Edit: Please review and tell me what you like and what you dislike! I change the tense in later chapters from present to past, and I'm trying to improve my writing skills and write a better story, this is a crossover story, with Bleach, Er Gen's universe, and probably more in the future. Please enjoy, and if you don't, please tell me why, if you can take that time, it will help me improve, which is why I'm writing this story, in preparation for my own novel.
"Thought Or Telepathy"
"Character Communication"
"Loud Speaking"
"Emphasis 'On' A Word."
Madara: A New Journey
A drop of water splashing down in a singular lasting drip is heard by one, and one alone. In a void of absolute darkness, the legendary shinobi Madara Uchiha awakens, his eyes snapping open in a panic and his breath turning into large desperate gasps.
He quickly turns his focus inwards and away from the deep primal nightmares that had snapped him from his sleep to steady the rhythmic pounding of his heart and the throbbing of his mind. In rapid succession he glances around, unable to tell if he's lost his sight or if this place is void of light.
For whatever reason it may be, it still didn't change the fact that unyielding darkness surrounds him, not giving token to any light. He remains laid out, on a bed of sorts – although he couldn't know for sure – feeling his breath, his heartbeat, and even the blood flowing through his veins, he manages to calm himself down for valuable thought to begin to churn.
In a more relaxed state, the silence sinks in. It's peaceful, why that's the case, eludes him. It's a strange sensation, this faultless silence. He's calmed by its embrace like he's experienced a lifetime of conflict, however, simply being calm doesn't describe it, it's something deeper and more substantial.
He doesn't remember anything though, and that very notion causes him to wonder why. Moments pass like sand in an hourglass before he looks up and glances around again with vague hopes his vision acclimated in that time. It's to no avail, he can't see even a lick of detail.
This is especially strange as normally the Rinnegan's visual prowess allows the user to see no matter the situation, regardless of light. Far from the Rinnegan limits, however.
If a true owner is in possession of the Rinnegan, they would soon learn to even see into other realities and dimensions, places one could never hope to reach. This very fact is also the reason – out of the very few Rinnegan to exist – those in possession of their original eye will hold a special ability.
Truly out of all these special abilities, Madara's alone stands at the top. The limbo clones, invisible beings that exist in a parallel universe, unkillable, completely immune to physical touch and damage, but able to interact with this universe at will, not only that, they also take on Madara's physical resistances and traits and can use all of his abilities.
They are capable of much more than that when creativity is involved, but more importantly, they are unlike the lesser clones that most jutsu produce, these are different, they reflect the chakra of the original. Besides, when these clones sink up with the original body, they regain their chakra and nullify any physical damage taken.
This ability is so powerful that Madara - if he currently remembered any of this - would testify to the self-handicaps placed upon himself. Never abuse the many powers he possesses, lest he grows overreliant on his unbeatable power.
It'd seem silly to countless people to not use such power in an attempt to change the entire world, but, it's something he decided shortly after the day he lost Izuna - his brother.
That time so long ago, Madara spent the coming days before the battle that Izuna lost his life in, not training Izuna as he commonly did prior battles, but honing his own skills so to finally beat his rival Hashirama. Ironically, in the battle, he had the advantage and would have finally won, but his brother was killed by Tobirama before he could win his own battle.
He had thought after Izuna unlocked the Mangekyou Sharingan that he wouldn't need to train him this time, that he would be able to beat Tobirama with the power only an Uchiha could wield. It just so happened, that Hashirama did the opposite. Hashirama reduced his own training to train Tobirama, to help develop a new technique, that same technique killed Izuna.
Fear of the unknown, it's a common fear. It's such that many fear the darkness, darkness, after all, can hide many things. A normal person would fear this situation, not find solace in it as Madara does, but for that matter what even is normal, he didn't understand that either but he knew what it should be like.
Upon realizing this lack of fear and continued failure to see anything, he frowns. "Where am I?" The voice that leaves him seems to linger about, echoing into the void in multiple darkening and unfamiliar tones with a hint of agitation.
With a shake of the head, he picks himself up. Pain, even when slowly and carefully moving his legs over the edge of the bed his body aches in protest. Who did this to him, what drove them to trap him here alone and with no memory, what cruel being would do such a thing, or perhaps he did this, is he that cruel being?
He realizes this line of thought is irrelevant. He has no answers and so he relaxes his weary head into stable and supportive hands. His fingers digging across his eyebrows – just under his third eye – as he slumps down further and lets out a long slow sigh, his white lower back length hair falling forward to cover his face like a holy curtain, though it's all shrouded in darkness.
He's mentally and physically exhausted, his body as if weighted down by a planet on each shoulder, and his mind warped. "What happened?" He tries to think back. A tear makes its way down his cheek and again his thoughts try to linger as to why, yet, he can't recall.
He searches the innermost parts of his mind for an answer to this predicament and it felt like it was just out of sight, there has to be something. It proves pointless, there's nothing. He's unable to remember anything, not his name, not how he got here, just the feeling of emptiness that remains in an empty husk with no reason to exist.
But then as all hope of remembering seems lost, a throbbing pain abruptly enters his mind. Not dissimilar to a wave, memories flow back into their tortured owner. His face contorts into one of sheer agast, his mouth slightly parted and his eyes not wide open but filled with emotion and shock.
"That's right, I lost." He affirms in utter devastation as he closes all three of his eyes shut.
He remembers everything and now he wishes he stayed ignorant: his time with Hashirama during the warring states period, creating the Hidden Leaf village, leaving the aforementioned village, manipulating and starting the Fourth Great Shinobi War from the shadows, and even the bitter end with Black Zetsu, all of it.
It's true, he has lost everything. Mere moments ago at the pinnacle of his power, having just accomplished his long sought-after dream of launching the Infinite Tsukuyomi to bring true peace to the world, he suffered a devastating and unseen betrayal at the hands of someone who he thought to be his very own will incarnate, but no, it all turned out to be a lie.
Black Zetsu was not his will – not in the slightest – but one belonging to that of Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, and the Infinite Tsukuyomi was a farce hiding its true intentions behind the idea that he strived so desperately to make a reality.
Even if he wanted to scream the unfairity of this atrocious betrayal to the heavens, it would make no difference, it's simply another ruthless practicality of his reality. Why would anything be treated differently than the back-stab that ruthlessly pierced through him? In the end – unbeknownst to him – Kaguya was revived using him as a vessel.
Be it a sick twisted joke or a cruel reality is irrelevant, it's over. "Was it all for nothing?" Mortified and regret creeping in, he reflects on his choices in life.
He was so powerful, and he had done so much to reach that point. He'd sacrificed so much and he did such wrong under the pretence that the end goal justified the means, but now he has nothing to show for it and this sickens him immensely.
Everything he built had fallen in one swift action. "I was just a pawn in someone's game." His left-hand tightens around his broken head-crest as his right-hand digs into his hair as he speaks again in a tone of finality. "I was never set up to succeed, to begin with. The Infinite Tsukuyomi was a lie. I spent my life, chasing, a lie." He drags out the last word.
Having trouble coming to terms with this betrayal and wanting to focus on something other than his inner thoughts at the moment, he puts it on the back burner and opens his eyes once more to look at his surroundings, however unlike before – even if it's only slightly – there are things to be seen, slight shapes taking form in the dark.
This sign of progress sparks something within him, he doesn't want to give up. With this new vision, he can see the bed to which he's resting; it holds carvings of some sort on the sides of the wood frame that are holding it together. Trepidly tracing his fingers on it – as it's still too dark to see in full detail – his eyes widen.
He stumbles out, "That ancient Uchiha ceremonial bed?!" as he recognizes the pattern
Ignoring his exhausted body, he jumps down from the bed and into ankle-deep water that splashes at his arrival – which normally would have aroused his curiosity, however, his focus is drawn elsewhere.
Turning around and looking at the bed, causes him to reflect on something if his expression is anything to go off.
"My mother's deathbed." His eyes are cast down as he verifies this in a saddening voice. He finds this odd, after all, why would anything that belongs to his long-dead mother be doing here – wheresoever here is for that matter? It perplexed him for a moment, then he understood.
A mindscape, a place one can visit with semi-difficult mental discipline or when on the verge of death, he assumes this reason was the latter.
In a singular and solemn tone, he gives a pitiable laugh as he talks to a being not here. "I guess it's not surprising, that I would see something like this. The regret I feel now, it's overwhelming. I couldn't save anything. I was too weak to protect what I held dear, and I broke my promises to you…"
Pausing, he turns his head to the side in something akin to shame and continues. "...And now, I even failed to bring peace to the world. For all my power and intelligence what am I? I really am just a bitter loser, a failure."
"And is that it then?" An angelic voice that resembles a female echo around him in a mockery-like tone.
Upon hearing this voice, his head snaps toward the main source of the sound. On the other side of the bed, there's a white light taking form and growing in intensity. This light takes the outline of something humanoid, it's as bright as the sun and it floods the dark and damp room in bathing light, turning shades of black into white.
Some part of him deep down momentarily and perhaps childishly believes it to be God, here to punish him for his wrongdoings and failures, but that notion quickly is replaced with a fit of anger, a final primordial struggle to survive.
There's no way he's going down, at least not without a fight. Even broken he will always find the will to fight on, to the end if need be. He rears back into a fighting stance, attempting to channel his chakra and summon his Truth-Seeking staff, he's unable to do either.
"Who's there?!" He tries to open a dialogue as he readies for a fight. The light responds by bearing down on his position almost instantaneously. He shields his vision, the light becoming too strong as it swallows him in a blinding wave of warmth.
The Light clears in a matter of seconds, leaving Madara on a wooden walkway. Snapping his head around he sees an indoor garden, inside what looks like an Edo period style compound.
His face scrunches into one of confusion, he recognizes this place, it's the Uchiha compound from his childhood. The sun is shining its last rays of the day, it's warm and comforting, like a blanket, and the water running along the rocks creates a calming sound; it's perfect, just as he remembers.
He puts away his confused expression to appreciate the fact that he's no longer in the two extremes of absolute darkness and blinding light. Inspecting himself, he sees that not much has changed: adorned in long white and black robes, skin still pale, hair still pure white, yet his heartbeat and steady breathing from earlier are no longer.
That which alarms him is not his inherent lack of a heart, lungs, or any other internal organ besides a brain – that was typical once one becomes the Ten-tails Jinchūriki after all – it's that he felt like he had them earlier.
There's a neurological phenomenon that can happen when one finds themselves suddenly detached from a limb. It causes them to feel what is typically known as a shadow limb.
This crosses his mind as he's experienced a similar phenomenon before. However, there is rarely something that affects him twice. That is not a statement made from arrogance; he's honed his senses masterfully so, over the decades, nothing escapes his attention anymore.
This could very well be an exception due to his lack of memory at the time, and only deep-seated recollection of his former self-remaining, allowing him to experience this feeling once more.
Before he can put any more thought behind this topic, a screeching sound infiltrates his ears, causing him to slightly cringe as for the past moments he's heard nothing but absolute silence and the dark echoes of his own voice.
At first, it's unclear whether this piercing sound is that of an animal or something else, but it soon focuses on the recognizable sound of a crying infant. He turns around, able to tell that the sound is coming from an open door along the path.
He trepidly walks along the garden path towards the door, the bamboo floor creaking at each cautious step. A woman dressed in a nurses uniform suddenly leaves the room as he's making the final approach. He stops, certain that he's already been seen and waiting for her reaction.
A young boy is pulled from behind the woman by his hand, a noticeable frown on his face and his cheeks puffy and red, as if he was crying recently.
As he sees this child time seems to freeze around him, he definitely recognized the young boy and every doubt is cast aside as the nurse says his name."Come Izuna, you need to let your mother rest." The nurse tells the boy while looking down upon him with an expression that possesses well-hidden sadness only a trained eye could recognize.
"But big brother doesn't have to leave. Why do I?" Resistant in his walk, the now named Izuna starts to beg with his frown thickening.
The woman merely disregards the boy as she guides him further away.
The two walk directly past Madara, not noticing him in the slightest, as if he were invisible. His heart sinks upon the terrible realization that this is just a dream.
"Izuna!" In defiance, he looks back at the retreating forms of the two and calls out the child by name, his brother's name.
But his cry goes on deaf ears as they continue to walk further away, heading around a corner and out of sight. Sighing in a way that the pain is released into the air, he looks down, downtrodden and angry at having confirmed his suspicions. "Seems this is just a memory."
Gathering that much, his eyes sharply sway back to the entrance. "if this really is a memory, then in that room is…" He halts his speech and with a few strides steps inside.
Within the dimly lit room is a boy – who he recognizes as his younger self – standing next to a bed with the same frame as earlier – the one carved with beautiful scenes of dragons and flowers.
On the bed is a woman, with long matted and sweat-filled night-black hair that flows down the bed in every which way, deep emerald green eyes unlike any other – an indescribable beauty. It's his mother, he knows this scene painfully so, yet, at the same time feels compelled to stay and watch with an almost desperate hope of change, but he knows the bitter truth.
He leans into one of the nearby walls of the room, surveying from a distance with his arms crossed, eyes cast down in the shadows of his hair, and an expressionless visage. His presence is unmistakable and overbearing, his anger is starting to freely flow outwards, once more confirming that this isn't real.
Nine other people are in the room with various people leaving and returning moments later. Most of these people are women, they're all in the same uniform meant for sterile surgery and the ever so common birth.
They're experts in the field, most of them have delivered hundreds of babies. After all, this is a time were the Uchiha clan has to produce many offspring to survive future conflicts, many children will see combat and die at a very young age.
Madara grew up at this time, although his "growing up" was even shorter-lived. His first taste of combat was at age three, this was early even by Uchiha standards, his growth was exceptional though, even for an Uchiha who learned to walk at this age, he'd already learned to walk on water and spew fire.
He would always lead ahead of others, step up when others have already given up, move forward when others retreated, train when others slept, study when others played, sacrifice when none would.
Is it no wonder that when people started claiming his power was due to some natural-born prophecy that he grew bitter and distant? It was a mockery of his hard work and sacrifice.
Before he knew it, he had grown too powerful for his own good, everyone was beneath him, no rival – even the adults – could challenge him, until his encounter with Hashirama, to whom he saw a reflection of himself in – if only slightly distorted.
His determination, the sacrifice he had undergone, all of it was exactly like himself. And just like him, he was above others too. And that is when he knew, he had found his rival.
Besides the women, there are also three men in the room, two are clan elders, old fools who know nothing and will die knowing even less. But the third is his first cousin who died the following year, crying in his arms and saying things like how he wanted to hold his child for the first time and how much of an honour it was to die for the Uchiha clan.
He was a good friend, compassionate and friendly, he knew his way around a joke as well, but, he lacked conviction and power, he was not a talented warrior and he lost everything because of that, like the many that have fallen before and after him.
It's around now that he begins to think back, his eyes swaying down as he drifts inwards to his internal thought. And although these may not seem like good memories, he clings to them dearly, he loves them. These are what made him who he is, each sacrifice and hard labour endured, all of it.
Even the worst bits he would not erase if given the chance, sure, there are things he would undue, but never forget them. He focuses his attention back onto the room at hand and particularly the woman on the bed.
In the woman's arms are two babies – newborn judging from her and their appearance. Another baby rests in a crib next to the bed, no doubt born a few minutes before the others. The woman turns to the boy – perhaps noticing just how awfully gloomy he was – standing next to her bedside and speaks to him in an exhausted yet kind tone that matches her appearance.
"Son," She breathes out wearily, tired from the monumental birth she just endured, even the battle-hardened nurses have not seen one so brutal. "meet your new brothers."
"Yes, mom." The boy hesitantly replies, inching closer with his head down and his eyes veiled.
An eerie silence prevails within the room when the boy finishes his approach. He doesn't move at first, choosing for a squirmy shuffle, but upon realizing that his mother wasn't going to say anything more, he investigates one of his baby brothers with an exploratory hand.
The newborn scrunches its face and begins to cry. His dignity falls and he becomes irritated, and so he barks out. "Shut up!" In truth, he wasn't angry at the child, he was only deflecting pain.
His mother grabs his hand, calming him instantly. "I know how you feel right now, but they do not deserve your frustrations." She speaks piercingly, yet still with a lick of sweetness and a smile that could abolish to hearts of the toughest individual.
She isn't one to be messed with, after all, she was his main sparring partner up until the moment she got pregnant with Izuna, and even though he's already surpassed both his parents combined, she still frightens him. The look in her eyes when she gets angry, even thinking about it puts a chill down his spine.
One of the edges of Madara's lips curled upwards as he remembers his younger thoughts at the time. He can't help but think back to an adage about mothers and how scary they can always be. One time when he was younger, in a particularly vigorous sparing match with Izuna – at least for Izuna it was vigorous, however, he was just toying around.
During this match, he "accidentally" threw Izuna through not only his family estate but into three other estates before finally coming to a stop in the women's bathhouse.
Needless to say, Izuna returned heavily beaten and red as a tomato. It was later that day that his mother had received complaints, and Izuna not wanting to die, revealed how it happened, and so that night they both learned of their mother's wrath.
Madara watches attentively as the woman moves the boy's hand onto a baby. "I know you will continue to be incredible. Watch and protect them as you have with Izuna. I have faith in you and always will."
Both newborns strive to open their eyes, moving around in their mother's arm as they give their best makeshift smiles – although in reality they just had to burp.
Despite slowing down to look at the heartwarming scene, not all is right, and this can clearly be seen, something gnaws at the boy from the inside, and he'd be damned if he didn't speak his mind.
He lifts his eyes from the babies. "Mom!" He begins loudly but lowers his voice as he continues. "I have been on the battlefield. I have seen what this world has to offer, it's not much. How can I protect them when there's so much, hate?"
He submits his soul into each word, truly lost at this moment and questioning why she thinks he can do so much. "How can you have such confidence in me?"
After hearing the question, she lets out an exhausted sigh. She knows full well the journey before her son is not an easy one. "It's my job to have confidence in you, and no not just because you're my son..."
Pausing as she shakes her head in refusal, she thinks about his future. She knows more than she lets on, but it would be meaningless to explain it now. "...But because I know you're special. Call it mothers intuition or whatever, but if there's anyone who can change the world, it's you."
"~The cycle of hatred created by wars and many other reasons is just that, a cycle. It can be broken by someone different, someone special. You will face many challenges of that I have no doubt, all life can throw at you and more.
"~These things will test you each step of the way. But, with all my heart I know you will overcome and leave stronger than anyone before you. You are a special person Madara." Smiling, she finishes her last words confidently, her voice getting distant and weak.
He casts his gaze down with slanted eyes, contemplating the meaning in her words. Something so grand, he wondered if he could truly accomplish something like that. "Change the world. You, really think I can?" He asks, doubting the idea of something of that scale, he's just one boy, was such a thing possible for him to do?
Her face gains a smirk as she continues with a cough. "Of course. I believe you can do anything, after all, you're my son. You take after me, and I am just too amazing, some may even say all-powerful." She giggles with another cough at the end, a tear escaping her left eye.
He looks back up, determination and a burning fire swelling within his eyes. This is his new goal from now on. No matter how much pain and suffering he must endure, he will change this world. "If you believe in me then I promise to change the world!" Pumping his fist into the air, he declares this and more. "Not only for them but for you."
The woman sticks out her hand, pinky finger extended. "Then it's a promise?" She challenges with the same smirk.
"Of course!" Smiling, he rebounds and links fingers with his mother. The smile quickly settles though, and a tear falls from his face. He knows what's about to happen but he just can't accept it, It couldn't happen, it couldn't possibly be this way. The emotional wall he'd built over the years begins to crumble as the emotion it held back spills out.
As her son begins to break down, she looks away, squeezing her eyes shut to clear away the rapidly developing tears. It hurt seeing her son like this, and it's also served to further emphasize her own weaknesses.
At times she forgot that he had a vulnerable side. She had grown to over-rely on him as a shoulder to cry on, but rarely was it the other way around.
He was always there for her, steadfast and strong unlike anyone else, and it had quickly turned to the point she started seeing him less like a son and more as a man.
But she was his mother, and even though it's no longer possible to comfort him as she used to now that her life is withering away – to which that painful reality hurt far more than she thought it would – she could still be strong, as he was in her moments of vulnerability.
She tucks away her emotion, remaining stoic as she turns to face him. "I'm sorry I can't be with you any longer. Stay strong, I'll always be watching over you. I l-love you." She pipes out her last meaningful words proudly, before dying.
Her hand falls from his – cold and devoid of life. Eyes widening in horror upon realizing that she just died in his hands, his teeth clench and he shatters into tears. "Mom! Mom!…" He starts screaming in despair, he doesn't want to be left alone, his mother was his greatest light, and now she's gone just like that.
"Please don't leave me! Not alone." In a fit, he clings onto his mother desperately, crying loader and loader, the babies crying with him. Nurses rush in, getting the children out of the room.
However, not one person possesses the courage to pull the boy away from his mother. He's the strongest child prodigy in the Uchiha clan's history, many if not all fear his power. But eventually, his cousin gains enough courage to comfort the boy and get him out of the room to talk.
Madara watched it happen again, his mother – Yoriko – die for the second time. How is one supposed to feel about that? He certainly didn't know, feeling a mixture of sorrow, comfort, and anger.
He's happy to reminisce on the past – see his mother and the sort – yet depressed and irritated to see the failures and tragedies of the past repeat themselves. But, it didn't make sense, why is he being shown this? To torture him? Some sort of heavenly trail?
He cast aside the ideas with an angry sigh as he recalled that his father – Tajima – wasn't even here on this day. He chuckles. The irony is hard to ignore, Tajima was off on some battle, no doubt lacking the strength to face his wife's death, a coward who pretended to be brave is a coward nonetheless.
As his younger self is escorted past him – grasping his cousin and mourning in the hopelessness – his fist clenches to the point that his glove screeches under the pressure.
As he follows him out of the room with an edged corner of the eye stare, his jaw muscles flex as he bites down to stave off the anger. That was the moment in his life that everything changed. He'd lost his first and greatest light. Tragically, that would be a continuing theme throughout his life - loss - his brothers, his lover, his clan, his friendships, and finally, his dream.
It's not too long before the room is cleared, leaving a thick cloud of depression behind, along with Yoriko's body. He stops leaning against the wall but doesn't move any further. And as he stares at her body, emotions he forgot he had begun to surface. The faint bitter-batter of a heartbeat has once again returned.
Slowly and with a great deal of apprehension, he moves to the bedside and comes to a stop. Looking down at the serene and heart-shaped face with his head slightly cocked to the side and his eyes calm.
A singular tear runs down Yoriko's left cheek. He wipes away this tear as he proceeds to caress her cheek. It's now that he realizes that she had hidden these tears from him to appear stronger in his moment of weakness, as he did with her.
He's happy that his mother did that for him. But, there is still that feeling of something illusory in the air. This isn't real, it's some delusion, but maybe it's a way to atone, even if it's meaningless to all but him.
He takes her hand into his, rubbing the top of her hand with his thumb, his gaze following his own motion as he says. "What can I say, not only did I let my brothers die, but I failed to end the cycle of hatred."
Ashamed at his failures, he cast his gaze to the side. "I guess your faith in me was, misplaced." He lingers on the last word as he finishes with a solemn and bitter chuckle.
The faintest of tears makes their way down his own cheek as he closes his eyes. "I'm sorry. I know I must be a disappointment. I caused so much death and misery in my attempt to change the world. I got lost somewhere along the way. I was blinded…"
He clenches his teeth together and shakes his head in disgust, before continuing in a raised voice. "...Tricked! By something I should have seen coming, but it doesn't matter anymore, there is no such thing as peace." And in what seems like acceptance of his statement, the world fades around him, darkening until all that's left is the room he was in prior.
The sickening realization for the first time in his life that he truly has no idea of what to do has struck like a poison dagger in the night.
Perhaps it's time, time to wait till whatever this is comes to a final anticlimactic end. But then, just as he's about to sink into the crushing despair and surrender to his failures, an exuberant feminine voice suddenly squeals out from behind him and lifts him from the darkness. "Hello!"
He twists around with wide eyes that are quickly forced to squint as he finds himself face to face with the same apparition from earlier; the one that possesses an immense aura.
The light separates to reveal. "Yoriko?! Is that you?" Hesitantly and with a look of hope, he straightens out and moves closer. It's most likely another illusion, he knows this but, some part of him wants it to be real.
"Madara, It's me..." With hands upon her sides and a scolding expression on her face, Yoriko scolds him in a voice and personality that seems nostalgic.
He questions whether this is the real deal before him this time or another trick. He is lost in a moment of deliberation, but toons back in quickly, apparently he didn't miss a word. "...You better call me mom or perhaps even the super magnificent number one mother of all time!" She declares, taking a pose with her arms crossed under her chest and her eyes shut.
She peeks from one eye, only to see her son making no expression at all, taking for more of a plain stair, but being the one that raised him allowed her to know that's his way of expressing shock and surprise, or at least that's what she liked to imagine, so she composes herself with a clear of the throat and continues.
"Besides that, I came because I noticed that you needed direction and…" Before she can finish, she is taken by surprise and pulled into a warm and loving embrace, her head resting on his powerful chest while his thick muscular arms coiled tightly around her.
A second goes by in his embrace, enjoying it but also getting over how much he's grown. "...oh, and what happened to the boy who would complain when I hugged him in front of the other children…oh sorry, 'warriors of the dragon' as you and your father would call them?"
As she stares up amidst a mischievous grin, it falters once she sees the empty and pained look. Loosening his hold and looking down with a sombre yet serious expression, he whisks aside a strand of hair covering her face as he replies. "That part of me died with Izuna." His voice is void of emotion. "I'm not that naive child anymore."
"Listen to me," She begins telling him in a kind and loving way with a believe me look. "you will always be my child. However, I can't say you're naive anymore, but certainly, that 'naive child' understood something that you've forgotten." With a momentary pout, she adds one last thing. "And all your going to call me is mother isn't it?"
"What I call you doesn't matter." He acts irritated at her typical child-like behaviour in such a situation, although he truly doesn't mind, he's just happy to see her, the real her this time; he'd put up with anything to stay with her for even a moment longer. "So, what am I forgetting?" He asks, more neutral this time with a slight head lean.
She breathes in, preparing to answer. "You have forgotten how to let go, to forgive yourself. You constantly view yourself as not good enough judging by your own standards. Understand this, your brother's deaths were not your fault, they were a circumstance of the times they lived in."
"~You went from an idealistic child who wanted to work together to create peace to a cynical and pessimistic adult who believes that nothing but an absolute can pull the world from the cycle of hatred, which drove you to the Infinite Tsukuyomi, the wrong path, for you anyways."
"Then what is the right path?" With a raised eyebrows and opening arms, he asks the question he never had an answer to, but before she can reply he continues passionately. "I've tried to achieve peace through love and cooperation. I've tried it through force, fear, and pain. I've even tried to take free will out of the equation, yet still, I failed!"
"No, you haven't failed! You were simply rejected." Finishing that statement with equalled passion, she gently – in both appearance and tone – continues. "Look, both versions of you and their differing ideals are needed for change. You aren't all-knowing, spend some time learning and find a new solution, change yourself before seeking to change the world. Do you understand?"
His eyes sway up and then down, momentary flashes of doubt reflecting in them, wondering if he failed or not, only to stop and release a heavy sigh that he didn't remember holding; this relaxes the tension building up.
Looking down to think on her words, a vast array of things enter his mind, but the most important thing is what would take place after this war. His eyes widen as he comes upon a realization.
He wonders how could be so foolish, it's peace, right there in front of him, clear as day, it's only temporary, but still, it's the closest thing he can imagine, besides an absolute, and it happened from the combination of two very different dreams coinciding and working together.
The meanings behind her words are clear. Opening his eyes – which show a new meaning – he sees his mother slowly tip-toeing away into the dark; she's barely visible at this distance, but she turns her head and signals for him to follow, which he does, albeit confused at her intention.
When he catches up, they're at some sort of wall consisting of solid black granite or at least it looks that way; it goes up but he cannot see an end, nor the other sides of the room, but, if there's a wall perhaps there's a way out, although the unlikely hood of that is apparent.
He looks to his mother, wanting to thank her for the help, but, she's focused on the wall for some reason. He looks at the wall, wondering what it is she's looking for. "I understand what you were saying, thank you." He acknowledges, slightly embarrassed that he still needs his mother to guide him when he's almost one hundred and twenty years old.
Not shifting her attention from the wall she alternatively inspects it with a hand and hums out a simple question. "So, are you still going to give up then?
"No, never again..." Pausing, he shakes his head in the negative and looks back up, her full attention on him as he continues. "...I have ideas floating about, I just need a way to make them fall into place, a plan, one to give me a chance."
As he clenches and unclenches his right hand, he counts to four, inhales, counts to four again, and exhales. This is something that he would do when in deep thought, it helped him relax and centre himself onto basic human functions that he didn't have anymore.
The plan has begun to take shape. "The first thing I need to do is find out what's happening outside, from, wherever I am, and how to get out. Then I suppose..." He pauses, lips splitting into a grin and his eyes fill with mischievousness. "I'll think of something."
An aura of white emanates around Yoriko and her body starts to become slightly see-through as he finishes.
She seems either unaware or unconcerned as she simply smiles, pride evident in her visage. "Good." She says shortly, before continuing with absolute confidence. "Don't give up. If you struggle you must push forward, learn from it, grow stronger, and when you next meet such a challenge you will overcome it, but give up, and everything will have become in vain..."
Pausing, her face turns slightly sinister as she cryptically remarks. "...When I said you were special, I meant it. You are the only one who can bring true peace to this world, ending the cycle of hatred. You will do so much more I think. You're in the centre of everything."
A lingering recollection of the words takes place before his eyes sharpen. "What do you mean by that?" He asks, head twisting to the side. "What are you referring to?" He finds her answer strange. Was it possibly metaphorical, but if not, then just what is she talking about?
One side of her lip coils into a half-smile as she replies almost teasingly so. "That will be for you to find out."
Looking at the aura around herself, she continues in a plain shortened hurry. "Now, it's my time to go," She points her finger upwards. "but first a little help, for you to see what's happening on the outside, you must place your hand on the wall and focus on the outside. However, that's all the help I can offer."
"Good luck, my greatest creation." She hugs him deeply, tiptoeing to kiss his cheek. He remains neutral, with no discernable sentiment. She takes a few steps back, waves goodbye with a smile and vanishes into remnants of radiant white energy that whirl about the room, which he follows by eye for a moment as they disappear.
"Goodbye." Solemn in his tone and lingering his gaze over to the space Yoriko once occupied, he quickly moves on. It isn't the time for emotion, but the time for action. Pressing his left hand against the chillingly cold granite, he does what he was told.
"Focus on the outside" Her words repeat in his mind as he imagines his surroundings while at the same time focusing on the outside of wherever he may be. Shifting and changing, the wall obeys his will, reflecting the outside like a mirror made out of liquid metal.
To his surprise, the mirror is showing Naruto and Sasuke, both turned away from him in a place that is unrecognizable to the world he knows, one filled with lava. He's within Kaguya after all, watching through her eyes.
Kaguya is creeping upon Naruto and Sasuke, actually, on second look, Naruto and Sasuke seem to be frozen in place, fear or a paralysis jutsu maybe, it doesn't really matter. "I must be what was required for her revival, like some sort of vessel, her will projected over me in the form of Black Zetsu." He gets to this conclusion, figuring he could probably do something similar.
The stone tablet said that the Sage sealed his mother in what would be the moon. It's only then that Madara realizes that the seal was broken by the activation of Infinite Tsukuyomi. He chuckles at the irony. "I set my own trap."
He shuffles his reasoning to Naruto and Sasuke, where are they? He makes an educated guess. "Another space-time dimension?" He doesn't mull this around for long, it's the only possibility. It must be one of the abilities of the Rinne-Sharingan.
Regretting not having the time to test out the Rinne-Sharingan's capabilities, he strokes his chin and examines Naruto and Sasuke in their predicament. "How did those two gain that power so quickly? The Sage of Six Paths?"
With a raised eyebrow, he queries to himself momentarily, before agreeing with it. Once again, it's the only possibility. The only person who'd have an interest in such affairs, while at the same time possessing the power to make a difference is the Sage.
His eyes become cold as he starts thinking out loud. "That damned Sage! He foresaw Kaguya's revival, he knew my fate, but why not come after me himself, maybe he couldn't, or maybe it's something else." He hums in thought. He knows that even with the power Naruto and Sasuke received from the Sage that it wasn't enough to fully defeat him, in fact, it wasn't even close.
"Unless..." He says this singular word in realization before pausing, mouth parting slightly as his tongue slowly swipes back and forth on his sharp canine tooth and his eyes divert to the top left. "...Unless the Sage required two people for something capable of defeating me or Kaguya."
This is when he recollects that Naruto and Sasuke have symbols on their hands. He even remembers a brief conversation between the two right before they tried to touch him with those same symbols.
"Fuinjutsu!" It makes absolute sense to him as to why Naruto and Sasuke endured a battle they had no chance of winning, it was to seal him. "I believe those are moon and sun symbols, representing both shadow and light styles respectively."
These seals are likely the very same that sealed Kaguya oh so long ago, but for a sealing jutsu to be that strong it could only be one thing, the container for the Great Sage's spirit, split between Naruto and Sasuke.
If that's the case, then if they are to seal Kaguya, theoretically they'll no longer be able to sustain their Six Paths chakra on their own, leaving them to drain the excess overtime, of course, that could take decades if they used a minimum amount of chakra, but in combat, maybe a few hours at best.
He's beginning to grasp just how much planning the Sage had done thus far, there must have been a considerable amount of requirements that needed to be met for the transfer of his power, also, to even learn of Kaguya's revival must have taken centuries.
As his attention shifts back to Naruto and Sasuke, he sees them methodically turning and the look on their faces can only be described as one of horror.
It's understandable, they're frozen in place before the origin of all chakra of the planet, a goddess who lightly caresses their chins with a whimper, a stream of tears flowing down her cheeks.
Even from within, he can still sense Kaguya's immense chakra. He also realizes that it's doesn't all belong to her alone, the chakra has many – many being hundreds of millions – of different chakra signatures, which is what defines a person's unique chakra fingerprint so to speak.
"So what Zetsu said was true, that's its true purpose..." With a wince Madara collapses to his knees without warning, a splash and ripple forming in the water beneath him.
His hands reach to grasp his head as it pulsates in extreme pain, his mind is being filled with information at an unbelievable speed, unable to focus on any of it. "What is this?!" The pain in his head grows even worse, causing his voice to become almost desperate.
A green chakra of sorts bubbles up from the ground, slithering in the water like angulating snakes and invading into his body. With a frantic look, he notices this chakra. "What is going on?!" Barely able to express words at this point, he screams this behind clenched teeth.
He suspects it's the source of the pain. "Is this green chakra part of Kaguya?!" The pain continues to arise, a small amount of information that's entering his mind is focusing like images becoming clear.
Many images flash before him as if he were the beholder; two newborns with vast quantities of white hair encircling them, two children running around in a garden atop a mountain, two cloaked men with the sun and moon seals outstretched towards the beholder thousands of feet in the air.
It's now that he understands that this is Kaguya's past, the vast information entering him is focusing on what she's remembering. "This is the very distant past that I am seeing, are these memories?"
On the other side of the mirror, Black Zetsu – completely unaware of the agony going on within his mother – coils himself around the already paralyzed Naruto and Sasuke from within Kaguya's sleeve.
He begins speaking in a sarcastic sort of tone. "Kaguya seems to see her two children when she looks at the two of you. Isn't that sweet?" With a sickly laugh, he continues. "She, who was sealed away by her own children. Such a poor, pitiable mother."
Becoming confused, Naruto struggles to eye Zetsu – regardless of that being impossible as Zetsu is literally grafted onto his right side – to ask. "Why'd Six Paths super gramps seal away his own mom, I thought he sealed away the Ten-Tails?"
Naruto can barely speak when in this possession, his chakra is being drained too but he can't do a damn thing about it. However, he's confused, the story the Sage told him conflicts with what Zetsu is telling him now.
"It appears you have the wrong idea." He replies.
Sasuke – having the same struggle as Naruto – asks this in agitation. "Just who and what are you, Black Zetsu?"
"I am Kaguya's child." He answers plainly. "I recorded everything that happened while my mother was gone. And moulded it as well. The tale of shinobi is the tale of restoring Kaguya."
Huh?! What're you talking about?!" Naruto isn't following in the slightest. "What do you mean?"
"Since you know mother's name, you must have met Hagoromo. I figured that it was possible, depending on the power of the reincarnates. As well as receiving the power to seal mother away." He chuckles as he proceeds. "It's rare to see the reincarnates of Indra and Ashura cooperating this closely."
"You two know nothing. So, let me tell you 'my' tale whilst I suck out your remaining chakras." He waits a moment to let the suspense build as he's become rather dramatic in the past century. "As I told you earlier, my mother was sealed away by her own children."
"Apparently, this was a very powerful seal. The Jutsu turned Kaguya into a planetary devastation core, which became this planets moon, but just before that seal took hold she gave birth to me for her to one day be restored. I shall now show you two all of that. I don't have any candy, but the puppet show is about to begin." He finishes with a laugh.
Naruto and Sasuke's vision slowly fades as they're cast into the dream Black Zetsu wants them to see. Unbeknownst to Black Zetsu though, Kaguya is feeling somewhat strange and slightly weaker than a moment ago, but the chakra from Naruto and Sasuke would surely fix that.
Madara has very quickly lost the ability to even writhe in pain as he lays still, half-submerged in the water, devoid of expression and only a slight twitch of movement. The green chakra that's been entering his entire body is now doing so at a frightening pace, its effects have also increased; it's the worst experience of his life, the pain is indescribable.
"Everything is going black." Even in his mind, his voice is hollowed and dishevelled, he can barely think straight too and this unsettles him. Whatever this is, is changing him in some way, doing something, he just didn't know what. He then lets out a pain-filled gasp as another jolt of pain strikes.
And that's when his vision fades, along with his consciousness. But, unlike Naruto and Sasuke – who would only be out for mere moments in real-time – he'd be under much longer.
Hours have passed by the time Madara awakes, his face still half-submerged in water and the green chakra still streaming into him. Shakily lifting himself with an arm, he chokes repeatedly in an attempt to clear his lungs of the water.
Moving onto his elbows and knees, a loud groan escapes him. "Uh, I feel like I just took a thousand hits from that eight gates user to the head." In fact, the idea of that happening sounded a great deal more pleasant to him.
He looks up as the room starts to shake with a low rumble. He is unsure whether this is drowsiness or actually happening, but with a shake of the head and a sigh, he says with a pitiable laugh. "It never seems to be over, does it."
Quickly getting up with a wobble, he looks to the mirror and sees something favourable; Naruto and Sasuke have sealed Kaguya. "Good, this is the chance I needed." He says this with a wicked smile but knows that without a little luck he may very well die.
The granite walls making up the place start to crack. Blinding light pours through these cracks, illuminating the room and continuing to increase as more cracks develop. The shaking grows stronger, confirming it's in fact real.
"Now, the hard part begins. The extraction of the Ten-Tails will leave me in a bad state physically." Pausing, his eyes sway to the top right. "I will have to rely upon Hashirama's predictability to gain enough strength to move again. I will never be more vulnerable than these upcoming moments."
A cinematic ending. The sun and moon seal leaving the hands of both Naruto and Sasuke as Kaguya bellows in bitter defeat and agony as the Tailed Beasts are torn from her one at a time.
The planet tears itself apart to form onto this new celestial body. It's over, they've done it.
Kaguya, however, is beyond angry, defeated again in the same way, what absolute ridiculousness. Her mind is also occupied with the lingering worry as to what was causing her to lose strength throughout the fight; it's as if she's really dying, losing her true self so to speak, it's unlike anything she's felt before.
And right at the last moment before the seal takes hold she understands what's happening, but it's too late, only the notion of her true death awaits her as her last bit of consciousness departs.
Now free of conscious form the chakra becomes immensely unstable as what was once Kaguya begins to transform into a giant white mass resembling a rabbit – albeit a monstrous one at that – that bellows in agony at its own twisted and monstrous existence.
The rocks that were lifted from the ground start forming onto this monster. However, before it's completely sealed, the head spits out a familiar shape as loses its existence as well.
Madara cuts through the air and a gasp escaping him as he smashes into the ground with considerable force, his head snapping back into the jagged rock. Slightly annoyed by that landing, with a blank face and a groan, he sarcastically says. "Ow."
Slowly holding out his hand towards the sky as the red light from the star within this dimension radiates through the gaps in his fingers, he discerns that it's just as he thought, his visual prowess is gone and he can't move in any serious manner at the moment. His gaze drifts to the victors and their conversation as he starts infusing whatever pittance of chakra possible.
Unable to stop himself from staring up at the sphere that keeps growing larger and larger and rising higher and higher, Kakashi is flabbergasted. "It's still growing. It's like another moon." He remarks in a nervous laugh sort of way.
"Guys!" Leaping through the air on the floating boulders, Naruto calls out to his team in his typical joyous manner as he lands next to Sasuke, Kakashi, and Sakura to give a thumbs-up as he continues. "The seal is complete! We can finally celebrate."
"You're right! The first thing I want is a hot bath to wash away all this sweat and grime." Sakura pauses, stretching out with a happy smile, but that's when she remembers a rather important detail. "Hold on a sec!" She squeals with large white eyes. "What about us?! How are we supposed to get out of this space-time?!"
She was right, that is a serious problem as none of them have a way back. Kakashi may be able to open a portal, but he is certainly in no condition to traverse such vast dimensions.
"Oh no! You're right! This is bad! This is bad!" Naruto roars back, his face taking the same comical expression. Then, as if to reassure them, they – including Madara and the Tailed Beasts – are whisked away from that space-time dimension in a vibrating manner.
Madara: A New Journey
