Chapter 27: Seclusion
Once Jackie landed and walked out of the airship, the group finally reunited again, though briefly.
"Jackie, good to see you… Honestly, I'm glad to see anything that isn't a book or made out of paper.." sighed Madara.
"Eh… It wasn't that bad…" shrugged Kaliya.
"You got drunk and slept most of the time instead of searching…" said Madara narrowing his eyes, to which Kaliya just decided to shut up to avoid being hit in the head again.
Lei chuckled, "It was also very boring for me Mr. Uchiha, honestly I'm glad that the airship is comfortable, otherwise I would've gone crazy due to isolation, but now I'm glad you two are back.. even you, brute woman… We can finally travel again."
Kaliya and Madara stood in an awkward silence after hearing that.
"W-what?" asked Lei a bit confused.
"I'm leaving with ye Jackie, boss is staying," Kaliya said.
"What? Why?" Exclaimed Lei.
Shaking his head Madara replied "Too little time to research everything I wanted to, I underestimated the amount of effort needed to get what I wanted… " sigh "now I need to stay for the foreseeable future, you two will have some a vacation from me for quite some time." He chuckled.
"N-no, Mr. Uchiha, if you are staying I will be staying as well! I can't just leave you here stranded, I'm your assistant!" shouted Lei.
"Damn Jackie, calm down will ye? It wouldn't make a difference, Boss will spend most of his time reading and practicing what he can, even I don't want to leave him alone here really… " sigh "But there's nothing here for us…" she tossed a bag to Lei, which he grabbed.
"And this is..?" asked Lei.
"Your next task, you will be studying those scrolls and learning what you can while I'm here, Kaliya got her own share of scrolls and books too. I want you both twice as strong the next time we meet, Kaliya will enhance her waterbending to a Master level, and will practice her bloodbending afterward."
Madara then pointed at Jackie, "You, on the other hand, will learn every combat technique in those scrolls, and you will double your efforts when learning the Chi Blocking combat technique. I want you at a decent level when we meet again as well."
A weird silence, Lei was trying to compute all the information that was just absorbed by his brain.
"Wait.. Bloodbending? Is that a thing? … what the hell is Chi Blocking?" He was rather lost here, understandably.
"We will have time to talk about this when we are out of here Jackie, let Boss finish."
Lei nodded and looked at Madara.
"I want you both to do a few errands for me, right now all we have is the money I got from the Beifong family, it's a massive amount but it will only decrease with time, so I want you to take this money and buy certain places for me."
Raising their eyebrows, both Kaliya and Lei asked at the same time, "What places?"
Madara grinned. "Only two really, one is by the Su Oku River, it's a resort known as Village Resort. It is a high-end facility, and the other one that I want you two to buy is the biggest plot of land in that Oasis town we came from."
Jackie was a bit skeptical. "I've heard of the Village Resort, it is considered a Fire Nation colony, I don't think they will sell."
Madara laughed "We will keep paying the taxes to the Fire Nation, of course he won't mind selling. They don't give a damn about who runs it as long as they keep getting their share."
Sighing, Lei replied, "What about the Oasis town plot of land? That place is worth nothing… We could buy half of that town while paying less than what we would pay for the resort."
Madara grinned "Then do just that… I have a feeling that… that place will bloom into a wonderful investment in the future."
At this point, Lei gave up and just shrugged, "It's your money, by the way, that will eat a very significant part of your fortune, Mr. Uchiha, if you are not 110% sure of this I wouldn't recommend it.."
Shaking his head Madara replied, "What's the use of money if it can't generate more money? What will I be using those gold taels for, then? Paperweights? As long as I have some reserves for the years to come, I have faith that my investments will pay off."
Madara was grinning from ear to ear, those two spots would make him possibly surpass the Beifong's in the future, the Resort would become part of the Republic City after the war, and its revenue and value would multiply absurdly, as for the Oasis Town? After the Hundred Year War that place would bloom into a trading spot through all the Earth Kingdom, plus with the advance of technology and airships, crossing the mountain range around the desert wouldn't be a problem anymore… not only that… Madara knows the true value of that place. The ice diminished, yes... but that's just the tip of the iceberg, quite literally, the ice is MASSIVE, and is still underground in the desert.
Having ownership of the land would give him ownership of the ice, spiritual ice that is considered one of the wonders of this world.
"Alright alright, so I will buy it under your name. There might be some issues with that since you are not there… But money solves everything, they probably won't care who is buying as long as we are paying." Shrugged Lei.
"Hey Boss, what about me? Is there anything ye need me to do?" asked Kaliya. Buying stuff was her thing yes, who didn't like shopping after all? But business and real estate? Nah thanks, too much complexity for her taste.
Madara retrieved a folded piece of paper from his robes and gave it to Kaliya, "While Jackie will be doing stuff under my name, you will be doing things under the name of our group. I want you to investigate a few possible events that might happen. First, I want to know about the outcome of Ba Sing Se, then I want you to keep your attention on possible gossip related to the Fire Lord's family, his children in specific. Your job is to gather information for me, remember?"
Kaliya smiled, "Aye captain, I will take my payment from Jackie since you will be busy." She said before chuckling.
Madara just laughed, she never once demanded payment and he doubts that this will be a first. Since the rescue, Kaliya joined his side fully, not as a paid grunt, but as a trustworthy sidekick.
Saying their farewells, Madara left them with his final words.
"Please bring me food and clothes once a month, enough food to last the whole 30 days. I don't want to die of starvation down there, and I don't want to smell like those hobos from the lower districts of Ba Sing Se."
"Got it Boss/Mr. Uchiha!"
Watching the airship lifting from the ground, Madara shouted.
"Say hello to the Little Midget for me! And enjoy your time with your wife Jackie, she deserves it!"
The Airship left, and after a few seconds, Madara couldn't even spot it on the horizon anymore.
Sigh "Now… time to go back and study…" a shiver ran down his spine just by saying those words out loud. 'Great now I'm Madara the Nerd…' sigh "How the powerful have fallen…"
Climbing down the tower, Madara went straight to the library where he saw Wan Shi Tong doing.. whatever spirit Owls do…
"Oh…. You didn't …. Leave…."
Shaking his head Madara replied, "Nah, I have a lot to learn from this place, I don't know when I will have this chance again in the future, so now is the best time to enjoy it."
The Owl's head tilted sideways.
"You talk…. Like… you know… what the Future.... holds…"
Madara just laughed out loud, trying to mask his nervousness, "How could I? The future is everchanging, it's just that I do not have any responsibilities now, so I can do whatever I want and spend as much time as I need down here… can't say the same about the future, I might get married and stuff…"
The Owl kept staring at Madara for several seconds.
"Yeah…. And… stuff….."
Coughing, Madara changed the subject, "So, now that it's the two of us here, I don't want to treat you as a servant or anything like that… but can you show me where the Energy Bending records are kept? I doubt that they are freely available."
The Owl turned in a certain direction and started walking.
"Come with… me…."
Madara nodded and followed.
"I don't know how long I will stay down here, is that a problem?"
"No… problem… just don't….. expect….. room service…"
Raising an eyebrow, Madara asked, "You know what room service is?"
"Of course…. My name…. is Wan Shi Tong… and it means…. The one who knows… ten thousand things…."
"Impressive, I have no idea what my name stands for."
"What…. Is the …. Point of this…. Talk?" Asked the Owl while leading the way.
Madara shrugged "I don't know, I will be staying down here for the foreseeable future, months? Years? Who knows, and with not a single soul to talk to but you… I figured that it would be great for us to have a good bonding experience, talking and stuff."
The Owl spirit suddenly stopped and turned to Madara to reveal his incredibly deadpan face.
"Please... Don't….. I will even….. help you find…. Things…. So you…. can leave…. Faster…"
Madara grinned, "Don't be like that, we can become good friends by the time I'm done."
The Owl had a more depressed deadpan face.
"…..Please…. Stop…. "
The Owl led Madara through the dark tunnels of the library, showing him everything he wanted, helping him find specific knowledge, and even giving him some tips, just so Madara could leave earlier than planned.
Madara's research in the library lasted for a long while, the first six months flew by quite fast, he managed to read every book related to Lightning and Combustion, and he also discovered quite a few pieces of Chi Breathing techniques that he will certainly copy since Wan Shi Tong wouldn't allow specific items to be removed, and those techniques were rare enough to be within that collection.
After the first six months, Madara kept training in a specific empty spot within the library so he could at least master, to a superficial level, a few of his new ideas. His lightning control grew exponentially, the combustion was troublesome though. He had NO plans on tattooing his head with a 3rd eye just to be able to create laser beams.
'A forehead eye is a real Madara thing, let him have it, I'm happy being normal.'
He came up with some ideas to work with combustion bending, the problem is that it took him a long time, a very long time to even make it work. The first few times he almost exploded himself, luckily, he didn't cause any permanent damage.
But what really took him almost two years to actually start to be able to use it, as a complete scrub… was energy bending. 'This fucking bending is almost impossible! I can only do it because of my Sharingan, and I can only use it with the Sharingan activated!'
He was really glad to have chosen Madara at this point, the Sharingan opened the doors of energy bending for him. It took him two years, two fucking years to achieve something far inferior to what Aang did to Ozai, just because a damn Lion Turtle didn't decide to poke him in the chest and forehead to give him some asspul- ahem…enlightenment.
And now after a full three years of seclusion inside the library, learning all that he could.. it was finally time for him to get back to the world of the living.
The only thing that kept him from going crazy was the monthly talks with his teammates when they came every month to deliver stuff for him, three years changed many things.. the world has changed, and he has changed even more… knowledge, mastery, power…
'Let's not even talk about my Chakras… heh…' Grinned Madara as he walked towards the exit.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
KojiSan
KojiSan Hello there you lovely sausages, i had this chapter already in the making when i posted the last one, i just had to find the right words to use.
I consider writing time skips a fairly challenging thing, it can break the pace of the novel, it needs to feel satisfying and at the same time needed.
I like to think that i nailed this one, idk about you guys lol.
But we are here guys, 2 years and some months away from canon, we wont have another time skip at this level, we might have some here or there depicting weeks or months, but years? meh.. i don't like doing these long time skips, i really don't, i feel that a lot of story that could've been told has been skipped.
On another side, the world of the Avatar is very.... compact... there's not much, in canon at least, to add, the world feels.. small... probably due to Aang flying everywhere in what feels no time... it doesnt really give's me a measurement for distances... but eh... im doing what i can and i hope yall enjoy.
You are free to yell at my wife for taking forever to edit this chapter and check for typos and bad grammar... i could've posted way earlier if she was a bit faster.
Stay awesome and see you on the comments!
Chapter 28: Recent Events
After three years and some months of nerding out inside the library, Madara was finally ready to get out.
In all honesty, things didn't really go according to plan, but since when did everything always go according to plan anyway? First, he thought he would need two months, maybe three to read everything with his sharingan and have it permanently recorded there, which was not wrong.
But the sheer amount of searching he had to do to simply find the information he wanted to study was abysmal, this library was roughly the size of fucking Ba Sing Se, so you can understand how many books and scrolls are stored inside.
On top of that, he is a human, he can't just pretend to be a machine and read through thousands of books with his sharingan, I mean he could but there's only so much information the human brain can healthily store, he can't just add an extra SSD inside his brain to expand his 'storage capacity'.
Then there was the problem of practicing, this one was a personal one for him. Every person has a different method of learning, some like to read everything, and only then do they start practicing each thing. Madara was different, his method was to study one subject and then practice it, after reaching an acceptable level of understanding and mastery he would then start the next subject, and so on until he finished everything he could.
He took Shinzu's words to heart, he didn't rush things, when he didn't have the will to keep reading, he would just sit down and nap or nag Wan Shi Tong to keep himself occupied, that Owl was very anti-social but it was always entertaining for him, and he had a slight suspicion that Wan Shi Tong also enjoyed their conversations, but they were just too much of a tsundere to admit it.
Sometimes when his crew came, he would spend from 2 days to a week with them, talking and catching up, he learned quite a few things that happened through the four nations that way.
Now it's 97 AG, two years ago, in 95 AG, also known as the year of the Rabbit, Prince Ozai inherited the throne and became the Fire Lord, turning Zuko into the Heir, this was also the year that General Iroh broke through the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se and had this son killed. Just like in the series Iroh gave up on the siege and his claim to the crown and took the shame of defeat like a champion.
Nothing of much importance happened in 96 AG, it seems that last year was the calm before the storm, although Kaliya managed to discover that the prince Kuei had become the 52nd Earth King this year, something about the previous Earth King dying due to his wounds after the siege, a very shady event if anything, but not much is known, Ba Sing Se has become a fortress right now and it's really hard to gather information about it due to the intervention of the Dai Li.
And then there's the events of early this year, 97AG, the Year of the Snake, a couple of months ago Prince Zuko was exiled and banished from the Fire Nation with his uncle Iroh, the Dragon of the West.
'Which means that in two and something years Aang will awaken… and the plot will start…'
Madara simply grinned 'I did regret coming to this world 10 years too early before… but now I'm very happy about my foresight…'
Looking around at the library once more he just sighed. 'If I did come one or two years before canon, I would've had to rush through this library like a crazy person to learn half of what I did before Zhao showed up and ruined my plans… '
The moment Madara thought of that person his eyes narrowed and his smirk grew more sinister. 'Clean your neck for me little Zhao, we have unfinished business, you fucking pussy.'
As Madara was distracted thinking of the past, current, and future events a gentle wing flapping sound echoed around him. He woke up to see Wan Shi Tong with his classic tilted head staring at him.
"… It seems… is time…. To part… ways…" said the Owl.
Madara grinned "You don't have to miss me that much, I will come to visit you at least once a decade so you have someone to talk to."
The Owl kept staring at him tilting its head from one side to the other "… Once a decade… is… acceptable…. If you come earlier…. I will kick… you out…."
Madara laughed as the Owl flew away from his sight. 'Yeah, fucking tsundere Owl… you love me and you know it!'
Then he shouted "Don't disappear on me then! I don't want to come here and spot an empty hole in the desert!"
To which he only heard "Cooo…." As an answer.
As he climbed up the tower and left, he was blinded by the sunlight for a few seconds, and when his sight came back he spotted his favorite airship right in front of the tower, with his favorite crew outside waiting for him.
"Ye finally leaving that place, eh? To think even the boss would need to spend 3 fucking years to learn a few new tricks," said Kaliya while giving a sarcastic smirk to Madara.
"Don't try to act cool you barbarian woman, you missed the boss dearly and didn't stop complaining about how boring it was to stand around doing nothing all day…" Lei intervened, giving Kaliya his own sarcastic smirk, which made Kaliya's eyebrow twitch 'this fucking cunt!'
Madara just laughed happily as he approached his group "It's been a long time since we traveled together, hasn't it? I missed it too, and honestly, if I never see a book ever again in my life it will still be too early."
The three of them laughed out loud and walked inside the airship, and after lifting from the ground they moved west.
Lei who was piloting the ship hummed happily "By the way boss, my contract with Master Beifong ended this year, so now being a free man I was wondering… could I work in your resort?" he asked coyly.
Madara was a bit surprised "Oh? What about your wife?"
Lei just let out a long sigh "Her contract was over last month. After you left Gao Ling… things changed inside the Beifong Estate… Mr. Beifong grew more and more paranoid about his daughter, Mrs. Beifong managed to convince him to get rid of all the maid personnel that had close contact with you to keep Young Miss Beifong out of your influence, so… neither I nor my wife is welcome there anymore."
Madara wasn't that surprised, what was meant to be was meant to be, but he was worried about something. "What about Toph? Did something happen while I was gone?"
Shaking his head Lei replied, "No, Young Miss has been fine… they did hire a pompous earthbending 'Master' to teach her the basics though." Then he grinned "But according to my wife it seems Young Miss has been evading them and escaping the estate in secret every week, not that they know about it."
Madara just laughed "Worthy of being considered my little sister, but I'm very disappointed with Lao…tsk… that wife of his…." Then he remembered something "What about the guards I trained? Did they just kick them out as well?"
Lei laughed this time "You think they would have the balls to do that? Each guard you trained is an asset to any army, if they kick them out like that those men could just band together and go against them just to vent their anger… no … they didn't get kicked out, but they can't interact with Young Miss… not that they ever did anyway," he shrugged.
Madara chuckled and relaxed on his comfortable sofa chair "Well at least the Beifong family served my plans well." He grinned while looking outside "What about my investments?"
Lei answered, "Well, your Resort is generating more profit than anything I've ever seen, although nowhere close to Beifong level of money you can be considered a very wealthy young man Mr. Uchiha; all members of the high society among the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation stop there to enjoy the services provided, you recovered already half of the initial investment after only 3 years."
Madara grinned even more, half of the investment in 3 years might not sound like much, but let's consider this for a bit, Madara's whole fortune was equivalent to a 5-year job payment, not any job, but the highest-paid job for over half a millennium at LEAST, and to recover half of that in 3 years? That's more money than 99% of this world's population could even see in their whole lives, he is on par with the Fire Nation high nobility at this point.
"I take it that the Misty Palm Oasis didn't generate much profit?" Asked Madara.
Lei nodded "That place is worthless and I told you Mr. Uchiha, yes you get some revenue due to renting, and considering that you basically own 60% of that town it's quite a decent profit, it can't hold a candle to the Village Resort, I would say… 10%.. But again, it was considerably cheaper, you only don't own the whole place because some stubborn people didn't want to sell their land."
Madara just shrugged "Well it is what it is, I'm betting on the future here Jackie, I feel that the Misty Palm Oasis will become a gold mine in the future."
Lei just chuckled "Well you haven't been wrong so far so I will just wait and see… oh by the way there's a bunch of things related to your investments that demands your attention, I've been handling that in my spare time but you are the owner… so…"
"Let me stop you right there! I've been buried under the desert reading more books in 3 years than anyone has ever seen in their entire life! I'm at a point where if I learn anything else, I will start forgetting stuff that I already know…" Madara said massaging his forehead, a headache is coming.
"Then you will need an administrator Mr. Uchiha, a steward to take care of your things while you enjoy your …. Retirement…" Lei chuckled
Madara chuckled too "Alright then, Jackie, you are formally hired!"
"W-what?"
"What 'What?' you have been handling this for years now, you know more than anyone… I can't pay you as much as the Beifong's but I won't screw you. Bring your wife too.. she will work with you as your assistant, I didn't spend so much time with Nari but she always seemed to be a very intelligent woman."
Lei's eyes went wide, he was hoping to get that job and he wanted his wife to be by his side now that both of them are jobless, but to have her as his assistant?! 'Heh… some of our … roleplay.. will get very real now.. hehehehe'
Kaliya's expression was full-on Saitama deadpan mode when she was looking at Lei and his perverted chuckle. 'Why am I not surprised?'
Then she turned to Madara with her best puppy eyes "What about me Boss? Ye can't leave ye second in command jobless right? Ye are a rich man now."
Madara laughed and Lei raised his eyebrow in annoyance "Who the fuck said you are Mr. Uchiha's second in command?! Stop spouting nonsense, you uneducated woman!"
Kaliya grinned and stared at Lei "Well, different from ye I'm a bender, not just any bender.. but a bloodbender! What ye have? Chi Blocking? With me by Boss' side, that wouldn't even be needed! I can stop them from moving from a distance!"
Lei lost it "You fucking bitch! You only did that to me once and it was because of the full moon! We all know that you can't do that normally, I can chi block you every other day!"
She shrugged "So what? I still have me waterbending, the resort is on top of a river, it's me realm there! Not only that… who would pick a pervert man like ye instead of a beautiful hot girl like me to be by their side?"
Madara couldn't stop laughing in amusement as the duo kept spitting curses at one another.
"Alright, alright … Jackie, you have to understand that Kaliya is right here…"
Lei pouted "Tsk… if only that resort wasn't on top of a river…"
Madara raised an eyebrow "Oh yeah.. that too….."
Both Lei and Kaliya stared at Madara, Lei gave him an understanding nod and a wink, while Kaliya gave him a victorious smirk and a wink.
'Oh shit.. fucking puberty is hitting me hard…' sigh 'Well.. I can't deny the facts here.. she is pretty damn hot..'
Trying to break the awkward silence Kaliya changed the subject.
"Boss, what about ye firebending? Did ye get what ye wanted?"
"Well.. kinda…"
"Did ye finally achieve that Blue Fire that ye kept talking about?"
Shaking his head Madara just sighed "Nah, that one isn't for me, I guess…"
"What about the combustion bending Mr. Uchiha?"
"That one also isn't for me, I would have to tattoo my forehead for it, I had ideas of tattooing my hand but… in all of the records, I saw every combustion bender had the eye on their foreheads, so I assume there's a reason for that, I don't believe for a second that I'm the first one to consider another location, I may be smart but other people aren't dumb."
"So ye just improved ye fire and lightning?"
"Well about that…" Madara grinned sinisterly "What kind of badass older brother would I be if I didn't create my own unique bending like my cute little sister?"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS
KojiSan
KojiSan
Hello there my beloved readers.. ahem.. sausages!
I hope yall are having a great day, it took me a while today because i was busy playing games >_> heh...
Today is a simple day, no complainings and probably not even side notes, i am very happy with the way the story is going, i'm also very happy with all the support i'm receiving from yall, you are all great and it's because of you guys that i keep writing with such passion!
I hope you enjoyed the chapter, i hope you like the way i presented the events that happened, and i hope to see your own theories about Madara's new bending hehe.. don't even bother asking, i won't answer :3
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