Chapter 203: Madara and Nagisa, The Second Meeting
Hearing the girl's cold, accusatory tone, Tobi was at a loss.
In terms of raw power, while Uchiha Nagisa was no longer weak, she was still no match for him. Logically, he shouldn't have felt any fear.
But for some reason, the moment he saw her Sharingan, a primal, instinctual dread bloomed in his heart, one he couldn't suppress no matter how hard he tried. He decided it was best to keep his distance.
Only after retreating to Madara's side did the fear subside, though the memory of her crimson eyes still made him uneasy.
"I was afraid you would do something irrational," Tobi finally said, his voice hesitant. "And what's done is done. Rushing in would have changed nothing."
"Are you finished?" The killing intent in her voice grew even thicker. She was clearly not satisfied with his explanation.
"Uh..." Before Tobi could say another word, Nagisa's form blurred as she charged at him.
Left with no other choice, Tobi created several wood clones, hoping to block her advance.
Nagisa met the clones head-on, her attacks relentless and with a complete disregard for her own safety. The wood clones, programmed with a degree of self-preservation, were no match for her suicidal fervor and were quickly destroyed.
Seeing this, Tobi created another wave of clones. He had figured it out now: the girl was trying to vent her hatred through combat. Fine. He would let her. Once she had exhausted herself, she would surely calm down.
But as time wore on, Nagisa's onslaught only intensified, her rage growing with every clone she destroyed.
Finally, Uchiha Madara, who had been watching with growing impatience, let out a cold snort. "Have you had enough?"
His voice carried a powerful, oppressive aura that instantly enveloped Nagisa, freezing her in place.
"Why... why did he kill Grandfather? Why couldn't you save him...?" the girl muttered, her voice a mix of confusion and anguish.
Madara's brow furrowed as he looked at her expression, a maelstrom of rage and despair. Without his Rinnegan, he could only draw on a sliver of its power through his connection to the Gedo Statue and the Hashirama cells. It was enough to temporarily restrain the empowered Nagisa, but if this dragged on, he knew even he wouldn't be able to contain the hate-fueled girl.
He shot a fierce glare at the cowering Tobi, silently ordering him to end this farce.
"Sigh..." Tobi let out a weary breath and cautiously approached, preparing to subdue her with a more powerful wood-style jutsu.
But then, the unexpected happened.
The wood clones that had been restraining Nagisa suddenly turned, ignoring Tobi's shocked cries as they charged at their creator.
"What... what is this?" Tobi stammered, dodging the attacks while trying to dispel his own jutsu.
To his astonishment, he found he couldn't. A strange power emanating from the clones was preventing them from disappearing. Now, not only were his own creations attacking him, but he couldn't even cancel the technique. For a moment, Tobi experienced a profound crisis of self-doubt.
"Useless," Madara spat. The three-tomoe Sharingan in his eyes flared.
A skeletal blue arm of chakra materialized, swatting the rogue clones against the cavern wall. The giant hand then shot out, snatching the surprised Nagisa from the air and closing around her.
"Have you had enough?" Madara asked again.
"Why..." the girl continued to whisper, lost in her own world.
So she cannot be reasoned with, Madara thought. He decided to knock her unconscious and wait for her to regain her senses.
But just as he was about to act, the Mangekyo Sharingan in Nagisa's right eye began to spin wildly.
A transparent, white, spiritual entity shot out from her body. It hesitated for a moment, then lunged at Madara.
An attack that separates the spirit from the body. Is this the ability of her right eye? Madara thought, his expression unchanged as he calmly waited for the attack.
Connected to the Gedo Statue, he had no fear of any spiritual assault. Besides, the girl's physical body was still crushed in his Susanoo's grip. If anything went wrong, a slight squeeze was all it would take to end her life.
As expected, the moment Nagisa's spirit touched Madara's body, it was violently repelled by his immense spiritual energy. With a silent scream of agony, it fled back to its physical form.
The Susanoo's arm extended, gently placing the now-unconscious girl back on the stone slab. Madara nodded to Tobi, who came forward and used a wood jutsu to firmly bind her to the bed.
With that done, Tobi finally relaxed, his usual flippant demeanor returning. "Madara, thank goodness you were here. I don't think I could have handled her on my own," he chuckled. "How can she be so strong when she just awakened her Mangekyo?"
"Hmph. It is merely a matter of compatibility. In terms of true power, she is still far from a match for you," Madara said with a cold glance before leaning back in his stone chair and closing his eyes to rest.
"Hmph," Tobi pouted, then silently went back to the Gedo Statue and reconnected himself to its power.
An unknown amount of time later, Uchiha Nagisa awoke once more. This time, she was rational.
"Let me go," she said, her voice cold as she looked at the wooden restraints and then at Tobi.
"Uh..." Tobi looked at her, then shrugged helplessly. "I can, but you have to promise..."
Before he could finish, the wooden restraints once again fell away on their own.
Seeing the Mangekyo pattern glowing in her eyes, Tobi could only sigh in defeat.
"Honestly, your ability is really a pain..."
Ignoring his complaints, Nagisa stood and stretched. "I'm going back," she commanded.
Now that she was calm, she felt an urgent need to return, to confront Kyosuke and demand to know why he had killed her grandfather. If his answer was not satisfactory, she would avenge him with her own hands.
And if he had a good reason... No. No matter what, I will never forgive him. Never, she told herself firmly.
"Tobi, take her back," Madara said, offering no resistance to her demand.
Nagisa was about to refuse, but Madara spoke again. "Without Tobi, your presence will be detected. With so many allies on his side, how do you expect to get your revenge?"
Nagisa thought for a moment and had to admit he was right. She had known of Kyosuke's strength since they were children. Even with her newfound power, she couldn't be certain she could defeat him.
She gave a silent nod, her eyes telling Tobi to hurry up and not waste her time.
Tobi walked forward, a resigned look on his face, and enveloped her once more, relinquishing control. There was no point in resisting her dōjutsu.
Before leaving, Nagisa turned and gave the shadowed figure of Madara a long, deep look. She opened her mouth to say something, but ultimately swallowed the words of gratitude.
In her mind, there was only one reason Madara would save her: because they were of the same clan. It was the only explanation that made sense.
In her despair over her grandfather's death, she had unconsciously transferred some of her feelings for him onto the elderly Madara, who had repeatedly sent aid to her. It was something she herself hadn't even realized. And so, in this moment of departure, she hesitated.
If... if the truth is not what I hope for... after I kill Kyosuke, where will I go? Can... can I come back here? A profound sense of being abandoned by the entire world washed over her.
Madara, a master of manipulating the human heart, saw this instantly. "If the answer you seek is not to your liking," he said, his voice low, "then you may return here and keep an old man company."
To the despairing girl, Madara's cold tone held a strange, familiar quality, like the way her grandfather used to scold her when she had done something wrong.
Seeing the dazed look on her face, a faint smirk touched Madara's lips. Still so naive. But that's good. It makes her easier to control.
Nagisa's delusion was not just a product of her emotional transference. As he spoke, Madara had subtly used genjutsu to plant a suggestion of "dependence" in her mind. Under normal circumstances, such a weak illusion would have had no effect, but in her current state, it was surprisingly effective.
Satisfied that the seed had been planted, Madara said no more.
Nagisa stood there for a moment, lost in a trance, then snapped back to reality. Without another word, she turned and sped out of the cave.
After she had gone, White Zetsu emerged from the shadows. "How are the arrangements?" Madara asked.
"Hehehe," Zetsu chuckled darkly. "Everything is in place. When she returns, she will fall completely into the abyss of despair. I look forward to seeing it."
"Well done," Madara said simply, then closed his eyes once more.
"The moment you return to my side, the 'Eye of the Moon' plan can begin ahead of schedule."
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