I founded the "Bragging Cult" in Naruto.

Chapter 655 Walking towards the answers to life, but reaping more and more questions along the way.

The mountain cemetery was desecrated.

The cave could no longer be called a cave. With the battle between the two giants, it had become a barren sea, with broken wood scattered all over the ground. Chenma shook his hand, trying to shake off the foreign feeling coming from his elbow, but it was still there.

He reached out and touched it; a piece of wood was piercing through his arm from between his joints.

"Sizzle~"

He pulled out the broken wood, shook his hand again, and the foreign feeling disappeared. Only then did he stand up and look at the dusty ruins. Uchiha Madara, who was swaying slightly, also stood up.

The black clothes concealed the color of blood, but drops of blood dripped from the edges. He used his sticky, blood-covered hands to comb his disheveled long hair, and looked at Tatsuma with a hint of surprise in his eyes.

From the intelligence gathered in the past, Madara Uchiha also learned that Tatsuma did not seem to be afraid of getting injured, and there was no example to support the claim that Tatsuma's strength would decline due to injury.

But in Madara Uchiha's eyes, it was just that Tatsuma avoided those attacks that were truly aimed at vital points. Just like when facing other enemies, Madara Uchiha could also get injured but not have his combat power affected.

But today, he stabbed Tatsuma countless times. Some of the stabs were blocked, and some were dodged, but he still managed to wound Tatsuma in vital areas several times. Tatsuma's resistance to injury seemed ridiculously strong.

He plunged a knife solidly into Tatsuma's lung. Based on Madara Uchiha's extensive experience, Tatsuma would be exhausted for at least a while until he finished treating his injuries.

But Chenma delivered a powerful punch that sent him flying before calmly tending to his wounds, his strength barely affected.

Even Hashiram couldn't have done that!

Sure enough, no matter how much homework you do beforehand or how much intelligence you study, at this level, you can never truly understand your opponent without actually fighting them!

"Ban, you look very tired. Are you lacking energy? After all, you're an old man on your deathbed."

Tatsuma took a deep breath and, after confirming that he had no injuries that would affect his movements, spoke to Uchiha Madara.

Madara Uchiha did not refute this, because in terms of energy, he was really inferior to Tatsuma. Tatsuma's vitality and cellular energy were enough to support Tatsuma in extracting chakra and life force round after round.

But Ban couldn't do it anymore. His muscles were starting to ache, and his bones were becoming stiff. He was gradually returning to the frail, old self he was before the battle began.

"Let me make this clear beforehand: if you manage to escape the battlefield again using clumsy forbidden techniques like Izanagi, then I will consider it a victory."

Tatsuma gradually approached Madara Uchiha, shrugging as he spoke. Madara narrowed his eyes and said, "What a competitive young man."

Madara's reason told him that Tatsuma's proposal, the one he had used before, was undoubtedly the best choice, because his plan had not yet been fully implemented, and he should keep his life to finish what he had not yet done.

But I don't want to run away! Faced with such a brat who always manages to provoke the anger of his elders, Uchiha Madara just wants to use all his strength to teach him a good lesson.

Moreover, Madara Uchiha understood that Tatsuma Sakamoto was not Hashirama Senju and would not be easily deceived by him.

Unless it's another forbidden technique. Unfortunately, he didn't obtain the technique created by a younger member of the clan; the plan was thwarted midway and seized by Tobirama Senju's disciple.

Madara Uchiha shook his head. As expected, today was his final battle. These Konoha children were taking advantage of his old age and weakness! If he still had the power he once possessed, how could he have been in such a sorry state?

"What a pity."

Madara Uchiha bent down, picked up the scythe and fan that had fallen to the ground, and connected the two together. Tatsuma frowned and asked, "What's the pity? Is it a pity that your scheme failed?"

"No, I feel sorry for you. It's a pity you didn't get to see me at my peak. It's something you'll regret for the rest of your life."

As soon as he finished speaking, Madara Uchiha's chakra erupted once more, and he instantly appeared next to Tatsuma. His scythe slashed down, but Tatsuma turned to the side and caught him with one hand, no longer losing his balance as the powerful Madara Uchiha had just been.

"Sizzle~"

The technique of blocking and striking was used, but what struck Uchiha Madara was not a fist, but a hand blade imbued with chakra. Tatsuma's hand completely pierced through Uchiha Madara's body.

"Ugh~"

Madara Uchiha spat a mouthful of blood onto Tatsuma, his eyes becoming even more cloudy, as if he had difficulty focusing.

"I'm so envious."

A weak voice came from Madara Uchiha's mouth, and Tatsuma asked in perfect cooperation, "Whom do you envy?"

"The day I return from the Pure Land, I'll envy him. He can fight freely, and then kill you!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Madara Uchiha released his weapons and grabbed Tatsuma by the collar. Tatsuma remained on high alert, pulling his hand out of Madara's body, ready to sever Madara's hands at any moment.

But Madara Uchiha seemed to have no intention of attacking. He grabbed Tatsuma's collar, seemingly just to make himself more stable.

"Grow stronger! Grow stronger enough to easily kill you now. Only then will you be worthy. Only then will you be worthy to truly please me. This victory will be the deposit for your death!"

By the way, with your intelligence, could you possibly figure out all my plans?

After Madara Uchiha finished speaking, his crimson three-tomoe Sharingan instantly began to spin. Tatsuma waved his hand and pushed him away, but Madara Uchiha seemed to have truly stopped attacking Tatsuma.

Swaying, Madara Uchiha laughed loudly, his body staggering, but his eyes were fixed on Tatsuma.

"Translate the seal!"

"Heretical! Reverse spirit communication technique!"

"Bang!"

"Boom!"

Madara Uchiha's eyes lost all their light, and the enormous Gedo Mazo in the distance disappeared. Tatsuma stared as Madara Uchiha fell to the ground.

"Bang!"

Smoke billowed up again, but Tatsuma did not stop it, because Madara Uchiha was truly dead.

"Ding~ [Constitution +33], [Spirit +29], [Ninjutsu +22]. Special Talent [Inferno (Uchiha Madara Limited Edition +100%)], Pick it up?"

"Ding~ Special Talent [Eye of the Immortal +100%], pick it up?"

Tatsuma frowned. The Sage's Eye talent wasn't a limited edition. Unlimited talents are just talents, like ninjutsu development, curse seals, and sensory perception, which require learning and development on your own.

It's estimated that unless it was obtained from the Sage of Six Paths or even Kaguya Otsutsuki, it can only be a talent, not a limited-edition talent. After all, Indra's Sage Eyes were also inherited from the Sage of Six Paths, and were not exclusive to Indra.

However, Madara Uchiha's special talent was as he expected. Regarding Fire Release, the word "large amount" was used as a modifier, making it an extremely powerful talent.

"Pick it up".

As he silently recited "pick up," Tatsuma's brows furrowed and his lips tightened. The sudden surge of chakra in his brain impacted his soul, causing his face to turn a sickly pale.

After a long while, he came to his senses, waved his hand, and a water mirror appeared in his hand, his eyes unchanged.

"Strange. Could it be..."

"Heretical paths! The myriad phenomena of the universe!"

Chenma's shoulder blades twitched, and two extra heads and four arms emerged, but each of the two emerging heads had three eyes.

With a wave of his hand, the water mirror enlarged, transforming into a full-body mirror, and Chenma gazed at the unopened central eye on the other two heads.

"Roll your eyes! Activate!"

The central eye on the left side of his head opened, and the surrounding veins converged, revealing an eye with an eerie white pupil and iris. In that instant, Tatsuma felt he no longer needed a mirror, because he could see his own reflection right now.

With an unobstructed view and penetrating vision, he could easily see Obito, who was buried under the ruins but well protected by the melon vines.

With his Byakugan closed, Tatsuma stared into the mirror at his other, closed eye.

"Sharingan!"

He opened his eyes, and within his scarlet pupils, three tomoe slowly rotated, but Tatsuma frowned. This seemed somewhat different from the Sharingan he knew, but he couldn't quite put his finger on why.

"All things in the universe! Unravel!"

Having relinquished his three-headed, six-armed state, Tatsuma was somewhat dazed. A sharp pain surged through his body, and he staggered down, leaning against a boulder for support. He used the little chakra he had left to heal his body.

Although Madara Uchiha's victory seemed quite easy, only his own people knew the truth. Once out of battle, the effects of those "delayed" injuries began to surface.

The pain was so intense that every muscle in Tatsuma's body was spasming and twitching uncontrollably. It took him a while to recover, and his injuries had mostly healed on their own.

He glanced around and saw two huge fragments of the wooden doll's head not far away. They were the tops of the foreheads of the wooden doll's left and right heads. Looking at the empty eye sockets, Tatsuma seemed to understand what the last two eyes were.

It has eleven eyes, nine of which are the eyes of tailed beasts. The last two are either Byakugan or, possibly, Sharingan.

It seems there are more and more problems, but that's life. I thought I was heading towards the answers, but along the way there are always more and more questions. I come into this world in ignorance and leave with doubts.

After pounding his still stiff legs, Tatsuma managed to stand up and stared at the location where Obito had been seen using his Byakugan.

Obito is buried hundreds of meters deep under a boulder. Given his current condition, it will take a lot of effort to rescue him.

Why not just let him fend for himself here? No, if we leave him here, Madara Uchiha's backup plans, like White Zetsu or Black Zetsu, might take Obito away.

Let's give it a try.

Taking a deep breath, Tatsuma extracted some more chakra from his sore and tired cells and performed a technique by forming hand seals.

"Earth Release! Earth Opening and Digging!"

"Bang!"

A figure wrapped in melon vines shot out from the ground. Tatsuma lowered his hand, not to catch it, but instead supported his slightly weak back and waited for Obito to fall.

"Bang!"

He fell to the ground, and Tatsuma could only pray that the melon vines still had the power to protect him.

"Silly boy, you'll have to be my slave from now on!"

In the library of Konoha, a boy wearing glasses approached the counter and asked, "Hello, do you have any books, county chronicles, or historical records about Kikyo Castle?"

"Kikyo Castle? Are you interested in that place?"

The librarian asked with a puzzled look, while flipping through the register in his hand to see if there was any relevant information. The boy nodded and said:

"Yes, I come from there, but I've forgotten all my memories of that place. Someone told me that if I want to find the truth, I should start by investigating the clues I know. Kikyo Castle is the only clue I know."

(End of this chapter)