Chapter 537: Five Years for a Pair of Eyes (Patreon)

Land of Frost — Northern Wilderness

"…Huh?"

The word left Izuna's throat weakly, carrying the rasp of lungs that had not drawn breath for generations.

Madara forgot how to move.

Snow settled against Izuna's dark hair, melting almost immediately against skin that had possessed no warmth less than a minute earlier. His chest rose again beneath the cloth Alaric had placed around him, each breath coming more naturally than the last while newly awakened muscles remembered what it meant to belong to the living.

Izuna's empty eyelids shifted, and his brow furrowed.

The first thing he understood was the cold.

The second was that he could hear someone breathing nearby.

Izuna turned toward the sound.

"Madara-nii-san…?"

The name was barely louder than the wind… but Madara's expression broke because he heard it clearly.

He had imagined this moment in more forms than he would ever admit. During the decades beneath the earth, there had been nights when the Gedo Mazō kept his ruined body alive while his mind wandered toward impossible futures. He had imagined explaining the Rinnegan to Izuna, telling him how the Uchiha had changed, describing Hashirama's death, or simply sitting beside his younger brother without another war waiting beyond the door.

Every imagined reunion had contained words.

"…"

"…"

Now he had none.

Izuna lifted one hand.

The movement was uncertain because he could not see where Madara stood. His fingers searched through empty air, trembling slightly as his restored nerves adjusted to existence.

Madara crossed the distance immediately, catching the hand.

Izuna's fingers tightened around his.

The reaction nearly undid him more completely than the resurrection itself.

Izuna breathed in sharply before his thumb moved across Madara's knuckles.

"You're really here."

Madara swallowed while gritting his teeth. "So are you."

Izuna's face tightened as confusion returned. He moved his empty gaze toward Madara's voice, then slowly raised his free hand toward his own face.

His fingertips touched one eyelid and pressed carefully, but nothing waited beneath it, causing Izuna to freeze.

Madara saw understanding arrive.

"My eyes…"

The words carried no accusation at first, only memory struggling to organize itself.

Then everything returned.

Tobirama.

The wound.

The weakening body.

Madara standing beside him.

His own decision.

Izuna's fingers stopped against the empty socket.

"I gave them to you."

Madara looked into his brother's eyeless face.

"Yes."

"How…" Izuna's breathing changed. "How long?"

Madara did not answer immediately, but the pause was enough.

Izuna lowered his hand. "How long was I dead?"

"A long time brother…" Madara's jaw tightened. "A very long time."

Izuna gave a dry, disbelieving laugh, but the sound died when his fingers found Madara's face.

His hand moved upward until he touched Madara's brow.

Madara remained still as Izuna traced the lines of a face older than the one he remembered.

"You sound different."

Madara's eyes lowered. "So do you."

"That makes no sense. I died."

"You did."

Izuna's hand stopped, and before either brother could continue, Madara's attention returned to the empty sockets.

His expression hardened… and the decision happened without thought.

Madara released Izuna's hand before his right fingers rose toward his own face.

Alaric noticed and didn't need to have any kind of Jutsu to know what Madara was planning.

He had remained several paces away since completing Shinsei Tensei, giving the brothers what little privacy could exist inside an anti-detection barrier constructed by the man still standing beside them.

Now his eyebrow rose as Madara hooked two fingers beneath his left eyelids.

Izuna heard the faint movement.

"Nii-san?"

"…" Madara did not answer as his chakra tightened around the ocular muscles.

Then he pulled.

Wet tissue stretched.

The optic nerve resisted for an instant before tearing with a sickening snap.

SHRKK!

Blood spilled immediately.

Madara's head jerked slightly as the Rinnegan came free in his hand, still attached to several torn strands of tissue that snapped against his fingers. Blood ran from the empty socket down his cheek, crossing the line of his jaw before falling onto the snow.

Izuna recoiled at the sound. "What did you just do?"

Madara ignored the blood.

The Rinnegan rested in his palm.

Its concentric rings remained intact, glistening beneath the moonlight while regeneration attempted to begin around the empty socket.

Alaric stared at him for several seconds… then he sighed. "Madara, stop."

Madara turned toward him with one remaining Rinnegan.

"I am returning what belongs to him."

"No, you are about to put a Rinnegan inside someone whose body is not built to carry one."

Madara's expression hardened. "Those eyes were originally his."

"Those eyes stopped being simply his a very long time ago."

Madara glanced toward Izuna.

Izuna was sitting upright now, listening with an increasingly severe expression.

Alaric stepped closer.

"Your Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan evolved into the Rinnegan because you combined Indra's reincarnated chakra with Hashirama's Asura chakra. Your body spent decades adapting before the Rinnegan awakened."

"He is my brother," Madara's fingers closed protectively around the eye. "His blood is nearly identical to mine."

"Nearly is doing a lot of work there."

Hearing this, Madara's gaze sharpened.

Alaric pointed toward the eye in his hand. "Izuna does not possess Hashirama's cells. He does not possess the same chakra composition you developed. He is not Indra's reincarnation, and his body has just returned from being dead for generations."

Izuna's head turned between their voices.

Alaric continued, "Best case, his body rejects the Rinnegan and he suffers massive chakra drain while I remove it. Worse case, the eye tries to impose a chakra architecture his nervous system cannot support."

Madara looked at the Rinnegan again. "I could give him Hashirama's cells."

Alaric stared at Madara who met his gaze. "No."

"I was able to do it on myself didn't I?."

"After a lifetime of having the Eternal Mangekyō and because you were specifically Indra's reincarnation."

Madara's mouth tightened. "I can stabilize him."

"You can experiment on your brother five minutes after I resurrected him, if that is what you mean."

That ended the argument more effectively.

Madara looked toward Izuna, and saw that his younger brother's mouth had flattened.

"You were going to put your eye inside me without asking."

Madara hesitated.

Izuna's expression darkened further.

"I have been alive for perhaps three minutes, I am blind, I apparently died long enough for you to sound old, and you have already ripped your own eye out because you decided I needed it."

Madara remained silent.

Izuna pointed vaguely toward the sound of his breathing.

"Whatever happened while I was dead, you apparently became even more unreasonable."

Alaric coughed into one fist while Madara's remaining Rinnegan shifted toward him.

Alaric looked away with suspicious innocence.

"…"

"…"

"…"

Madara finally lowered the eye.

The blood running from his socket had slowed as regeneration sealed the torn tissue around it, though the eyeball itself obviously could not regenerate while he held the original outside his body.

He pressed it back into the socket, and a pulse of chakra followed.

The severed optic nerve reconnected beneath regeneration, wet tissue pulling itself together until the Rinnegan focused once more.

Izuna grimaced at the sounds.

"Did you just put it back?"

Madara wiped the blood from his cheek. "Yes."

"That is disgusting."

"I have experienced worse."

"That's still disgusting."

Alaric's mouth couldn't help but twitch. Madara, on the other hand, ignored him..

His relief at having Izuna alive was slowly being replaced by the practical problem he had noticed immediately after the resurrection.

Izuna was alive… but Izuna was also blind.

Madara turned toward Alaric. "What happens now?"

"Hm?" Alaric raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"My brother has no eyes."

From beside them, Izuna's expression tightened. "I am standing right here."

Neither man answered him as Madara continued looking at Alaric.

"You restored his body. You retrieved his soul. Do you intend to leave him blind?"

Izuna's brow twitched.

"I said I am standing right here!" His voice cracked across the quiet wilderness with enough irritation that both men finally turned toward him.

Izuna's empty gaze faced somewhere between them.

"I do not know where I am. I do not know how long I have been dead. I do not know who the other man is, why Madara-nii-san apparently possesses the Rinnegan, or why the landscape smells as though several mountains were recently burned…" He went on before he drew a breath. "And the two of you are discussing my eyes as though I am a corpse again."

Alaric turned to Izuna as considered that before he nodded his head a little.

"Fair."

Madara's expression became mildly uncomfortable.

Izuna heard the hesitation. "You are actually embarrassed."

"I am not."

"You paused before answering."

Madara's jaw tightened while Izuna smiled faintly.

For the first time since resurrection, something familiar appeared in the expression.

Madara stared at it.

Generations disappeared for a second.

Alaric allowed them the moment before speaking.

"I can give you eyes."

Hearing this, Izuna's smile disappeared before his face turned toward Alaric. "You are the one who… revived… me."

"Yes."

"What is your name?"

"Alaric Jonathan Kenway."

Izuna repeated it silently before finding out that the name meant nothing to him.

Madara, however, immediately returned to the more important statement.

"You can restore his original eyes?"

Alaric shook his head.

"Not exactly."

Madara's brow lowered.

Alaric folded his arms.

"I can give Izuna functioning eyes that are entirely compatible with his body. More than that, I can arrange for them to possess the Sharingan."

Izuna became still and Madara's eyes narrowed.

"How advanced?"

Alaric looked at Madara, and the latter understood the expression.

"How advanced, Alaric?"

Alaric wanted to keep the suspense but smiled in the end. "Eternal Mangekyō."

"!!!"

Madara's chakra shifted while Izuna's lips parted.

Even without understanding the present world, he understood that term.

"Impossible."

Alaric glanced toward him. "I've heard that a lot in my lifetime."

Madara ignored the remark. "You can create an Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan without transplantation between siblings."

"I can produce a compatible result."

"How?"

"I'm not explaining that."

Madara's expression hardened, but Alaric's did not.

"What's the price?"

There it was.

Alaric had expected the question.

His eyes moved toward Izuna, then back toward Madara. "Five years."

Madara frowned.

"Five years of what?"

"Work."

"…"

"…"

The word remained between them.

Madara's Rinnegan narrowed, but Alaric continued before his imagination produced something more dramatic.

"You work for me for five years."

Izuna looked toward Madara's voice.

Madara stared at Alaric.

"As your subordinate."

"No."

That answer came quickly enough to surprise him.

Alaric unfolded his arms.

"I know better than to try turning you into Nagato."

Madara noticed the name.

"Nagato."

"Long story."

Alaric continued, "I'm not asking you to become my disciple, swear loyalty, kneel, or start calling me Lord Kenway. You would hate it, I would hate managing you, and eventually one of us would destroy a city because the other became irritating."

Madara's mouth twitched despite himself.

"So what exactly does work for you mean?"

"It means that for five years, when I have a task worthy of someone at your level, you handle it."

Madara studied him.

Alaric's tone became more serious.

"You do not attack Konoha. You do not restart the Eye of the Moon Plan under a different name. You do not build another organization designed to overthrow civilization. You do not disappear for three years and return with another Ten-Tails."

"…"

"…"

Izuna slowly turned toward Madara. "I am going to require explanations for all of those statements."

Madara closed his eyes briefly.

Alaric continued, "In return, I give Izuna eyes capable of eventually functioning as Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan without destroying his body."

Madara's eyes reopened.

"You are trying to keep me under observation."

"Obviously."

"You revive my brother, then use his eyes to bind me."

Alaric's expression flattened. "You refused to let Izuna's resurrection become a leash. I respected that."

His gaze hardened slightly.

"This is different because Izuna is already alive. You can say no. He remains alive. I do not take his life back, I do not hurt him, and I do not hunt either of you merely because you rejected my offer."

Madara remained silent.

Alaric gestured toward the revived Uchiha. "He stays blind unless you find another safe solution."

Izuna raised one hand.

"I would like to point out that nobody has asked whether I want these eyes."

Alaric looked at him. "Do you?"

Izuna paused before sighing. "Yes."

Alaric nodded his head. "Good. That simplifies things."

Izuna's expression tightened. "That was remarkably little consultation."

"You answered quickly."

Madara chuckled a little, expecting no one to hear.

Though… Izuna heard it. "Do not start."

Madara's expression settled again as he looked at Alaric.

Five years.

For someone who had spent decades beneath the earth manipulating generations toward a single objective, five years was almost laughably small.

Yet the issue was not time, it was submission.

Even limited service carried a symbolic weight he despised.

Madara looked at Izuna and saw that his brother sat alive beneath the moon, dark hair moving in the frozen wind while empty sockets remained hidden beneath closed lids.

Izuna had once surrendered his eyes so Madara could continue fighting.

Madara had used those eyes to awaken the Eternal Mangekyō.

He had used them against Hashirama before they had eventually become the Rinnegan.

If five years of answering Alaric's requests could return sight to the man who had once surrendered his own…

Madara's objection began to feel embarrassingly small.

"…"

"…"

Minutes passed, but Alaric did not interrupt.

"…"

"…"

Izuna remained quiet as well, sensing that the decision belonged to his brother more than to him.

Eventually, Madara exhaled. "Five years."

"Yep," Alaric nodded. "Five."

"I choose whether an order crosses a line I will not accept."

Alaric considered it.

"If I order you to murder children for entertainment, feel free to refuse."

Madara's expression darkened. "You understand what I mean."

"I do," Alaric's voice became firmer. "You are not a slave. You are not under genjutsu. You are not being branded. I expect cooperation, not mindless obedience."

Madara held his gaze.

"And afterward?"

"After five years, you owe me nothing unless we make another agreement."

Madara looked toward Izuna again and knew that his brother was listening.

For once, there was no altered tablet directing him.

No Black Zetsu hidden behind a story, no prophecy, no centuries-long scheme.

The terms had been spoken openly.

"…"

"…"

After thinking about it a little more, Madara nodded. "Agreed."

Alaric smiled faintly.

"Good."

Izuna raised his brow despite lacking eyes.

"You two just negotiated five years of Madara's life for my eyesight."

"Hey now," Alaric looked toward him. "It's not just any other eyesight, it's a very good eyesight."

Madara added quietly, "Exceptional eyesight."

Izuna stared blindly toward both of them.

"I hate that this somehow makes it worse."

Alaric chuckled.

The anti-detection barrier remained around them, but Phoenix Sage Mode had now faded completely. The crimson markings beneath Alaric's left eye disappeared, leaving his ordinary appearance beneath the damaged coat and the immense presence of the sealed Ten-Tails.

He glanced toward the eastern horizon. "I need to leave."

Madara's eyes narrowed. "Now?"

"Yes."

"You just promised Izuna eyes."

"And he will get them."

"When?"

"After I return."

"How long?"

"Two days. Maybe less."

Madara's expression suggested he disliked every part of that answer.

Alaric smiled before he pointed south. "Take Izuna to Konoha."

Izuna's face turned sharply toward him.

"Konoha?"

Madara's expression changed more subtly.

Alaric continued before either brother could react. "Go to the Kenway Compound."

Madara raised one eyebrow. "Kenway…?"

"My compound."

"In Konoha."

"Yes."

"Where?"

Alaric smiled. "Where the Uchiha District used to be."

The silence that followed became dangerous.

Izuna's head turned toward Madara.

"The Uchiha District used to be?"

"Hn…" Madara's jaw tightened. "That explanation will take time."

Izuna's expression became alarmingly calm. "How much time?"

Madara looked away.

Alaric wisely ignored the exchange. "The compound is protected, supplied, and large enough for both of you. Stay there. I'll meet you when I return."

Madara studied him.

"You expect me to walk into Konoha."

"Yes."

"The village Hashirama and I founded."

"Yes."

"The village where I am historically remembered as an enemy."

"Yes."

"With Izuna Uchiha, who has been dead for generations."

Alaric's smile widened.

"Yessirr…"

Madara stared at him.

Alaric tilted his head. "What?"

"You are enjoying this."

"A little."

Madara's Rinnegan narrowed.

Alaric placed both hands into the surviving pockets of his ruined coat. "What happened to Madara Uchiha?"

Madara's expression stilled.

"The Ghost of the Uchiha. Strongest Uchiha the world has ever seen. Man who fought Hashirama Senju until maps needed to be redrawn," Alaric's mouth curved. "Don't tell me you're scared of sneaking into Konoha unnoticed."

Izuna slowly turned his head toward Madara.

The effect was immediate.

Madara stared at Alaric.

"…"

"…"

Several seconds passed.

"…"

"…"

Then a low chuckle escaped Madara, and Alaric knew he had won.

Madara couldn't help it and just shook his head. "You remain irritating."

"I know."

Madara reached down and took Izuna by the forearm.

Izuna resisted automatically. "Where are we going?"

"Konoha."

"That does not answer any of my questions."

"I will explain."

"You have apparently accumulated enough insanity while I was dead that I doubt one explanation will be sufficient."

Madara's expression softened so slightly that only Alaric noticed. "Then I will explain everything."

Izuna became quiet.

Madara shifted his grip more carefully, supporting his brother until Izuna found his footing. His restored legs trembled at first, but the muscles quickly remembered balance.

Izuna leaned slightly against Madara, and the latter allowed it without comment.

Before leaving, he looked back at Alaric. "Two days."

"Yep," Alaric nodded. "Two days."

Madara's Rinnegan sharpened. "Do not make me come looking for you."

"Hmm…" Alaric smiled. "You work for me now, remember?"

Madara's eye twitched.

Izuna frowned toward the sound of Alaric's voice. "I have known him for less than half an hour, and I already understand why you dislike him."

Madara chuckled… then both brothers disappeared.

FWOOSH!

The Body Flicker scattered snow across the ground.

"…"

"…"

Silence then returned.

Alaric remained standing alone beside the abandoned coffin.

For several seconds, he stared at the place where the two Uchiha brothers had vanished.

Then he exhaled… and his shoulders dropped.

The posture had nothing to do with injury.

His chakra reserves remained enormous. Shinsei Tensei and the Hourglass of Samsara had cost him a measurable amount, particularly the temporal reconstruction of Izuna's remains across generations of decay, but becoming the Ten-Tails' final jinchūriki had made ordinary concerns about chakra reserves feel increasingly theoretical.

Physically, Eros had repaired everything worth repairing.

He was not tired in either sense.

He was simply… done.

Alaric looked at the snow beneath him.

Then he let himself fall backward.

PFF.

His body landed in the snow, and cold immediately seeped through what remained of his coat.

He did not care.

The anti-detection barrier still covered the wilderness, leaving the night impossibly quiet.

Alaric folded both hands beneath his head and stared upward.

Stars stretched across the Land of Frost.

For the first time in what felt like days, nothing was attacking him.

He breathed slowly.

"Alright…"

His voice disappeared into the cold.

"Black Zetsu sealed," One finger rose lazily toward the sky. "Check."

Another finger joined it.

"Madara defeated," He considered the wording. "Technically check."

A third finger rose.

"Ten-Tails dealt with," The Gedo Mazō shifted faintly within its internal prison… Alaric felt it. "Very check."

His hand dropped onto his chest as he stared at the stars.

The night looked peaceful enough to mock everything that had happened beneath it.

Alaric sighed.

"Now that I'm the jinchūriki…" He paused because the question felt strangely important. "Are there any enemies I should actually be wary of?"

"…"

"…"

Seeing that the stars offered no answer, Alaric thought of Kaguya.

Dangerous.

Extremely dangerous.

Not an immediate concern if the resurrection plan had been disrupted.

He thought of the other Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo had warned him existed beyond this world.

That category remained irritatingly broad.

Then there was Obito.

Obito had just promised to find another way to destroy reality.

Alaric closed his eyes.

"Wonderful."

He remained on the ground another minute.

"…"

"…"

Perhaps two.

The exact amount did not matter.

No council waited inside the barrier. No enemy demanded an answer. No Madara stood nearby asking whether his brother had eyes yet.

For a man capable of moving between dimensions, stopping time within bounded systems, resurrecting the dead, and carrying the Ten-Tails inside his soul, lying uselessly in snow felt unexpectedly luxurious.

Eventually, Alaric opened his eyes.

Pennmere came to mind.

Home… Kassandra… little Hunter… the family… the Commonwealth.

Whatever ridiculous collection of reports had undoubtedly accumulated while he was away fighting Madara and becoming a jinchūriki.

Alaric sighed more deeply.

"Right."

He did not stand.

Instead, platinum-gold light gathered around his body while he remained flat on his back, hands still beneath his head.

For one last moment, Alaric stared at the stars.

Then he disappeared.

FWOOSH!

The snow beneath him collapsed into the empty impression his body had left behind.

The anti-detection barrier began quietly dismantling itself.

Far beyond the Elemental Nations, across a boundary no shinobi alive knew existed, Alaric Jonathan Kenway was already on his way home.

Back to Pennmere.