Suddenly—
The masked man flickered forward like a ghost, appearing directly before the walking Akira.
The mask drew so close that even the pores on Akira's face were clearly visible.
The black-and-white Rinnegan beneath the mask stared—unblinking—straight into Akira's eyes.
His feet lifted from the sea's surface.
His body drifted backward at the exact same pace Akira walked forward.
Neither Madara, nor Obito, nor even Akira sensed his existence.
"Umadara Flow… Divine Illumination… Takemikazuchi… Midobano… Bo'er Yexu… Twin Blossom… Even the extinct Severing Causality of my clan…"
"And that left eye, which hasn't even awakened the Rinnegan yet… to contain such power…"
"If I hadn't seen it myself, I would never believe a human could reach this height."
"Let me take a look at you."
Under the white half of his mask, the tomoe in the pale Rinnegan rotated slightly.
"…I see."
"To think there is such an exquisite 'causal link' between you and me."
"So your current eye power was, in fact, set in motion by my own hand?"
"It seems our meeting here today was inevitable."
He flickered back to the sea behind Akira, watching his departing silhouette.
"Uchiha Akira. Twelve years from now, in autumn, by that river… I will end that person's life and plant the first 'cause.'"
"And twenty years later, the 'cause' I planted for you will bear a 'fruit' that none can foresee."
"In between, I will do many, many things to guide that fruit in a direction favorable to me."
"Be honored. You have already become my ideal vessel candidate."
Swish!
Akira abruptly halted and turned toward the empty sea behind him.
"What is it?" Madara and Obito asked, puzzled.
He stared for a long moment.
The ocean showed nothing but rolling waves.
Akira withdrew his gaze.
"Nothing. Let's go."
That chill from deep within his chest…
Was it just an illusion?
Land of Lightning — Shinsurakawa
An elderly monk in worn robes sat cross-legged upon a sun-scorched rock.
Before him, a boy in a black divine robe had maintained a full prostration for three days and three nights.
He had neither eaten nor drunk.
Sweat had soaked through his clothing.
Yet the monk remained motionless, palms pressed together, eyes closed.
The boy in white beside him could no longer bear it.
"Brother! Forget it! This bald old fossil won't budge! Why do you insist on begging him to take you as a disciple?"
The kneeling boy answered reverently:
"Jin, do not speak disrespectfully of the Master! He is the wise man I chose with my own eyes!"
The kneeling youth was thirteen-year-old Akira.
Two months ago, he had personally slaughtered Ketsuryūgan Chihiko and his clan, avenging his parents.
With his revenge complete, his life had lost direction.
He desperately needed to move forward.
After much wandering, he had arrived here.
The elder on the rock—his future mentor, later called "Zen Master," inheritor of the Ninja Sect—would teach him meditation and eventually lead him to the Holy Land, Taoyuan.
Akira, Madara, and Obito stood atop a cliff, concealed by Bo'er Yexu.
Akira clenched his fists, eyes reddened, staring unblinkingly at Jin.
Of course.
The only one he would come back to see…
Was his own brother.
Madara understood better than anyone what Akira was feeling.
If he could return to that battlefield—
He would gladly give up eternal light if it meant saving Izuna from Tobirama's blade.
Akira…
Right now, you must want nothing more than to take Jin away.
To bring him back to your era.
To hide him safely in Taoyuan.
Jin thought to himself:
Brother really overthinks things.
Revenge is done.
Why obsess over being a ninja?
Wouldn't it be nice to marry a fair-skinned, beautiful older woman with curves—
Sleep in her arms every day, eat well, have two kids—
No more worries!
…But brother has carried too much.
I've barely helped at all.
He slaughtered every last member of the Ketsuryūgan clan himself.
Now that I have the same eyes as him, I can feel it.
The deeper the eye power goes…
The darker the heart becomes.
If I can't be his cure…
At least let me bring him a cup of water.
"Master, please forgive my earlier rudeness. Please accept my brother as your disciple."
Jin pressed his palms together and knelt as well.
The moment Jin knelt—
The meditating Zen Master opened his eyes.
"Om."
Jin nearly jumped.
What the hell? Did I just trigger a scripted event?
The Master gazed calmly at Akira.
"What do you seek from me?"
"Peace," Akira replied urgently. "Peace within."
"Only that?"
"Yes. Only that. There is a savage beast within my heart. It has cost me dearly. I want to tame it."
"I have never taken disciples. But seeing your sincerity, I shall teach you some simple methods."
"…Hm?"
Suddenly, the Master's gaze shifted upward—to the sky.
Obito muttered, "He's looking at us. He can clearly see us!"
Madara narrowed his eyes. "Even the Ōtsutsuki couldn't perceive Bo'er Yexu… and he can?"
Akira murmured, "Those who cultivate meditation to the depths of samadhi, without practicing ninjutsu, may awaken certain abilities…"
"Master… is this your power?"
Madara recalled Akira once describing this scene.
So the Master had been looking at Akira from the future.
How ironic.
The Master shook his head slightly.
His voice resonated directly within Akira's mind.
"Do not interfere with the course of this era. If you alter it, you will cease to exist."
So he sees that I want to take Jin.
Akira replied inwardly:
Even Severing Causality… cannot?
The Master answered:
"Severing Causality—so that is the name of your Rinnegan technique? You are far from strong enough to sever cross-temporal cause and effect. If you take your brother now, you will vanish."
"Return."
Cough!
The Master suddenly coughed violently.
"Master!"
Akira and Jin rushed forward.
Obito asked, "What's wrong?"
Akira replied quietly:
"The price of awakening that ability… is that he cannot interfere with others' karma."
"It was after these coughs that his health declined. Three years later… he passed."
"So this was because I intervened in my own causality."
Master… I cannot waste your sacrifice.
If I cannot change Jin's life here—
Then at least…
Akira descended from the cliff.
He stepped behind Jin and gently embraced him.
A tear fell.
Jin blinked at the droplet on his shoulder.
"…Eh?"
The sky darkened.
Rain began to fall.
Jin smiled.
"Oh. It's raining."
The Master clasped his palms.
"All is destiny."
"Akira, from today forth, I accept you as my disciple. I shall pass on to you the secret teachings of the Six Paths Ninja Sect—meditation."
After parting with the Master, Akira stood in the rain, holding the turtle artifact.
He wanted desperately to leap ahead to Year 73 of Konoha.
To uncover who had killed Jin.
But reason triumphed over emotion.
"Not yet."
"Issiki and Kara remain."
"Momoshiki, Kinshiki, Urashiki have fallen. Kara must already know."
"I cannot divide my focus now."
"Jin… wait a little longer. Once I uproot Isshiki and Kara, I will find the one who killed you."
"No matter who it is."
"I will scatter their ashes to the wind."
The turtle artifact glowed again.
A ladder of light carried Akira, Madara, and Obito back to Year 80 of Konoha.
Mid-journey, Akira suddenly said:
"By the way… there's something strange about Urashiki."
"What?"
"Where were his red fishing rod and basket?"
"For someone like him, they were essential survival tools. Why wouldn't he carry them?"
Late night.
A torrential storm washed over Konoha.
On the Hokage Monument, half-destroyed earlier that day, seven eyeless faces stared mournfully into the rain.
The Five Kage had not returned.
Shinobi from all five nations waited anxiously.
As time dragged on, despair deepened.
In an inconspicuous courtyard of the Hyūga clan—
Hyūga Tarō dug beneath a camphor tree.
"After seeing Uchiha Akira in Kaguya's space, leaving a Kāma in advance on this Hyūga body was indeed wise."
"With the Byakugan, I can adapt faster and unseal part of its power."
"Found it."
From the soil emerged a red fishing rod and basket.
"I begged so pitifully to make you believe I was truly finished."
"So you wouldn't suspect I had already prepared a cicada's shell."
"To deceive someone like Uchiha Akira… extraordinary measures are required."
He slung the rod over his shoulder.
Hung the basket at his waist.
On his left palm—
A blue rhombus mark shone faintly.
Kāma.
Lightning tore the sky apart.
Illuminating his eerie smile—
And the Caged Bird seal on his forehead.
"Now then."
"Let this Konoha become my hunting ground."
"While I search for the true vessel worthy of Lord Ōtsutsuki Urashiki."
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