The moment Uchiha Madara realized that his current strength was not enough to control the entire ninja world, his mindset changed.
Poor intelligence, limited time, and the need to accomplish the most in a short time—these abilities were deeply embedded in Madara's bones.
Although Raijin was strong, and the mysterious ninja was also powerful,
Madara knew that in this confrontation, he might be at a disadvantage.
But he believed that, in the end, he would be the one laughing.
Just like Hashirama, how strong was he compared to me?
It seemed like I lost.
But I'm still alive.
I can still fight for what I want.
I can still prove that my way is correct.
So now, Uchiha Madara decided it was time to leave.
The Three-Tails and Six-Tails died at the same time. The Three-Tails was revived, and there was no reason the Six-Tails shouldn't also come back.
Now, he just needed to leave this place and go after the Six-Tails.
As for Konohagakure, Madara wasn't planning to go there.
That descendant with space-time dojutsu was just too troublesome.
Madara didn't have a good way to counter it for now.
"Where do you think you're going?"
With Raijin's voice echoing, Uchiha Madara leaned back just in time to narrowly avoid Raijin's sword strike to his throat.
"You really are confident..."
Madara chuckled, looking at Raijin.
Those two masked ninjas had already made it hard for Raijin to deal with.
Yet, to his surprise, Raijin dared to attack him.
"Madara-senpai, what I said before still stands."
Seeing this, Gozu turned to Uchiha Madara and said,
"Ah... no matter what, you can't leave."
Raijin and Uchiha Madara separated with just a touch. Raijin admitted that, in a one-against-three situation, he had little chance of winning.
He might even fail in the end.
But Madara couldn't leave. Raijin's goal was to stay here, test the abilities of these two ninjas, and gather as much information as possible.
However, compared to that goal, Raijin could not accept Uchiha Madara obtaining another Tailed Beast.
If it came down to it, they would leave together.
Raijin wasn't like Jiraiya. Jiraiya might have chosen to sacrifice himself for the sake of gathering information.
But Raijin would never do that.
After all, such a sacrifice would be meaningless. If he died here, no amount of gathered information would matter.
In the face of overwhelming power, the value of information is minimal.
Just like in the original timeline, even though Jiraiya died in Amegakure, didn't Konohagakure end up losing more than half of its strength? So Raijin's plan was simple—do as much as possible but no more.
Compared to these two masked ninjas, Uchiha Madara took priority.
If things got too tough, Raijin would just retreat to Konohagakure.
In Konohagakure, even if no one else could help, Tsunade would still fight by his side.
"Fine, fine, I won't leave."
Madara let out a helpless smile, his eyes flashing coldly for a brief moment.
"Then I'll kill you, right here."
With those words, three invisible shadows instantly launched an attack on Raijin.
Had Madara left two shadows behind to react?
Sensing attacks coming from three different directions, Raijin held his sword in one hand, pointing it at his chest.
In a burst of golden light, not only were the shadows pushed back, but even the two masked ninjas were drawn into the attack range.
...
Meanwhile, Otsutsuki Isshiki silently appeared in Konohagakure.
To be honest, Otsutsuki Isshiki regretted sending those two to ambush Uchiha Raijin.
But realizing some things had to be done personally, Isshiki had no choice but to come here himself.
Even though each action accelerated the collapse of his body, the thought of the almost perfect vessel made the damage bearable.
...
Today, Uchiha Tatsu and Liuli were practicing at the central lake.
Tsunade, on the other hand, was lazily lying on a swing at her front door, enjoying the sunlight.
Even though Raijin wasn't in the village, Namikaze Minato had already started working in the Hokage office.
Tsunade felt very confident in Minato's administrative skills.
Great!
Feeling the warm sunlight on her face, Tsunade half-closed her eyes, lost in her thoughts.
Maybe she was reminiscing about the fun times training with Raijin when they were kids?
He was so stingy, always hiding a bit of his strength. But now, all of it was out in the open.
Tsk, not enough though.
"Ah!"
Suddenly, a cry of surprise rang out, and Tsunade instantly disappeared from her spot.
She saw Uchiha Tatsu being held by a mysterious ninja she had encountered several times before.
Tsunade gritted her teeth.
This guy... he's like a persistent ghost...
She gripped the kunai engraved with Raijin's Flying Thunder God seal tightly in her hand.
"Let him go."
If it weren't for this annoying guy holding Chen, Tsunade would have knocked him out with a single swing.
"Let him go? Do you know why I'm here?"
Otsutsuki Isshiki glanced at Tsunade, tightening his grip on Chen's shoulder. A black wedge suddenly appeared in Chen's palm.
"I knew you could do it."
Otsutsuki Isshiki couldn't help but smile as a spatial vortex appeared. He was about to take Tatsu and leave.
"Whoosh!"
At that moment, a piercing sound filled the air, and a Kunai marked with Raijin's Flying Thunder God seal narrowly missed cutting Isshiki's throat!
...
A mass of sand had just wrapped around Raijin's body, but in an instant, it fell to the ground as if it had lost all its power.
The Sand Hidden ninja, who had the White X, saw a huge increase in their strength.
But ultimately, the power they used was still chakra.
And as everyone knows, the Tenseigan can absorb chakra.
It can even absorb chakra from a distance.
So, while these two ninjas are indeed strong, they aren't that strong.
"Such a troublesome eye technique..." Raijin thought to himself, feeling a bit troubled.
An eye technique that can directly absorb chakra... it's really troublesome.
Just like the Rinnegan, it can absorb chakra, right? Madara thought, his gaze narrowing as he observed the scene.
First, the repulsion control, and now chakra absorption.
These eyes are very similar to the Rinnegan.
Just as Madara was preparing for another attack, he noticed something—Uchiha Raijin... had disappeared?
Konohagakure, Central Lake.
The moment that Kunai flew past him, Otsutsuki Isshiki knew something was wrong! Before he could react, a figure appeared in front of him.
In a flash, purple-golden lightning appeared. Otsutsuki Isshiki almost instinctively released the hand he had on Tatsu's shoulder.
One hand pressed against Tatsu's's chest, pushing him gently toward Tsunade.
Tatsu staggered and fell toward Tsunade.
Tsunade quickly appeared behind Tatsu and caught him in her arms.
In the meantime, Otsutsuki Isshiki used the opportunity to step into the spatial tunnel.
Staying here to fight Uchiha Raijin was pointless.
After all, the goal had already been achieved.
The seal had been made, and Isshiki didn't believe Raijin could do anything to fix it.
Now, he just had to wait for the seal to thaw, and then he could harvest a fine tool.
Raijin quietly watched Isshiki disappear but didn't try to stop him.
Turning around, Raijin looked at Tsunade.
"I'm sorry. I didn't take good care of Tatsu."
Looking into Raijin's eyes, Tsunade pursed her lips and softly said, "If I had stayed by Tatsu's side, he probably wouldn't have fallen into Isshiki's hands."
"What are you saying? Are you okay?" Raijin smiled and shook his head, asking Tsunade.
What happened had already happened. Dividing responsibility was a leader's job.
As for Raijin and Tsunade, they were husband and wife, not master and subordinate.
Raijin was more concerned about how Tsunade was doing than about what happened to Tatsu.
To be honest, Raijin's feelings for the child didn't compare to his feelings for Tsunade.
After all, how many years had Raijin known Tsunade? And how many years had he known Tatsu?
"I'm fine," Tsunade replied, her lips tightening, her heart warming slightly.
"By the way... shouldn't I, as the victim, deserve more attention?" Tatsu weakly raised his hand, somewhat helplessly asking his unreliable parents.
"Ah... Is there something wrong with You?"
Raijin raised an eyebrow and looked at Tatsu.
"I'm not uncomfortable, but there's a tattoo on my palm."
Tatsu raised his hand towards Raijin, revealing a diamond-shaped black mark.
"To be honest, it looks pretty cool."
After a pause, Tatsu continued speaking to Uchiha Raijin.
Tatsu didn't know what it was, but he was sure it wasn't anything good.
So, he didn't try to hide it.
After all, his life was his own, and compared to Uchiha Raijin,
though he was an unreliable father, as a ninja, even Tatsu had to admit he was very skilled.
At least, he was more skilled than Tatsu.
"Looks good? Maybe it'll just explode one day."
Raijin raised an eyebrow at Tatsu, who was looking at his palm.
"If I explode, would you be sad?"
Tatsu sighed and pursed his lips as he looked at the man squatting in front of him, inspecting the mark on his palm.
Honestly, who has a father who doesn't comfort his own kid at a time like this, but instead says something like that?
"I really want to knock some sense into this idiot's head and see how much water is inside!"
"Probably not. After all, your mother and I will try hard, and in a couple of years, we can have another one."
Raijin casually spoke while still inspecting the mark on Tatsu's palm.
"But to show our father-son bond, if that day ever comes, whether it's a boy or a girl, we'll still name them Uchiha Tatsu."
Raijin lifted his head, released Tatsu's hand, and raised an eyebrow.
*Slap!*
Uchiha Ryuri, standing nearby, slapped her forehead with a look of helplessness, sighing as she lowered her head.
Tsunade also looked troubled. She opened her mouth, then asked Raijin,
"Do you know what this is?"
"No, I don't. We'll have to see if that guy comes looking for me."
Raijin raised his head and looked at Tsunade. He thought he'd seen a similar mark on the two ninjas earlier.
But the color was different—those two had white marks, while Tatsu's was black.
What could the difference in color represent?
"Are you scared?"
Raijin looked at Uchiha Tatsu.
"Yeah."
Tatsu pursed his lips, looking away, as if pouting.
It was clear that Raijin's earlier words had upset him.
"Then let's go find Grandma Mito and study this mark."
Raijin stood up and took Tatsu's hand, heading toward the Senju clan's land.
"Don't worry too much; there's definitely a way to solve it."
Raijin reassured Tatsu.
"You're just talking big. You don't even know what this jutsu is."
Tatsu glanced at Raijin and muttered unhappily.
When Tatsu first saw the mark, he wasn't scared.
Because he trusted Raijin's professional skills.
But when Raijin said he didn't know what the jutsu was, Tatsu couldn't help but panic.
The instinct to survive made Tatsu anxious in that moment.
"It's fine. Even though I don't know what this jutsu is, you have to understand one thing: all jutsu is just a form of energy manipulation."
Energy manipulation? Liuli, following behind Raijin, looked up and thought about that statement.
It seemed... to make sense.
"And as long as it's a form of energy manipulation, it can be solved with energy."
Raijin paused for a moment before continuing to speak to Uchiha Tatsu.
"Let's get Grandma Mito to take a look at the mark on your palm. When we get back, I'll teach you Senjutsu."
Raijin squeezed Tatsu's hand and said this to him.
Raijin believed that if a jutsu couldn't be solved externally, then it could certainly be solved from the inside.
If others can't help, then rely on yourself.
Once Tatsu's Senjutsu reaches a certain level, he will definitely be able to solve this problem.
As for whether the mark will take effect before Tatsu reaches that level...
Let's not think too far ahead for now.
For now, the most important thing is to do everything that can be done.
"By the way, how did your trip go? Was everything smooth?"
Tsunade suddenly asked Raijin.
"Very smoothly. The Three-Tails is dead, but the whereabouts of the Six-Tails are still unclear. We'll talk about the rest at tomorrow's high-level meeting."
Raijin replied to Tsunade.
"Alright, I'll let Minato know."
Tsunade nodded, creating a Shadow Clone to inform Namikaze Minato.
Raijin and the others then continued on their way to the Mito family.
(End of this chapter)
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