As she reeled from Saiki's sudden display of brilliance, the fragments of information—her grandfathers, Madara, the war—swirled in her head.
She processed the data, following Saiki's logic. It led, cruelly, to a possibility she had never wanted to believe.
Her chest heaved with emotion. After a moment of settling her nerves, she found a potential flaw. "How can you be sure Madara faked his death? It's been decades."
"Simple. Have you heard of the forbidden Uchiha technique called 'Izanagi'? If a three-tomoe user prepares it in advance, they can sacrifice an eye to turn reality into a dream—including their own death." Saiki explained flatly.
"The technique warps the boundary between illusion and reality. A man as brilliant as Madara would have known he couldn't win a fair fight against your grandfather. Preparing an Izanagi as an escape hatch is entirely within his character. Your grandfather won the battle but died shortly after from his wounds. In the chaos of the subsequent decades, Madara has had nothing but time to play the world like a flute." Saiki's tone was absolute, radiating a certainty that brooked no argument.
Tsunade fell silent. As a member of the Senju and a legendary Sannin, she was aware of the dark rumors surrounding Uchiha jutsu. She had heard of Izanagi.
But the world had always assumed a man as proud as Madara would have chosen a warrior's death. No one imagined he would stoop to such a "cowardly" trick to survive.
Of course, Saiki knew Madara had his own reasons. After Hashirama died, Madara could have conquered the world alone, but the Eye of the Moon plan required him to stay hidden.
Saiki pondered these things while continuing his lecture.
Tsunade's brow was locked in a hard knot. Her hands gripped the edge of the desk, her knuckles white. She was visibly shaken.
If Saiki was right, it meant that for nearly fifty years, the Ghost of the Uchiha had been lurking in the dark, possibly mastering the power of the First Hokage. The thought sent a literal chill down her spine.
She tried to find another hole in the theory. "Even if Izanagi worked... what about the time? Decades have passed! Even with my grandfather's cells, he shouldn't be able to achieve immortality! Grandpa died, and he was the source..."
"That is the core of it," Saiki interrupted. He knew Madara was a withered husk connected to a statue, but he kept spinning the web. "Hashirama's cells—the Lord First's cells—possess an incomprehensible level of vitality and Sage energy. That is likely what has allowed him to linger. Look at the lab report for that white creature again. The activity level of the Hashirama cells in its system is higher than any record in Konoha's history. That isn't an accident."
Tsunade hurriedly rifled through the disorganized files on her desk, opening the report that had arrived that morning. It was exactly as Saiki said.
Ignoring her growing unease, Saiki continued, "Madara didn't just steal your grandfather's power; he found a way to use it to sustain his own decaying shell. He's been a phantom for fifty years, planning, watching, and yesterday he finally claimed the Nine-Tails. His goals have likely never changed."
To Saiki, Madara was just a character from a comic book. With his own "cheat system" fully operational, he didn't view the old man as a god.
But to the people of this era, Madara was the ultimate boogeyman. The air in the office felt cold.
The sunlight from the window seemed to lose its warmth, highlighting the grim set of Tsunade's jaw. The fragmented pieces—the White Zetsu, the battlefield anomalies, the evil chakra from the reverse-summon—were all being threaded together by Saiki's logic into a single, terrifying cord named "Madara Uchiha."
It was an insane conclusion, yet it was terrifyingly consistent.
Tsunade took a deep breath, her full chest heaving violently as she tried to stabilize her racing heart.
She looked at Saiki with a mix of shock, disbelief, and a flicker of the primal fear one feels when the monster under the bed is proven to be real. "So... you're saying... that monster who should have died half a century ago... is back? And he has my grandfather's power? He orchestrated everything?"
"Likely," Saiki nodded. "It sounds absurd, but every clue points to the same impossible truth. He's back, and he's more dangerous than he was at the Valley of the End—because he has the Senju's power and fifty years of preparation."
"Think about it, Sister. Who else has the Mangekyo, the ability to summon the Fox, and access to massive amounts of Lord First's DNA? No ordinary Uchiha has that strength or that ambition. And no one else could produce those white biological weapons. The lab report is the smoking gun; that technology is light-years beyond anything Konoha has produced."
Tsunade felt a wave of cold dread travel from her spine to her fingertips.
Madara Uchiha... the name alone was a synonym for terror. He had tried to burn the village to the ground to restart the world. Her grandfather had given his life to stop him.
If he was alive... what was he doing now?
"Then... why? Why did he take the Nine-Tails?" Tsunade asked, her voice small. "To destroy the village? To start another war?"
"His exact end-goal is unclear," Saiki said, affecting a pensive look. "But the Nine-Tails is the strongest weapon on the planet. Using it as a battery for a war machine is the obvious choice."
"However, there is an ancient legend. All Tailed Beasts were once a single entity called the Ten-Tails, a being of infinite, world-ending power. The Sage of the Six Paths split it into the nine beasts we know today. Maybe Madara isn't just taking the fox. Maybe he's playing a game of 'collect them all'."
Saiki didn't mention the specifics of the Eye of the Moon plan. He knew the files in the Senju estate had mentions of the Ten-Tails, so he framed it as a theoretical legend.
"A game?!" Tsunade's patience snapped. She expected a strategic insight, and Saiki called it a game. The stress of the morning, the fear of Madara, and Saiki's flippancy finally boiled over.
SLAM!
The desk let out an agonizing groan. The files jumped an inch into the air. "You little bastard! You call collecting the nine greatest calamities in history 'playing'?! Do you have any idea what that means? It means he would have the power to erase the Shinobi World! This isn't a child collecting cards!"
Her chest heaved with fury. She glared at him, looking ready to deliver a Kage-level haymaker.
Saiki sighed and held up his hands. "Calm down, Sister! It was a metaphor! Just a figure of speech!"
Man, he thought to himself, she really is a powder keg today. I'll definitely have to give her a thorough plowing tonight to help her vent all that fire.