"You can rest assured, if he really wanted me dead, he could just summon away the Gedo Statue. That would be enough," Madara explained calmly. "So, he doesn't actually want me dead."
"Since he only wants to meet me, I might as well go along with it, and see what tricks he's planning."
"Besides, don't you want to know how he learned about me?"
For the past three months, he had been feeling unsettled.
In fact, even before Black Zetsu started gathering information, he had already thought of Shin.
It was strange, but he just had that kind of intuition.
The reason he later had Black Zetsu continue to dig around was simply to confirm his own suspicions.
The reason he had been refusing to meet was to avoid being led around by the nose, while also giving himself time to think of a countermeasure.
But now, the signals from the other party requesting a meeting had become more and more frequent. If he pushed him too far, the man might just summon away the Gedo Statue, and all of Madara's years of effort would be for nothing.
That's why he finally decided to meet Shin.
And once he made that decision, Madara actually felt more at ease.
What storms and tempests had he not faced in his lifetime? Was he really going to be afraid of this?
Rather than being inexplicably killed by Shin and seeing all his plans go to waste, it would be better to have an open, straightforward talk. Who knows, there might even be unexpected gains.
"What should we do then?" Black Zetsu asked without any further agitation.
"Remove the barriers here. I'm sure he'll have a way to find his way to us."
Black Zetsu was reluctant, but still did as told.
After all, Madara wasn't wrong, the other party could kill him easily if he wanted. They really couldn't afford to provoke him.
---
"Shin, are your eyes really okay?"
In the Hokage's office, Tsunade looked at Shin's eyes, purple, with evenly spaced concentric ring patterns, and couldn't help but ask.
Fortunately, she knew that over the past two years, Shin hadn't been experimenting on himself anymore. The state of his eyes was simply the continued evolution from the last time he had used himself as a test subject. Otherwise, she would have gotten angry with him again.
"You just love worrying for nothing," Shin said with a smile, patting Tsunade's head.
Holding up a mirror, he looked at his eyes over and over again, fully satisfied, he could never get tired of looking at them.
"Shin..."
Hearing Tsunade call him again, and seeing how she kept staring at his eyes, Shin asked with a grin, "What is it now?"
"Are these really the legendary Sage Eyes?"
Tsunade was not an ignorant woman, of course she had heard of the Sage Eyes.
It was said that the Rinnegan was the eye that ruled over life and death, terrifying to the extreme.
But she had never heard of anyone evolving their eyes to this degree, so it all felt too fantastical to her.
"How could it be fake? What, you don't believe me?"
Tsunade quickly shook her head. "I just think it's so surreal. I never thought the legendary Sage Eyes could actually evolve from the Sharingan."
"Yes... and no," Shin explained. "The Mangekyō Sharingan can indeed evolve into the Rinnegan, but the Rinnegan itself isn't actually dependent on the Sharingan."
"But your eyes are ultimately the product of experimentation. Could there be any side effects?"
"Of course not."
Shin spent a while explaining to Tsunade, mainly to reassure her, that these eyes were the real deal, with no negative effects whatsoever.
He didn't mention many of the details, because there was no need.
What's more, although both he and Madara possessed the Rinnegan, Shin's Rinnegan was actually superior.
His body had completely fused with Sage Particles, becoming the perfect Sage Body, with the Sage Body's energy perfectly merged with the power of the Sharingan.
Madara, on the other hand, after transplanting Hashirama's cells, had only achieved a balance between the power of the Sharingan and Hashirama's cells, not a true fusion.
That's why the level of power driving the evolution into the Rinnegan was fundamentally different.
For the same reason, his eyes still had the potential to continue evolving, unlike Madara's, which had already reached their evolutionary limit.
Feeling the surging power welling up inside him, Shin was deeply satisfied.
The next moment, he suddenly sensed something, his expression tensing, then breaking into a smile.
"What is it?" Tsunade asked curiously.
"It's nothing. You rest for now, I have to step out for a bit."
With that, Shin vanished from where he stood.
Unlike Madara, when he conducted his experiments, he had also ingested fragments of the God Tree's seed essence. Because of this, he could easily sense the aura of the God Tree.
The instant Madara's barrier concealing its aura disappeared, Shin pinpointed the exact location of the Gedo Statue, after all, the statue was the God Tree's husk.
In the very next moment, Shin appeared deep underground somewhere.
Before his eyes stood the massive Gedo Statue, and seated in front of it, an old man.
The man's hair was completely white, his back hunched, his figure frail and aged.
Countless tubes extended from his back, connecting into the statue. Yet, upon seeing Shin arrive, he showed no surprise at all, only calm composure.
This old man was, of course, Madara. But his current appearance was far removed from the arrogant, domineering figure Shin had pictured.
"Hello, granduncle," Shin greeted cheerfully.
Having thoroughly probed Hanma's memories, Shin already knew that Hanma's attacks on Konoha had nothing to do with Madara. In fact, the fool hadn't even known of Madara's existence, so Shin remained polite.
Madara froze at the words, then asked, "Wait, what did you just call me?"
"I forgot to introduce myself. My grandfather was your cousin, Terashima, so calling you that is only natural."
"Terashima..." Hearing that long-forgotten name again, Madara's heart gave an involuntary jolt.
Memories surfaced unbidden, of a man who had once fought by his side, spirited and proud, full of bravado, but who had died far too young. His gaze softened with nostalgia.
It was a long while before he returned to himself. When he looked at Shin again, he actually felt a faint sense of warmth.
"No... wait!" Madara suddenly frowned. "If I remember right, Terashima's son was named Sōta. But your father's name is Chihayabusa, isn't it?"
"I didn't expect you to still remember," Shin explained. "After you fought Hashirama, my father worried about being implicated. To sever any connection with you, he changed his name."
Madara's expression darkened instantly. "If he went so far as to cut ties, then why come looking for me today?"
Every time he thought back to when he left the Uchiha clan, and not one person was willing to follow him, his heart felt cold.
In his mind, the Uchiha clan had long since ceased to have anything to do with him.
"I know you're still bitter. Those people back then truly didn't know what they had. But blood is still thicker than water."
"These days, I have no kin left in the Uchiha clan, and I've long since been cast out. So, in a way, I actually feel closer to you."
"Hmph, you clearly have an agenda!" Madara snorted coldly, though for some reason, he felt a flicker of warmth inside.
In truth, he now resembled nothing so much as a lonely old man.
Though filled with ambition and plans, the loneliness in his heart was something Black Zetsu could never erase.
And no matter how much he resented the Uchiha clan, he could never direct that resentment toward Izuna or Terashima, his feelings for them back then had been genuine.
Thinking of Shin's similar experiences, and his respectful attitude toward an elder like himself, Madara found that even knowing the young man had ulterior motives, he didn't feel so opposed to him anymore.
"What you said is true. I do have some of my own plans, nothing escapes your eyes." Shin admitted without the slightest attempt to hide it, throwing in a flattering remark.
"Hmph!" Seeing Shin's slightly shameless look, Madara snorted again, but most of the tension in his heart eased.
Judging from Shin's attitude, at least his own safety wasn't in danger for the moment.
Once his mood relaxed, a flood of pent-up grievances that he hadn't realized he was holding back suddenly surged up. He lashed out angrily, "Since you knew you were always being excluded, why didn't you follow my example and overturn Konoha?"
The more he thought about how Shin had ruined his plans and even gotten seduced by Hashirama's granddaughter, the angrier he became.
"In the end, not only did you insist on staying in Konoha, but you also devoted yourself wholeheartedly to it. Tell me, aren't you pathetic?"
"Ah, you don't know the full story. That was my original plan. It's all because I was too young back then, without someone to guide me. But now Tsunade and I are already married, at this point, isn't it too late to change anything?"
"You make it sound nice enough, but could you at least take off those ridiculous sunglasses?" Madara scolded, eyeing Shin's attempt to look cool. "It's pitch black in here, who are you even trying to impress?"
"Uh... it's just a habit. I'll take them off." Shin remained patient as ever. Once he removed them, a pair of Rinnegan eyes was revealed.
Madara grew even angrier at the sight. "Do you have any idea what I've been through these past three months? You keep calling me that, yet you nearly got me killed."
"You're right to scold me. It's all my fault. I was just too anxious when I couldn't find you, so I had no choice but to use... unconventional means. But I swear I never meant you any harm."
After finding a few more excuses to berate Shin and finally feeling a bit better, Madara's expression turned serious. "Spit it out, what do you actually want from me?"
But Shin didn't answer right away. Instead, he glanced at the nearby Black Zetsu.
"He is the embodiment of my will. You can trust him," Madara explained.
Shin, however, didn't go along with the pride in Madara's voice. He shook his head. "Sorry, but there are some things I can only say to you. If you think he can be trusted, you can tell him afterward."
"As for now, why don't we let him go... find his mother?" As he spoke, Shin shot Black Zetsu a glance.
That moment was caught perfectly by Black Zetsu. Combined with Shin's words, which, to Madara, just sounded like a bit of petty temper, it sent a shock through Black Zetsu's mind.
What the hell is going on here? Does he... know something?
No, if that's the case, I absolutely can't let him talk to Madara alone. Otherwise, what happens to my plan?
But before he could react, Madara spoke up, "Go take a walk. I need to talk to this brat alone."
At that moment, Black Zetsu wished he could kill Shin on the spot.
But his "character" was to obey anything Madara said without question. He couldn't oppose him here, so with unease in his heart, he left reluctantly.
"Speak," Madara said after Black Zetsu left. "How did you know I was still alive? And do you also know what I've been planning?"
Shin didn't answer immediately. Instead, he quickly formed hand seals, setting up a barrier.
Then, using Earth Release, he made a chair, sat down beside Madara, and said seriously: "I have to level with you first."
"In fact, much of Konoha's current research wasn't done by Orochimaru alone, it was conducted by both of us, and in many cases, I was the one taking the lead."
"I'm telling you this because, after years of research, we have touched on certain forbidden domains, and we've sensed some abnormalities in this world."
"Or rather... we've brushed against the existence of something beyond normal human comprehension."
"That kind of existence gave me an overwhelming sense of danger."
"So, for fear of alerting this unspeakable being, we've stopped all related research."
"But in the process, we managed to catch a glimpse of fate, we saw fragments of the future... and we also saw your plan."
"You think I'd believe that?" Madara gave a cold, dismissive snort. He didn't believe a word, or rather, he was pretending not to believe, to test for more information.
"Believe it or not, I already know about your Eye of the Moon Plan," Shin said with a smile.
"What Eye of the Moon?" Madara denied flatly.
"You know, using Infinite Tsukuyomi to create some so-called ideal world of peace."
Madara still denied it. "That's just because you've read the Uchiha clan's stone tablet and seen the records there. What does that have to do with me?"
"Why are you being so stubborn? Do you really want me to spell it all out?" Shin said irritably. "Back when you fought Hashirama, the whole thing was already planned."
"During the battle, you bit off a piece of Hashirama's flesh, then used Izanagi to fake your death and escape."
"After returning here, you..." Shin pointed at Madara's chest, "...implanted Hashirama's cells. Under the interaction of both powers, you awakened the Rinnegan."
"But because you were already old and past your peak, you decided to find some unlucky pawn to work for you. Then you'd use him to resurrect yourself, return in your prime, become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, and complete the Eye of the Moon Plan. Am I wrong?"
Madara stared at Shin in disbelief.
When he realized that his junior had just laid bare everything, and even spoke to him in that "Why won't you listen?" tone, Madara's irritation flared instantly. He snapped:
"You sure talk a lot. Who are you to lecture me? You're just like your grandfather, never learned anything useful since you were a kid."
If anyone else had known his plan, he would have killed them without hesitation.
But when faced with those purple eyes of Shin's, what could he do?
Even so, the anger swelling in his chest wouldn't go away. The calm he had maintained for so long was now completely shattered, and he burst out cursing.