What did you think of this chapter? I would love to know what you think of it and answer your questions in the next chapter.
We start with the chapter!
The sun shone brightly as the waves gently kissed the shore of the beach. On that beach, a few peculiar individuals listened attentively to the bitter words spoken by their youngest member still in life.
"So... summarizing," began a man with long black hair in a ponytail and unusual attire. "A guy without cursed energy beat you up, not only that but entered your domain and broke it like it was nothing?" His eyebrows were raised slightly in surprise at what he had heard. In his long life, he had never heard of someone without cursed energy being able to see them, let alone battle and win.
"Yeah, don't make me repeat myself," Mahito grunted, recalling the tough battle he had with that guy, or rather, the beating he had received.
The other two individuals present observed the interaction in silence. They couldn't explain how they felt knowing that there was someone out there without cursed energy who could defeat a special grade curse.
"Alright. What else can you tell me about this guy? I understand he's not a sorcerer, given his lack of familiarity with Tokyo sorcerers," asked the man with earrings, and the pale one nodded in agreement. The three of them noticed a smile starting to form on the apparent leader's face. "Well then, we'll try to recruit him."
This statement left the three special grade curses stunned, especially Mahito, who immediately jumped from his beach chair with an explosive look.
"If you bring that bastard here, I'll kill him!" he exclaimed, not bothering the black-haired man, who calmly stood up from his beach chair and nodded.
"Or he might kill you; he could defeat you a third time, and I'd be delighted to see it," he mocked, and Mahito gritted his teeth while kicking the sand in a small tantrum. However, he knew he had no voice or vote in Geto's decisions. "So, Hanami."
The large curse turned to his boss without any expression on his face, waiting for orders, and already having an idea of what it would be.
"Go to this guy's location and evaluate him. If you see it fit, you can offer him to join us," ordered Geto. Hanami obeyed the command and headed towards the exit without looking back. He had a mission to fulfill, and he wasn't planning to fail.
"With that settled, it's better if we rest," Geto smiled placidly as he sat back in his beach chair, with Jogo blinking several times, not quite understanding the situation. On the other hand, Mahito snorted while tossing his chair aside and walked away in a bad mood.
"Do you think he'll try to fight that guy again?" Jogo asked his boss, and he nodded calmly.
"Yes, he will. If he's lucky, he won't end up dead. Individuals like him without cursed energy are demons in human bodies," Geto affirmed to himself, and Jogo blinked again without saying anything.
Scene change:
Utahime swallowed hard as she observed the wooden door of the cabin she had visited yesterday with her companions. She didn't want to come back here, but Gojo had asked her to, and she had no choice but to agree.
She sighed resignedly, raised her hand, and prepared to knock, but a voice behind her alarmed her, and she almost jumped on her feet at the sound.
She turned like lightning, tensing slightly as she saw the same man from yesterday walking towards her with some logs in his arms—some, if not many, quite large, considering an ordinary person couldn't carry them.
"No one will open this door if I'm not here," he stated. Was that a joke? She hoped so because the man's expression screamed the opposite of humor.
She stepped aside as he stopped in front of the door and effortlessly opened it with one of his feet, calmly entering and leaving the girl outside without any invitation.
Utahime blinked a few times and then directed her gaze inside the cabin, trying not to get caught in the act. Unintentionally, she leaned over the frame and observed the interior like a curious cat. There wasn't much— a worn-out sofa, a fireplace embedded in the wall with some flames burning at its base, a door that she assumed led to the bedroom, and a kitchen where the man was putting the wood in some kind of drawer.
She pulled back when she saw the black-haired man tilt his head and look at her with his dark eyes. She sweated a bit; that gaze was undoubtedly penetrating.
"You can come in," the man's voice came from inside the house, surprising her, and she sighed to convince herself. When she gathered the courage, she entered, taking off her shoes as a sign of respect, even though the tall man hadn't bothered to do so.
"Excuse me," she was respectful, especially when he turned to look at her with total calmness while pointing to the sofa behind him. She understood what he meant and carefully approached the worn-out couch.
"With or without sugar?"
"What?" She seemed a bit foolish as her large eyes blinked with her mouth slightly open, not understanding what he meant.
"The tea, how do you like it?" He looked at her again with a white porcelain cup in his hand, obviously with some steaming tea. Finally, she understood, and as if a light bulb lit up in her head, she spoke, trying not to laugh, but her nervousness was high, and she couldn't help it
"Ah. With sugar, please." - She tried not to laugh, but her nervousness was high, and immediately, her gaze dropped to her legs covered in red petticoats, which were being held by the man's many hands.
Why did she feel so nervous at this moment? Damn it, she was a pseudo-first-grade sorcerer! She should know how to handle these high-tension situations, but! But... this guy was an anomaly, as Satoru Gojo himself had called him, an anomaly like Fushiguro Toji was at one point, and she certainly did not like the idea of being next to someone similar to Fushiguro.
"Here, this can calm your blood pressure." - She almost jumped off the sofa when the man handed her the tea cup, wasting no time and carefully taking the cup while keeping an eye on the man sitting beside her, maintaining personal space to avoid making the already nervous girl uncomfortable.
Both sipped their tea calmly, although she always kept an eye on him; she didn't want to be caught off guard in a moment of calm. And so, five minutes passed, neither said anything, and they remained in that not comfortable but not uncomfortable silence, not until Madara broke it.
"I thought you had given up yesterday." - He didn't turn to look at her, but she did, and she had a slight frown.
"That's what I thought." - She responded with a slight sigh in the end, and finally, Madara turned to look at her but didn't say anything for a moment, just taking the time to evaluate the woman in front of him who only stared at her nearly empty cup.
"Uchiha Madara." - He suddenly said, and the woman looked at him with a confused look, which he noticed. "That's my name." - He blinked a few times in recognition, although he was still trying to understand something.
"Oh, uh... Utahime Iori!" - She quickly introduced herself, not wanting to be disrespectful; finally, she could know the name of the man who had refused to tell it to Gojo himself yesterday. "Why are you telling me? Yesterday, you refused Gojo."
"Because I understand that they forced you to come here to gather some information about me, so I gave you the only thing you can get and the most useful. My last name and first name. The sooner, the better. Right?" - That was very direct, but he was correct.
And yes, this would make things much easier if they knew where to start in the Japanese registry.
"Yes... certainly." - She nodded in agreement and watched as he stood up, taking his already empty tea cup to go to the sink to soak the cups.
She sighed gently as she watched Madara perform the action, and the large fan on his back caught her attention... Could she ask about it?
"That emblem on your back... is it something important?" - She asked while the man made an involuntary movement, immediately covering the emblem with his hair that had until then been positioned on one side.
"Nothing interesting." - He responded without getting disturbed, but Utahime couldn't help but feel that there was something hidden in the man's words. He left the cups to dry his hands and then leaned against the sink, gazing out the window thoughtfully, which made her uncomfortable not knowing what the Uchiha was thinking at this moment.
For his part, Madara narrowed his eyes as he observed a group of trees that seemed strange to him, especially when he saw a white hand with dark fingers fluttering around there. He furrowed his brows more while a swift movement made a Kunai shine in his hand, and the sparkling Raito chakra exploded in the chakra-conductive metal, illuminating the kitchen in blue.
Utahime jumped off the sofa on guard just to see how the white weapon destroyed the glass to cut through the path at an unimaginable speed and collided with the trees.
POOF
The electricity exploded, scorching the trees, and Madara immediately blinked into a Shunshin, leaving behind a astonished Utahime. She quickly stepped out of the cabin to see what was happening and gasped when she saw a large white projectile emerging from the woods and hitting the ground a few meters from her position.
It was a curse, precisely the one that the students and Gojo had warned them about! The curse was lying on the ground, attempting to recover, but there was a large scar on its stomach that was trying to regenerate.
FLUSH
PAAM
Utahime had to raise her arms to shield her eyes from the dust as another projectile hit the curse, cracking the earth and shaking the area slightly. She coughed lightly and tried to focus her vision through the dust, but it was difficult. After a few seconds, a familiar voice spoke, sending shivers down her spine.
"So. Could you tell me what you were doing, lurking around here?" - Madara's voice was impassive, but there was a clear and sweet threat behind his calm words. After a few seconds, the dust dissipated, allowing Utahime to see Madara holding the special grade curse from behind with his foot, preventing it from standing up.
Uchiha had his right leg bent, his elbow resting on the top of his thigh, supporting his chin with his hand – a pose of total superiority, precisely what the special grade curse had tried to avoid. Utahime couldn't understand how he had sensed or seen it, but one moment he was watching the cabin, and the next, a lightning-infused knife had struck beside his head. Seconds later, a thunderous punch had landed in his stomach, leaving him stunned. In that moment of vulnerability, the human had seized his leg and thrown him forcefully away from the wooded area.
The next thing he knew, he was seeing the sunlight, and then the human falling on top of him. Damn it, that had been easy and humiliating, and that damn blow... What the hell did this human have to harm him so severely? Not even Sukuna's vessel alongside his strange friend had caused such severe and rapid damage as this man did.
"Ssssss" - Madara tilted his head when a strange noise came from the curse. He crouched a bit, tilting his head so that his ear was closer to the creature's mouth. "Tssssss" - Again, something he didn't understand. But this time, he knew something was wrong when he felt the ground beneath them violently shake.
He was right, as in less than a second, hundreds of large roots emerged from the ground, violently striking him, shaking the entire area and breaking meters of vegetation and terrain.
Utahime watched as Madara was ensnared by the roots, and the curse quickly stood up, making a hand signal that was answered by the roots as they tightly constricted, trying to crush the human's body.
She had failed the mission; she could no longer form an alliance with this human because... because now he was dead, or so the curse thought confidently. It turned to see Utahime, who had regained consciousness and had assumed a defensive stance, preventing them from witnessing a blue glow emanating from within the giant roots.
Then, the roar of a beast echoed everywhere, and a giant blue sword cleaved the roots in half, creating a wind wave that swept through a large portion of the forest.
This left the curse and Utahime in shock, and they immediately turned to see where Madara had been ensnared, only to see the giant roots falling lifeless to the ground. Floating amidst the chaos was Madara, observing the curse with a new light.
"Mokuton, huh? Interesting!" - Uchiha shouted as he disappeared in a blink, reappearing crouched over Hanami and breaking its defense with a thunderous blow to the chin, sending it flying into the sky. Without wasting time, Madara appeared in the air above it, hands filled with Yang chakra, and without hesitation, he attacked the curse, which once again plummeted to the ground like a projectile, breaking the earth with its fall.
Madara fell again towards the ground, aiming at Hanami, who tried to recover but failed when another Madara emerged from the ground, striking its back and sending it back up, where the original Uchiha was already positioned.
BOOM
The curse was defenseless when the punch landed on its forehead, stunning it as it was slammed into the ground, trapped in a spiderweb crater, while Madara rose in the air with a classic smile from his old days. Quickly performing a sequence of hand seals, he shouted,
" Mokuton Hijutsu: Jukai Kōtan!"
Utahime's mouth opened slightly as giant roots, accompanied by enormous branches, emerged from the ground, much, much larger compared to the special grade curse had released a while ago.
Hanami just watched as the devastating technique swept through the entire terrain, heading towards its position. Damn it, so this was how Mahito felt after being beaten up by this guy. Holy shit, he was screwed:
BOOM.
Dust rose forcefully when the flora avalanche struck the curse's position. The dense dust screen prevented anyone from seeing anything, even Madara, who had to activate his Sharingan to try to see what was happening but failed. He descended to the ground next to Utahime, who watched the Uchiha with her jaw trembling at such a demonstration of raw power.
Madara deactivated his Sharingan with a sigh and, with a hand seal, commanded the roots and trees to return to the bottom of the world, leaving only the destruction and the hole they came out of as evidence.
When everything calmed down, there was no sign of the curse anywhere. It suggested two things: either it had been eliminated, or it had escaped in a way that Madara did not understand, given its severely battered state.
"Well, I think you have something to tell your colleagues now," Madara spoke as he began to make his way back to his cabin, miraculously undamaged in the fight.
Utahime, on the other hand, just watched as the man walked away as if nothing had happened, and that really terrified her. Was he aware of what he had just done? Damn it! Could this guy be considered a special grade sorcerer at best? She had seen the power of some sorcerers with this title, including the strongest of them all, and Madara's demonstrated power easily fell into the special category.
Damn it, where had this guy come from, and why was he revealing himself only now? Something didn't add up. Anyone with such power had to be known, inadvertently or not. Madara appeared to be around 30 years old, so he must have had some battles in his life, and undoubtedly someone should have known about this guy. That was what didn't make sense. Not even the higher-ups knew about the existence of someone like him.
She had to report this. It was dangerous for someone like Uchiha Madara to remain unknown until now. Surely there was a story behind this man.
Some time later:
It was October, and Utahime had finally gathered with the highest-ranking authorities who would know how to handle this situation. She had shared everything she had learned about this Madara, visited his home on multiple occasions, and waited to collect enough information to bring it to the higher-ups. It turned out to be the best idea because she could see the surprised faces of everyone, even a slight surprise around Satoru Gojo, who initially seemed bored but became more interested as Utahime's report progressed, especially when she spoke about Madara's abilities.
"So, there's a guy with the power of a special grade sorcerer out there, and we're only just finding out now?" commented a disgruntled old man.
"This is strange. We keep a record of sorcerers with great potential from birth, whether from clans or not. It seems illogical that he would appear out of nowhere, and we wouldn't know anything about it," another old man said, deep in thought, his hand on his chin.
"Anyway, now what we need to know is whether this Uchiha Madara is a threat to the integrity of our world. And I believe there's no one among us who knows him better than you, Miss Utahime, to answer this question," they addressed her. She blinked when they turned to her, cleared her throat a bit, and nodded to speak.
"I don't know him well, sir. But I can assure you he's not a bad person... not exactly. While he can get carried away when he gets too excited in a fight, I doubt he wants to cause harm or jeopardize the world of sorcery. In fact, I would think he could become a strong ally in the future if things get complicated with Sukuna and his vessel," she spoke quickly and concisely, with confidence in her voice. This certainly relieved many of the concerns of the higher-ups, who were already feeling a headache coming their way because of this man.
"Well... we don't usually take this so lightly, but we can't do more against someone who is not a threat and has not tried anything to harm the integrity of the world. Therefore, we will leave him alone and try not to disturb him. But what you said caught my attention. How sure are you that he can become our ally?"
Gojo narrowed his eyes behind his bandages. He knew these elders were up to something, and he could smell it from here. It seemed that the appearance of someone with the power of this Madara was unique, especially if they had a stumbling block like him, Satoru Gojo.
He knew the old ones wouldn't hesitate to get rid of him at any moment of weakness, and having a special grade ally with them was undoubtedly tempting, especially if he could provide something against Satoru Gojo. This was undoubtedly a problem since he didn't know how strong this guy was and what threat he posed to his integrity.
He wasn't afraid, no, not at all. But it never hurt to be cautious about these things. He had to talk to this guy, yes, and get ahead of these damn geezers.
Without care, he stood up and left the room after hearing Utahime say there was a 70% chance that Madara could be an ally. Ally my ass, he had to prevent that.
The higher-ups just watched in silence as Satoru left the room, and some smiles adorned their old lips. It seemed that Gojo had become a little concerned, and that amused them.
End of the chapter.