Chapter 384: Uchiha Akira Through Obito's Eyes
The dim light of the underground cavern flickered, casting long, distorted shadows against the jagged rock walls. Orochimaru stepped forward, his golden, serpentine eyes gleaming with a mixture of dark curiosity and calculated deference. He bowed his head slightly, introducing himself to the legendary ghost of the Uchiha.
"Sir, I am Orochimaru," his hoarse, raspy voice echoed through the damp air. "I am... Obito-kun's 'ally'."
"Obito?"
Uchiha Madara's brow furrowed. He let out a cold, dismissive snort, crossing his arms over his crimson armor. He slightly reined in his imposing aura, but the sheer weight of his chakra remained suffocating, pressing down on the cavern like a physical force.
"That trash," Madara spat, his tone dripping with absolute disdain. "He actually needs to seek out outsiders for help?"
He slowly lowered his gaze, examining his own hands. Ash-like cracks lined his pale skin, and the dark sclera of his eyes betrayed his unnatural state. A dangerous shadow flashed across his vision.
"... he actually exposed my identity."
The original plan had been flawless. That brat Obito was supposed to use his name to walk the Ninja World, gather the Tailed Beasts, and finally resurrect him using the Rinne Rebirth Technique. That was the only way. He needed his true, living body at its absolute peak to become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki and cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
But now?
Edo Tensei.
This reanimated corpse, despite possessing an infinite well of chakra, was merely a vessel of dust and ash. It could never serve as the true container for the Ten-Tails.
The grand design had suffered a catastrophic deviation. It was, quite frankly, a complete mess.
"It seems I overestimated that brat's capacity," Madara said, his voice dropping to an icy, lethal register. "He ruined everything. He couldn't control the situation, and in the end, he could only resort to such a shoddy technique to summon me to clean up his mess?"
Madara's jaw locked. "Truly... a good-for-nothing."
Right at that moment, the air in a dark corner of the underground space suddenly warped.
A spiraling vortex materialized out of thin air, the spatial distortion emitting a low, sucking hum. A figure clad in a dark cloak stepped out from the swirling ripples.
Obito.
The instant his boots touched the cavern floor, a terrifying, predatory gaze locked onto him. Obito's body went entirely rigid. The air around him felt as thick as mud. Slowly, he raised his head, his single visible eye meeting the cold, unforgiving stare of Uchiha Madara.
"Madara..." Obito's voice rasped, sounding drier than usual beneath his mask.
"Long time no see, Obito." Madara looked down at him from his elevated position, his posture radiating absolute superiority. "Looking at your appearance... it seems you've been having a miserable time of it."
Madara tilted his head, his tone mocking. "What's wrong? You used my name, yet you've reduced yourself to the state of a beaten stray dog. Are you trying to tarnish the name 'Uchiha Madara'?"
Facing the brutal interrogation, Obito's hands curled into tight fists. Beneath the swirling orange mask, his expression twisted into a grimace of pure frustration.
Yet, he could not refute a single word.
Because it was the absolute truth. In front of Uchiha Akira, he had been utterly dismantled. He had lost completely.
"The plan..." Obito took a slow, deep breath, forcing the tremor out of his voice. "...encountered an unexpected turn."
"An unexpected turn?" Madara sneered, the sound echoing sharply off the stone. "What kind of change would force you to summon me like a puppet? Where is Nagato? Where is the Rinnegan?"
Silence stretched for two agonizing seconds.
"Nagato... was defeated," Obito finally admitted, each word tasting like ash. "The Rinnegan was also lost."
BOOM.
Madara's aura erupted. The sheer, unadulterated violence of his chakra blasted outward in a shockwave. The surrounding rock walls groaned and instantly fractured, a spiderweb of deep fissures spreading across the stone as gravel rained down from the ceiling.
Orochimaru's eyelids twitched violently. Without making a sound, the Sannin subtly slid backward, melting deeper into the shadows of the corner to escape the crushing pressure.
"What did you say?" Madara's voice dropped to a terrifyingly low, demonic whisper. "The Rinnegan is lost?"
That was the absolute key to activating the Infinite Tsukuyomi. The culmination of his life's work. And it was lost?
"Who is it?" Madara stepped forward, his eyes boring holes into Obito. "Who could possibly take the Rinnegan from Nagato?"
A flicker of deep-seated hatred crossed Obito's visible eye, quickly overshadowed by a lingering, heavy apprehension.
"The opponent is an... Uchiha."
"An Uchiha?"
For the first time since his reanimation, Madara was genuinely stunned. The killing intent paused, replaced by a deep confusion.
"Didn't the Uchiha Clan decline long ago?" Madara demanded. "Besides you and me, who else in that pathetic remnant could possibly possess this kind of power?"
Obito gritted his teeth so hard his jaw ached, finally spitting out the cursed name.
"Uchiha... Akira."
"Uchiha Akira?" Madara searched the vast archives of his memory, quickly confirming he had never heard of such a person. "A junior?"
"That's right," Obito confirmed, his tone heavy. He began to explain the nightmare that had derailed everything. "Originally, he was just an unknown Genin within the Uchiha Clan. In fact, until a few years ago, no one even knew his name."
Obito's single eye narrowed. "However... just a few years ago, he suddenly rose to prominence."
A hint of lingering disbelief bled into Obito's voice, despite his best efforts to suppress it. "That speed of growth utterly defies logic. In just a few short years, he awakened the Mangekyo Sharingan."
Obito glanced up, meeting Madara's intense gaze. "With absolute strength, he violently suppressed all dissenting voices within the clan and integrated the entire Uchiha under his sole command. And then..."
Obito paused, the weight of the next words hanging heavily in the air. "...he did something no one in Uchiha history had ever accomplished."
Madara raised a single, scarred eyebrow. "What did he do?"
Taking another deep breath, Obito delivered the final blow. "During Konoha's Jonin meeting, he drove the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, out of office in front of everyone. Then, he took the position of Hokage himself. He is currently Konoha's Fifth Hokage."
A dead, suffocating silence fell over the underground space.
In the corner, Orochimaru's golden eyes darted toward Madara, carefully observing the legendary shinobi's expression. He was intensely curious. What would Uchiha Madara's reaction be upon hearing that an Uchiha had finally claimed the title of Hokage?
One second passed.
Two seconds.
Then, Madara let out a soft, low chuckle.
Following that, the chuckle grew.
"Hahahahahaha!"
Wild, unhinged laughter exploded from Madara's chest, echoing like thunder throughout the underground cavern. The sheer sonic vibration of his amusement caused dust and loose stones to continuously rain down from the fractured ceiling.
"Hokage? A Hokage from the Uchiha Clan?" Madara threw his head back. "Interesting! This is too interesting!"
Just as abruptly as it started, the laughter ceased. Madara lowered his head, the crimson light of his Sharingan flaring with a terrifying, manic intensity.
"I never expected it. After my death, the Uchiha Clan actually produced such a character. To violently drive out the Hokage chosen by that bastard Senju Tobirama!" Madara's lips curled into a fierce, predatory grin. "And become Hokage himself? Well done!"
Madara praised loudly, his voice ringing with genuine approval.
Back then, he had failed to become Hokage. He had been forced to leave Konoha dejectedly, abandoned by his own people. That failure had always been a festering thorn in his heart. To hear that a junior Uchiha had not only seized the village but humiliated Tobirama's lineage in the process... it was truly a magnificent surprise.
"Not only that."
Seeing the shift in Madara's mood, Orochimaru finally stepped out of the shadows, his raspy voice cutting through the settling dust to add to Uchiha Akira's legend.
"Uchiha Akira-kun didn't just become Hokage; the situation is far more complicated than that," Orochimaru explained, a sickeningly sweet smile playing on his pale lips. "Not only did he become Konoha's Fifth Hokage, but he also annexed the Hidden Sand Village and Kirigakure directly into Konoha's territory. The current Konoha... is unprecedentedly powerful."
The smile on Madara's face deepened, morphing into an expression of pure, unadulterated battle-lust.
"Annexing two major Ninja Villages?" Madara flexed his ash-covered hands, the joints popping loudly in the quiet cavern. "To have such ruthless courage at a young age... It seems this junior named Uchiha Akira is far stronger than trash like you, Obito."
Madara stepped forward, his eyes burning with the anticipation of a god of war waking from a long slumber.
"I'm already impatient to meet him. A person with such capacity..." Madara's grin widened, baring his teeth. "...should be able to dance with me properly, right?"
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