Chapter 155: The Giant in His Eyes
Konoha, Uchiha Clan Compound.
The moment the Nine-Tails charged toward him, Shukaku blinked.
He hesitated for only a second before immediately jumping off the rooftop.
He stretched both arms backward, lowered his body, and moved his legs rapidly, leaving afterimages in his wake as he ran in the opposite direction without looking back.
"Old man, run if you don't want to die!"
Just as he was about to pass Ryoichi, Shukaku glanced back at the approaching Nine-Tails, then at the old man running far too slowly.
Out of the goodness of his heart, he reminded him,
"That stinky fox is coming!"
Whoosh!
The next moment, the yellow tanuki flashed past them and continued speeding away into the distance.
Ryoichi stopped.
He rubbed his chin with one hand and frowned.
"I suspect the Nine-Tails is here to find that tanuki."
Hearing that Ryoichi was still consciously entertaining this possibility, Uchiha Madara instinctively glanced back.
Only then did he realize that at their current distance from the Nine-Tails, he could clearly see saliva dripping from the beast's mouth.
Disgusting.
"Ah~"
At this moment, the people living within the Uchiha compound also realized that something was wrong.
At first, they thought an earthquake had occurred.
But when they rushed out of their homes, they saw an enormous creature approaching from the distance.
Looking at the Nine-Tails' towering body, its scarlet eyes, and the chakra recklessly radiating from it, their legs went weak.
They no longer had the courage to resist.
There was only one thought in their minds.
Run!
"Ah~ Ah~"
Hearing the chaotic noise from the street outside, Uchiha Mado pushed open his front door and looked out.
When he saw the terrified crowd running in the same direction, a trace of confusion flashed through his eyes.
Why are they running so fast? Is a dog chasing them?
ROAR!
A beastly roar accompanied by a powerful shockwave suddenly swept over them.
Mado followed the roar and looked back.
The Nine-Tailed Fox was about to charge into the clan compound.
He blinked.
Then his vision was suddenly swallowed by a massive shadow.
Damn it!
The next moment, he rushed back inside, grabbed his sleeping grandson, and without the slightest hesitation joined the fleeing crowd.
Why has the Nine-Tails appeared?
Where's the jinchuriki?
Is she dead?
As Mado's thoughts raced, the corner of his eye caught sight of a mother and child being knocked to the ground by the crowd.
The mother was kneeling on the ground, using her delicate body to shield her child.
Mado wiped his nose, gritted his teeth, and charged toward them.
"Get up!"
He forced his way through the crowd and reached the mother.
With his right arm, he hauled both mother and child off the ground.
Having survived the disaster, the two hurriedly bowed to him in gratitude.
"Thank you."
"Thank you, Elder Mado."
Mado waved them away, urging them to hurry.
Then, with his grandson in his arms, he turned toward the direction from which the Nine-Tailed Fox was coming.
At this moment, the terrified crowd had no time to care about Mado's identity.
They simply ran forward without hesitation, paying no attention to whatever obstacles stood in their way.
Bang! Bang!
The constant pushing and shoving caused Mado's body to sway from side to side.
Several times, he nearly fell.
"Heh~"
Mado straightened his body.
He looked at the clansmen desperately forcing their way through the crowd, trying to reach the front of the fleeing group.
Then he looked at those whose eyes were filled with nothing but fear as they ran for their lives.
The Uchiha were Konoha's strongest clan.
Yet their circumstances were truly miserable.
"Hey!"
Mado laughed carefree.
He set his grandson down, patted him on the shoulder, and smiled.
"Naoki, do you remember where Grandpa told you the shelter was?"
Naoki nodded and answered in a childish voice,
"I know!"
"Good!"
A satisfied smile appeared on Mado's face.
He took a deep look at Naoki.
Then he turned around sharply, pushed the boy forward, and shouted,
"Go wait for Grandpa at the shelter!"
Naoki staggered forward several steps.
Then he turned around and looked at the enormous fox charging through the village.
His gaze fell on his grandfather's hunched back.
Naoki didn't know what that fox was, but he could feel it.
That fox was dangerous.
Extremely dangerous.
"Grandpa, what are you going to do?"
Hearing his grandson's anxious voice behind him, Mado waved his hand.
His aged voice slowly drifted back.
"This old man is Uchiha Mado, the Fifth Elder of the Uchiha clan, Konoha."
The moment he finished speaking, his figure vanished.
Naoki stood there dumbfounded.
When Uchiha Mado appeared again, he was already standing atop the roof at the entrance of the clan compound.
By then, several familiar faces had gathered around him.
Mado swept his gaze across them before settling on the First Elder, who was still leaning on a cane.
He grinned.
"First Elder, are you planning to use that cane to knock the Nine-Tails on the head?"
"Heh~"
Uchiha Saburo immediately threw away his cane.
He tore open his upper garment, revealing a body that, despite his advanced age, was still remarkably robust.
Calmly, he said,
"Child, wipe your nose."
The next moment, Mado wiped his nose again and helplessly said,
"I just thought I might never see Naoki again. It made me a little sad."
"If you're sad, why don't you awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan?"
Hearing the mocking voice behind him, Uchiha Mado's expression darkened.
Without even looking back, he sneered.
"When you die, my eyes will open."
At this moment, Ryoichi jumped beside Mado.
Looking at the Nine-Tailed Fox that was now almost upon them, he sneered.
"Mado, when did our relationship become so good?"
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The First Elder stretched his muscles.
His old body, which had gone unused for far too long, creaked from head to toe.
"Come, come. Let this old man lead the charge."
BOOM!
The next moment, he bent his knees and leaped into the air.
The building beneath his feet couldn't withstand the enormous impact and collapsed instantly.
Looking at the Nine-Tails' bloodshot eyes, the First Elder inhaled deeply.
His chest expanded violently as chakra gathered in his throat.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Flame Jutsu!"
He forcefully expelled all the air in his lungs.
A brilliant crimson light condensed in midair, forming an enormous fire dragon that slammed directly into the Nine-Tails' face.
The attack forcibly halted its advance.
"Saburo is fighting like his life depends on it. He isn't thinking about conserving chakra at all."
Looking at the enormous fire dragon, Ryoichi shook his head.
He then stretched his own muscles and turned toward Mado.
"He has enough chakra left to use that jutsu at most two more times."
"Mado, use Wind Release to blow me into the air."
"Ha!"
Mado clicked his tongue as he watched the First Elder recklessly burn through his chakra.
"Honestly, we're Uchiha. I never thought we'd end up attacking the Nine-Tails like this."
"Can't be helped. The Three-Tomoe Sharingan won't work on the Nine-Tails."
With that, Ryoichi leaped into the air.
As his upward momentum began to reverse and he started falling, he suddenly felt another powerful force beneath his feet.
It propelled him even higher.
"Release the flames!"
Ryoichi's cheeks puffed out slightly.
He tilted his head backward.
The chakra surging through his throat seemed endless.
"Great Fire Annihilation!"
A fireball roughly the size of a small meteor descended from the sky.
It slammed violently into the Nine-Tails' back.
The impact bent the Nine-Tails' spine.
Then the fireball instantly expanded into a sea of flames, swallowing the surrounding buildings.
BOOM!
A wave of heat swept across the entire battlefield, scorching the clothing of the nearby Uchiha.
A shinobi standing nearby was just about to make a move when—
"Sigh."
Mado shook his head.
"Every one of them is risking their lives. The way you people use your ninjutsu... If everyone can use three or four techniques like this, then the Uchiha really do have far more chakra than ordinary people."
As he spoke, Mado narrowed his eyes.
He pressed his index and middle fingers together and took a deep breath.
The Uchiha were a clan with a thousand years of heritage in the shinobi world.
They possessed an abundance of historical experience.
But when facing the Nine-Tailed Fox, there was simply no time to think about anything else.
Nor was there time to devise some clever way to survive.
One strike from a Jonin.
That was all it took.
If you could be a real man for three seconds, then be a real man for three seconds.
"Release the Gale: Tornado Hurricane!"
Whoosh!
Mado exhaled a powerful stream of chakra-infused wind.
The next second, a tornado erupted across the battlefield.
The entire area was thrown into chaos as the gale forcibly resisted the Nine-Tails' ferocious assault.
This old man can be a man for another two seconds!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Far away, lightning flashed through the sky, flames soared into the heavens, and the Nine-Tails roared furiously.
Naoki remained standing there in a daze.
From the determined way his grandfather had left, he had a feeling that his grandfather might never come back.
Grandpa.
"Grandpa!"
Hearing the familiar sobbing nearby, Uchiha Madara slowly raised his eyelids and looked toward the house on his left.
There, he saw a small, helpless, yet strangely familiar figure standing foolishly beside the wall amid the crowd.
Mucus ran from his nose as he cried.
Madara pushed through the crowd and walked over.
"Child."
Hearing the cold voice above him, Uchiha Naoki wiped away his tears and looked up.
"Grandpa!"
Seeing the familiar figure, Naoki threw himself into Madara's arms.
When he had first attended one of Madara's lectures, Grandpa Ryoichi had told him that this old man had no name.
But calling him Grandpa wasn't a bad thing.
Madara frowned slightly as the boy clung to him.
He looked around.
No one came to claim him.
Madara had an impression of this child.
Or, more precisely, he had an impression of every child living within the Uchiha compound.
Uchiha Naoki.
"Where is your family?"
Naoki pointed toward the distant battlefield.
His voice was choked with tears.
"Grandpa went there."
Following the direction of his finger, Madara looked toward the battlefield.
Then he remembered what Ryoichi had said before leaving.
Understanding dawned on his face.
He patted the child's shoulder and pointed toward the shelter inside the cave ahead.
"This old man will take you to the shelter. Your grandfather will come back."
Sniff.
Uchiha Naoki tugged on Madara's clothes.
He pursed his lips.
"Will Grandpa really come back?"
Madara expressionlessly stared ahead.
His aged voice slowly sounded.
"He will."
"Mm."
Naoki lowered his head.
Tears welled up in his eyes again.
Grandpa probably isn't coming back.
Thud!
Someone behind him bumped into Naoki.
He stumbled.
Then, with tears streaming down his face, he wiped his eyes.
One hand tightly gripping Madara's clothes, he continued walking with the crowd toward the shelter.
Plop!
Suddenly, a picture book slipped from Naoki's pocket and landed at his feet.
When his grandfather had taken him outside that day, there hadn't been time to bring anything with him.
He had only brought this picture book—the one he hugged every night while sleeping.
Madara noticed the small hand gripping his clothes loosen.
He stopped and looked back.
"Let's go."
Hearing Madara urge him onward, Naoki bent down and picked up the picture book.
He looked back at the gradually subsiding battle.
Then he tugged at Madara's sleeve.
"Grandpa, doesn't our clan's Susanoo have the power to defeat the Tailed Beasts?"
Madara nodded lightly.
He said nothing.
Naoki tightly gripped the picture book in his right hand and asked again,
"Then where is it?"
Madara paused.
He looked down at the boy's tear-streaked eyes.
His expression remained calm.
"In your eyes."
In his eyes?
Naoki blinked.
A trace of confusion appeared in his heart.
How could he not know that he had Susanoo in his eyes?
"Then will it come save us?"
"Will it come save my grandpa?"
Madara turned around and looked toward the shelter ahead.
His aged voice slowly drifted back.
"Perhaps it will. Perhaps it won't."
"Who knows?"
ROAR!
The Nine-Tails' roar sounded again.
Sensing the chakra on the battlefield gradually weakening, Madara narrowed his eyes.
"Let's go. Your grandfather will come back."
He received no response from Naoki.
Instead, the boy released his grip on Madara's sleeve.
Madara turned his head.
The child who had been holding his sleeve moments ago was now facing away from him.
He waved goodbye.
Then he ran against the flow of the crowd.
As he ran, he shouted at the top of his lungs,
"If Susanoo is in my heart, then I'll save Grandpa and protect you too, Grandpa!"
"Foolish!"
Madara shook his head.
Then he turned around and continued following the crowd.
Smack!
The next moment, he felt something being stuffed into his hand.
He looked down.
It was the picture book.
He looked back.
Naoki had once again turned around and was running against the crowd.
Madara couldn't help frowning slightly.
"Grandpa, if I die, please burn this picture book for me. That way, I can keep reading it in the next world."
"I really admire the protagonist in this book. When disaster strikes, he stands up and saves the world."
Madara watched the small figure gradually disappear into the crowd.
He lowered his head and looked at the picture book in his hands.
Whoosh~
The shockwave from the Nine-Tails' roar reached them.
The picture book fluttered in his hands before finally settling on the opening page of the first chapter.
A handsome black-haired shinobi stood atop a mountain, looking down at the rampaging Tailed Beast below.
He explained why he had to fight the beast.
"To protect his clansmen."
"To protect the people he knows."
"To protect the people who acknowledge him."
"Because he has people he wants to protect, he can continue becoming stronger."
"Although I can't activate Susanoo, and although I'm an arrogant, incapable fool..."
"When it comes to something like this, I will never retreat."
Just like the protagonist of this book.
A boy of about ten years old approached the distracted Madara.
He glanced at the familiar picture book in the old man's hands and patted Madara on the shoulder.
"Old man, you're blocking my path to death. I've finally made up my mind."
He then pushed Madara aside, forcing the old man back into the fleeing crowd.
After being shoved back into the crowd, Madara lowered his head and stared at the picture book in his hands for a long time.
"Grandpa, so you like reading this book too."
A child riding on his father's back noticed the picture book in Madara's hands.
He excitedly called out as if he had found a kindred spirit.
"Grandpa, did you hear? In the newest chapter of the picture book, our clan's Susanoo has transformed into another form!"
"It's like a transformation, you know?"
"It became huge!"
"I heard from other people that it's because the Tailed Beasts encountered by Uchiha Nara, the protagonist, have more and more tails. Ordinary Susanoo can't deal with them anymore, so Nara's strength keeps increasing too."
"According to someone who knows the manga artist, the reason the story developed this way seems to be because the Five-Tails invaded the Uchiha compound and caused a huge disturbance, injuring Nara's younger brother."
"Afterward, in order to help his brother better protect the people he wanted to protect, his younger brother passed his power to Nara before dying."
"I really wish I had an older brother like him."
The child's expression suddenly became dejected.
He looked at the orange fox behind them and spoke sadly.
"Picture books are just picture books after all."
"No one actually stands up and defeats the Tailed Beasts."
"Uchiha Nara didn't appear alongside that blue giant to protect everyone like the book promised."
"I even dreamed last night that I became a hero."
He looked at the old man standing motionless, both hands gripping his father's ears, and asked in confusion,
"Old man, what's wrong with you?"
"Hmph!"
Madara sighed softly.
He raised his head and looked around.
His gaze passed over the clansmen moving through the crowd before finally settling on the child's face.
Calmly, he said,
"This old man knows something you don't."
"Actually, what Nara wanted to protect most was his younger brother. It was also his younger brother's dying wish."
"And this old man wanted Nara's younger brother too."
"Besides—"
He raised the picture book in his hand and shook it slightly toward the child.
His expression became serious.
"The hero in this book who protects the Uchiha clan is real."
"?"
The child stared blankly as the old man turned around and walked away against the flow of the crowd.
A huge question mark appeared in his eyes.
How could he possibly know more than me?
But where is the hero?
"Brother, did you think the shuriken I threw was cool?"
"Not as cool as the rock I threw."
"Tch. I practiced for so long."
"Brother, you've been so busy today. I finally managed to find time to spend with you. Let's train together."
"Izuna, your brother just finished a mission. He's tired."
"But I only learned Fire Release today."
"Is that so? Then I won't hold back."
"Brother, I always felt that you didn't use your full strength when fighting Hashirama."
"Last time, when we fought the Hyuga clan, you went all out."
"Haha. You noticed, Izuna."
"Brother, don't let them fool you. They killed everyone in the Uchiha clan. Have you forgotten?"
"Izuna, let's leave the battlefield and go home first."
"Brother, I hope you will always regard the Uchiha clan as the glory in your heart."
"Inherit my power, and use a part of it to protect the clan."
"Izuna."
"Izuna, if you saw a former Uchiha abandon his brother, what would you think?"
Izuna: Destroy it. Don't let a single one of them survive.
"Hehe~"
Madara shook off the scenes he had imagined and chuckled.
He raised his head and looked at the Nine-Tails charging toward him.
His voice was low.
"Back then, you warned your brother to stay away from the Senju clan."
"But your brother didn't listen."
"You told your brother to protect the Uchiha clan."
"But your brother failed to do that as well."
"Now, the children of the Uchiha clan all regard you as a hero."
"Izuna, your dream of protecting the clan has been carried on through the brush of Tsururu's grandson."
"Heh~"
Thinking that what happened tonight might cause some children to lose faith in heroes, Madara chuckled again.
Then his hunched body slowly straightened.
With this decaying body, he would sever the karma of this world.
And, incidentally, he would draw a perfect ending to Izuna's story.
The Nine-Tails.
Madara pushed aside the surging crowd and looked at the Tailed Beast Ball slowly forming inside the Nine-Tails' mouth.
A trace of nostalgia flashed through his eyes.
"The hero is real, isn't he?"
"Cough~"
Ryoichi, lying among the ruins, coughed up a mouthful of blood.
He looked at the Tailed Beast Ball gradually taking shape in the Nine-Tails' mouth.
His face was pale.
"It's all over."
"The money I hid under the bed this time is going to turn to ash."
"Hehe~"
A soft chuckle came from beside him.
The Fifth Elder forced himself upright.
His broken body leaned against the ruins.
With his left hand, he tore off his right arm, which was barely still attached by flesh.
He sucked in a sharp breath.
"This... this old man still has more money he hasn't spent yet."
"Sigh!"
At this moment, Mado also sighed.
He lowered his head and looked at the hole in his abdomen.
Feeling his life force rapidly fading, he stared weakly at the swelling Tailed Beast Ball in the Nine-Tails' mouth and swallowed dryly.
"This time, this old man's grandson might come to accompany him too."
"Damn it. Everyone in the clan was transferred to the ANBU."
"Don't say that. Think about it. Maybe this is actually a good thing. After all, they're the clan's remaining bloodline."
"To be honest, I'm still not willing to die. I've yet to experience enough of life."
Thump.
The ground trembled slightly.
The Uchiha elders lying among the ruins weakly raised their eyelids and looked at the Nine-Tails gathering its Tailed Beast Ball.
Didn't it stomp just now?
Thump.
The ground shook again.
Uchiha Saburo, the Fifth Elder, stood against the wall, preparing to face death.
He blinked in confusion at the motionless Nine-Tails.
Thump.
This time, the ground trembled even more violently.
The Fifth Elder spat blood onto the ground.
Then he turned his head toward the interior of the clan compound.
On the empty street stood an old man with snow-white hair and a hunched back.
His gaze swept across the Nine-Tailed Fox.
A trace of disdain appeared on his face.
The next moment, the old man took one step forward.
Blue energy instantly enveloped his body, straightening his hunched figure.
Second step.
The blue energy transformed into ribs, wrapping around the old man.
He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes still tightly shut.
Third step.
Legs grew from the blue ribs.
Flesh rapidly spread along the skeletal frame.
A giant resembling a god of war appeared in this world.
Fourth step.
An outer shell enveloped the blue giant, making it even stronger, grander, and more imposing.
Fifth step.
"ROAR!"
A deafening roar that shook the heavens erupted from the Uchiha compound.
Uchiha Naoki, who had been halfway through running back, abruptly stopped.
A blue giant had appeared before him.
Excitement flashed in his eyes.
So...
In my eyes, he really is a giant.