Rushing all the way back to Mountain Prison, Naraku had barely entered the underground area when he received some relatively good news from Black Zetsu.
Uchiha Madara planned to inject him with Hashirama cells.
Not bad, not bad. This is a good opportunity to awaken a new Bloodline Limit and gradually awaken the main personality.
A thought flashed through Naraku's mind, and then he showed a happy smile.
"Really? Lord Madara has finally finished the adjustments?"
His movements were exaggerated, his hands clasped beside his face, and he spoke in a very cheerful tone words that were incredibly cruel to himself.
"I thought I wouldn't live to see that day."
Black Zetsu couldn't help but close his eyes.
-- He's truly insane, Uchiha Naraku's sub-personality.
The thought of having to continue to put up with this guy for many years after Madara died made him feel dizzy.
-- Uchiha Madara, maybe you shouldn't die yet...
Ignoring what Black Zetsu was thinking, Naraku scurried into Uchiha Madara's laboratory.
Sure enough, Madara was already waiting for him, and on the operating table lay a syringe filled with a strange liquid.
Naraku deliberately walked a large circle around Madara before coming to the other side of the table, leaning forward with his hands propped on the surface, muttering all the while.
"Lord Madara, are we starting now?"
"Do I need to do any preparations first? Like praying?"
"Don't I need to fast from food and water for eight hours before the surgery?"
He looked around and found no strange instruments or medical equipment, indicating that Madara only intended to give him an injection.
A slight aggrieved curve appeared at the corner of his brow.
"It feels so casual, so sloppy, even though it's an important moment in my life..."
"Shut up, you stupid brat." Madara rubbed his throbbing temples, his finger tapping the operating table: "Hurry up and get on."
"Alright, alright."
Naraku puffed out his cheeks, jumped onto the operating table, and lay down, letting Madara manipulate his arm.
This posture showed either 100% trust in Madara, or a complete disregard for his own life, or perhaps both.
The needle pierced his skin and entered the vein, and the cold liquid spread, quickly numbing his entire arm.
After the injection, Madara pulled out the syringe and told Naraku to stop the bleeding himself.
Naraku placed his glowing green palm over the needle mark, and at the same time, expressed strong condemnation: "I'm the patient, you know... I have to stop my own bleeding, Lord Madara doesn't care about me at all..."
He smiled, his empty, hollow eyes fixed on Uchiha Madara, and imperceptibly, his entire left arm turned pale and eerie.
Faint pricks of pain came from his arm, followed by his shoulder and chest, and then his internal organs; the range grew wider, and the pain grew heavier.
Naraku coughed twice softly, his consciousness hazy, his eyes vaguely looking at Madara's chest, still not forgetting to joke around.
"Speaking of which, I..."
"I don't want the First Hokage's face to grow on my body..."
"I don't even like him..."
Uchiha Madara's eyebrow twitched, just about to curse, but saw that this guy, Naraku, had already completely fainted.
-- Damn stupid brat, it's not like I wanted it to grow either!
He suddenly thought that if others saw Hashirama's face growing on his body, who knows what strange rumors would spread.
The almost octogenarian Uchiha Madara frowned deeply, worried about his reputation in this regard for the first time.
"Cough... cough..."
The brat on the table coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood, and even in his coma, his limbs occasionally convulsed from being unable to bear the excessive pain.
Finally, he turned onto his side and curled up slightly, the blood flowing from his mouth trickling to the edge of the table, sliding down the stone wall in several blood trails of varying lengths.
From now on, he could only rely on himself. Madara was about to leave when he suddenly heard a faint murmur from behind him.
"..."
The syllables were too faint, even Madara couldn't hear them clearly.
And rather than a murmur, it sounded more like noise from breathing.
In any case, there was no chance to hear it again. Uchiha Madara turned and left the laboratory, waiting for this foolish brat to survive on his own...
Naraku, having blocked all pain, huddled in his mental space, watching his body twitching and clicking his tongue.
"Tsk tsk tsk... How miserable."
"Two episodes of the anime have been updated."
Hearing the system prompt, Naraku stopped staring at his pathetic body and opened the website.
He had saved up several episodes and now was a good time to catch up.
Since awakening as the 'Naraku' personality, the White Zetsu intelligence system was also open to him.
With the stealth capabilities of the monstrous White Zetsu, if he wanted to, he could know most things in the Ninja World, even what time Kakashi went to sleep at night while training with Jiraiya outside the village.
So for him, the anime's function of providing information had clearly diminished; nowadays, it was primarily valuable for gaining popularity points.
Of course, watching for fun when he had nothing else to do was also a very important use for the anime.
— —
After 'Naraku' rescued Yun Muyan, the opening scene of the next episode returned to where Naraku had fallen off the cliff.
Uchiha Endou and Uchiha Fūyō arrived, each using different methods to investigate, and soon reunited.
Through scrolls and Ninja Cats, the two roughly reconstructed the final part of that battle.
When Entō realized the truth and prompted Fūyō, the latter's expression first turned horrified, then quickly transformed into anger, accompanied by heavy, terrifying sound effects, once again clutching at the audience's hearts.
[Hiyori is so cute, I want to pet her]
[Detective Entō, reporting for duty]
[Finally! The Uchiha finally know Naraku was framed by someone from his own village! Wuwuwuwu!]
[The Uchiha Clan is about to explode]
[More than just explode, they finally got a Mangekyo, but Konoha killed him? This grudge is irreconcilable!]
[This hatred, this animosity, is impossible to quell!]
Affected by the residual Chakra traces of Naraku, the scroll changed again. Uchiha Endou looked at the strange patterns, and even with his vast knowledge and calm mind, his voice trembled slightly.
"This is...!"
Bang—
The scene shifted, and Uchiha Fugaku's hand slammed hard on the table, almost making him jump from behind his desk.
"What did you say?!"
Listening to Entō repeat the bombshell news that "Uchiha Naraku is suspected of having awakened the Mangekyo," he took half a step back, both heartbroken and shocked, his eyes burning with fury.
[Fugaku's world just crashed down]
[It's the Uchiha's world that crashed! That's the strongest weapon!]
[What are you waiting for, send people to find Naraku's remains!]
[Since Shimura Rō is still alive, Danzo will definitely know about Naraku awakening the Mangekyo, and that old geezer must be frantically sending people out to find the body now]
[Holy crap! If Danzo finds it, the Uchiha are completely finished!]
On the other side, the atmosphere in the Hokage Office was even heavier.
After the Anbu reporting the news left, Hiruzen Sarutobi tapped out his cigarette ash and helplessly asked Danzo why he couldn't wait, his cold-blooded words drawing curses from countless viewers.
Danzo was still denying it, but he had no credibility with Hiruzen Sarutobi or the audience; his defense was just stubborn refusal to admit guilt.
Then the two argued and began discussing how to handle the aftermath, finally deciding on a cold approach.
Whether it was waiting for the Uchiha to quiet down, or suppressing them if they caused a ruckus, they certainly wouldn't actively compensate the Uchiha.
[Hiruzen Sarutobi! Do you hear yourself? Is that a human thing to say?! (Roars)]
[The 'Ninja God' is dead; now sitting in the Hokage's seat is a gradually aging politician]
[Konoha's leader isn't saddened by an innocent child dying at the hands of a comrade, but rather angry because his old friend wasn't thorough enough in his actions]
[It's truly too absurd, wuwuwuwu...]
[Destroy it! It's beyond saving!]
...