"Don't worry, we're all the same person, and our thoughts are identical. No need to repeat it," one shadow clone said with his hands on his hips.
"You can count on us to get the job done."
"Exactly, exactly. You can head off with peace of mind."
"Tsk, that sounds like you're sending me to my grave."
"Stop with the old-fashioned superstitions. What era do you think this is?"
"
Watching himself bicker with himself gave Makiya a headache. The Shadow Clone Jutsu was great, but its one flaw was that the clones each developed their own quirks. While they shared a single goal in battle, their distinct personalities came out in full force the moment they had free time.
Bickering aside, the clones were reliable. The four Makiyas spaced themselves out, sitting cross-legged at the four corners of Madara Uchiha's corpse to remain on guard.
Makiya wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and released golden flames to incinerate his own blood spilled on the battlefield. His chest throbbed with a dull pain.
This new version of Sage Mode wasn't the final iteration after all. The strain it put on the body's chakra pathway system was still significant, particularly in several pathways across his chest. Makiya felt around, then pulled out a scroll to record the specific locations and sensations. He planned to discuss this with Tsunade once he returned to Konoha to further refine the technique.
He had a premonition that a Sage Mode unique to humans held far more potential than this. Perhaps its true power would only be revealed once development was fully complete.
Having recovered some chakra, Makiya unleashed golden flames and condensed them into a longsword, pointing it toward the sky to fly.
The tides gradually calmed, and the waves crashed against the wooden giant's waist, bursting into sprays of white foam.
The massive, deep-green Wood Golem sat motionless in the seawater like a mythical titan lost in thought while bathing. Perhaps it would only decay under nature's might once the chakra within it had completely dissipated.
For a long time to come, a brand-new ecosystem would flourish here.
In the distance, the fleeing Mist Ninja finally stopped. Looking back at the gargantuan figure looming over the horizon under the azure sky, the survivors stared at each other in stunned silence.
The thunderous roar had finally ceased. A victor had likely been decided, but this time, no one had any intention of going back to investigate.
They were on a completely different level. It was terrifying. Were people like that even really ninjas?
The surviving Mist Ninja had lost all their nerve. The battle of giants that had reached the heavens was etched into the depths of their souls. Many of them would rather fight Sand or Cloud Ninja upon returning to their village than ever step foot in the Land of Fire again.
Mei Terumi was among the survivors. Even as a young girl, she possessed an indomitable spirit. No matter how powerful the enemy, they were still human, and she believed she would catch up to them one day.
But she didn't voice those thoughts. She was smart enough to know that saying such a thing now would only make her a laughingstock.
Rather than worrying about who won the fight, the Mist Ninja were more concerned with how to get home.
In their frantic flight, they had completely lost their bearings. They hadn't even brought any sea vessels. Standing on the water required chakra, and the moment their chakra ran out, they would all drown.
At that moment, a surviving ninja from the Yuki Clan became the center of attention. Though delicate in appearance, the ninja was actually a man. With a quick set of hand signs, a small boat made of solid ice appeared on the sea.
Fearful of being spotted by the victor, the ice boat wasn't large; it could only just barely fit all the survivors.
Flying straight toward the Konoha camp, Makiya saw a massive, circular crater that had suddenly appeared in the middle of the dense forest.
The vast forest ended abruptly here, as if a god had reached down and scooped out a chunk of the earth. The enormous crater was large enough to cover half of Konoha Village, and two irregular depressions could be seen at the bottom.
Judging by the traces, Nagato's puppet, Pain, had likely unleashed a powerful attack here, though he hadn't gone all out. After all, a full-power Almighty Push would have leveled the entire village; this crater wasn't nearly big enough for that.
The depressions at the bottom were likely caused by Shisui and Fugaku using Susanoo to block Pain's attack. Since the battle marks were some distance from the Konoha camp, it seemed Pain's goal wasn't mass slaughter.
When Makiya reached the camp, members of the Uchiha clan were gathered outside the temporary field hospital tent, peeking inside.
One Uchiha spotted Makiya and broke into a grin. "Everyone, look! Elder Makiya is back!"
"It's Lord Makiya!"
"Lord Makiya, the Clan Head and Shisui have both passed out. Please, go check on them."
"Elder Makiya, the Third Hokage arrived just a moment ago and is in the tent now. Go in and check on them—watch out that the old geezer doesn't pluck out the Clan Head's eyes for himself."
"Don't talk nonsense," Makiya snapped at the last man. "The Third Hokage isn't Danzo. He wouldn't do such a thing. Watch your tongue!"
"Yes, sir."
Makiya lifted the tent flap and entered the field hospital. He saw Hiruzen Sarutobi in full combat gear, sitting on a bench. The old man took occasional puffs from his pipe, his expression grim and his brow furrowed.
He had clearly heard what the clansman said, but Hiruzen didn't care about such trivialities right now. He was thinking about the mysterious figure clad in a black robe with red clouds.
When had such a powerful ninja appeared in the shinobi world?
Furthermore, intelligence suggested the individual harbored significant hostility toward Konoha. It was utterly baffling.
"Lord Third." Makiya walked up to Hiruzen, a small stream of water springing from his fingertip to douse the pipe. "Smoking is prohibited in patient rooms. That is a clear regulation in the new Konoha Shinobi code. As a high-ranking official, you should set an example."
Hiruzen sighed. "My apologies. I was lost in thought."
"Then go think outside. There's a newly pitched tent next to the command center built specifically for the new commander."
Facing Makiya's blunt dismissal, Hiruzen didn't argue. He tapped his pipe, flicked the wet tobacco onto the ground, and slowly walked out of the room.
"You two head out as well. I'll take it from here." Makiya looked at the two medical ninjas who had been dispatched from the Konoha Hospital.
"Yes, Vice Director Makiya," the two replied in unison before quickly departing.
They knew Makiya's medical ninjutsu far surpassed their own. With him there, they weren't needed. They might as well get some rest; there were many wounded on the front lines, and the work was never-ending.
Shisui and Fugaku lay peacefully on their hospital beds. Their smoke-stained combat gear had been removed, and they were now in hospital gowns, looking extremely frail.
"Mystical Palm Technique!"
A soft green light radiated from Makiya's palms as he placed them on Shisui's chest. Chakra saturated with life energy permeated the skin, mending muscles and organs damaged by the concussive force.
Under Makiya's treatment, Shisui's eyelids twitched. As his eyes began to move rapidly, he suddenly bolted upright, gasping for air. His muscles were tense, his expression wary.
"Are you... Makiya?" Shisui asked, staring at him with uncertainty.
"What's wrong? Are you blind?" Makiya waved a hand in front of Shisui's face. The other man's gaze was clearly unfocused and hollow.
"The drawback of the Mangekyo. Overusing visual prowess does this. Besides, I only have one eye left..." Shisui gave a helpless smile. He could only make out Makiya's rough outline, as if suffering from severe astigmatism.
"Wait a second, let me find it..." Makiya suddenly remembered something. He reached behind him and pulled out a scroll, realized it was the wrong one, put it back, and finally produced what he was looking for.
It was a syringe filled with a pale green solution.
It was a secondary serum derived from Hashirama cells. It could effectively restore damaged Mangekyo Sharingan, a byproduct of Makiya's usual research. However, its effectiveness was limited; after a few injections, it would no longer work.
"Don't resist. I'm giving you the good stuff."
Makiya inserted the fine needle into Shisui's neck. As expected, Shisui didn't resist. As the pale green solution was pushed into his bloodstream, a unique chakra began to race through his pathways.
"Huh, this feeling..." Shisui blinked. He noticed that the four Makiyas in front of him had merged back into one, and his vision was clearing. "What did you inject me with? My eyes feel warm and very comfortable."
"Don't ask too many questions. Just know it's good for you. In the future, use your Mangekyo sparingly, or you really will go blind," Makiya said, packing away the syringe with a tone that was half-joking, half-threatening.
He and Shisui were friends. Before entering the mysterious space, he had relied heavily on Shisui for a while. Whenever possible, Makiya would help him out.
"So, tell me. What happened this time? When were you attacked?" Makiya asked, sitting on the bench.
"Not long after you left—about an hour, I think—a mysterious man simply appeared." Shisui chuckled bitterly. "I'm not even sure I'd call it an attack."
Makiya's eyebrows shot up. "What do you mean?"
"He appeared in broad daylight, calling himself a god of the new world and claiming he would bring divine punishment upon the sinners who start wars. Overall, it felt very..." Shisui trailed off, lacking a word to describe the grandiose delusion Pain gave off.
"The Clan Head and I fought that mysterious man, Pain, for a long time. He was extremely cautious. I could tell he wasn't using his full power..."
Based on Shisui's description, Makiya gradually pieced together the full picture. Pain had descended from the sky, openly declared his intent to crush the world, invited all the strong to fight, gave everyone a beating, and then casually flew away.
Since they couldn't fly, Shisui and Fugaku could only watch as the man came and went as he pleased.
"If you have time, you should go see the Clan Head's eldest son, Itachi," Shisui said suddenly while Makiya was deep in thought. "I feel like something's off with him lately. It's like he has something heavy on his mind."
"Itachi... I see."
Considering Pain's actions, the moment Makiya heard Itachi's name, he immediately thought of a certain filial son who had been lurking for a thousand years: Black Zetsu.
'That guy... he couldn't have secretly approached Itachi, could he?'