Hirofumi Ito made up his mind on the spot. He took the Chakra Fruit straight from Orochimaru's hands and tossed it toward Madara Uchiha.

Madara caught it and stared at it, visibly confused.

"Brat? What is this supposed to mean?

Didn't Orochimaru just say you could eat this fruit too!

And if this old man isn't mistaken, the moment you eat it, you'd definitely be able to activate the Rinnegan!

So why in the world are you giving it to me?!"

"No matter how you look at it, you're still my teacher. Isn't it only natural for a disciple to offer the good stuff to their teacher first?!

Besides, right now, Teacher, you're without question the greatest combat force the Hidden Leaf Village has. The only thing missing is that you haven't unlocked your strongest form yet.

If I'm guessing right, eating this fruit will very likely push you into your ultimate form. I'm calling it Six Paths Mode!

Or to put it another way — the Otsutsuki Clan form!

And when that happens, the stronger Teacher is, the safer I am as your disciple, and the safer our Hidden Leaf Village becomes. Isn't that right?!"

Madara Uchiha paused for just a moment. His face stayed as expressionless as ever, but somewhere underneath that, he was genuinely pleased.

He really had taken on a fine disciple.

He turned the fruit over in his hand and glanced at Hashirama Senju standing beside him.

"What about you, you big idiot? Want to eat it?"

Hashirama shook his head.

"Madara, I can already feel it — it won't be long before I unlock the Rinnegan on my own. So little Hirofumi is right. You eating this fruit is absolutely the correct call!

And Orochimaru said it himself — this isn't the only Chakra Fruit out there. Besides..." Hashirama's eyes lit up with anticipation. "I want to see it. Just how cool are you going to look when you activate Six Paths Mode, Madara?!"

The corner of Madara's mouth curved ever so slightly. He looked at his disciple Hirofumi Ito, then at his closest friend Hashirama Senju.

He didn't hesitate for even a second. He swallowed the Chakra Fruit whole.

On the sideline, Black Zetsu watched this unfold and nearly lost the ability to think.

Hirofumi Ito really hadn't been lying.

The Hidden Leaf Village genuinely had a body from the Otsutsuki Clan.

And that freak Orochimaru had actually processed a member of the Otsutsuki Clan into a Chakra Fruit.

On top of that, Orochimaru was planning to use the Otsutsuki Clan's chakra and cells to engineer clones, then use those clones to mass-produce ordinary versions of the Chakra Fruit.

Freak.

This entire group of people in the Hidden Leaf Village was absolutely out of their minds.

Black Zetsu suddenly felt very, very grateful for having backed down when it did. Very grateful to have become a part of the Hidden Leaf Village. Because otherwise, even if Black Zetsu's mother were somehow revived in the future, would she end up getting turned into a fruit too?

The moment Madara swallowed the Chakra Fruit, the change hit immediately. A surge of chakra tore out of him, wilder, heavier, and far more terrifying than anything he'd put out before.

Every person in the room went still, eyes locked onto him.

His skin was turning pale. Not sickly, pale like the Otsutsuki Clan, smooth and white.

His hair bled from black to white.

A long white robe materialized over his body, patterned with tomoe markings along its surface.

Truth-Seeking Balls rose into the air behind him, hovering in a slow orbit.

And in his hand, a black staff appeared.

Hirofumi stared, and something made him stop.

Because the Six Paths Madara standing in front of him wasn't quite the same as the one from the original story.

For one thing, the strange forehead protector was gone. Madara's forehead was completely bare.

Then the thing Hirofumi hadn't expected at all happened.

Madara's eyes still held the ordinary Rinnegan, but a crack split open across his forehead.

A red Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan surfaced there.

Madara Uchiha stood with the black staff in his grip and the Truth-Seeking Balls drifting behind him, quietly taking stock of the chakra moving through his body.

"So this is the power of the Otsutsuki Clan." A slow, measured exhale. "It really is formidable... This old man can feel it clearly, this is more than just one tier above what I had before.

And... the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan, is it? Interesting. Kehehehehe..."

Hirofumi swallowed hard.

He hadn't expected a single Chakra Fruit to push Madara beyond what he'd been in the original story. But that third eye on Madara's forehead said it plainly, the man's power right now had already surpassed even his peak from canon.

Madara was still quietly sensing the energy settling through his body when he felt a sudden weight drop onto his back.

"MADARA!"

Hashirama launched himself into the air with one enormous leap and landed squarely on Madara Uchiha's back.

"Madara! You've gone so white! And you look completely different, you even changed your outfit! And what are those little black orbs floating around behind you?! Oh, and you've got a walking stick,

Madara, why are you carrying a walking stick?!

Oh! And there's a red eyeball on your forehead! Is that the Rinnegan... wait, it has nine tomoe in it! That's amazing!"

Arms wrapped around Madara's neck from behind, Hashirama stretched out one finger and poked the Rinnegan on Madara's forehead.

"You absolute idiot! Those are this old man's eyes! You're poking them with your finger?! You moron! Get off me right now!"

BOOM!

Madara swung the staff and cracked it directly across the top of Hashirama's head.

"OW! That really hurts! Madara! That black walking stick of yours is brutal! And, and when it hit my head it actually suppressed my chakra! How does it do that?!"

Madara paused at that. He began carefully sensing the staff in his hand, then shifted his attention to the Truth-Seeking Balls floating at his back.

He noticed something else too. A new ability had emerged, he could generate Black Receivers directly from his own chakra. And the things those Black Receivers could do were genuinely terrifying.

Everyone in the room was staring in stunned silence. Because right now, Madara Uchiha looked nothing like a shinobi. He looked exactly like one of the Otsutsuki Clan.

If you didn't already know who he was, you'd have no reason to think otherwise.

After a while, Madara let the form drop. The Rinnegan on his forehead closed. His pale skin faded back to normal. The Truth-Seeking Balls disappeared. His hair went black again.

"Teacher... what are you doing?!"

Hirofumi watched, genuinely confused.

"Ah." Madara considered it. "I think this form is a bit ugly. This old man can activate it whenever he wants, my original state is simply more comfortable."

➤ Next: General U's Flying Kick

Chapter 220 - General U's Flying Kick

Madara Uchiha had just finished speaking when Hashirama Senju abruptly dropped straight onto the ground.

"Ahh... my eyes are so itchy... feels like something's about to grow in them..."

In that instant, everyone present felt Hashirama Senju's Chakra surge to life with impossible intensity, radiating outward in every direction at a frantic pace.

Everyone except Madara Uchiha felt it, a pressure so terrifying it pinned them in place.

Hashirama Senju sat there with both eyes clamped shut.

Madara Uchiha watched and didn't move a muscle. If anything, the corner of his mouth curled up.

Tobirama Senju whooshed over to Hashirama's side and reached out to give the man a shove, wanting to see what was going on with the older brother.

That was when Madara Uchiha launched a flying kick.

Directly landing a General U, no, wait, a Uchiha Flying Kick!

BOOM!

Tobirama Senju was sent tumbling through the air.

Tobirama stood back up, glaring at Madara with fury. Izuna Uchiha nearby was equally baffled, why was their older brother casually drop-kicking that wicked Tobirama Senju out of nowhere?!

"Damn it! You wicked Madara Uchiha! What do you think you're doing?! Can't you see my older brother is in trouble?! Why are you stopping me?!"

Madara Uchiha cast a contemptuous glance at Tobirama Senju.

"Everyone says you're clever, but in this old man's eyes you're just brain-dead.

You wicked Tobirama Senju!

Sense Hashirama's Chakra carefully — have you really not noticed that the amount of Hashirama's Chakra is skyrocketing right now?!

If this old man's guess is correct, Hashirama is about to awaken the Rinnegan.

This is a critical moment. What if you interrupt it and Hashirama's eyeballs get pushed back in?!"

Tobirama Senju went still.

The older brother was actually about to awaken the Rinnegan?!

This was an enormous piece of wonderful news!

"Fantastic! My older brother is actually going to awaken the Rinnegan too?!

Hold on! You wicked Madara Uchiha!

How many times have I said it! My name is not Tobirama Uchiha! My name is Tobirama Senju!"

Madara Uchiha smiled with contempt.

"Tch! Is that Three-Tomoe Sharingan of yours any use to you?!"

Tobirama Senju's face went red, jaw clenched tight, both hands balling into fists.

"Hmph!

It is!"

Madara Uchiha burst out laughing.

"Hahahaha... useful, is it? Useful is all that matters, Tobirama Uchiha! Hehehehe..."

Everyone present went quiet after that. Every single one of them wore an expression of pure anticipation, because this would be the Hidden Leaf Village's second pair of Rinnegan, right after Madara Uchiha's own.

The First Hokage Hashirama Senju awakening the Rinnegan. The Hidden Leaf Village's strength was growing more formidable by the day.

After a long while, the Chakra radiating from Hashirama Senju's body finally settled toward stability. The man slowly opened both eyes.

A pair of Rinnegan stared back at them.

The only thing was, these eyes looked the same as Madara Uchiha's, no tomoe, just the plain version of the Rinnegan.

Feeling the earth-shattering shift in his own strength, Hashirama Senju launched himself off the ground with one enormous leap.

"Hahahaha... Madara! I now have eyes just like yours! From this moment on, the two of us have matching outfits, matching techniques, matching tattoos, and matching eyes!

This is absolutely wonderful, Madara! I'm so incredibly happy~~~"

Still talking, Hashirama whooshed straight toward Madara Uchiha and flung himself on like a koala.

"You idiot, get off of me!"

"No no no~~~ Madara~~~ I awakened the Rinnegan today and I'm so happy! Shall we go skip stones together?!"

Madara Uchiha stared at that hopeful little expression on Hashirama's face. He raised his fist, and then slowly set it back down.

"Hmph! What am I going to do with you... fine. Let's go."

"Madara~~~ I knew you were the best!"

The two walked away side by side, gradually disappearing into the distance. After a moment, Hashirama Senju scratched his head and glanced over at Madara with a puzzled look.

"Madara? Did you hear that? Who's singing?!"

Madara Uchiha's gaze shifted, almost imperceptibly, toward Mito Uzumaki.

Mito Uzumaki's hair had already begun to float.

"I should be under the wheel~~~

Not sitting inside the car~~~~"

Madara Uchiha immediately raised his hand.

BOOM!

"Ow~~~ Madara, why did you hit me again?"

"If you don't want to get hit, shut your mouth! Can't you tell from the voice alone that it's your wife singing?!"

"Oh..."

Hashirama Senju walked on ahead, one hand pressed to the back of his head.

"Madara! I want to sing too!

When moonlight falls upon my face~~~~

..."

And just like that, the two of them gradually walked off into the distance.

Back on Tobirama Senju's side, seeing that the older brother had successfully awakened the Rinnegan, Tobirama was buzzing with excitement and couldn't help but start humming along.

"Recalling the tears of years gone by~~~~"

Kakuzu listened carefully to the scattered singing voices, and their eyes lit up.

One hand formed a palm. The other formed a fist. Kakuzu slammed them together.

Hidan stared at Kakuzu with open confusion, was this person a complete weirdo? Hitting themselves for no reason?!

"Kakuzu? What are you doing..."

Kakuzu smiled, slow and mysterious.

"Hehehe... nothing much. I just had a brilliant idea for making money for the company."

Hidan's ears perked right up.

After all, making money for Jashin was Hidan's greatest goal in life, it was the whole reason Hidan had signed on as a security guard at East Konoha Company in the first place.

"Oh? What idea?!"

"Hold a concert!"

Kakuzu declared with absolute confidence.

Hidan looked puzzled. Zabuza Momochi and Haku — both company employees by now — looked puzzled. Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki looked puzzled too.

"Hold a concert? Can that actually make money?"

None of them could wrap their heads around it. This was the brilliant idea?!

Just hold a concert and the money rolls in?!

If that were all it took, everyone would be out there holding concerts right now.

Money doesn't just blow in on the wind.

Who in their right mind pays to watch someone sing?! That's a mental illness, unless the person has more money than they know what to do with.

➤ Next: Kakuzu Wants to Hold a Concert?