Chapter 140: Aizen Arrives
"Lightning Blade!"
"Oh?"
Madara Uchiha lowered his head to look at the fist Kakashi had just driven into his body. Countless arcs of Lightning Style chakra crawled and fizzled across his chest before being swallowed by the strange black markings on his pale flesh.
"So you are using the Sharingan's dynamic vision to manipulate Lightning Style chakra and launch a close range attack?" he said, brows lifting slightly in mild interest.
"However, compared to the current ninjutsu system, your application is still crude. As long as you distinguish chakra points and chakra frequencies correctly, you can select the lightning technique you want without relying on the Sharingan to forcibly maintain it. Techniques like that are cumbersome against anyone who can nullify a single attribute. You should prepare a broader arsenal."
He tapped his chest lightly, watching the last of the lightning vanish into the marks.
"The current Blut Vene armor has developed to the point where it can ignore one attribute of chakra entirely. If you still rely on single attribute attacks, things will be difficult. And the chakra you poured into that technique did not feel particularly overwhelming."
Madara tilted his head, a sharp smile playing on his lips.
"Kakashi from Konoha, I am becoming more and more curious. What kind of world produces someone with your talent and then lets you stagnate like this?"
"..."
Kakashi leapt back, landing lightly where he had started. He tried to steady his breathing, eye narrowed in disbelief.
Madara's body was pure white, covered in black script like living seals. Those markings devoured the Lightning Style chakra crawling over his skin, digested it, and converted it into ordinary chakra that fed his reserves.
Just now, Konoha's Copy Ninja had thrown almost every popular ninjutsu and taijutsu he could remember at the man calling himself Uchiha Madara.
It had all been meaningless.
Every surge of chakra had been absorbed into those black markings, converted, and returned to Madara as fuel.
Madara had not even bothered to dodge.
He had met every kick, every kunai and shuriken, every explosion tag with that same pale body, letting the pale blue patterns etched into his skin drink in the impact and convert it away.
Even as they fought, Kakashi had watched countless white humanoid figures silently crawl from the ground and pour out of the sky. They crumbled mid air, dissolving into motes of chakra light.
That mass of light drifted like glittering dust, converging on Madara's body and wrapping him in a faint, shimmering mist.
"I really must thank my nameless partner for this," Madara said, laughing. "The Chakra Alchemy technique allowed me to store chakra that could not be contained by normal means, and then refine it into my own energy. Hehe. My youth is returning. My strength is swelling. Is that not a wonderful thing, Kakashi brat?"
"I am a little too old for you to call me a brat," Kakashi muttered. "I am at least in my twenties."
"Hahaha. I was not referring to you," Madara replied. "I meant the kid behind you who refuses to even open his eyes while watching your pathetic little performance."
He stood on the living wood shaped by the Divine Tree and turned his gaze past Konoha's Kakashi.
Behind him, the younger Kakashi was still kneeling, face stiff as he desperately maintained the four shadow gates of his pseudo Bankai.
"He does not know Sage Mode, does not understand natural energy manipulation, and does not have so much as a trace of Blut Vene armor," Madara said coldly. "He has developed a handful of new techniques, but his thinking is shallow. Kakashi, you have summoned the worst possible future."
"..."
Kakashi did not bother answering the jeers.
He knew his situation far too well.
He was cornered from both sides.
Madara lacked the courage to act decisively. He was simply defending his position.
And the reason the conversation had turned so strange was equally simple.
The young Kakashi needed to maintain the portals to the future.
He had forced this summoning with a pseudo Bankai. Expecting an eleven year old to maintain that level of release and still fight at full strength was asking too much.
Madara had no intention of launching a real offensive either.
Who knew what kind of bizarre space time techniques this otherworld Kakashi might possess? If he accidentally shattered the space time barrier wrapped around the Divine Tree, Aizen would instantly teleport here and crush him.
If Madara were being crude, he would say Aizen would beat him half dead.
Either way, the result would not be pretty.
Despite his reluctance to admit it, and his instinctive dismissal of Aizen as a latecomer with nothing to be proud of, Madara knew the reality.
If this Konoha Kakashi used some new space time ninjutsu developed in his own world that surpassed the current theory behind the barrier, Madara doubted he would continue to exist.
He knew very well what Aizen wanted. His other ally understood as well.
They were both after the foreign chakra coiled inside Madara, the unfamiliar energy that had been quietly twisting his will all along.
According to that ally, this chakra was one of the nodes Aizen was hoping for. But because Aizen could not see all the hidden layers of this world, he had not acted directly. He had simply waited for Madara Uchiha to die of old age.
That had been the plan.
Only a fragment of will left, with almost no chakra remaining.
Feigning indifference, Madara kept the same cold smile on his face, but in his head he was counting.
The recharge time of the Infinite Army.
If the configuration was optimal, it would take six hours for all of the Infinite Army hidden beneath the planet to fully return to the Divine Tree.
Within those six hours, Aizen Sousuke would discover this anomaly.
If he arrived and found there had been no real backup plan, then the next person to step into this space would undoubtedly be Aizen himself, coming as a rescuer.
In no scenario was that good for Madara.
However, if the stalemate continued, he still had a chance.
The Infinite Army's chakra was steadily flowing back into the Divine Tree and into him.
That technology, which used a mysterious assistant being coerced by Aizen, was, in a sense, perfect camouflage.
Inside this tree shaped world, constructed as an imitation of the Six Paths, no living being could use space time ninjutsu. The power brought by that unknown ally had twisted everything into an isolated ocean of chaos. Only chakra, strictly internal chakra refined inside the system, could move freely.
Under normal circumstances, this plan would have been perfect.
Two children's lives were a small price to pay.
But Kakashi's strange Bankai, and his ability to summon endless possible futures, had cracked that perfect scenario.
This parallel world summoning was an unknown variable. Madara could not gamble on it.
He did not have the right to gamble, because the outcome no longer concerned only his life.
So the two Kakashis and Madara Uchiha faced one another in silence, none of them willing to take the first true step.
This is bad.
Konoha's Kakashi watched Madara from across the swelling mist of chakra and felt despair rising in his chest.
He had never seen an opponent like this.
Never even imagined one.
Immune to ninjutsu.
Shrugging off taijutsu.
Negating space time techniques.
Each mote of chakra mist that flowed into Madara's body was roughly the size of Kakashi himself.
And the number of motes surrounding him was beyond counting.
Such immense chakra. Such absurd power.
And yet Madara did not move.
One possibility had frozen even him in place.
Now that he had fought with him up close, Kakashi could feel it clearly: Madara was afraid of something.
Sensing that hesitation, Kakashi began cutting back on large scale ninjutsu and shifted to probing. Watching Madara's reactions, his wording, his timing. Searching for cracks.
But what weakness did a nearly invincible man like this truly have?
Standing opposite Madara, Konoha's Kakashi ran through possibilities again and again.
At that moment, a faint vibration pulsed through his skull.
A familiar yet unfamiliar voice echoed directly in his bones.
"Hey. Do not move. I am using chakra threads for bone conduction to talk to you. Pretend you are thinking about strategy. Just think your answers. At this distance, I can read them."
Really?
"Do not doubt me right now. I know you are wondering if this is real or fake."
"..."
This is strange.
And a little terrifying.
The people of this world really were monsters. Even the children had ridiculous combat capabilities.
Konoha's Kakashi hunched his shoulders, taking on the posture of a man deep in thought, then started to speak only in his mind.
That in itself felt strange.
But his younger self's voice continued smoothly.
'That is a very powerful ninjutsu,' the young Kakashi said. 'But do you have any countermeasure ready?'
"There is no other way," the older Kakashi replied silently. "I am too young in this world. My chakra and spiritual power are not enough. Normally I would already be in my twenties, one of the top five fighters in Las Noches, not some ordinary Konoha ninja like you see."
That stung a little.
"I am not joking," young Kakashi continued. "You might actually be the key to breaking this. Your Kamui is a space time technique that directly transports matter and your own body, right? Do you know where you send things?"
"I only know it is a vast space," the older Kakashi answered. "I can feel it, but I have never gone inside. Using the Sharingan carries too much risk for me. I do not use that technique casually."
'Then I have a suggestion,' the younger said. 'We gamble.'
He tightened the chakra threads, sending the smallest tremor up Konoha Kakashi's spine.
'Use Kamui on me. Spaces should not interfere with one another. If the space you send things to is objectively independent, I can use your Kamui as a tunnel to break through this barrier from the inside and force my way out. If nothing goes wrong, Aizen will notice.'
'And if it does go wrong?'
'Then we die together,' the younger Kakashi said bluntly. 'There is nothing else to say. Get ready.'
'Understood.'
Konoha's Kakashi had a dozen more questions.
What exactly was this space?
What did this summoning truly mean?
Who was this man named Aizen, that even Madara Uchiha feared him?
And more than anything, what did it mean that Obito might not have died?
But there was no time.
Instinctive trust, the bond of summoner and summoned, pushed him forward.
Kakashi silently ran through the plan one more time, then rose to his feet and lifted his head to stare at Madara, who was still laughing in front of him.
Behind him, the young Kakashi gritted his teeth and poured chakra into the pseudo Bankai. The air rippled. Space itself twisted faintly around the four shadow gates.
Seeing Konoha's Kakashi straighten, Madara laughed even louder.
He threw his arms wide, the mist of chakra swirling thickly around him.
"Dance, dance!" he cried. "Show me what other surprise you have prepared!"
"It will likely be more surprising than you expect," Konoha's Kakashi replied quietly.
He tugged his mask down again, revealing the Mangekyou Sharingan.
"Kamui."
"...Hmm?"
Not good.
Something bad is about to happen.
The instant Kakashi revealed his Mangekyou, Madara's instincts screamed.
The Truth Seeking Balls behind him snapped together, reshaping into black rods that lined up and locked on to the two figures ahead.
But before he could launch them, Madara saw it.
The older Kakashi, who had been barely standing, was suddenly engulfed by spiraling, warped space.
He vanished.
A thought crashed through Madara's mind like thunder.
He should have realized it earlier.
His arm had returned to him through a spiritual link. That meant there was already one fold in space.
And a folded space, by definition, was unstable.
How many times had Kakashi layered that folding?
First, summoning a future self from another world.
Then, the unknown internal teleportation of Kamui.
Now, a reverse recording summoning and twin summoning chained into a Bankai that connected futures.
If all those pathways lined up, could Kakashi tear through the barrier Madara had built?
Why did I not consider this?
Looking at the young Kakashi, whose single eye was bloodshot as he forced every drop of strength into the technique, Madara felt his own chakra surge wildly.
He snapped his fingers.
The black rods moved, poised to pierce the organs of Konoha's Kakashi in the next heartbeat.
"You little brat!"
Click.
It was like realizing you were dreaming at the peak of a nightmare.
Space itself cracked.
A single pale finger emerged from the fracture and touched the tip of the black staff.
The barrier, the chamber, the world, everything trembled.
The crack spread silently, and the staff stopped as if it had sunk into bedrock.
The fissure widened.
The warped space began collapsing in on itself with no sound but a voiceless roar.
No warning, no argument, no struggle.
Only a finger, a widening tear in reality, and a voice Madara would never forget.
"What did Kakashi do to anger you so much, Madara senpai?"
The finger flexed. The staff snapped.
"If there was some accident with the experiment, I would be happy to compensate you for your loss."
"...You again, Aizen."
"Yes."
An elegant figure stepped through the black fracture.
Aizen Sousuke, the man Madara feared most, wore a pure white stand up collar coat, a matching inner robe, and a sword at his waist.
He walked out of the rip as if gravity were a suggestion.
Brown hair, calm eyes, a presence that made the air itself seem to smooth out around him.
He stood inside the crack, looking down at Madara with a faint, almost gentle smile.
Should I congratulate you on regaining your youth, his eyes seemed to say, or on finally choosing your own path?
"None of this has anything to do with you," Madara growled.
"I always thought we were excellent partners," Aizen said mildly. "But..."
Madara's foot slid back across the Divine Tree's surface without him realizing it.
Konoha's Kakashi, half conscious, watched the motion and saw it clearly.
Madara Uchiha, who had mocked him again and again, had retreated.
Aizen's smile did not change.
"Retreating reveals cowardice and a lack of confidence," he said softly. "When you take a step back from a partner who has never once harmed you, Madara senpai, it suggests there is something you believe you have done against him. Am I mistaken?"
"..."
"Besides," Aizen continued, gaze drifting up to the cracked barrier above, "this space time barrier does not fall within any of my current theories. A construct of imaginary numbers and thought, creating an infinite concealed space that can absorb the outside world unilaterally. It is an excellent model. One that does not exist in Las Noches yet, even as a serious theory."
He folded his hands behind his back.
"You have found yourself a remarkable ally, Madara senpai. I am honestly pleased."
"..."
"In this lonely journey of pursuing knowledge, encountering someone who has taken a step ahead is something to be grateful for," Aizen said. "I would like to speak to him about this barrier. If possible, I would appreciate an introduction."
He did not look relieved.
He did not look angry.
He seemed neither betrayed nor surprised.
Facing Madara Uchiha, whose face was so dark it looked almost black, Aizen appeared as serene as ever.
Polite. Elegant. Completely unguarded.
He floated down from the crack and came to rest atop the vast wooden floor, his white coat falling into place around him. His hands hung loosely at his sides.
There was not a hint of tension in his shoulders.
The man who had pressed the entire shinobi world beneath his heel simply smiled, watching Madara's involuntary retreat with a tolerant, almost fond expression.
"It is wonderful," Aizen said quietly, "to finally find a companion on this path."
He looked at Madara with calm eyes and a small, pitying smile.
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