The cave atop the mountain thrummed with spiritual energy as Ashura completed his Grand Spirit Gathering Formation. Five interlocking arrays covered the chamber—each one drawing power from the spirit veins running through the mountain. His Reincarnation Eyes perceived the complex web of energy flows he'd created, a system that would remain hidden from even the most sensitive chakra users below.
*Cultivation and chakra*, he mused while placing spirit stones at key points. *Similar in principle, yet fundamentally different. The Nine Yin Manual speaks true—those who seek transcendence must walk a separate path.*
Setting up his pill furnace in the formation's center, Ashura organized his resources from both worlds. The spiritual herbs had been particularly challenging to identify—plants that looked identical to this world's medicinal herbs, yet contained pure spiritual essence rather than chakra.
As night fell, his Divine Sense detected two familiar chakra signatures approaching—Hashirama and Madara. With practiced ease, he activated the Barrier of Hidden Seclusion. The cave vanished from normal perception, becoming undetectable to even the strongest sensor ninja.
Years passed in focused cultivation. Through his Divine Sense, Ashura monitored the flow of events below while advancing his own understanding. The Nine Yin Manual laid his foundation while the Nine Yang Manual illuminated the path to transcendence.
It was in his third year of seclusion that fate presented an opportunity. His Divine Sense detected the aftermath of a massive battle between the Senju and Uchiha clans. Among the chakra signatures, he found what he'd been waiting for—Izuna Uchiha, grievously wounded by Tobirama's attack, being carried back to the Uchiha compound.
*The pivotal moment approaches*, Ashura thought, his Reincarnation Eyes showing him the threads of destiny. Izuna would survive Tobirama's initial attack, but infection and chakra complications would claim his life in the following days. Those events would lead Madara to implant his brother's eyes, gaining the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan—a necessary step for the future.
But between the battle and Izuna's fated death, there was a window of opportunity.
That night, using formations to mask his presence, Ashura visited the Uchiha compound. His cultivation base, now at late-stage Foundation Establishment, allowed him to move undetected. He found Izuna alone, fighting for life despite the clan's best medical efforts.
"Your death is necessary," Ashura whispered to the unconscious Uchiha. "But perhaps not in the way fate intended."
Working quickly, he administered a specially prepared Foundation Building Pill—one that would appear to hasten Izuna's decline while actually preserving his life force. Over the next two days, as infection seemingly took hold, Ashura prepared the second phase of his plan.
On the night Izuna was fated to die, Madara maintained his vigil at his brother's side. He watched his beloved sibling take a final, shuddering breath—never realizing that Ashura's pill had merely induced a death-like state while preserving the body.
The funeral was held the next day. That night, as Madara grieved alone, Ashura enacted the final phase. Using an advanced formation array, he extracted Izuna's preserved body from its grave, replacing it with a perfectly crafted spiritual construct that would leave appropriate remains.
Back in his mountain sanctuary, Ashura began the delicate process of revival. Three days of constant work with pills, formations, and healing techniques finally saw Izuna open his eyes.
"My brother..." were his first weak words.
"Has received your eyes and believes you dead," Ashura replied gently. "As he must, for now. The path of fate requires his pain to forge his strength."
"Then why save me?"
"Because true transcendence requires understanding beyond the cycle of hatred. Your brother walks a necessary dark path, but you have the opportunity to learn truths that may one day help guide him back."
Ashura held out a Spirit Gathering Pill. "I offer you a choice. Remain here, learn the art of cultivation—a power entirely separate from chakra—and perhaps one day help shape a better future. Few in this world have the spiritual roots necessary for this path. You are one of them."
Izuna studied the pill thoughtfully. "And my brother?"
"Will gain the power he needs through his own path. Your death, real or perceived, drives him to necessary ends. But you can walk a different road—one that may ultimately help both him and this world."
After a long moment, Izuna took the pill. "Teach me."
And so began a hidden legacy, as master and disciple cultivated in secret while the world changed below. Through his Divine Sense, Ashura watched the founding of Konoha, Madara's growing darkness, and finally, the devastating battle at the Valley of the End.
Only then, with Hashirama lying injured and Madara fled, did Ashura finally end his seclusion. The time had come to reveal himself—though his greatest secret, a supposedly dead Uchiha progressing steadily through Qi Refinement, would remain hidden until the proper moment.
The spirit veins pulsed with power as master and hidden disciple prepared for the next phase of their journey. Some truths, after all, required perfect timing to be revealed.