If I can't find a better solution, I'll try my plan first."
Hearing this, Madara fell into an unusually long silence.
When he had inadvertently revealed the Eye of the Moon Plan to Asuka, he had expected the young man to say something tedious like, What's the point of living in a world filled with illusions?
Instead, Asuka had strongly agreed with the plan.
At the time, Madara had assumed that Asuka approved of his ideals.
He hadn't expected the boy to propose a plan that he couldn't fully understand.
Digital Life.
Upload human memories and portions of consciousness into machines, allowing people to achieve a form of spiritual "immortality" inside a virtual digital world and thereby establish peace in the real world.
It sounded unreliable.
But after asking Asuka about the details and thinking about it for several days, Madara had actually found the concept rather feasible.
Unfortunately, he had no idea how to operate those machines that went beep, beep.
The thought of making him operate those machines...
Madara clicked his tongue and looked at Asuka with a complicated expression.
"Don't you think your plan is much more troublesome than this old man's?"
Hearing that, Asuka immediately raised several fingers and began counting.
"The biggest problem is that taking the Tailed Beasts from other villages could easily trigger another war."
"Even though I've awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, I'm not arrogant enough to think I can take all the Tailed Beasts from every village."
"Intelligence alone is already a huge problem."
"I don't even know who the jinchūriki are."
Asuka paused.
Then he put his hands on his hips and looked at Madara with an expression that practically screamed I'm amazing.
"Great-grandfather, don't you think my philosophy is much better?"
Madara sneered, the corner of his mouth curling upward.
"This philosophy is just as troubling as this old man's plan, perhaps even more troublesome. What's there to be proud of?"
"This old man's ideals aren't inferior to yours in any respect. Why don't you simply complete this old man's plan?"
Asuka shrugged and pointed at his own eyes.
"Great-grandfather, you should know that my eyes aren't strong enough to capture the Nine-Tails."
"I might even go blind after capturing the third Tailed Beast."
Madara fell silent.
That really was a problem.
The ordinary Mangekyō Sharingan was immensely powerful, but even so, it wasn't enough to capture all nine Tailed Beasts.
If the problem with his eyes couldn't be solved, this child might really throw himself headfirst into that troublesome Digital Life Plan.
Midnight.
Feifei suddenly sat up in bed and looked toward Asuka, who was leaning against the windowsill and staring at the moon.
Pale moonlight spilled across his face, making his expression look somewhat desolate.
Thump!
The orange cat jumped onto the floor and walked over to him.
"Asuka, why aren't you asleep yet?"
"I can't sleep."
Asuka picked up the orange cat and held it in his arms, gently stroking its fur.
"What are you thinking about?"
Hearing the cat's clear voice, Asuka didn't hide his thoughts.
After organizing his thoughts, he picked up a sheet of paper and wrote:
"Feifei, what do you think about someone like this?
"He dreams of achieving permanent peace in the shinobi world and spends his entire life fighting for that dream. But just when his plan is about to succeed, he suddenly discovers that he's merely been used by someone else."
Everything was fake.
All his efforts had merely been paving the way for someone else's plan.
The orange cat stretched comfortably, enjoying Asuka's touch. After reading what he had written, it sighed.
"Isn't that person just completely pitiful? What, are you planning to use him as material for a manga?"
Uchiha Asuka's expression darkened.
He crumpled the paper in his hand and continued.
"In the end, that person never admitted that his plan was wrong."
"He only said that his dream had been shattered, but his friend's dream still had a chance to come true."
Hearing this, the orange cat raised its head and looked at Asuka hesitantly.
"Don't tell me you're thinking..."
"Yes!"
Before it could finish, Asuka nodded firmly.
"So I came up with another plan."
"At the end of the story, when that old man is bedridden and on the verge of death, I'll save him and continue his dream, giving him a glimmer of hope for life."
"After all, it's only a three-tomoe Sharingan."
"And as for that filial son who saved his mother, I might even help him accomplish his own plan faster."
"???"
The cat stared at him blankly.
All these plans left it completely confused.
What a headache.
It couldn't understand any of this.
The orange cat puzzledly licked its paw.
"These plans... these plans are way too troublesome."
"Why are you doing all this? What do you actually gain from it?"
What could he gain from it?
Thinking back over the past six months, Uchiha Madara had often looked at him with the eyes of a grandfather looking at his grandson.
Sometimes, Madara even scolded him like a grandfather would scold his grandson.
Asuka raised his head and looked toward the moon.
For a fleeting moment, he seemed to see Kaguya Ōtsutsuki there once again.
She would take over Uchiha Madara's body and achieve her resurrection.
After a long silence, Asuka gently stroked the cat's fur again.
His eyes were somewhat distant.
"Because he really treats me like his grandson."