Madara draws his left hand backward. He produces a black rod and stabs it toward Minato.
"Kamui!"
A small spiral hole appears in space near Madara's head.
Whoosh…
Madara swiftly tilts his body and avoids the lethal attack. Kamui targets his shoulder and pulls away a major chunk of his left shoulder before collapsing. Madara's left arm falls to the ground with the black rod.
"Damn it, he dodged it!"
Kakashi's eye turns normal after he expands the last wisp of his chakra.
"Kakashi!" Guy quickly supports him.
"Looks like there is someone with good eyes on the other side."
Madara turns towards Kakashi and notices the foreign chakra signature in Kakashi's eyes.
"Hmm… so that's how it is!"
A mechanical arm pops out of Madara's back and grabs Minato's neck. Madara uses the powers of the Asura path and the Human path to hold Minato in a place and pull his soul.
A bluish shadow slowly crawls out of Minato's head. Before Madara could pull his soul out,
Poof…
Minato disappears into white smoke.
"A Shadow Clone!"
The rest of the shinobis heaves a sigh of relief.
Minato's shadow clone turns into numerous fuinjutsu seals. The seals quickly crawl over Madara's body. They seal his chakra and immobilize him.
"A trap!"
Madara's fingers tremble as he attempts to infuse chakra to break free.
Fwoosh…
Minato jumps out of the ground and makes multiple hand signs. He throws several sealing talismans around Madara and slams his palm on the ground.
"Fuinjutsu: Eight Trigram Demon Suppression Seal,"
A sealing formation slowly appears on the ground and in the air. The seal slowly seals Madara with numerous sealing runes. A black pillar with several chains made of fuinjutsu seals appears in place, engulfing Madara's body within it.
"Did we seal him?"
The rest gulp their saliva in trepidation. Sweat trickles down Minato's forehead as he fortifies the seal.
"MAJESTIC ATTIRE: SUSANOO,"
BOOM…
Suddenly, the chains around the fuinjutsu seals rattles and explode. Numerous cracks appear on the black pillar of seals and a blue glow emanates from within it.
Minato quickly retreats. The seal in front of him crumbles and a gigantic humanoid chakra construct appears in front of them.
The giant Susanoo swings the blade in its hands to sever the sealing formation around it.
"You almost got me!"
Madara stares at Minato with an amused expression.
"Very well, I will end this battle for once and all!"
A thick armor appears around Madara's Susanoo. It evolves to the next stage to form a Full Body Susanoo with a tengu head and wings on its back.
The giant Susanoo crosses the swords in its hand and gathers a large amount of chakra.
"Looks like I am not left with a choice," Minato murmurs as he walks toward the giant Susanoo.
Swoosh…
Suddenly, a dumbbell-shaped weapon with a ribbed spherical head on both sides appears in his hands. Minato holds the handle of the weapons in between. The weapon gleams with a metallic luster.
"That's the Ame-no-Hoko." Kakashi's eyes narrow as he recognizes the weapon in Minato's hand.
'I thought it was lost. How did it end up in Sensei's hands?' He wonders
Shua…
Minato infuses a large amount of his chakra into the spear.
Bzzt…
A lightning spearhead extends from both sides of the Ame-no-Hoko.
"Hmm… that's!"
Madara also feels a sense of threat from the spear.
Swoosh…
Minato stretches his arm and throws the spear toward Madara. The spear leaves a blue trail in the sky and flies towards Madara at a breakneck speed.
Bang…
It easily pierces through the defenses of Susanoo and strikes through Madara's chest. A curse mark flickers on Madara's body, increasing the damage output of the strike.
"What the…"
An expression of disbelief flashes across Madara's eyes for the first time. His Susanoo disintegrates into motes of light as his body slowly crumbles into ash fragments.
Phew…
Minato also heaves a sigh of relief and falls to the ground.
"Sensei, what was that?"
Kakashi and others also approach Minato with surprise.
"It was a prototype of a new weapon based on the Heaven Piercing Spear 'Ame-no-Hoko'. Though it's currently a one-time use item." Minato shakes his head.
Inside the In-Yō HQ,
Kushina and Ayaka also watch the battle with rapt attention.
'So, that's our grandpa!' Ayaka murmurs as she stares at Madara.
"Those curse marks in the end. They look similar to my curse technique!" Ayaka exclaims in surprise.
"Because it is! Minato-san studied your curse technique and created a similar technique of his own. He used it in tandem with the Heavenly Spear prototype to mark Grandpa Madara beforehand with his kunais and the shadow clone. That curse mark then acts as a beacon for the spear to strike. Truly a genius idea." Izuna praises the ingenuity of the idea.
"Unfortunately, that's the most I could do with the limited time and resources."
A man in his early thirties with black hair walks into the room. The man has a lush beard, a trimmed mustache, thick glasses with orange lenses, and light green eyes. He wears a black-collared shirt and matching pants.
"Oh, doctor!" Kushina turns towards the man and greets him.
"Izuna, this man is doctor Amado. He is a genius doctor, a researcher, and a scientist." Kushina introduces the man to Izuna.
"It has been a while, Lord Izuna." Amado greets Izuna.
"Huh! You two knew each other." Kushina asks in surprise.
"We had some dealings in the past, lady Kushina." Amado smiles faintly.
"Hmm… so it was you who created this prototype of the Ama-No-Hoko." Izuna curiously stares at Amado.
"Indeed… it was me!" Amado nods his head.
"However, it's not perfect and there are still a lot of changes that can be made."
"I see." Izuna nods and turns towards the visual feed.
"Doctor Amado joined Konoha a year ago. He helped us track down the evil puppeteer Mukade from Sunagakure and also aided us in the investigation and neutralization of the former missing-nin Hiruko." Kushina explains Amado's circumstances to Izuna.
"He is looking for a cure to treat his sick daughter. Our medical team examined his daughter several times and even Tsunade Nee-san investigated her condition. But they were unable to diagnose her diseases, much less cure her." Kushina shakes her head.
"Let me take a look at her." Izuna opens his mouth and glances at Amado with a smile.
Amado's facial expression turns stiff for a second before he nods his head.
"This way, please!"
He quickly leads the way.
"Oh, I almost forgot that Izuna is also a top-tier prodigy medical-nin." Kushina and Ayaka also quickly follow them.
'Amado, so you have decided to jump the ship already?' Izuna's voice appears directly in Amado's head.
Ah…
Amado is slightly startled by Izuna's sudden voice. He pauses and then continues to move forward.
'The only reason I joined Kara to work for Jigen was to search for a cure for my daughter. Jigen promised to heal my daughter if I aid him in his plan. It has been six years since that day.
I worked hard for him, and yet the cure for my daughter was nowhere to be seen. Gradually, my daughter's condition worsened and now she is on the brink of death. These past few years, I begged Jigen to treat my daughter and yet he never made an appearance.'
Amado glances at Izuna from the corner of his eyes.
'I wonder who it was that left him in such a state.' Amado remarks with a sneer.
'So, you decided to join Konoha because of that!' Izuna raises an eyebrow while walking.
'Yes, and no!' Amado responds.
'After our previous meeting, I took some of your blood to study your Otsutsuki bloodline and perhaps create a cure for my daughter. However, it failed. Otsutsuki bloodline is too aggressive, and I can't guarantee the safety of my daughter.'
'Hehe… is that all you did?' Izuna snide at him.
'Do you think you can fool me, or even Jigen, for that matter?' Izuna chuckles.
Suddenly, he steps forward and pats Amado's shoulder.
Amado's body freezes on the spot. Even Kushina and Ayaka curiously stare at his action.
Amado attempts to open his mouth, but no words come out. Izuna walks in front of Amado and stares into his eyes.
Fwish…
A Roman numerical seal VIII appears under Amado's left eye. Izuna glances deep into Amado's eyes and opens his mouth.
"Do you think you can fool me, Jigen? Just wait for me!'
Izuna infuses some chakra at his fingertips and swipes the curse mark with them.
The curse mark turns orange-black and squirms around Amado's body. Agony appears on Amado's face. A feeling of immense pain spreads across his body. Izuna finally removes the seal from Amado's body after a few seconds.
A wisp of purple flame burns on his fingertips and wipes away the curse that is squirming between them.
"Looks like you are not being honest, Mister Amado." A chilly smile appears on Izuna's face as he glances at Amado with killing intent.
"Looks like you are not being honest, Mister Amado."
"Lord Izuna… I…" Before Amado could still speak further, Izuna shakes his head.
"Your insurance of planting countless paper bombs around the important place and perimeter of Konoha is useless against me." Izuna shakes his head.
"What?"
Kushina's and Ayaka's eyes narrow after hearing these words.
"Izuna, did he really? Then why did the CPS system…" Kushina asks in surprise.
Mm…
"His paper bombs are special. They don't need chakra to operate. Instead, they use gunpowder and other explosive material to function. They are a product of science rather than chakra. So, the CPS system wasn't able to pick up their traces." Izuna shakes his head.
"Alright! I will show them to you."
Shiing…
A gleam flashes across Izuna's eyes. The next second, ripples appear in space in front of them. Multiple explosives drop to the ground.
"Here!"
Izuna opens his palm to reveal a remote control.
"What?"
Amado quickly inspects his cloth for the detonator.
"So, these are the explosives around Konoha." Kushina and Ayaka stare at the hill of explosives in front of them.
"Yes, they possess enough power to raze half of Konoha to ashes," Izuna explains.
"Look…"
Izuna presses the large red button on the detonator, much to Amado's horror.
BOOM…
The explosive detonates, and a fireball leaps out of the explosion. The explosion rapidly expands outward and nearly touches the group.
Amado closes his eyes to accept his fate.
Ah…
However, the next second, he opens his eyes in surprise since he feels some tingling heat on his front, but there is no burn on his body. Amado opens his eyes and is surprised to see the explosion confined in a small space in front of him.
"This is quite amazing!" Kushina curiously glances at the space in front of her.
"It's a space-time ninjutsu." She remarks after sensing the strange behavior of the space in front of her.
"It's spatial confinement, Kushina Nee-san. I will teach you later." Izuna chuckles slightly and waves his hand. The explosion disappears in a small black hole.
The trio turns towards Amado with a questioning gaze.
"Looks like I can't fool you." Amado helplessly raises his hands in surrender.
"I was indeed sent here by Jigen as a spy. He recovered slightly after a year ago and then later enquired about your whereabouts. However, your whereabouts were unknown and the cause of your disappearance was too mysterious. So, Jigen sent me to Konoha to investigate it." Amado explains his plan to Izuna.
"So, you made those all those contributions in order to win our trust and join our organization." Kushina eye's turn red in anger and her hair slowly stands from her massive chakra influx.
"It's alright, Kushina Nee-san." Izuna calms her down.
"After all, Konoha did benefit from him. Both from his knowledge, his intel network, and his contributions to the improvement of science and technology." Izuna adds.
"So, what should we do with him? He even made a terrible excuse for his sick daughter to win our trust." Kushina clenches her fist.
"No, his daughter's sickness is genuine." Izuna shakes his head and turns to Amado.
"Why don't you explain a bit?"
"Sigh… alright!"
The group enters Amado's living quarter in the In-Yō. Amado walks towards a room and gently opens the door.
The trio follows him.
"Woah!"
Ayaka opens her mouth in surprise as she stares at the pink wall. Various girly decorations, dolls, and other toys spread across the room. Their eyes scan the entire room and notice a frail, little grille sleeping on a bed in a corner of the room.
Amado takes a deep breath and gently caresses his daughter's head.
The little girl on the bed seems to nine-year-old. She has long, curly, blonde hair. Amado lifts her eyelids to reveal her light purple eyes with yellow eye-shadow. The sclera of her eyes is cloudy, and she has a blank expression on her face.
"Poor girl!" Ayaka feels pity for the girl.
"My dear Akebi!"
Amado sighs and covers her body with a blanket. He turns towards Izuna and continues.
"There are a few reasons I accepted Jigen's request to infiltrate the village. First, I wanted to free my daughter from the clutches of Jigen so that he wouldn't be able to use my daughter as a hostage to blackmail me. But that bastard, he…"
"Oh, are you talking about this?"
Izuna points towards a curse seal mark on his fingertips. The curse seal is similar to a karma seal but with a hollow shell and several veins-like black markings protruding out from its corner.
"That's the…" Amado gasps in surprise as Izuna incinerates the curse seal.
"Hmm… when we first met, you offered me a spot in Kara and when I rejected your request, you asked my help to destroy the Otsutsuki clan. I wonder why you want to get rid of the Otsutsukis?" Izuna asks him.
Amado regains his composure and opens his mouth.
"I am sure you already know that the entire history of this world is nothing more than a chess game in the eyes of those powerful beings as we are their pawns. These Otsutsuki pulled the string from shadows and manipulates the world as they see fit. Even the current war is their doing." Amado grits his teeth.
'Oh, he is more gullible than I expected. Perhaps due to my presence and interference, Kara recruited him much earlier than in the original plot. If I remember correctly, he only joined Kara after his daughter's death and lost all hopes of cloning his daughter's personality. Perhaps those misfortunate events turned his heart cold and somehow steeled his resolve.' Izuna ponders.
"Do you mean the black Zetsu and Kaguya?" Izuna asks in surprise and then shakes his head.
'Of course, he knows about it. It must be Jigen who told him about it. Perhaps Jigen also wants to benefit from this war.'
"Huh? What?" Kushina's surprised shriek pulls their attention.
"Izuna-kun, this war! D-do you mean this war is a scheme of someone and all involved shinobis and nations are their pawn even including Madara Uchiha?"
"Yes!" Izuna's simple answer shocks Kushina to her core.
"Who would be so gutsy?"
"Other than the Otsutsukis, who else can pull something of such a scale?" Amado chuckles.
"So, you plan to jump the ship by revealing this to us or direct someone else hostility towards us?" Izuna understands the meaning in between Amado's words.
"Hehe… so what if I am doing it? Sooner or later, you will find it on your own, and, as for the hostility, I presume you are already on their get-rid list." Amado nonchalantly shakes his head.
"I spent five years under Jigen in hopes of searching for a cure for my daughter, but that bastard never made a move to help me. He even planted a curse seal on her to control me. So, I don't have a shred of loyalty to him."
'He is indeed a master of manipulation and likes to use bluffs and gifts.' Izuna chuckles to himself.
It will be wrong to say if he admits that he isn't willing to recruit Amado to his organization. Amado's vast knowledge, skills, resourcefulness, and intellectual make him a suitable asset for any organization. However, his character is questionable and his motives are unknown. So, despite his power, Izuna is hesitating to recruit him to his team.
'Well, I can only make a gamble. I haven't lost a gamble yet, so I might as well try my luck once more.'
"Alright!"
While Amado was waiting for Izuna to ask him more questions in exchange for favors, Izuna suddenly walks towards his daughter.
Izuna ignores Amado's slightly panicked expression and places his hand on top of Akebi's forehead.
Shiing…
Suddenly, Izuna's right eye glows with a bright purple hue and a kaleidoscopic pattern appears in his eyes.
"What's this Dojutsu?"
Amado's eyes narrow at Izuna's strange Dojutsu.
'There are no records of such a Dojutsu in my database.' He mumbles to himself.
"I see! So, that's the problem."
Shua…
Soon, Izuna pulls out an invisible tapeworm like a parasitic life from Akebi's head.
Izuna's hands glow with purple energy and the tapeworm becomes visible to the rest.
"This… this… what is this?" Kushina, Ayaka, and even Amado stare at the strange creature in horror.
"I pulled it out of your daughter's body." Izuna calmly answers him.
"WHAT?" Amado glances at the strange creature in surprise.
"Izuna, what type of creature is this?" Kushina asks in surprise as this is the first time she has seen something like this.
"Well, this creature is called a Soul-devouring parasite. It infests into the body of newborns and latches onto their souls. It gradually grows up with its host and slowly devours their soul and consciousness. Once it grows to adulthood, it will completely devour the soul of their host and escape. Later, it will lay its eggs into another fetus and continue the process. It takes twelve years for a soul-devouring parasite to reach adulthood. For seven years, it will stay in a dormant state while devouring the soul of its host. It will gain consciousness after seven years and the process of soul-devouring will accelerate." Izuna turns towards Amado while explaining a few more symptoms.
"I am sure your daughter went into a coma when she was seven years old." He adds.
"That's right!" Amado takes a deep breath, withholding his excitement. Izuna's description matches Akebi's current state.
"So, does that mean my daughter only has three more years to live?"
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