Chapter 78: How Can I Give It to Kakashi?
"Ugh… ah…"
Inside the Kamui dimension, the masked man, half of whose body had been blown apart, let out a low, pained groan.
The damage from this attack felt eerily similar to that Rasengan from the night of the Nine-Tails long ago.
Half of the masked man's body began to melt and slide down.
The difference was that back then, after being hit by the Rasengan, what dissolved and sloughed off had been a normal pale white.
Now, it was stained with a thick, ominous color.
That half of the masked man's body looked like one of those chocolate fountain machines at a buffet.
"Did that bastard Kakashi treat my eye like a mobile toilet or something?"
The masked man struggled to his feet. After surveying the horrific scene around him, and the cheerfully hopping White Zetsu, he decided that leaving this place as soon as possible would be the wiser choice.
In an unnamed forest, space twisted and distorted.
The masked man appeared, half-kneeling on the ground, utterly exhausted both physically and mentally.
He planned to contact the other White Zetsu and replace half his body first.
However, the pungent, irritating smell emanating from him attracted the attention of a group of mountain bandits who were patrolling the area.
The dog being led by the bandit leader suddenly started barking wildly and charged straight toward the masked man.
To the dog, that smell meant dinner time.
"Y-you, you… what kind of monster are you?!"
The bandit squad chased after the dog and ran straight up to the masked man, staring in horror at the terrifying humanoid creature before them, one hand gripping the dog's neck, its entire body smeared with unknown substances.
"…My name is Uchiha Madara."
Without a trace of emotion, the masked man snapped the neck of the poor dog in his hand and tossed the corpse onto the ground.
Then he subconsciously reached up and touched his face.
Realizing that his mask had already shattered halfway, and that these bandits had seen his true appearance, the masked man's killing intent surged.
"Since you've seen my true face, you'll all stay here."
His hands began forming seals.
The bandits were completely dumbfounded.
Wait, what? True face? Where?!
His face was plastered with curry, what the hell were they supposed to be seeing?!
This was a completely fabricated accusation!
"Fire Release: Blas…"
Just as the masked man was about to launch his attack, a crucial thought struck him.
The explosion Kakashi had transferred into the Kamui dimension earlier was most likely a methane gas explosion.
If he now used Blast Wave Wild Dance, it would very likely trigger a secondary explosion.
If his body were injured again in its current state, that would be extremely dangerous.
So, the masked man forcibly cut off his use of Fire Release.
Blast Wave Wild Dance was a Fire Release technique that only those who possessed the Kamui dōjutsu could use.
Its principle was to first use Kamui to distort space, creating a violent whirlwind, and then apply Fire Release to ignite it into a massive vortex of flames.
So what would happen now, without the Fire Release part?
A horrifying "mudslide" spiraled and drilled out from the masked man's Mangekyō Sharingan, surging toward the bandit squad.
The bandits were crushed by a weight their lives could not bear, letting out shrill screams just as miserable as the masked man's earlier cries.
The masked man realized that after Blast Wave Wild Dance had effectively turned into Blast Snow Dance, it could conveniently help clean up the Kamui dimension as well. He stabilized the output and maintained a continuous flow.
Only after all the filth within the Kamui dimension had been completely expelled did he stop the attack.
The bandit squad had all collapsed, dead in gruesome fashion.
The masked man turned away coldly, preparing to leave.
"Hm?"
He suddenly halted.
He sensed that one of the bandits was not completely dead yet.
There was still a trace of chakra fluctuation, likely a ninja, barely clinging to life.
Using his final breath, the bandit dipped his finger in blood and chocolate sauce and painstakingly wrote the words "Uchiha Madara" on the ground before finally breathing his last.
"Hmph."
Relying on the perception of his Sharingan, the masked man clearly saw this dying message. He didn't care in the slightest and left immediately.
Not long after, terrifying rumors began to spread: "The Death God Uchiha Madara has returned to the world, harvesting lives with… feces."
Unfortunately, aside from the group of people who discovered the crime scene, no one believed such an outrageous story.
—
Land of Fire, Konohagakure Village.
After Kakashi lost consciousness, he was discovered by an ANBU ninja who was searching the area as part of rescue and support efforts.
"Kakashi-senpai?"
The masked ANBU seemed to know Kakashi personally. Seeing him unconscious, he hurried forward in alarm to check on him. After confirming that there was no immediate danger to his life, he picked Kakashi up and prepared to take him to the medical division.
While carrying Kakashi, the ANBU deliberately slowed his pace, afraid that moving too fast might aggravate some hidden injury he hadn't noticed.
When he passed by Shiromo's group, the ANBU stopped in his tracks.
"J-Jiraiya-sama?"
"Oh, is that Kakashi? He's injured?"
Jiraiya nodded, then looked at his grand-disciple on the ANBU's back.
"Yes. For some reason, Kakashi-senpai collapsed there. I checked him over and didn't find any external injuries. I'm not sure what caused it."
The ANBU reported the situation.
From afar, Tsunade gave Kakashi a rough glance. She could tell that he had likely overused the Sharingan, exhausting both his chakra and mental energy. Seeing that there was no real danger, she didn't linger and slipped away directly.
"He overused the Mangekyō Sharingan, didn't he?"
Shiromo spoke up.
"Mangekyō… Sharingan? Overuse? What happens if that occurs?"
The ANBU froze for a moment, then hurriedly asked Shiromo.
"The Mangekyō Sharingan is something that, once you use it for the first time, you can easily become subconsciously dependent on."
"Kakashi's self-control is pretty good. This time, he probably used it only because he had no other choice."
"As the Mangekyō is used repeatedly, the eyes will gradually lose their light."
"Some Uchiha can even go completely blind in just fifteen days."
"To avoid that outcome, unless…"
Shiromo paused here.
He felt like he had already guessed who this ANBU was.
"Unless what?"
The ANBU pressed anxiously.
"Unless he can obtain Hashirama's cells. Hashirama's cells can greatly delay, or even eliminate, the negative effects of using the Mangekyō Sharingan, preventing blindness caused by its use."
After finishing, Shiromo left together with Jiraiya, leaving the ANBU standing there in a daze for quite some time.
"Hashirama's cells? That means only I… I never thought Kakashi-senpai and I would end up bound by this kind of fate and connection. Looks like Kakashi-senpai won't be able to leave me in the future."
The ANBU muttered to himself for a while.
After delivering Kakashi to the medical division, the ANBU rubbed his chin and began to think seriously.
If Hashirama's cells could eliminate the side effects of using the Mangekyō, then how could he give them to Kakashi?
Transplantation was definitely not an option.
Not only had experiments involving Hashirama's cells already been halted by the Third Hokage, but even if they hadn't been stopped, the success rate was far too low, he was the only surviving test subject.
Let Kakashi eat his flesh?
The ANBU touched his arm and sucked in a sharp breath.
That would hurt way too much, wouldn't it?
Besides, eating a comrade's flesh was something Kakashi would absolutely never agree to, given his personality.
Knowing how deeply Kakashi was obsessed with protecting his comrades because of his past, where he had killed a teammate, the ANBU immediately rejected the idea.
"Forget it. I'll report this to the Third Hokage. As the ninja world's professor, the Third Hokage will definitely be able to come up with a solution."
Having made up his mind, the ANBU stopped overthinking and decided to go find Sarutobi Hiruzen.
But not right now.
At the moment, the Hokage Building was in the middle of discussions regarding post-war matters.
(End of this chapter)