The corner of the Nine-Tails' mouth twitched. It seemed to recall the fear of being dominated by the Sharingan just now. With a cold snort, it withdrew its claws.
How long had it been?
The Nine-Tails no longer knew how long it had been since anyone dared to disregard it and bully it like this. The last one, if it remembered correctly, had been that man...
Uchiha Madara.
"Uchiha brat, you've got guts. You're the first one who's dared speak to this old man like that."
The Nine-Tails glared down at Roy from above. Its enormous body loomed like a mountain, casting a shadow that swallowed Roy whole.
Compared to it, Roy—now going by the name Uchiha Ren—was truly insignificant in size. Even so, he stood there with his hands behind his back, looking calmly at the Nine-Tails. For a moment, it was hard to tell which of them was truly the towering mountain.
Screech—
The Flesh Bud writhed, spreading its branches again, sending another wave of Life Energy continuously into Roy's body.
[Notice: "Life Energy" +0.8 +0.8 +0.8...]
The boy's black hair stirred without wind. He glanced sideways at the Nine-Tails and said, "Is that so?"
"What, you don't believe me?"
Roy did not answer. He simply said a name.
"Uchiha Madara."
The Nine-Tails folded its arms across its chest and snorted coldly.
"He counts too."
"And Hashirama Senju, who patted you on the head?"
The Nine-Tails rolled its eyes.
"He counts too."
Roy laughed lightly and dug at his ear.
"You really are a stupid fox. No wonder when I met Hagoromo the day before yesterday, I never heard him mention you."
"He counts too... what?!"
The Nine-Tails' eyes suddenly widened. Its two sharp claws grabbed the bars of the cage as it stared fixedly at Roy.
"Who did you say?!"
Hagoromo...
Hagoromo...
Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo...
"Is there a second Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo in this world?" Roy stood with his hands behind his back.
He remembered the day he had discussed the Dao with the Sage of Six Paths across the River of the Dead. Everything from then still felt vivid before his eyes. Though it had only been their first meeting, looking back now, it somehow felt like an old friendship across generations...
"Old man..."
The Nine-Tails opened its mouth, trembling. Because it was too emotional, the feeling rising from the crown of its head turned into a vivid, surging crimson.
It said in a daze, "Impossible... that's impossible. He died long ago. He died long ago. You're lying to me!"
"Roar!"
Its fox mouth opened, revealing fangs countless times taller than a person. The Nine-Tails glared viciously at Roy and roared, "You're not an Uchiha. Speak! Who exactly are you?!"
Roy looked at the Nine-Tails in surprise. He had not expected this arrogant fox to have such a rare sensitive and perceptive side.
He slowly shook his head.
"You're wrong. I am an Uchiha. A genuine Uchiha. Of course—"
"It's also true that I know the Sage of Six Paths."
Fraud.
As he spoke, Roy transformed directly, searching his memories for the Sage of Six Paths. In an instant, he used aura to imitate his form.
With a puff, aura steamed outward. As a cloud of white smoke dispersed, an old man with imposing horns, a long robe, tomoe and a spiral on his back, and a shakujō staff in hand stepped out.
The Nine-Tails stared blankly, mouth wide open.
The instant it saw the old man, its eyes reddened despite itself.
"Whimper..."
Clang, clang, clang—
The cage shook. The seal faintly showed signs of instability again.
Holding the Sage's shakujō, Roy simply said softly to the Nine-Tails,
"Be quiet."
The old voice he had modeled after the Sage of Six Paths seemed to carry some kind of magic. In an instant, it made the Nine-Tails, which had been so emotional it could barely control itself, quiet down.
The mountain-sized demon fox obediently sat down, just like when it had been little, sitting together with its siblings—One-Tail, Two-Tails, Three-Tails, Four-Tails, and the others—around the Sage of Six Paths, quietly listening to his teachings.
The Nine-Tails pretended to lift its head so Roy would not see the tears gathering in its eyes. It took a deep breath and looked seriously at Roy.
"You were right. You really aren't him."
Even if the appearance was the same, a person's temperament, soul, and chakra could never be perfectly imitated.
That had nothing to do with anything else.
It was simply the difference between you and me—the difference of the self.
"I never said I was him. I'm me."
Roy's expression was calm. With a wave of his hand, he dispersed Fraud and returned to his original appearance.
He looked deeply at the Nine-Tails and said, "But I can let you see him."
In the unseen, Roy looked through the causal line connecting him to the Nine-Tails. Behind the Nine-Tails, he could faintly hear the River of the Dead roaring with countless bones and corpses.
That place was where the Sage of Six Paths resided.
It was also the far shore of life and death.
The Nine-Tails lowered its head.
Roy calmly met its gaze.
Separated by a cage, man and fox stared silently at each other for a long time.
It seemed to be thinking, and also re-evaluating the boy in front of it.
After quite a while, the Nine-Tails asked in a low voice, "What does this old man need to pay?"
"Uchiha are born evil" was not just empty slander.
As a victim, the Nine-Tails had personally experienced the fear of being controlled.
The demon fox stared deeply at Roy with its yellow-orange eyes. It had not expected that...
with a casual sweep of his sleeve, the boy would wave his hand carefreely and chuckle.
"I've already received the payment I wanted. Of course, if possible..."
"Do me a favor. Don't make things difficult for Uzumaki Kushina. How does that sound?"
"That, I can't do," the Nine-Tails snorted coldly. "If it were you, would you be willing to be locked up for life?"
True enough.
Roy nodded in agreement.
"Then how about this? I promise I'll let you out. Before that, you... need to behave."
"Why should I believe you?"
"For no reason."
Roy stood with his hands behind his back and looked directly into the Nine-Tails' eyes.
"Whether you believe me is your business. Whether I can do it is mine."
The Nine-Tails: "..."
What an arrogant brat.
"You're even more arrogant than this old man!"
The Nine-Tails laughed in anger. Its enormous eyes, as large as bronze bells, narrowed suddenly as it snorted.
"If you want this old man to believe you, let me see the old man first. Otherwise, no deal."
Roy said nothing.
He turned and left.
I gave you face and you got cocky, didn't you, you dog?
Flesh Bud, drain it dry for me.
Screech—
The Flesh Bud bent down and greedily devoured the Nine-Tails' chakra, sending another wave of Life Energy back to Roy.
[Notice: "Life Energy" +0.8 +0.8 +0.8...]
As the panel prompts continued echoing in Roy's mind, the boy instantly exited the Nine-Tails' heart-field and returned outside, leaving the giant fox alone in the wind, so furious it slammed its fists against the cage.
"Hey! Damn brat! You haven't told me your name yet!"
"Uchiha Ren."
A flat, indifferent reply drifted back.
The painting closed.
The Mindworm, having eaten its fill, returned to Roy's main body at his thought.
The boy disappeared directly from the Nine-Tails' sight. In the next moment, his gaze shifted, and he smiled at Minato, Kushina, Tsunade, Shizune, and the others.
"Let's eat."
"I'm digging in!" x7
Soon, the lavish lunch ended amid laughter and cheerful conversation.
At two in the afternoon, the clock hanging on the south wall rang the bell of parting.
Roy accompanied Uchiha Mikoto to see Minato and Kushina off. At the end, he also made an appointment with Tsunade to familiarize himself with Impure World Reincarnation in advance and attempt communication with the underworld.
Just as he was about to part with Minato Namikaze and Uzumaki Kushina, he heard a helpless cold snort.
"You win, brat. I agree."
As the causal line trembled, the Nine-Tails' gloomy fox face faintly appeared.
"But before that, I want to see the old man."
"Fine," Roy answered simply. "Give me some time. Once I'm ready, I'll notify you."
The far shore was not easy to reach.
At the very least, with the current bond between himself and the Nine-Tails, it was not enough to trigger a deeper causality, cross the underworld, and meet the Sage of Six Paths.
So he still needed to further deepen the causal line between them.
Roy watched as Uzumaki Kushina held Minato Namikaze's arm, taking the Nine-Tails with her, and gradually disappeared into Konoha's depths under the escort of the cat-masked and fox-masked ANBU.
The boy leaned against the door, watching sunlight pass through the dense trees and scatter patches of light across the ground. Then he turned and went back to his bedroom.
Step... step...
His footsteps gradually faded away.
Itachi stood in the entryway and looked back at Roy's retreating figure.
"Nii-san, aren't we training this afternoon?"
Roy pulled open his bedroom door and waved behind him without turning back.
"We'll train after I've slept enough."
Then, under Itachi and Mikoto's helpless gazes, he flashed into his room and threw himself onto the bed.
[Notice: "Flesh Bud" is full... Today's "intake": 32 points]
[Note: "intake" depends on the level of the Flesh Bud and will gradually increase as the Flesh Bud continues to grow.]
Roy spread his arms and legs and lay on the bed like a starfish.
Through his connection to the Flesh Bud, he clearly saw it burp, its swollen body collapsing lazily inside the Nine-Tails' flesh.
A thought flashed through Roy's mind.
A shocking plan suddenly surfaced.
Capture the tailed beasts.
Fuse the Ten-Tails.
Recreate the God Tree.
Take control of the planet.
After all, if one tailed beast could be parasitized, then two, three, nine...
they could all be parasitized.
If one day I wield the power of the entire planet, would I be able to fight that god, that unknown being?
As his thoughts churned, Roy compared it to the combat power Kaguya Ōtsutsuki displayed in the original story.
The Byakugan could see chakra flow, seal tenketsu, and release overwhelming pressure.
The Rinne Sharingan, with its nine tomoe, fused the power of the Sharingan and Rinnegan, allowing Infinite Tsukuyomi to be cast—even turning the entire moon into a medium for genjutsu.
Kekkei Mōra fused seven chakra nature transformations and allowed advanced techniques such as All-Killing Ash Bones, which killed anyone struck, and the Expansive Truth-Seeking Ball, which devoured everything and returned it to chaos.
Spatial manipulation included Amenominaka, allowing free switching between five independent dimensions, including lava and ice worlds, each as vast as Earth.
Yomotsu Hirasaka allowed instant spatial movement without hand seals, usable for surprise attacks or retreat.
In terms of taijutsu and defense, Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack had enough physical power to easily shatter Sasuke's complete Susanoo.
An immortal body made her immune to all conventional ninjutsu and taijutsu. She could only be sealed, not destroyed.
At that level, perhaps he could finally touch the hem of a god's garment.
Unfortunately, when he had met the Sage of Six Paths across the River of the Dead, he hadn't been able to see through his true state. Otherwise, using him as reference might have allowed for a more accurate judgment.
Roy covered his face with one hand and secretly found it somewhat regrettable.
Then he thought of something else.
Capturing tailed beasts was, in fact, Akatsuki's goal.
But given the current timeline, Yahiko was still alive, Nagato had not yet fallen into darkness, the Battle of Kannabi Bridge had not yet happened, and Obito had not yet been corrupted. Akatsuki had not truly formed yet.
But...
Akatsuki's real backbone, Black Zetsu, had already been scheming behind the scenes for years, calculating against Uchiha Madara, Senju Hashirama, and even the entire ninja world.
Roy narrowed his eyes.
He flipped his palm, faint aura surging there, and quietly made up his mind.
The next time he encountered White Zetsu, perhaps he should let it taste the Causality Blade—
the taste of having one's past severed, one's future cut off, and one's self lost.
Whoosh.
A gust of wind rose, making the curtains rustle.
The boy turned over, lay on his side, slowly closed his eyes, and sank into deep sleep.
Near Konoha, at the edge of the sensory barrier, beneath a lonely tree, a lone black shadow hid in the tree's shade, silently staring at Konoha not far away.
It was like a tree stump.
Also like a waiting stone.
Only others waited for their husbands.
It waited for its mother.
"Black Zetsu, it has been a thousand years. When are you going to let Mother out?"
It was another familiar nightmare.
Another body drenched in cold sweat.
After waking with a start, Black Zetsu, wearing a bamboo hat, shrank its neck and murmured softly, "Soon... very soon, Mother. I'll let you out very soon..."
Then it activated the Mayfly Technique. Like a mayfly, it sank into the earth, moving through soil and rock.
After winding through a complicated path, it appeared again, hanging upside down from the ceiling of a hidden underground fortress.
Gurgle...
An underground river flowed through the hidden fortress and gathered into a larger subterranean river, its destination unknown.
Ahead, at the end of the underground river, in a flat open area, a dried-up corpse leaned against a gigantic Demonic Statue. Tubes covered its whole body. It looked like it was already at death's door, as though a single gust of wind could send it away.
In a hoarse voice, without opening its eyes, the corpse asked, "What is it?"
Black Zetsu hung from the ceiling like a bat and said calmly, "A White Zetsu died."
"Which one?"
"The one sent to monitor Uchiha Ren."
The corpse's brows moved. It slowly opened its eyes.
"That child, huh..."
"Yes."
Black Zetsu dropped down from the ceiling and said respectfully to Uchiha Madara, "According to the memories sent back by White Zetsu, that Uchiha Ren possesses extremely powerful perception. Not only could he easily discover White Zetsu's hiding place, he also seemed able to hear White Zetsu's thoughts and predict his escape route in advance. In the end, he even interrupted the spore parasitism process and cut off every possible path of escape."
"Mind reading?"
The corpse's brow lifted. With quiet admiration, it said, "It seems that child has awakened the Mangekyō."
The Mangekyō?
Black Zetsu was slightly shocked.
Since the era when Kaguya Ōtsutsuki was sealed away, through Hagoromo and Hamura, Asura and Indra, then to the Warring States Period with Senju Hashirama and the Uchiha Madara before him, Black Zetsu knew very well—
the awakening conditions for the Mangekyō Sharingan were extremely harsh.
Only extreme pain could obtain it.
That was also why, in the original story, they had gone to such lengths to design Uchiha Obito's fall and guide him into darkness.
And yet...
this Uchiha Ren had appeared and simply awakened it directly?
In a daze, Black Zetsu felt a weary sense that all its work with White Zetsu had been wasted.
For a moment, it fell straight into silence.