We hit 30 power stones so this is the extra chapter coming out today!! Remember every 30 power stones you get an extra chapter!!!
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When your thoughts come to a halt at the final moment, that is death. In that moment, you truly believe you're dead.
Suddenly, his eyes opened to darkness. Is this hell?
His vision, blurred as he blinked repeatedly, slowly shifted from pitch black to a dim, grayish hue—not complete darkness, but far from being able to see clearly.
"I… am I still alive?"
A weak voice escaped his cracked lips, echoing harshly in the quiet, shadowy surroundings.
Ye Zi stared blankly at the darkness above him. The constant pain radiating through his body and the empty sensation where his arms and left leg used to be reminded him, over and over, that he was still alive.
In a situation where death seemed certain, he had somehow survived. But where was this place? How had he ended up here? Had someone saved him?
He couldn't lift his head, couldn't sit up, so he couldn't see the state of his own body. His gaze remained fixed on the darkened ceiling above, unable to make out anything.
"Awake, are you?"
A sudden, extremely aged voice came from beside him.
Ye Zi's eyelids twitched as he strained to turn his head slightly toward the voice. In the dim light, he could barely make out a pair of hands—withered, like dead wood—grasping a scythe, along with the hem of a black robe.
From those hands and the voice, it was clear that this person was very old, likely the one who had saved him.
He tried to lift his eyelids higher, to see this person's face, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't muster the strength.
The old man was none other than Madara Uchiha. After his supposed death had spread across the world, he had been hiding here, clinging to life by relying on the hollow shell of the Gedo Statue.
"Don't bother trying," Madara said coldly. "In your current state, it will take some time before you can move again."
Ye Zi fell silent. After a moment, he asked, "Did you save me?"
"Isn't that obvious?" Madara replied coldly.
Ye Zi didn't bother asking the foolish question of why the old man had saved him. He was certain of one thing: he had no connection to this person, no prior relationship. So how had this man managed to save him in such a desperate situation?
He couldn't lift his head or move his body to assess his own injuries, but he understood that something about this rescue didn't make sense.
First, they had no connection. The idea that someone would rescue him out of pure kindness was highly unlikely. Whoever had saved him had a reason, perhaps even a premeditated plan, to do so.
So, why? Why had this person saved him? Was it to use him for some purpose? But what value could he offer in his current state, missing both arms and a leg?
Or could this person have the ability to restore his limbs?
This thought came from Ye Zi's memories of Orochimaru's human experiments.
Staring at the old man's robe and scythe, he didn't voice these doubts but instead asked, "Where is this place?"
"This is the boundary between life and death," Madara answered calmly.
Ye Zi didn't fully grasp what the old man meant by that. However, he had confirmed one thing: he was still alive, and that was all that mattered for now. But in his current state, how could he ever return to the world?
"You surviving is something of a miracle," Madara remarked, looking at Ye Zi's tightly stitched wounds.
Though White Zetsu had managed to save Ye Zi, it was only because of a rare opportunity where they could act without being detected. It was largely due to Ōnoki's cruel method of attempting to kill Ye Zi that White Zetsu had found the chance to rescue him.
Even so, Ye Zi had already lost both arms and a leg, and he had lost so much blood that he was teetering on the edge of death. If not for his remarkable physical resilience and the vitality in his cells, he likely would have died during the rescue.
A miracle indeed...
Coming to this world had already been the greatest miracle in Ye Zi's life. But who was this person? And what did he want from him?
"If you saved me, it must be because you want me to do something for you. But unfortunately, with just one leg left, I'm nothing but a cripple," Ye Zi said flatly, though his words carried a hint of probing.
"You're correct. I need you to do something for me," Madara replied. Having lived for so long, he easily saw through Ye Zi's attempt to glean more information, but he didn't mind. If Ye Zi were truly useless, he wouldn't have bothered saving him.
"However, I won't force you to do it."
Hearing this, Ye Zi fell silent again. As expected, this old man had a purpose for saving him. But this implied that he might have the means to restore Ye Zi's limbs. Not being forced—was that the price for getting his body restored?
If that were the case, Ye Zi didn't object. Having his limbs back was the most important thing right now. Besides, this was just an old man. If he decided to back out later, what could the old man do to stop him?
Such thoughts were laughably naive, given how little Ye Zi understood about his current situation.
Seeing Ye Zi's silence, Madara continued, "Your body is rather special. The cells have incredible vitality and are highly active. It seems to resemble the bloodline of the Senju clan, and there appears to be a faint trace of Uchiha blood within you as well, which surprised me."
The old man's words stirred something in Ye Zi's heart.
The Senju and Uchiha bloodlines?
Although Ye Zi had always known his body was unique, he hadn't expected it to be linked to those two clans.
But could this old man's words even be trusted?
"I'm not from Konoha," Ye Zi replied calmly.
Madara responded just as calmly, "Do you think bloodlines passed down through the ages are bound to a single village?"
Ye Zi remained silent.
"I need you to do something for me," Madara repeated. "But I won't force you. First, I will help you restore your limbs."
Madara's tone never changed, always calm and without emotion.
Ye Zi took a deep breath, suppressing the excitement rising within him, and said, "Alright."
"For now, it's best if you get some rest. It will help your recovery."
As soon as Madara spoke those words, Ye Zi saw the swirling pattern of a three-tomoe Sharingan in his mind's eye.
He hesitated for a moment, then felt an overwhelming wave of drowsiness, and soon drifted into a deep sleep.
In his sleep, memories buried deep in his mind resurfaced, appearing like reflections on the surface of water—both clear and distorted.
All his experiences, all the time he had lived, seemed to unravel in this dream.
So… this is a dream?
With that thought, his consciousness faded once again.
Deep underground, in a dimly lit room, a bed lay surrounded by thick roots that snaked across the floor.
On the bed was Ye Zi, unconscious. Standing beside him were two figures.
One was an old man with white hair. The other was a pale, ghostly figure.
"Are you going to peek into his mind?" White Zetsu asked with a mischievous grin, clearly intrigued.
Madara remained silent, his left eye's three-tomoe Sharingan spinning slowly.
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