Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Chapter 261: Fairy Spots

"Not bad, not bad, your momentum is good. Be stronger, be even stronger."

As Madara Uchiha watched Hashirama Senju try to break free of his restraints, he showed no sign of tension. Instead, he revealed a rare expression of excitement and spoke with anticipation.

Hashirama Senju felt somewhat displeased upon hearing this.

The body he now possesses is vastly different from the one he had in life. Although his chakra seems almost inexhaustible, this body is ultimately not as useful as the original, and it gives him an unreal feeling, making it difficult to control.

This situation means that he could originally exert 100% of his strength, but now he can only exert about 60%.

Yes, his current strength is about 60% of his peak.

Even so, he still tried his best to get rid of the damned restraints on his body.

He was already very surprised that Madara Uchiha was not dead, and now he was summoned from the Pure Land by Madara Uchiha as a ghost. Even though he was not very smart, he knew that Madara Uchiha wanted to use him to do something bad.

Moreover, the harm this bad thing will cause to the ninja world is probably enormous.

This guy went to great lengths to escape from him, going from the open to the shadows; he must have been plotting some enormous conspiracy.

Even more terrifying, he actually sensed his own chakra and Wood Release power from Madara Uchiha. In the years since Madara's death, this terrifying guy has stolen his power through unknown means.

Madara Uchiha was already incredibly powerful back then, and now that he has gained Madara's power, Madara doesn't even know who in the current ninja world can rival him.

The only good news is that this guy is very old and his life force is extremely weak. It is estimated that he will return to the Pure Land soon.

"Whatever he wants to do, I must do everything I can to stop him."

Hashirama Senju thought to himself, and then continued to try to use the almost limitless chakra of his current body to increase his power.

Soon, a powerful burst of Sage Chakra erupted from his body.

Sage Mode is the only way for Hashirama Senju to further enhance his power on his current body, where his base strength is unlikely to improve any further.

As Sage Chakra gathered within Hashirama Senju and covered his entire body, a simple Sage mask appeared on his face, and he officially entered Sage Mode.

At this moment, Hashirama Senju finally felt that he could break free from the powerful invisible restraint on his body. He began to try to control his body's movement with his own will, but he bitterly discovered that even lifting one foot slightly required a lot of strength to counteract the powerful restraint on his body.

"Hahaha~, it seems this is your current limit. I'm really sorry, but the ninjutsu invented by your damned brother still has many flaws, and the offering used to summon you is not very strong either. This is the only power you can have. But even at this level, there is no one in the current ninja world who can defeat you."

Upon seeing this, Madara Uchiha burst into laughter.

Seeing his formidable rival suffer a setback amused him greatly, and he was also very interested in the power emanating from Hashirama Senju at that moment.

He had longed for the power of immortal arts for a long time, but he had never had the opportunity to come into contact with or study them.

There are ready-made ones available now.

The reason he didn't stop Hashirama Senju just now, and even deliberately provoked him, was partly to see if Hashirama could break free of his restraints and have some fun, and partly because of the power of Sage Mode.

The next moment, he formed a hand seal.

At some point, the liveliness in Hashirama Senju's eyes disappeared, replaced by numbness and dullness.

At the same time, Madara Uchiha had temporarily erased Hashirama Senju's will by using the Impure World Reincarnation technique, and temporarily seized control of Hashirama Senju's current body using his own mental will.

"So this is the power of immortal arts. It doesn't seem that difficult."

Hashirama Senju suddenly spoke up.

Then, Madara Uchiha released the seal, breaking control over Hashirama Senju. Hashirama Senju's willpower quickly returned, and he looked at Madara Uchiha with a complicated expression.

Even if he were slow to realize it, he now understood that Madara Uchiha had deliberately put him into Sage Mode so that he would covet his Sage Mode power.

"Ban, even if you obtain the power of Sage Mode, what can you do? Look around you. Who is willing to stay by your side now? There's no one here."

As Hashirama Senju looked at his former friend and rival who had fallen to such a state, he sighed, a hint of pity in his eyes.

"Hmph, don't look at me like that. You talk as if you know me well. You don't know me at all. In this damn world, only by mastering power can you have everything. I'm not wrong to pursue power. Just wait and see. I will use the power I get from you to achieve things you could never do."

Madara Uchiha noticed the look in Hashirama Senju's eyes and said coldly, then poked two fingers into Hashirama Senju's eyes.

Immediately afterwards, wooden strips grew out of Madara Uchiha's body and pierced into Hashirama Senju's body.

In an instant, a large amount of Sage Chakra within Hashirama Senju's body was absorbed into his body by Madara Uchiha using the power of Wood Release, and the Sage Mask on Hashirama Senju's face quickly disappeared.

Sage Mode deactivated!

As a large amount of Sage Chakra entered Madara Uchiha's body, a vigorous life force was also injected into Madara's body, making Madara's originally aged face look much younger, and adding a touch of black to the depths of his gray hair.

Finally, the Sage's face appeared on Madara Uchiha's chest, resembling Hashirama Senju's face.

"Hahaha~, as expected of your Sage Chakra, the life force contained within is truly immense. This is the power of Sage Art, indeed powerful. No wonder those aliens can live for so long. With this power, I feel the cells in my body are undergoing transformation and evolution, evolving towards a higher level of life, and regaining vitality."

Madara Uchiha felt the changes in his body after entering Sage Mode and couldn't help but laugh wildly with joy.

What does he lack most right now?

Without a doubt, it's time.

Although he had long planned how to continue the Eye of the Moon project after his death and ensure its smooth progress, he felt that it was more reliable to push it forward himself than to find a substitute to take his place.

A substitute is ultimately not oneself. Even if one has him completely under their control and brainwashes him during his lifetime, the substitute will still inevitably develop his own thoughts, do things that the substitute cannot predict, and even betray him at crucial moments.

Now, the power of magic gives him hope that he can continue to personally advance the Eye of the Moon project.

The power of the immortal technique did indeed revitalize his body, which was on the verge of death. He estimated that as long as he did not suffer any more serious injuries, and with the power of the Outer Path Demon Statue, he could live for another ten years or so without any problem.

With so much time and the power he currently possesses, the Eye of the Moon project could potentially be completed within his lifetime.

Seeing this, Hashirama Senju was in a terrible mood, but having lost his Sage Mode powers, he was now powerless to resist and could only watch Madara Uchiha laugh wildly.

Meanwhile, Black Zetsu, hidden in the shadows, witnessed this scene and was overjoyed, marveling that Madara Uchiha had finally been smart for once and had done something right.

To be honest, it didn't expect that reviving Hashirama Senju using the Impure World Reincarnation technique would bring such a pleasant surprise.

However, the happier you are now, the sadder you may be next, because the key item for the Eye of the Moon Project, the Rinnegan, is still in someone else's hands.

The thought that the Rinnegan was still in Kirito Tohsaka's hands and might have been destroyed quickly wiped away Black Zetsu's joy. He reminded him, "Lord Madara, it's getting late. Shouldn't you take care of things in the Land of Wind?"

After being reminded by Black Zetsu, Madara Uchiha was immediately reminded of the Rinnegan, which overshadowed the joy he felt at gaining Sage Mode power.

His maniacal laughter vanished quickly, replaced by a cold and ruthless expression. He said in a chilling voice, "Then let's go."

……

Meanwhile, in the Land of Wind, in the oasis where the Konoha ninja forces were stationed, Kirito, the temporary commander-in-chief, was comforting a grieving girl in his office.

This sorrowful girl was none other than Uchiha Chizuru.

Kirito, who was comforting Chizuru, was naturally Kirito's true form. While the White Zetsu clones were fighting the people of Iwagakure, he had already returned from Konoha. He left only a few shadow clones in Konoha to continue researching the Rinnegan and preparing some necessary trump cards.

Kirito had already told Chizuru about Uchiha Homura's unfortunate death. In fact, Chizuru already knew beforehand, even without Kirito telling her.

A ninja cat named Kuroenmaru traveled a long way from the ninja cat clan's base to find Chizuru and then handed over the information that Uchiha Homura had sent out before his death to Chizuru.

Chizuru thus learns the truth about her grandfather's death.

"Kirito, is that person really still alive?"

Chizuru nestled in Kirito's arms, asking with a soft sob in her voice.

She still hasn't been able to accept the fact that her grandfather is dead. Although she hates her grandfather, who was very strict with her since childhood, he was still the grandfather who raised her and taught her to grow up. He was her only relative in this world.

She didn't want him to die from the bottom of her heart.

Therefore, she desperately wanted Kirito to tell her that the person was completely dead and that her grandfather's death was not true.

"Ah, he's still alive and well. Not long ago, I even fought him myself and took something very important from him. This guy probably wants to kill me by any despicable means right now."

Upon hearing Chizuru's words, Kirito remained silent for a moment, then sighed deeply and replied with sadness.

Facts are facts, and running away won't help.

The Chizuru he knew now felt both strange and familiar. Perhaps this was the real Chizuru; the strong and competitive Chizuru he knew was just a tough armor she wore to face the world's gaze.

As Kirito bluntly shattered Chizuru's illusions, tears streamed down her face once more, a deep-seated sorrow and hatred growing within her.

She now hates Uchiha Madara, who killed her grandfather, so much that she wants to kill her immediately.

However, she knew in her heart that with her current strength, it was impossible for her to defeat that person. Even her grandfather had died at the hands of that person, so how could she possibly defeat him?

In an instant, her desire for power became stronger than ever before.

Unbeknownst to her, her Sharingan eyes quietly activated, and a special chakra containing deep, dark emotions suddenly surged from the depths of her brain, then quickly flowed into her eyes.

Chizuru was currently in Kirito's arms, and the unusual behavior she was exhibiting could not possibly escape his notice.

"Sigh... what should I do? Should I stop it or let nature take its course?"

Kirito watched as Chizuru in his arms underwent a unique transformation, and his heart was filled with worry.

From an emotional standpoint, he personally did not want Chizuru's Sharingan to evolve into the Mangekyou Sharingan in this way of devouring the darkness in her heart, because this would likely cause Chizuru's personality to change drastically, and she would become a paranoid and arrogant madman like those Mangekyou Sharingan ninjas in his memory.

After experiencing the power of the Rinnegan through his Uzumaki clone, he was very clear that the Mangekyou Sharingan had a very serious impact on ninjas. It was a negative emotion diffuser that constantly affected its host.

If the host's will is not strong enough and their heart is not strong enough, they can easily fall into darkness, just like Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Obito, becoming paranoid madmen with severe antisocial tendencies.

However, he is not Chizuru. Chizuru's current changes are the result of her own choices, and he cannot and should not stop her from seeking revenge against Madara Uchiha.

Moreover, Madara Uchiha has begun to move from the shadows to the light. This ruthless madman may very well target those around him in order to get back at him, and there is a very high possibility that he will target Chizuru.

Therefore, the stronger Chizuru is right now, the better.

The process of the Sharingan evolving into the Mangekyou Sharingan is not long; it often happens in the blink of an eye.

As an outstanding ninja in the Uchiha clan, Chizuru undoubtedly possessed the potential to evolve her Sharingan into the Mangekyou Sharingan. Once all conditions were in place, her process of awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan went very smoothly.

Soon after, the three tomoe in Chizuru's Sharingan connected with each other, eventually forming a pattern resembling a four-leaf clover.

However, Chizuru was still too young. Doing this to allow her Sharingan to evolve into the Mangekyou Sharingan was a way of forcibly squeezing out her physical potential.

After the Mangekyou Sharingan was fully evolved, Chizuru's originally rosy face turned bloodless, her consciousness became chaotic, and darkness gradually covered her vision.

Just then, Kirito's voice came to her ear: "Get a good night's sleep, everything will be alright when you wake up."

Upon hearing this voice, Chizuru's hatred froze instantly, her mood relaxed, and she fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter 262: The Passionate Orochimaru

Chizuru fell into a deep sleep, but her face was still very pale, and her life force had become extremely weak.

Upon seeing this, Kirito immediately took out a special soldier's ration pill that he had made using high-quality Sage Chakra combined with various precious medicinal herbs and put it into Chizuru's mouth so that she could swallow it smoothly.