Naruto: I Roamed the Ninja World as a Woman

Chapter 178 Uchiha Madara: Let the World Burn

It was like a mirror being forcefully smashed on the ground.

The entire world shattered, turning into specks of light that drifted away from Kushina's sight until they vanished completely.

"call!"

"call!"

She ripped off her mask, gasping for breath, like someone who had just climbed out of the water and was about to drown.

Is it real, or an illusion?

Kushina Uzumaki stared blankly at the mask in her hand.

The final farewell of a childhood friend, the elder's gentle admonition, the lingering stench of blood amidst the smoke of battle, and the homeland of Whirlpools gradually sinking below the horizon—

It must be fake!

She said this to herself in her heart.

But the ghostly face painted with bright ink gave her a strange smile, as if mocking the girl's naivety.

"Kushina Uzumaki."

A voice suddenly rang out, breaking the silence of the room.

"Have you witnessed the darkness of the ninja world?"

Madara Uchiha, dressed in a black kimono, stepped out of the shadows.

His face was covered in wrinkles, and his pale hair fell to his shoulders, but his eyes still burned as brightly as when he was young, making it hard to look directly at him.

The old man had a solemn expression and a faint sadness on his face, like a guest who had come to pay his respects after receiving an obituary.

"Is that you?"

Kushina Uzumaki recognized the other person at a glance.

It was the old man who had sent him to Kirigakure back then.

But she quickly realized that something was amiss behind these successive coincidences.

"No! Who are you?" Kushina demanded sharply.

"This old man—"

The old man lowered his head, looked at the Grim Reaper mask in her hand, and calmly and arrogantly stated his name: "My name is Uchiha Madara."

Madara Uchiha!?

That legendary ninja who was on par with the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, and together they ended the chaotic era and ushered in the new era of ninja villages?

Kushina Uzumaki was startled when she heard the name.

When she first arrived in Konoha ten years ago, the most popular way to scare children in the village was, "If you don't behave, we'll throw you out of the village and let Madara Uchiha deal with you!"

It is evident that Madara Uchiha's fearsome reputation was so great that it could stop children from crying at night!

However, Kushina quickly regained her composure.

She glanced at him without fear, and said with a hint of sarcasm, "So, you're just another homeless person like me."

"Ha ha!"

Ban wasn't angry at her sarcasm; instead, he glanced at her with some surprise before bursting into laughter.

It's no exaggeration to say that...

To have such a reaction upon hearing one's own name.

In terms of temperament and magnanimity, the opponent has already surpassed 99% of the ninjas in the ninja world!

"Are they homeless?"

Madara Uchiha seized on her words and countered, "Kushina, where is your home? Is it Konoha?"

He gave a half-smile: "Is it still that Land of Whirlpools, which has been completely removed from the map and vanished from existence?"

"————" The girl remained silent.

Madara Uchiha calmly continued, "Furthermore, it must be stated that I have never considered Konoha as my home."

"Those people—"

"Whether it's Tobirama Senju or Hiruzen Sarutobi, they've pinned the crime of being a traitor on my head."

Madara crossed his arms and said arrogantly, "But I simply believe that Konoha has strayed from my original will, so I chose to leave! It wasn't that I betrayed Konoha, but that Konoha betrayed me!"

Kushina Uzumaki glared at him fiercely.

"I don't care about your outdated stuff!"

She clenched her fists, took a step forward, raised her head to look directly at Ban, and gritted her teeth, saying, "I've seen through your illusion! If you just wanted to provoke me with a fabricated past, then you've succeeded!"

"Even now, do you still think those were just illusions?"

Madara Uchiha sensed her implied dismissal.

The old man chuckled softly: "Or are you just numbing yourself, unwilling to reopen old wounds?"

The girl didn't speak, but just stared at him fiercely, refusing to back down an inch.

Madara Uchiha shook his head and extended his palm towards the girl.

Kushina Uzumaki was somewhat puzzled.

Suddenly, two Sharingan with three tomoe appeared in Madara's eye sockets.

Immediately afterwards, the three blood-red jade pendants began to spin wildly, as if trying to form a new pattern!

Kushina's inner alarm bells rang loudly.

She had never seen Sharingan like this before, and the girl subconsciously thought that the other party was about to use some kind of genjutsu to control her.

But the next second, her pupils contracted.

A pure white seashell appeared out of thin air in Madara Uchiha's withered palm!

That was from her memory—

The scenes that had just shattered kept flashing back in her mind.

"You must remember me—"

"Kushina, don't look back!"

"I'm sorry, Konoha and I both saw you as a vessel for the Nine-Tails."

Countless chaotic sounds overlapped, as if time and space were out of order, and rang in my ears at the same time.

Kushina Uzumaki's feigned composure was instantly shattered.

She instinctively recalled her knowledge of breaking illusions, formed hand seals, and disrupted the flow of chakra within her body, attempting to break free from the opponent's illusion.

But everything before our eyes remained the same.

"you----"

Her voice choked with emotion, and she didn't know what to say.

The girl took the white seashell from the other person's hand.

The touch was so real.

The only difference —

The seashell had lost the warmth of its friend's body and was as cold as a piece of iron.

"This is the power of Yin Release."

Madara Uchiha's voice was much more disordered than before, interspersed with panting sounds.

It is clear.

The action he just performed may have seemed simple, but it wasn't an easy task for him.

But the old man still proudly said, "The so-called Yin Release is a high-level escaping technique far superior to the five elemental chakras! It is based on formless and intangible spiritual energy and can create form from nothingness."

Form arises from nothingness —

Kushina slowly pondered this affix in her mind.

"So-called spiritual energy, as the name suggests, is the essence of a person's soul, which governs a person's memory and will."

"I used the residual spiritual energy from your mask as a base, and infused it with the Yin Release chakra of the Sharingan, creating it from nothingness."

Madara Uchiha coldly revealed the truth: "In other words, what you see is the past that was once incredibly real! It's just that you are unwilling to recall it."

Kushina Uzumaki gritted her teeth and remained silent.

Her emotions were churning like restless waves, threatening to capsize her reason at any moment.

"Recognize the ugliness of this world!"

Madara Uchiha's voice suddenly grew louder, like a devil taking the stage to give a speech: "Those ninjas, for their own gain, needlessly destroyed your country, killed your family, and left you all alone, far from home!"

"Simply because I lack the ability to seal the tailed beasts."

"They set the sea ablaze, reducing an entire country to ashes!"

"To ensure there would be no future trouble, they even cruelly tortured and murdered women and children. After everything had settled down, they took the treasures belonging to the vortex, laughing and joking as they left—"

Kushina Uzumaki suppressed the pain in her heart.

She couldn't listen anymore.

The girl swung her fist fiercely, aiming for Madara Uchiha's face: "Enough! What exactly do you want to say!?"

Snapped!

Madara raised his palm to block the incoming fist, then gently clenched it again: "Kushina, what I want to say is very simple."

Let this world burn!

"Burn away all ugliness, all darkness, and all that is unpleasant to the eye."

He lowered his head, looked at the stubborn yet pitiful girl, and said earnestly, "Then, let's rebuild a beautiful world, a world where there will never be pain!"

Kushina Uzumaki collapsed to the ground.

She glanced at Ban, chuckled softly, and retorted, "Why should I believe you?"

"You don't need to believe me—"

Madara's voice also lowered, his Sharingan glowing brightly. The old man said softly, "You just need to stay by my side and slowly witness its changes."

He suddenly waved his hand—

Dark clouds rolled in, swallowing the stars and plunging the entire Hidden Mist Village into deep darkness.

"It all begins beneath our feet in the misty shadows!"

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