Chapter 59 — Withered Bones in the Grave
Uchiha Yashiro picked up a skewer of dango. His gaze was sharp as steel as he looked at Yami across the table.
"The turmoil in Kirigakure… it had something to do with you, didn't it? Perhaps more than just 'something.'"
Yami lifted his teacup and took a slow sip. The rising steam blurred the faint smile at the corner of his lips.
He neither confirmed nor denied.
Yashiro set the bamboo skewer down deliberately. Lowering his voice, he spoke with unmistakable astonishment:
"In a matter of months, as a mere chūnin, you stirred the winds of an entire village. Impressive."
"Just a bit of good fortune," Yami replied lightly.
Yet beneath that calm tone, confidence flickered in his eyes.
As one of the rising pillars of the Uchiha's middle generation, Yashiro embodied the clan's straightforward philosophy.
"The Uchiha respect strength. You've proven yourself. That alone earns you the treatment befitting your ability."
The tension eased slightly with that blunt acknowledgment.
Yami chose not to linger on the subject.
"I imagine you've just finished official duties. Has the Police Force been especially busy lately?"
"Nothing of importance," Yashiro answered evenly. "A few missing-person cases. No leads yet."
His tone was dismissive.
"Mostly released convicts. Some rogue shinobi expelled from the village. Filth like that. If they vanish, no one loses sleep."
Yami's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly, clarity dawned.
Prisoners. Rogue ninja.
The cleanest experimental materials. The least likely to trigger serious investigation.
Now that the battlefield was no longer a convenient source of bodies… Danzō had begun looking elsewhere.
"Should I come across anything relevant, I'll inform you," Yami said casually, offering only a vague promise rather than revealing his suspicions outright.
"The Police Force has its own intelligence channels. There's no need—"
Yashiro began to decline, but his words trailed off as he regarded Yami more carefully.
"However… if you truly intend to offer assistance, the Uchiha will remember the goodwill."
He kept his head lowered, clearly not taking Yami's gesture too seriously.
In his view, this was likely just the polite courtesy of a promising young shinobi.
But in that very instant—
An invisible pressure descended.
It had no form, no tangible weight, yet it felt like staring into an abyss. The sensation vanished as quickly as it came, so fleeting it might have been mistaken for imagination.
Yashiro's head snapped up.
Every muscle in his body tightened.
Across from him, Yami remained seated calmly, lifting a dango with his skewer and taking a casual bite as if nothing at all had happened.
Yet that brief oppression had been unmistakably real.
Yashiro did not ask what that aura had been. He simply recalibrated his assessment of the young man before him.
This was not someone who had merely "participated."
He drained his teacup in one motion and stood.
"I'll remember what you said."
His tone was still level—but more solemn than before.
"I have duties to attend to. I'll take my leave."
Yami smiled and inclined his head.
"Safe travels, Senpai."
Watching Yashiro's departing figure, Yami's gaze grew distant.
This brief encounter had yielded far more information than it appeared.
Danzō was moving faster than expected.
But that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Better to let the prey fatten.
When the harvest came, the yield would be greater.
His thoughts shifted.
Danzō alone could not orchestrate such operations. The man obsessed with forbidden techniques and the secrets of life—the "Cold Lord," Orochimaru—had to be involved.
Once Orochimaru sank deep enough into that mire, he would forever forfeit any chance at the Hokage's seat.
Yami would not even need to act.
He would simply wait.
---
In a Hidden Underground Cavern
"Madara… I think this might interest you."
A grotesque figure—half pitch-black, half pallid white—rose eerily from solid stone like a specter, its voice grating and unnatural.
Deep within the cavern, an old man cloaked in tattered black robes leaned against a massive conduit extending from the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
His face was gaunt, life flickering like a candle nearing its end.
Slowly, he opened his eyes—crimson and utterly detached.
"Oh?"
Uchiha Madara's voice was dry and hoarse, laced with disdain.
"In this dull shinobi world, what could possibly stir my interest?"
"The Land of Water has been lively lately."
Black Zetsu's twisted face split into a warped grin.
"Two great bloodline clans in Kirigakure clashed to mutual destruction. Soon after, the Three-Tails, Isobu, broke free. A mysterious shinobi intervened—fighting the Third Mizukage to a standstill. And… all signs seem to point toward Konoha's involvement."
Madara listened in silence.
His withered face showed no emotion.
Only after Zetsu finished did he speak, tone flat:
"Clan infighting. Tailed beasts running amok. The strong stirring chaos."
He gave a faint scoff.
"The same pathetic cycle of this flawed world."
After a pause, his voice turned hollow.
"Since Hashirama's death… nothing in this world has been worthy of my attention."
Then, a faint glint flashed in his eyes.
"The vessel for my eyes… how fares it?"
"Nagato?"
Black Zetsu responded at once.
"He is training in the Land of Rain under Jiraiya. His growth is impressive. The Uzumaki physique truly is well-suited to nurture your Rinnegan."
"Watch him closely."
Madara's tone brooked no refusal.
"Those eyes are the core of our plan. They must not be lost."
"Understood."
Zetsu bowed slightly—ever the perfect tool.
After a moment, Madara continued:
"The Uchiha I asked you to monitor—have you found a suitable candidate?"
Zetsu's voice turned darker.
"There is Uchiha Fugaku. Calculating, sharp. Awakened his Sharingan earlier than most. And the elder, Uchiha Setsuna—fanatically devoted to clan glory."
"Uchiha blood is merely the foundation."
Madara's gaze sharpened with faint mockery.
"At their age, neither has awakened the Mangekyō."
"They are nothing but bones waiting in a grave. Unfit for true purpose."
His voice hardened.
"To bear the Eye of the Moon Plan… the executor must be extraordinary."
"Continue searching."
Zetsu let out a knowing, eerie chuckle.
"Yes, Madara-sama. Your will is my direction."
"Not every Uchiha is fit to become a proper piece on the board."
"We require a vessel capable of holding sufficient darkness… and obsession."
With that, his body slowly sank back into the stone, vanishing without a trace.
The cavern returned to silence.
And in that silence—
The gears of fate continued turning.