Author Notes: Sorry everyone! I was very busy last month and didn't have much time to give this story an update. Anyways, please consider about leaving your comment after reading this chapter. The more comments I get, the sooner the next chapter will come out.
Words that are written in Italics represent the thought of characters.
A Week Later, World Serpent's Headquarters
Due to the backing of Gray Serpent, Madara quickly assumed the leadership role without any objections from the organization. Most members of World Serpent tolerated his appearance as a way to fill the power vacuum that the predecessor left.
At the moment, the new lord of World Serpent was sitting on the throne, holding an ancient book written in Latin. By his authority, Madara was allowed to access all archived documents, including the top-secret information. From what Gray Serpent had told him, this book was over 1500 years old and there was one copy only in the world. Who was the founder of World Serpent? What was the previous leader's purpose when creating this institution? All answers he needed were contained inside this book. Activating his Rinnegan, Madara proceeded to decipher Latin characters in the book.
"After the fall of the Roman Empire in 476, another anti-Honkai organization besides Schicksal was founded in Europe. Its founder was a MANTIS from the previous era, Kevin Kaslana. He was the first successful MANTIS and also one of the Flamechasers. To hide his real identity, "Serpent" was used as his code name while leading World Serpent. In 500, the "Serpent" became the magician Merlin, appearing in the legend of King Arthur of Britain. He was subsequently sealed into the Sea of Quanta for unknown reasons, and the World Serpent was dormant for 1500 years. However, the organization itself has not disintegrated in the slightest..."
"MANTIS from the previous era? Flamechasers?" Turning to the next page, Madara continued to decipher the Latin letters of the codex. His curiosity and excitement urged him to find out the previous leader's purpose in founding the World Serpent."
"Since its establishment, World Serpent just served a sole objective, defeating the Honkai no matter the cost. To achieve that goal, Project Stigma must be carried on and completed..."
"Project Stigma... What is it?" As Madara finished the book, the only thing he gained was an absolute disappointment. Most details mentioning Project Stigma were written poorly and vaguely, as if on purpose. After thinking for a while, the second lord of World Serpent decided to close the book and put it aside, he probably would study more about it in the future. For now, he had to solve a more important concern, to find someone suitable to be infused with the Rinne Serum. Since its safety had been proven through tests on mice, a real experiment on humans still waited to be done.
When Madara brought up this topic for a discussion with Gray Serpent, his request got approved immediately without any question. And thus, he was provided a list of 100 members of World Serpent based on their credibility.
Going through the document sent by his subordinate, several names showed up before Madara's sight. Yet the Uchiha lord didn't intend to choose them, mostly because they all were Gray Serpent's subordinates and totally had no loyalty to him. If Gray Serpent someday betrayed him as Black Zetsu did, these people definitely would stab his back as well. In this case, the best option for Madara was to pick out the least loyal individuals in the organization. After reading the entire list, he noticed two persons that could satisfy his criteria.
"The 99th, Owl - Tianwu Chen"
"The 100th, Raven - Natasha Cioara"
"Raven and Owl? Why are their names at the bottom of the list?" Madara wondered. As the elite agents in World Serpent, these two should have been ranked as the top candidates on the list. Anyways, he finally found worthy candidates to be infused
A Few Minutes Later
"Do you know why we are summoned all of a sudden?" Raven asked her fellow annoyingly while they were moving to the throne room. Just a few minutes ago, they suddenly received an emergency call-up from Gray Serpent, asking for their appearance before the sire.
"I don't know either... But if the sire wants to meet us, it must be something important." Owl replied cautiously. Like his female colleague, he was really confused when their leader suddenly asked for a talk with them.
"You mean Madara Uchiha? Come on! We all know he's just a puppet leader made up by Gray Serpent!" Raven said annoyingly. Unfortunately for her, the entire conversation was overheard by a person very close to Madara.
"You really think so?" Behind them, an unknown man spoke with a voice similar to Madara's. No need to say, both Raven and Owl were frightened because they couldn't see the difference between his voice and Madara's. Thankfully, when they turned back to confirm their doubt, their worry was relieved as that person wasn't their lord.
He was none other than Ghost, who had just joined World Serpent recently. Due to his outstanding ability and power, he soon got Gray Serpent's credibility and became a senior member of the organization. His attire was a purple high-collared, long-sleeve mantle that split down the lower half and a simple, light-brown obi, and a belt. In addition, he also put on a white mask consisting of multiple concentric circles with three tomoe around the center, two of which acted as the mask's eye-holes. Strangely, Ghost's iris possessed two different colors, which was extremely rare in the world. His right eye was red while the left one was purple with 6 concentric circles. Both shared a common feature of having 3 commas around their pupil.
"Phew... You nearly gave me a heart attack, Ghost!" Raven yelled at him. "Stop using Madara's voice, please!"
"You shouldn't badmouth someone behind their back, especially about Madara!" Ghost threatened her seriously.
"More than anyone else, I understand very well what Madara is capable of... After all, Gray Serpent wouldn't have chosen him for nothing."
Although his words were very reasonable, a question suddenly came up to Raven's mind. Why did he speak up for Madara? The only information they had known about him so far was his codename. Since he was here, she would ask him straight away to get the answer.
"Hey, Ghost... who really are you?"
"What do you mean?" Ghost responded in confusion.
"Why are you always wearing that mask?"
"It's none of your business, girl." He answered coldly, not willing to let her know his secret.
"Then why you never showed up when Madara was around?"
Her last question left him completely speechless, which further strengthened Raven's suspicions. This time, she was pretty sure about Ghost's real identity and why he had to hide his face behind a mask.
"You are Madara Uchiha, aren't you?" Raven believed she had finally succeeded in discovering Ghost's secret. Nonetheless, his reaction later got her confused.
"Hahahaha!..." All of a sudden, Ghost began to laugh out loud. In the past, many people had asked him the same question. Sadly, what he said to Madara before was indeed correct, no one cared who he was until he put on this mask.
"Why are you laughing? What's so funny?" Raven asked him angrily. After laughing insanely for a while, Ghost finally calmed down and returned to his serious attitude earlier.
"It has been a long time since I heard something ridiculous like that! Although your theory sounds very interesting,... but again, I'm not Madara. Besides having a similar voice to him, we don't share anything else." As Ghost just finished his statement, Raven suddenly approached and reached out her hand to take off his mask. To her surprise, her touch immediately went through his head as though he was intangible.
"How is this even possible!? What the hell are you?" Raven retracted her hand, still terrified of what just had happened. In fact, there were a few rumors about him spreading among World Serpent. Some people claimed that he could go through objects, disappear and appear suddenly like a ghost. At first, Raven just ignored them since it sounded too incredible. But now, this encounter had changed her mind forever, he was literally a ghost as his codename.
"You two better go to see Madara quick ~ he won't be happy if you make him wait!" By a mysterious ability, Ghost gradually became invisible and faded away without any traces left.
Despite having the same question about Ghost's identity, Owl still remained silent and was an observer during their entire conversation. As a wise person, he knew not to mess with Ghost, especially the one behind him, Gray Serpent. In addition, there was a high chance that Ghost related to Madara somehow. Owl also didn't rule out the possibility that both were the same person. With that being said, they needed to see lord Madara in order to get their hypothesis confirmed.
And thus, Raven and Owl soon arrived at the throne room, in Madara's presence.
"I appreciate you two for spending time to meet me in person." Getting up from his throne, Madara crossed his arms and stared at them. At the moment, he was wearing the same outfit as during the Fourth Ninja War, a crimson armor with numerous metal plates along his body.
"It's my pleasure, lord Madara! But can I ask you a question first?" Since Owl had been silent the entire encounter with Ghost, it was now his turn to make a move first. Thankfully, Madara didn't seem to be bothered by his sudden request.
"Alright, what do you want to know?"
"Do you know anything about Ghost's identity?" Owl asked him straight forward.
"What's wrong with him?" Madara pretended to care but he actually had figured out their situation. They must have seen something that they shouldn't. Obito probably should stop overusing Kamui, otherwise it would raise more unwanted questions about his power in World Serpent.
"No, it's just... he always puts on a mask and stays aloof from everyone. It makes us feel curious." This time, Raven interfered to support her fellow. Like Owl, she had the same question about Ghost.
"Curiosity killed the cat, you know?" Madara narrowed his eyes and glared at her. However, the Uchiha actually was working out a meticulous plan in his mind. He wouldn't waste this precious opportunity to show them the power of Sharingan.
"But since you two sincerely want to know, I may tell you a bit about his tragic past."
"Really?" Raven raised her eyebrow, not sure whether their lord was joking or not.
"Of course, now look into my eyes!" Following Madara's instruction, Raven and Owl started gazing into his eyes at once. Coincidentally, they noticed that both of his eyes had the same characteristics as Ghost's right eye. Leaving that aside, they continued keeping eye contact with Madara until being trapped by his Genjutsu.
Inside Genjutsu World
"Where are we? What have you done to us?" Raven questioned the Uchiha lord in shock. It turned out they had been carried to another place, a deep forest with a gloomy atmosphere of horror.
"Both of you are already under my Genjutsu. It's an illusion made by my eyes, the Sharingan." When Madara finished his explanation, he suddenly turned in a particular direction and followed that path. Without any more questions, Raven and Owl went after him instantly. Along the way, Madara disclosed some details about Ghost's past to them.
"Back then, Ghost was very different compared to nowadays, he used to be a warm and kind-hearted person. Unfortunately, a fateful event has changed his persona forever."
"So what exactly happened to him?" Owl wondered the reason made Ghost changed his personality. Whatever the thing was, it must have had a significant impact on his life.
"Be patient. We've come very close already." Madara told them calmly. Instead of revealing everything to them, he wanted them both to witness and have their own point of view. However, do not get him wrong, Madara was doing all this on purpose! Taking advantage of people's emotions and making thembelieve in what you say was the art of manipulation.
As soon as the three reached the edge of the woods, they saw a frightening scene, a chaotic battle with dozens of soldiers. At the center of the battlefield, a poor girl was killed by a silver-haired boy, who used his hand imbued with lightning to pierce her chest.
"Kakashi... Why?" The girl said weakly as her eyes widened in shock, blood bleeding from her mouth. The silver-haired boy later retracted his bloody hand from her chest and let her dead body fall into the cold ground. As a consequence of exhaustion, he soon fell on his knees and lost consciousness.
From afar, a shrill scream full of anger was made out all of a sudden. All soldiers immediately turned back to find the source of that frightening sound. It turned out that a person wearing a purple cloak was the one responsible for it. Since the face was hidden behind a white spiral layer, no one could identify him.
"It's Obito Uchiha at the age of 14, or you can say "Ghost". Like me and other Uchihas, he also possesses the Sharingan. The girl who was killed earlier is Rin, his beloved. The feelings of loss, hatred, and despair caused by her death later merged together. With such traumas and suffering emotions, his brain was triggered to awaken the hidden power of the Uchiha clan, the Mangekyou Sharingan." Madara explained in detail. After that, the nightmare officially began. Numerous wooden spikes suddenly rose from the half left of Obito's body.
"I will never accept this!" Obito shouted in madness, rushing toward an unfortunate soldier at an immense speed.
"Do not mock the Blood Mist ninjas!" The ill-fated man immediately drew his sword in response. But before he could do anything, Obito's bare hand penetrated his armor and killed him right away. Obito then targeted another soldier and used a sharp wooden spike to threaten him, who fell to the ground in panic. When he was just a step from his victim, three Blood Mist ninjas tried to sneak attack him from above. In an instant, Obito activated his Mangekyou Sharingan's ability, making his whole body intangible. Instead of their enemy, the trio accidentally killed their own comrade when their sword went through Obito and killed the man below. Following that, Obito jumped up and gave each of them a hard kick in the neck, taking their life at once.
"Who the hell is that guy!?" A soldier exclaimed in fear.
"He wields a strange Jutsu!"
"Recover the Jinchuriki's corpse and retreat!" The commander of the Blood Mist told his subordinates. Following his order, two men quickly approach the dead body of Rin. When Obito was aware of their intention, he immediately redirected and ran straight toward her body as well.
"Stop him!" Along Obito's way, several ninjas attacked him with their swords to prevent him from going any further. Even so, their effort was in vain as his nonphysical body easily got away from those strikes. As soon as Obito got rid of the crowd of soldiers, he launched another wooden spike toward the first guy, sending him meters away and also killing him during the process by triggering the branches' growth remotely. The other guy's head was grasped violently by Obito's hand, whose mask was broken due to a strike from the Uchiha's knee.
With a rage out of control, Obito constantly punched at the unfortunate ninja until his body was transfigured and couldn't be recognized anymore. After a while, his fury finally cooled off just to realize what the monster he had become. His cloak had been dyed red entirely by the blood of ill-fated victims. Looking down at the man he just killed recently, it now was just a crushed chunk of flesh with blood.
For the others, the silent atmosphere remained silent since no one dared to move even an inch. The Blood Mist ninjas were worried about their life, fearing that they may get the same tragic death as their fallen comrades. Nevertheless, their destiny had already been decided that day and none of them could run away from it.
Obito slowly turned his head back to look at them, making their heart beat faster than ever. All of a sudden, multiple enormous thick roots rose up from the ground and finished off the life of all remaining ninjas on the battlefield. When it happened, there was just a scene of death and horror to be found. The ground was entirely drowned by the sea of blood from dead soldiers. Moreover, the blood moon coincidentally occurred that night and reflected the crimson light on Earth, which made the scenery even more horrifying.
Once the massacre ended, Obito walked to the dead body of Rin and knelt down beside her. His white spiral layer of mask opened up and reveal his true face. To Raven and Owl's astonishment, he turned out to have a similar face and hairstyle to their lord, as if he was a teenage version of Madara Uchiha.
"I get it... I'm in Hell." Using his arms to embrace Rin's cold and lifeless body, Obito said in tears.
Illusion Shattered
When Madara ended his Genjutsu, Owl and Raven finally eventually got their consciousness back and returned to the real world. Both were currently gasping after seeing that terrifying experience themselves. Even though they knew it was just an illusion but yet it felt too real, as if they actually had been there on that night.
"Can't believe a 14-year-old can slaughter a company of soldiers!" Raven exclaimed in shock.
"I agree with you!" Owl nodded while using a hand to cover his mouth. He was extremely terrified by Ghost's bloodthirsty and ruthlessness. While witnessing the massacre, he almost vomited his dinner up but managed to hold it back at the last moment.
"After seeing Ghost's past, would you like to have the Sharingan like him?" Their lord suddenly made a question that left them speechless in shock.
"Are you implying that it's possible for us to obtain those eyes like yours?" Raven asked him.
"That's correct," Madara confirmed. "Because you two are not Uchiha by nature, it obviously will never happen. However, I've figured out a way to achieve it."
"But before we proceed with this experiment, I want to ask you a serious question. Are you sure about this? If you two are unwilling, I can always choose others instead." As a part of his requirement, he wanted to see their courage and determination when being granted such powers. Even if they refused his offer, he still had multiple potential options with the list Grey Serpent sent to him.
Raven and Owl looked at each other. Both understood such an opportunity would come up only once in their life. Without any hesitation, they faced Madara again and answered emphatically.
"We shall take it."
"Well done!" The Uchiha smiled amusedly and then took out two syringes containing abnormal purple liquid. From this moment, they already become pawns in his plan like Obito was in the past.
"This fluid is called Rinne Serum, my greatest creation. It is made by combining the Uchiha blood with cells having super regeneration ability. Keep in mind that only one of you two may inherit the Sharingan since the success rate is just 50 percent."
"Wait-what?" Raven and Owl exclaimed in surprise. Given what he said, only one of them may have the chance of acquiring eyes like his.
"There are many possibilities that might happen... but none of those cases is death so don't worry." Madara added in order to assure them.
Receiving the syringes from him, Raven and Owl began injecting the Rinne Serum directly into their vein. They pulled the plunger back and pushed it gently. The fluid eventually dissolved in the bloodstream and got carried throughout the body.
"Don't expect an instant effect. If my calculation is correct, it will take 48 hours before the Rinne Serum work. Until then, I allow you two to be on leave." Madara said to them. Now all he had to do was to wait and see which one would get the Sharingan.
"I'm not sure about the part "on leave", lord Madara." A familiar figure walked into the throne room. Gray Serpent glanced at the chosen ones, truly disappointed by the Uchiha's choice. He didn't expect Madara to choose these two because their credibility was ranked lowest on the list. Anyways, he had to inform his sire of the urgent situation.
"Sorry for interrupting your conversation, lord Madara. We're going to have an emergency meeting in the next few minutes."
"What's the subject?" Madara calmly asked his subordinate.
"The 2nd Herrscher... The Void Queen is returning." Gray Serpent claimed.