Itachi no unmei -イタチの運命-
(The Destiny of Itachi)
Part 4 : The Return of the Ghost
I looked at the man in front of me. I think... I recognized him... But no... It was impossible... It couldn't be him... If it were, that would mean that...
— That man... I think I know who he is.»
Orochimaru turned to me, taken aback.
— But... If I'm really right... It's just impossible... That man... He's supposed to still be alive...»
— Who is he?» Orochimaru then asked me.
— You don't know who I am?»
We turned our heads toward the person who had just spoken.
— Can he speak? This technique... But you told me it gave you total control over the person you summoned, didn't you?» I asked Orochimaru, surprised.
— That's right... Thanks to the Hashirama cells I implanted in myself, I have more effective control over those I revoke. The problem is... is that if the person in question is too powerful, my control is more difficult. To counter this, I bring back the dead with reduced power. The problem is that he... He bypassed my system... He returned to the maximum power I could give him... Currently, he has 50% of his power. I no longer have any control over him...» he explained to me.
— Stop talking to me as if I couldn't take part in the conversation.» growled the man.
Suddenly, a devastating aura emanated from his entire body. The floor of Nakano Temple cracked.
His power... He was far more powerful than I was, even at only 50% of his potential. And even... Far more than Madara. Finally, if only I could still call him "Madara"...
— Are you Madara Uchiha?» I asked the man.
Orochimaru looked at me with wide eyes, as if I had said something outrageous, vulgar, something... that shouldn't be said. Which was the case. Madara... Seeing him here was vulgar. Because it was impossible... It would mean that the man who had given me my mission... Was he an impostor?
The man raised his head and a smile appeared on his face. He chuckled slightly.
— Of course I'm Madara Uchiha... Who else would I be?»
A cold sweat ran down Orochimaru's cheek. I myself felt a sense of dread within me, even though I didn't show it.
— About a hundred years ago... You were defeated by Hashirama Senju... Did he seal you with the Shinigami? However, as far as I know... That technique was developed more recently than that. Myself, Master Sarutobi, and Minato are the only ones who have mastered it.» Orochimaru said.
— Not exactly.»
— So how?»
— You don't need to know that.
I watched the scene in amazement, not knowing what to say. There were two Madaras... That alone was impossible... Then, this Madara here would have survived the first Hokage... But would still have ended up sealed by the Shinigami... All this... Without anyone knowing.
Given his power, compared to that of the Madara I knew, it was obvious that he was the real Madara. I had hypothesized that Madara had been weakened, which is why the Madara I knew seemed less powerful to me. But he... He had much greater power than I could imagine.
In any case, the most obvious thing that almost completely confirmed to me that this man was the real Madara was his appearance. I had never understood how Madara could still be alive today and not have aged in the slightest. But this man, with his wrinkles, white hair, and hunched back, was old, very old. So, the hypothesis that he could have survived Hashirama and lived for a while... was credible.
So the Madara I knew... was a fake Madara.
— Hun hun hun... The situation is getting complicated...» Orochimaru laughed, amused «What shall we do, Itachi?»
— I don't really see what else we can do... If we want to continue with our goal, we need to find another victim and bring back the Fourth Hokage. Now... Madara is complicating things for us. It depends on his goals...» I explained.
For Orochimaru, Madara's return wasn't necessarily a bad thing. He didn't care what happened to others as long as it didn't affect him. But me... Madara obviously harbored resentment toward Hashirama and the Senju clan, from what I knew of his history, and therefore potentially toward the village... He was too dangerous.
If Orochimaru wanted to, he could revoke it. But if Madara sensed a threat... He could attack us. Then, it would be certain defeat. Only... If we didn't do that, we might still be in a very critical situation.
— I'd like to talk a little, if you don't mind? Only... Not here. At any moment, we could be detected by sensory ninjas. You've probably already been detected. And me... I'm masking my presence. But you never know, if by some misfortune they reported that I'm back...» said Madara.
He wanted to talk to us... I had a bad feeling about it.
— All right. Where do you want to go?» I asked him.
— Oh, don't worry. You won't have to do anything.
Suddenly, his right eye convulsed. Three tomoe appeared. The Sharingan. Then, the tomoe rotated, creating a circular pupil with three lines. His Mangekyo Sharingan.
— What's...?!» Orochimaru asked, concerned.
I shared his concern...
Suddenly, the entire world cracked. The entire space-time continuum exploded. The landscape changed completely.
The world around us was pitch black. Jet black. I couldn't see anything, not even Orochimaru. However, I could see one thing clearly. Madara's Mangekyou Sharingan glowed scarlet in the darkness.
— The Uchiha gain different abilities depending on their Mangekyou Sharingan, which only a select few can acquire, those who are sufficiently overwhelmed by misfortune. We possess a total of three powers. There is one for each of our pupils, the third being the combination of the two. Here is the one for my black pupil. The World of Darkness.» Madara explained.
I understood what he was talking about. I myself had studied the powers of the Mangekyou Sharingan to some extent. I had the ability to use Tsukuyomi, the genjutsu technique I had previously used against Kakashi, as well as Amaterasu, a technique that allowed me to summon black flames that destroyed everything they touched.
I also had a third power... but I didn't yet know exactly what it was. I had already managed to summon a kind of yellow skeleton during my training... The books never mentioned such a technique. In fact, it was the same for Tsukuyomi, which I had discovered and learned to master on my own.
— Impressive...» then I heard Orochimaru's voice «I didn't know the Sharingan held such secrets...»
— From what I can sense in the chakras, beings are weaker these days. It's no surprise that we hear more about it.» Madara remarked. «But you... young man...» His pupils turned toward me «You have mastered the Mangekyo Sharingan. I can feel it. And not only that... You seem very young, yet your power seems quite surprising to me.»
It was very flattering coming from someone like him... Although I didn't think I had the same potential as him. But sometimes, hard work pays off.
— Oh... Those pupils... "Mangekyou", is that right? So Itachi has mastered them too... Interesting... I believe I heard that Shisui Uchiha was also able to change the shape of his tomoe... He probably mastered that too.» Orochimaru murmured.
That wasn't good either. These new pupils now aroused Orochimaru's interest... He was already willing to do anything to obtain the Sharingan, and his determination would only increase. If Sasuke were to awaken the Mangekyou as I had predicted... I had to be very careful.
— So? What do you want?» I asked Madara.
Madara's Mangekyou, which had turned toward the spot where Orochimaru seemed to be standing when he spoke, turned back toward me again.
— I want to know what the current situation is.» he explained to me «I died less than 20 years ago, and I don't know what happened after that.»
— Do we have to explain everything to him?» Orochimaru sighed.
— No. I'm just going to ask you some questions, which you will answer if you want to stay alive.»
Orochimaru swallowed, then let out a small laugh. The situation amused him, or rather, interested him, even though he was aware of the dangers they now faced. He had to obey Madara. I couldn't stand up to him, and I couldn't afford to die so soon, leaving Konoha and Sasuke behind.
— Tell me... Do you know someone named Madara? I mean... Another Madara besides me?»
He knew about it. He knew there was another Madara besides himself. But how...? The situation must have been to Orochimaru's liking.
— There is indeed someone pretending to be Madara. I thought he really was Madara... Before you arrived.» I explained.
— Hey... Hey... Hey...» Madara sneered. «So he did it...»
— Who is it?» I couldn't help asking.
— He is also... Madara. The rest is none of your concern.»
There was no point in asking any more questions. I was curious about the whole story... But it was better not to bother Madara.
— So... There's some kind of Madara... Somewhere? This whole story is strange... You never told me about this kind of thing... Itachi.» Said Orochimaru, interested.
— It's confidential. Well... Now you know...»
— I want to find that other Madara.»
I was suddenly surprised by the real Madara's statement. What was... the connection between the two of them? In the end, it was better not to ask the question. I might get the answer later anyway.
— I can take you there. I'll know where to find him.» I accepted.
— Okay... Very well... I'll have a few more questions for you, if you don't mind... Then we'll go and find our dear friend...»
It's not that it bothers us or not, we had no choice. Madara was fully aware of his superiority, despite his decline in power due to his old age and the conditions of summoning the reincarnation of souls.
The future looked... very worrying. And to be honest, I was partly to blame. Maybe... I hadn't really made the right choices. I was starting to completely question all the decisions I had made since the age of 4... Mainly that night... When I had slaughtered my family.
War... Conflicts... Would it never end? And me... I had done everything to avoid this... In the end, I had been nothing more than Madara's tool. A being... Who lived only for war. I needed to understand this man's motivations more clearly... I had to convince him, he had to stop. But to do that, I first had to understand him.
Finally, even understanding that... The task looked very difficult. How was I going to convince a man who had lived with an ideal for so many years? Madara's era dated back a good hundred years...
For now, I was uncertain. But one day... I would find the key. Who were these two Madaras? What were their real goals? What had they experienced to become like this? All these questions swirled around in my mind... Making me sick. I had to find the key. I had to understand. And stop them at all costs.
📖To be Continued...📖