Shiki turned his perception to yet another partition of his Underworld Shadow - Void.
Sitting there, was yet another of his spoils from this excursion, an uprooted flowering tree, with a familiar humanoid form jutting out of its trunk on the side, surrounded by eight arms.
This was the Hashirama Artificial Body grown by Madara using the piece of flesh he bit off from Hashirama's body during their final battle in the Valley of The End, with the Gedo Statue as a catalyst.
Originally, the Gedo Statue was kept sitting on top of the large flowering tree when not in use; however, this time around it was hidden in a completely different location.
'Madara probably did not want me to find the tree so he placed it in a different location beforehand which means . . . He predicted that someone would come to the Mountains' Graveyard and was prepared to welcome them.' Shiki pondered.
'No . . . Hiding this tree from me makes no sense, he had no reason to believe I would even show interest in it.' The boy realized.
'Mito-sama. Madara was expecting a visit from Mito-sama and so, he would obviously hide Hashirama's Artificial Body at another location to prevent her who is intimately familiar with Hashirama's chakra from sensing it.' He swiftly reached a conclusion.
Either way, it was Shiki's property now.
'I still need to go and get Uchiha Hikari. With Madara getting more active that in the original series due to my actions and existence, there is no guarantee that she won't be selected as their disposable puppet.' The boy mused.
Uchiha Hikari burned with hatred towards all shinobi as well as the world and society they built, this made her a prime candidate to be brainwashed into Madara's idea of Perfect World, his Eye of The Moon plan.
Her Engraved Tsukuyomi similar to the Infinite Tsukuyomi, her busted Yachihoko ocular jutsu, her abilities far beyond the standard of a Mangekyo Sharingan wielder even without Hashirama cell enhancements like Obito received . . .
All of this made her a perfect candidate in Shiki's mind so he definitely had to collect her now.
That said, reporting the details of his encounter with Madara to Mito definitely took priority.
Thankfully, over the years, the Uzumaki matriarch had perfected her self creator long distance communication jutsu to the point that it became far more convenient.
An individual merely needed to carry a talisman with their chakra keyed into it, by joining to talismans together, a bond was created.
With that done, regardless of distance, a talisman bearer could input their chakra into their talisman, search for the particular connection they desire and then establish a channel of genjutsu communication.
Utilizing his own talisman, Shiki decided to quickly make a report to Mito before he went to pick up Uchiha Hikari.
*
Back at the Mountains' Graveyard, Madara sat on his stone throne, pondering on his encounter with the infuriating brat called Ryumon Shiki.
He was interested in the boy, curious about his unique dojutsu and even had plenty of praise to give but the end of their encounter followed by reports from his Zetsu instantly wiped any and all good impressions he had of the boy.
'He trapped my Limbo Shadow in an alternate space, he stole Hashirama's Artificial Body, he took my ninjutsu scrolls, he plundered my personal armory, he gathered information of my current state and finally, he got away practically scott free . . .'
The old man felt like he was about to blow a gasket.
'I underestimated him, I didn't consider the possibility of a spacetime ninjutsu so I thought I had everything under control.' Madara thought to himself.
'I had measures in place to ensure my survival if Mito herself came to find me. If I had known from the beginning that that insufferable brat had spacetime ninjutsu, I could have prevented him from escaping . . .'
'Thinking in "what ifs" is never productive. Accept your errors, learn from them, and move on to the next play, better than you were before.' He shook off the mental burden of his failure and began thinking of what would come next.
"With more information to draw a picture, Mito will likely come herself this time around and, without Limbo, my chances against her are significantly worse." Madara spoke out loud.
From the ground, a half black half white figure rose.
"What shall we do then, Madara-sama?" It's black half, independently inquired, its gravelly, inhuman voice exhibiting a deferential tone.
"It is either relocate or prepare to welcome her in spite of the risks but . . . Playing cat and mouse with that woman is not a good idea, she is nothing if not persistent. The Uzumaki are bullheaded by nature." The old man ponderously responded.
"If you ask me, I personally think we should run!" An upbeat voice emerged from the white half of the previous figure.
"Shut it! No one asked!" The gravely voice from before interjected.
His more animated half could only keep grumbling in displeasure.
"I've already developed a countermeasure in response to the changes in the world I failed to predict. If this encounter with Mito turns violent, then the time to activate that countermeasure might come sooner than expected, that's all." Madara declared, ignoring the figure's ramblings.
"Senju Tobirama . . . A detestable fellow but he had his uses . . .' Madara thought.
Unbeknownst to him, the black half of the figure, the Filial Son among filial sons, Madara himself erroneously believed he created, harbored its own thought on Shiki.
'That feeling . . . It is different but similar to Otsutsuki . . .' Black Zetsu pondered.
'No an equal but someone who managed to make their way to the starting line of a long climb.' That was the metaphor he felt best described it.
Make no mistake, no one since Hagoromo and Hamura have even made it to the start line. It is not a matter of strength but of one's rank as a lifeform.
'Ryumon Shiki has started the process of evolution into a higher form of life. His power will surge and surpass the limits of mere shinobi soon enough.' The Filial Son concluded.
Of course, for an immortal being of Yin-Yang, "soon" could mean something completely different to it than to a normal human.
'He must either be eliminated now, before he evolves beyond our means, or he must be drawn into the fold.' Black Zetsu concluded.
'Someone who managed to evolve to a higher form of life under their own efforts and talent.'
'An individual with the "vision" to unlock a dojutsu with so much hidden potential that it reminds me of mother's Byakugan and Hamura's Tenseigan and may reach those heights in the future.'
'He will care nothing for the words and legacy of Hagoro, both the real deal and my carefully doctored version. He will not support the Eye of The Moon plan I led Madara into adopting.'
That much, Black Zetsu was certain of.
'But that does not mean there is no hope. For an individual seeking further heights as a life form, what could be of more interest than a living, breathing, pure Otsutsuki, mother being the only one in this world?'
As far as he knew.
Though his line of thought was not wrong, Shiki did have an interest in Kaguya, for more reasons than one.
And so, Black Zetsu began formulating a plan to approach the boy.
+++++
Hey, Author here!
To promote the novel I will be releasing BONUS CHAPTERS on SUNDAYS based on the previous week's power stone count.
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
500 Power Stones = 2 Bonus Chapters
1000 Power Stones = 3 Bonus Chapters
Every earned BONUS CHAPTER on Webnovel will also be posted on Scribble.
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -