"...What are you trying to say?"
Kai didn't answer immediately. He merely looked at Madara with the calm, unwavering expression that always seemed to conceal more than it revealed.
"You already know," Kai said. "You've always known. Don't you want to bring back your brother?"
The air shifted.
Madara's hand, still holding the half-empty can of soda, tightened ever so slightly. His expression remained cold, but the flame in his eyes betrayed everything.
Izuna.
The name alone was a blade to the chest.
Even after all this time, even after years of burying that pain in fire and ambition, it still returned — sharp, fresh, unbearable.
"…You speak as if that's even possible."
Kai's gaze didn't waver. "It is. If you awaken the Rinnegan."
Madara froze.
Of course, he'd heard of the legendary eyes said to surpass even the Mangekyō Sharingan. The supposed pinnacle of ocular power. The eyes of the Sage of Six Paths himself.
But resurrection?
"You're not talking about Edo Tensei," Madara said sharply. "That… disgrace Tobirama created—dragging souls back from the Pure Land to wear false flesh—"
Kai nodded. "Not that. I'm talking about true resurrection. The Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique."
Madara's breath caught.
"Through the Rinnegan," Kai said slowly, "the dead can return — not as puppets, not as shadows — but whole live body with fleash and blood."
A long silence followed.
"…At what cost?"
"The caster's life."
Madara narrowed his eyes. "That's all?"
Kai nodded once.
Immediately, the gears in Madara's mind began to turn. The cost was high, but not insurmountable. If it didn't require his life…
There were countless prisoners across the nations. Fools. Fanatics. Tools.
The technique needed only a body.
Madara was a master of war, but more than that, he understood the essence of control. Jutsu were tools. Like weapons. Like people.
All he needed was the power.
"How do I obtain the Rinnegan?"
Kai's answer was simple:
"After you destroy Iwagakure and gather the tailed beasts, I'll help you unlock it."
Madara's Mangekyō flickered slightly.
This was no longer just a war.
It was an investment.
A promise.
A dream given form.
"…You're serious?" he asked.
Kai gave him a rare smile. "As serious as you are."
Madara exhaled slowly.
Izuna…
Just the thought of him — that warm, reckless younger brother — made his chest tighten. Not even the Second Hokage's face had angered him as much as seeing that empty space where Izuna should've stood.
Fifteen years. That's what Kai had said.
It sounded long. Too long.
But compared to eternal silence?
It was nothing.
"I accept," Madara said. "But… what if it fails?"
Kai shrugged. "Then I'll lend you another Rinnegan. There's more than one."
Madara blinked. "You can… lend a Rinnegan?"
"As long as you don't crush it like an idiot, it'll still work."
Madara chuckled. Just a little.
This man was insane. Or lying. Or both.
But somehow, that didn't matter.
Not anymore.
"…Why are you helping me?" Madara asked quietly. "What do you gain from resurrecting Izuna?"
Kai looked at him and asked, "Do you think you're capable of governing Konoha… alone?"
Madara paused.
A shadow passed over his face.
"…No."
He hated saying it, but it was the truth. He could command armies. He could crush cities. But when it came to building a village, running it, managing people, money, and politics?
He could barely manage his own clan.
And even that had slipped.
"If it's Izuna," Kai continued, "he could govern. Assist you. Stabilize what comes next."
Madara remained silent.
He remembered those days — the meetings, the clan disputes, the resource negotiations — all the mundane, exhausting things Izuna had handled without complaint.
Madara had been the sword. Izuna had been the brain.
"I need Izuna," Kai said simply. "And so do you."
Madara looked down at his drink again.
So much had changed in just a day.
He'd been ready to leave the village. Ready to abandon everything. But now?
He had a path forward. A title. A future. And now, possibly… a family again.
"If Izuna were here," he muttered, "he'd scold me for being too hotheaded."
Kai grinned. "Good. Sounds like you two balanced each other out."
Madara took another long sip of the soda. It was sweet. It burned a little.
He didn't hate it.
"Fine. I'll do it."
He stood.
"If this technique can truly bring him back, I'll unify the shinobi world, crush anyone who stands in our way, and give him a place to return to."
Kai gave a nod.
Madara turned slightly, cloak brushing the stone floor.
"Three days," he said.
"I'll make sure the world remembers the name Uchiha Madara."