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Chapter 158: The Mastermind!
🕑 Added 2025-08-28 15:25:28 +0000 UTCChapter 158: The Mastermind!
"Uchiha Madara? That's impossible!"
"Father, according to the clan records, didn't he die in battle at the Valley of the End?"
"The entire ninja world knows Uchiha Madara was no match for the First Hokage," Nara Keisuke added, relentlessly slinging mud. "I still think the 'savior' you're talking about is Orochimaru."
"It really isn't Orochimaru," Uchiha Kagami said, completely exasperated. When had Nara Keisuke developed such a deep-seated enmity for Orochimaru? "I am already a dead man. I have no need to deceive you."
"I wouldn't be so sure!" Keisuke was in his element, his pot-stirring powers at full throttle as he continued to summon "Scapegoat Orochimaru" to the stage. "From your behavior just now, it's clear you still hold affection for the village. As one of the Sannin, Orochimaru is a pillar of Konoha and the supreme commander of this front. To prevent chaos from erupting within our ranks, you're deliberately throwing out 'Uchiha Madara' as a convenient excuse. We're all Konoha ninja here; who doesn't know the history of the Valley of the End?"
Keisuke's implication was clear: in the common knowledge of the ninja world, Uchiha Madara had been dead for decades. Although Kagami was also a dead man, it was impossible that he was summoned from the Pure Land by another ghost.
Keisuke's argument gained partial agreement from Minato and Shisui. While neither of them wanted to believe Orochimaru was the mastermind, the suspicion against him was simply too great—at least more believable than "Uchiha Madara is alive."
Faced with Keisuke's relentless questioning, Kagami felt he couldn't defend his words even if he had a hundred mouths. He was already unwilling to reveal too much about Lord Madara; now, he didn't even know where to begin his explanation.
"You say the 'benefactor' who saved you all those years ago was Uchiha Madara," Keisuke said, his tone shifting as he finally revealed his true intentions. "It's not that we don't believe you, we'd just like to see for ourselves. Could you take us to meet this 'Uchiha Madara'?"
Despite his words, Keisuke himself fully believed Kagami's story. Uchiha Kagami was a model Konoha ninja, an Uchiha who truly believed in the Will of Fire and loved his village. Wasn't it perfectly logical that Madara would take an interest in such a descendant? Furthermore, Kagami's entire story was almost a carbon copy of what would later happen to Uchiha Obito. This only solidified Keisuke's certainty that Madara was the one pulling the strings.
He wasn't sure why Kagami had interfered in the Battle of Kannabi Bridge—perhaps it really was related to Shisui, or maybe it had something to do with awakening his Mangekyo Sharingan. But Keisuke's goal was crystal clear: Uchiha Madara.
Or, to be more precise, the collection of jutsu in Madara's possession, especially the "Seal of Tailed Beast Liberation."
"Keisuke is right, Uchiha Kagami... senpai," Minato interjected. "It's not that we are unwilling to believe you, it's just that the news of Uchiha Madara's death has been common knowledge for decades. Your claim is difficult to accept."
From Minato's perspective, if Madara had truly used some special means to deceive the First Hokage at the Valley of the End and successfully faked his death, then what had the co-founder of Konoha been plotting in the shadows for all these years? Minato didn't want to make wild guesses, but the very existence of Kagami—a dead man summoned from the Pure Land—was proof of one thing: Uchiha Madara was indeed planning something in secret.
Faced with their repeated requests, Kagami fell into a long silence. He thought of the decrepit, elderly Madara, so old he couldn't even care for himself, hiding away in that dark cave. If he brought Keisuke and Minato there... Kagami couldn't imagine what they would do to Lord Madara.
"I cannot reveal Lord Madara's location to you," Kagami said with a long sigh, ultimately rejecting Keisuke's suggestion. "But I can tell you one thing. Lord Madara holds no hostility towards Konoha."
Seeing his refusal, Keisuke once again turned to Shisui. "Shisui! You know what to do!"
Captain, you're really... Shisui shot Keisuke a resentful look, but he gritted his teeth and chose to follow the order. "Father, that man..."
"I'm sorry, Shisui. I don't have much time," Kagami interrupted. A brilliant light began to emanate from his cracking body as flecks of dust peeled away from him. "Lord Madara has become aware of the situation here. He's released the Edo Tensei..."
"Father!" Shisui rushed forward, wanting to reach out but fearing he would interfere.
Keisuke sighed and signaled for his doppelgangers to release their hold. Kagami gave him a grateful look and reached for his son.
"Shisui, I'm sorry. All these years, I failed to fulfill my duties as a father..." Kagami wrapped an arm around Shisui's neck, pulling him into an embrace and whispering, "I had hoped to use my life to help you reach a higher level, but it seems I have failed... Don't stand still. The three-tomoe Sharingan is not the limit of our clan... Remember, we are, and always will be, Konoha's Uchiha..."
The light radiating from Kagami's body formed a brilliant white pillar that shot into the heavens, disappearing into the clouds above. His immortal, reanimated body disintegrated under the light, crumbling into ash that scattered into the river below, to be washed away without a trace.
Kagami's soul, freed from the vessel, ascended within the pillar of light. He gave Shisui one last look, full of love, before vanishing along with the light.
"Father..." Shisui raised his hand, only to grasp a handful of dust.
The three tomoe in his crimson eyes spun violently, nearly merging into a new shape, but the transformation ultimately subsided.
"Shisui-kun..." Minato stepped forward and gently placed a hand on his shoulder, about to offer words of comfort. Though he wasn't a father himself, he could strangely feel the boy's sorrow. But before he could speak, Keisuke's annoyed voice cut in from the side.
"Shisui, next time you see your dad, please tell him to stop holding onto unimportant secrets."
"Huh?" Minato whipped his head around, looking at Keisuke in shock. In his experience, Keisuke was not the type of person who couldn't read the room.
The wave of sadness that had overcome Shisui was also thoroughly disrupted by his captain's words. "Captain?"
"I'm saying, are you two natural airheads? Why are you making those faces?" Keisuke threw his hands up in exasperation. "It's just a jutsu. Edo Tensei. It's one of our own village's techniques, even. If you learn it someday, you can just pull your relatives out of the Pure Land for a reunion whenever you want!"
Minato and Shisui stared at each other. He makes so much sense, I'm speechless.
"Right!" Shisui's spirits were instantly rekindled. "I'll ask Lord Third for permission to learn this jutsu later!"
Minato also shook off the strange, melancholy mood and returned to his usual calm state. "It's just a shame that Uchiha Kagami-senpai wasn't able to fully elaborate on the intelligence he mentioned," he said, his brow furrowing slightly. "If the legendary Uchiha Madara is truly still alive... the village must prepare countermeasures."
He said this without hesitation, even in front of Shisui. The battle at the Valley of the End wasn't child's play between Hashirama and Madara. To be precise, it was Madara who, controlling the Nine-Tails, had attacked the village first. The battle was a consequence of that.
Shisui couldn't comment on the actions of his clan's ancestor, but Keisuke nodded in agreement. "We definitely need to be wary of Madara..."
Minato sighed. "Unfortunately, Kagami-senpai didn't tell us where he is."
"That's not necessarily true," Keisuke said. He pointed to the white creature beside him and used his shadow to pull a kunai with a special talisman attached from its body. "Remember what Kagami-senpai said earlier? That there was a ninja tool talisman that could be used to forcibly seize control of his body. While we didn't find it inside him, I did find this strange tool inside this white creature."
Minato was no fool. Looking at the kunai in Keisuke's hand, a thought immediately flashed through his mind. The white creature had been attached to Kagami-senpai's body. And considering the existence of this control talisman... this creature served as both a "defensive measure" for Kagami and a "failsafe" to prevent him from losing control.
'It seems the relationship between the mastermind and Kagami-senpai wasn't as harmonious as he made it out to be.' Minato glanced from the kunai to the white humanoid creature. 'But what exactly... is this thing?'
Shisui, who hadn't seen the creature emerge, was equally confused. "Captain, what is this white thing?"
"It might sound strange, but this is something I pulled out of your father's body," Keisuke said, looking down at the creature, a pleased feeling filling his chest, though he let none of it show. "But back to this kunai. I can sense chakra on it... What I mean is, we might be able to use this tool to reverse-track the location of our mastermind!"
