Madara raised his hand, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately knocked on the door.
"Coming!" A lively female voice came from inside.
When Kushina, humming a tune, opened the door, the kitchen knife in her hand nearly dropped.
"Uchiha Madara?"
She instinctively took half a step back but quickly straightened her posture. "What do you want?"
Madara crossed his arms, looking displeased. "You should ask Chiaki Setsuna that."
Setsuna's voice came from inside at just the right moment. "I told him to come apologize. Also, to experience Konoha's warm atmosphere."
"My apologies." Madara lifted his chin proudly. "If you want revenge, I'm ready anytime."
Despite his words, there was a touch of genuine sincerity in his apology.
After learning his life had been manipulated, he felt a sliver of regret for manipulating the Nine-Tails as well.
Kushina was taken aback, then showed a look of pity. "Revenge? I have a loving family and friends now. I'm already very happy."
She sighed softly. "Compared to that, you're just a lonely old man who was fooled his entire life..."
Madara instantly broke. Furious and humiliated, he demanded of Setsuna, "Why did you tell others about my business?"
Just then, red Chakra surged from Kushina's shoulder, coalescing into the form of a small fox.
"Ahahaha." The Nine-Tails laughed uproariously. "Seeing how miserably you were fooled, this great one will generously forgive you for controlling me! After all, you're such a… fool~!"
"You damn..." The last trace of Madara's regret towards the Nine-Tails vanished instantly. He directly summoned the skeletal frame of his Susanoo.
"Is this the Susanoo? Wahaha, so cool!" Seeing the Susanoo's skeleton, Obito rushed out from the room, dancing excitedly. "Madara-sama, I'm your biggest fan!"
Madara's anger faltered.
He had visited the Uchiha Clan once. The people there were very distant, treating him merely as a familiar stranger. He found no sense of belonging there.
In contrast, this noisy little brat before him gave him a sense of warmth.
"Please, teach me!" Obito's eyes sparkled. "The genius of our clan, Uchiha Shisui, awakened his Sharingan at eight. I'm already thirteen and haven't awakened mine yet."
Someone who awakened his at fifteen said coldly, "A promising child doesn't necessarily become a great adult. Awakening too early isn't necessarily good."
Setsuna deeply agreed with this. The Sharingan was a reflection of the heart.
Those like Shisui and Itachi, who awakened too early, were all a bit mentally unstable.
In contrast, someone like Sasuke, who only awakened a single tomoe after his entire clan was massacred, was practically a rare normal person among the Uchiha.
…
One week later.
An Anbu wearing a fox mask knelt before Setsuna, reporting with bowed head. "Hokage-sama, we have searched all suspicious areas as instructed, but we haven't found the spatial passageway you mentioned."
Setsuna lightly tapped the desk with a finger. "I see..."
"Should we continue expanding the search?" the Anbu ninja asked cautiously. "Or do you know more specific characteristics of that passageway?"
"No need." Setsuna waved a hand, his expression calm. "Set this matter aside for now. You may leave."
The Anbu respectfully withdrew, leaving the room silent once more.
"When exactly do you plan to get that so-called Tenseigan?" A low voice suddenly sounded in the room. Madara leaned against the window, arms crossed, his brow deeply furrowed.
Setsuna didn't look up. "Getting impatient already?"
Madara snorted coldly. "I'm just sick of that little brat!"
His tone was filled with barely concealed irritation. "How can there be such a stupid Uchiha?"
Even with his personal guidance, Obito still managed to turn Great Fire Annihilation into Great Self-Immolation.
Setsuna chuckled lightly. "Speaking of which, though you lost your Rinnegan, you should still be able to use Genjutsu, right?"
Madara raised an eyebrow. "Naturally. What about it?"
"I've thought of a method that might help Obito awaken his Sharingan. Go and create a little Genjutsu drama for him." Setsuna narrowed his eyes, his smile meaningful. "In the illusion, Rin likes Kakashi but is forced to marry the previous Hokage's son, Asuma, due to family reasons."
"Obito tries to help Rin escape the marriage, but is discovered and stopped by Anbu Commander Kakashi. After a fierce battle, Obito successfully defeats Kakashi."
"Finally, when Obito is about to kill Kakashi, Rin steps forward, taking the fatal blow for Kakashi. Obito, holding the dead Rin, shouts at Kakashi: 'Don't you dare come any closer!'"
Madara: "..."
He was silent for thirty seconds before slowly speaking. "How could anyone possibly awaken their Sharingan because of such a ridiculous illusion? And that genius of the Hatake Clan is far stronger than Obito. How could he possibly be defeated?"
Madara sneered. "Such an absurd scenario… anyone with half a brain would realize it's Genjutsu."
Setsuna laughed. One could only say Madara somewhat overestimated Obito's wisdom.
"With Obito's astounding intellect, he absolutely cannot see through it. He'll only believe that with his full-power burst, he really is stronger than Kakashi."
Madara's mouth twitched slightly, 'Is this guy mocking the Uchiha bloodline?'
Though filled with disdain, Madara ultimately decided to give it a try.
That night, he infiltrated Obito's room and, following Setsuna's script, carefully wove the illusion.
And then—
"Ahhhhh!!!! Rin!!!!" Obito abruptly woke from his bed, eyes crimson, his Two-Tomoe Sharingan spinning wildly.
Madara: "..."
'He actually awakened! And directly to the Two-Tomoe level!'
Madara felt his entire worldview was severely challenged.
Early the next morning, Setsuna looked at the thoroughly shattered Madara with a smile. "So? How was my script?"
Madara remained silent. For the first time, he began to doubt the Kekkei Genkai he was so proud of.
Setsuna clapped his hands. "Now that your disciple has successfully awakened, it's about time we went to get the Tenseigan."
Madara's attention was indeed diverted. "Where exactly is this Tenseigan you speak of?"
Setsuna pointed towards the sky. "On the moon."
"The moon?" Madara frowned. "You were looking for a spatial passageway because someone left a passage to the moon?"
Setsuna nodded. "Unfortunately, I don't know much about that passageway either."
"Didn't find it? Then how do you plan to get up there?"
"Fly." Setsuna's expression was serious, speaking words Madara couldn't comprehend. "The average distance between Earth and the Moon is 380,000 kilometers. The escape velocity to leave Earth's gravity is 11.2 kilometers per second."
"But that's because rockets have limited fuel and need to provide sufficient kinetic energy in one go. As long as I maintain an acceleration greater than Earth's surface gravity, I can escape Earth's gravitational pull too."