593. Forest of Harvest

Tears overflow from Madara's eyes as he witnesses the love and care of Kasumi.

"Even with my powerful eyes, I was so blind to reality!" He clenches his fists.

Kasumi's life fast-forwards in Madara's vision until the point of her death. Before her death, Kasumi hands over a letter and the red scarf to their son, Akira.

"So, that's our son!"

Crack… crack…

Numerous cracks appear in the surroundings, and the last memory of Kasumi shatters into countless glass fragments.

"Kasumi!"

Madara painfully extends his hand to grab the last vestige of Kasumi's memory. The memory vestige turns into a silhouette of Kasumi.

"Dear!"

Kasumi's silhouette gently caresses Madara's face. Suddenly, the space around Madara changed drastically. Several thorn vines arrive out of nowhere and pull Madara's body into the dark abyss in his mind. Madara's consciousness blacks out for a second.

He quickly reopens his eyes and glances at his surroundings. Numerous thorny vines deeply entangle his body, while he is hanging upside down from the branch of a massive tree.

"What is this place?"

Madara attempts to free himself from the entanglement, but the strength of the vines increases with his resistance.

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In the outside world,

Izuna frowns as he plunges the blade further into Madara's body.

'I knew there was a trace of Grandma's chakra in the scarf. But I didn't expect it to be a memory fragment hidden as a Mangekyo Sharingan Genjutsu. Perhaps this is the power of Grandma's eyes. I never tempered with the scarf to avoid depleting Grandma's chakra and losing the message for good.'

Just now, he awakened the wisp of Kasumi's chakra by supplementing it with his chakra. Kasumi's technique really caught him by surprise, as it could even trap the Jinchuriki of Ten-tail in a Genjutsu for a short period.

Madara could easily break free from it if he wanted to. But there is clearly some important message hidden with that wisp of chakra.

'Perhaps that's the power of Shisui's lineage.'

So far, all people in Shisui's lineage, including his father, grandfather, and grandaunt (Izuna's grandma) are proficient in Genjutsu. And Shisui himself is one of the greatest genjutsu users.

Suddenly, the palpitation in Izuna's heart increases to the extreme. He quickly firm his grasp on the black blade. However, his action is a bit too late.

AH!

A powerful force forcefully rips out his soul, using his connection with the wisp of Kasumi's chakra. Izuna frantically deploys countermeasures, but it's useless against that force.

'Damn it! My Reigan is still in recovery.' These were his last thoughts before his consciousness blacks out.

Argh…

Izuna groans and slowly opens his eyes.

"What is this place?"

A massive thorn forest with countless thorny vines and shrubs appears in his vision. A massive tree several times the size of the Shinju tree stands tall in the center of the forest. The tree has a peculiar shape and a massive flower bloom on top of the tree.

"This place… it seems so familiar!"

An ominous foreboding grips Izuna's heart. Suddenly, the several thorn vines around him attack him.

"Shit!"

"These are Soul Mandala barbs of the Otsutsuki clan."

"AMATERASU!"

Pure white flames engulf the thorny vines before they can attack Izuna.

"Kenjutsu: Soul Blade Art: Zanpakutō," (Soul Cutter Blade)

A Kissaki-Moroha-Zukuri Katana with a distinctive curved and double-edged blade manifests in Izuna's hand. A small doma doll and a bell hang loosely with a red thread at the end of the katana's hilt.

Shiing…

Izuna draws the blade and the white heavenly flames engulf the blade.

Swish… swish…

He uses a powerful Soul Blade Art and neatly slices the quarry of Soul Mandala barbs rapidly approaching him.

The white flames on his blade engulf the vines and set the nearby forest on fire. However, the sheer number of vines overwhelms him.

"Fuck! I won't last long at this rate."

HAAH…

Izuna grabs the hilt of the Katana with both hands and performs a series of swings.

"Zanjutsu,"

A white flame barrier shrouds him while repelling the nearby thorns at the same time.

"I must find a way to exit this strange place."

Suddenly, the palpitation in Izuna's heart grows stronger. He raises his head and glances at the sky.

SHUA… SHUA… SHUA…

The petals of the massive flower part slightly to reveal a humongous vertical eye.

Goosebumps spread across Izuna's body as the eye gazes at him.

"Fuck! This is the main garden of the Otsutsuki clan."

Izuna shivers in fear as an overwhelming presence engulfs him. His vision turns blurry and his consciousness slowly fades.

Jingle… jingle…

Suddenly, the bell on his Katana chimes.

Bang… bang…

Several fuinjutsu runes around his body shatter one by one. The shattered runes release a dark green energy that enters Izuna's body, sobering him up.

"My protective charms just shattered!" His expression turns ugly.

"This means, it was a powerful soul attack. I have to get out of here!"

Izuna frantically circulates his chakra and infuses it into his left eye.

"Shit! Shit! It's not working. I can't open a Yomotsu Hirasaka portal to teleport."

"In that case…"

He bites his lips and draws several fuinjutsu runes in front of him.

Bang…

A seal on Izuna's arm shatters and a powerful purple energy enters the Fuinjutsu seal. The Fuinjutsu seal turns into a small black hole the size of a fist. A purple protective glow shrouds Izuna's body and a powerful suction force acts on his body.

Swoosh…

Izuna spaghettifies and enters the Blackhole. Just before his departure, he notices Madara hanging upside down on a distant branch of the massive tree while entangled with several thorns.

Whoosh…

Izuna disappears from the strange dimension, and the black hole vanishes into thin air.

A few seconds later, a massive white eye opens in the sky of the dimension and gazes at the location of the Blackhole for a few seconds.

In the present world,

THUMP…

Suddenly, the eye on Madara's forehead releases a powerful burst of energy.

Guffaw…

Izuna, who was holding the Kogarasumaru blade, is violently flung away by an extremely powerful force. Even Naruto and Sasuke, who are lying on the ground, are tossed away like rag dolls.

Argh…

In this instance, the black tar-like substance of Black Zetsu engulfs Madara's body, only leaving his exposed face.

Izuna, who is flung across by the blast, opens his eyes. Cold sweat trickles down his forehead as he recalls the horror he felt a few seconds earlier.

His soul was sucked into Otsutsuki's dimension of harvest. If not for his quick actions and protective cards, he might have lost his life for good.

"I understand now!"

Suddenly, everything dawns on Izuna.

Rumble… Rumble…

A powerful burst of energy rises from Madara's body.

"This power?! There is no doubt about it!" Izuna's expression turns ugly as he tries to stabilize himself.

"Zetsu, is that you?"

Madara feels a foreign will slowly take control of his body.

"Zetsu, help me?" He conveys his thoughts to Zetsu.

However, black Zetsu ignores Madara's plea for help.

"It's a bit too early, but this helped me subdue his remanent free will after the deepest part of his mind was exposed."

Black Zetsu's gooey body slowly covers Madara.

"Zetsu, what are you doing? Help me pull out this blade! I can't move because of it."

"Madara, my dear, why do you think I will help you?"

Black Zetsu covers Madara's face.

"Black Zetsu, what are you talking about? I created you. Aren't you the manifestation of my will? So, shouldn't you?"

"Hehe…"

A rapacious laughter echoes in Madara's ear.

"How presumptuous of you to think that I am truly your will? My dear Madara, just like the entire world around you; you too have been inside a phantom dream! "

GAH… GAH…

Madara's body suddenly balloons up. A large amount of nature energy and chakra rapidly pours into his body.

"A dream fabricated by me! Haha…"

Black Zetsu's laughter echoes throughout the barren battlefield.

"Madara, I am not your will. Nor am I the will of Ten-tails or even…"

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