Chapter 25: You Cross Paths Again

Madara was running out of time. How could he not feel anxious? 

At first, he thought that as long as he could see the future, he'd be fine. He could stay in the shadows and wait for Black Zetsu's plan to succeed. 

Even if things went wrong on Orochimaru's side, he still had a way to live a second life. Worst case, he'd just come out and clean up the mess himself. 

He had lived through the Warring States era—he wasn't stupid. He just never needed to think too hard before. 

 But the more he thought about things, the more he realized that Black Zetsu wasn't the biggest problem. 

The real wildcard was Shanks. 

"If only Izuna were still alive..." 

Madara was exhausted—mentally exhausted. 

Over time, he had come to understand Shanks better. 

That guy was straightforward, always speaking his mind. And beyond that, he carried the pride of a true warrior—he never bothered with deception or hiding his intentions. 

 If Madara asked Shanks about his future plans, Shanks would definitely answer honestly. 

But Madara had his own pride. 

There were some things he would never ask. 

"The New World plan... Shanks wants to create a New World. And he believes that, in the future, someone will rise to carry on his ideals and dreams." 

"I should have realized it sooner. Shanks' plan is to raise more strong warriors." 

A normal person would keep power limited to what they could control. 

But Shanks wasn't normal. 

He was a man with Conqueror's Haki. 

A man with the will to create a new era. 

"Shanks doesn't care about controlling everything. With his personality, if someone stronger than him appeared, he'd see it as a good thing. That's the kind of person he is." 

"No wonder he can shake the world. A vision like his doesn't need tricks or schemes. Once the New World is built, history will keep moving forward." 

"Shanks will be the one driving the carriage, while the weak... will be crushed under its wheels."

Madara finally understood Shanks' plan. 

Shanks might have a straightforward personality, but his vision and ambition were far beyond anyone else in the ninja world. From the very start, he had been thinking on a much higher level. 

Once the wheels of history started turning, not even Black Zetsu or anyone hiding in the shadows could stop it. 

There was only one way to halt this momentum—step out from the darkness. 

"So, Shanks must have realized that some parts of history were deliberately hidden, and that's why he's doing this?" 

Madara figured it was worth confirming the Poneglyph matter with Shanks when he got the chance. 

But for now, he decided to follow along with the flow of history. 

His second life was still a few years away. 

By then, the ninja world would have completely changed. 

"Besides Haki, that leaves Taijutsu and swordsmanship. It's too late to learn Shanks' sword techniques now, but his Taijutsu shouldn't be a problem for me." 

Madara was absolutely confident, and for good reason. 

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't even bother learning Taijutsu. But what Shanks had displayed was on a whole different level. 

His raw physical strength and endurance were beyond even some tailed beasts. 

Boom! Boom! Boom! 

At that moment, loud noises echoed from the forest nearby. 

Shanks was training his body again. 

In a blink, Madara disappeared from his room. 

When he arrived at the forest, he saw Shanks running while carrying an enormous boulder on his back. 

That thing had to weigh at least several dozen tons. 

"..." 

Madara said nothing. He didn't gasp, but he was genuinely speechless. 

"Shanks is fully focused on reaching the peak of raw power. That means he only trains in three areas—defense, attack, and endurance." 

"Completely different from a ninja." 

Madara also noticed something else—Shanks had never used Ninjutsu. 

His training path was simple. 

Observation Haki covered defense, swordsmanship and Conqueror's Haki were for attack, and his body ensured endurance. 

All other types of Ninjutsu? Shanks had no interest in them. 

"And I can barely sense any chakra from him… wait, no, that's not right." 

 "This is all the chakra Shanks has? That's impossible. It's barely at the level of a genin." 

Madara narrowed his eyes. 

There was no way this could be true. Shanks was a powerhouse from the Uzumaki Clan. 

Something wasn't adding up. 

Chakra was a fusion of physical and spiritual energy, but the way Shanks trained made it seem like he was using chakra to boost his physical strength instead. 

"Seimei Kikan? So that's what Shanks is doing—using Seimei Kikan, eating to recover quickly, then refining his body with chakra, creating a cycle of growth." 

The Uzumaki Clan naturally had strong bodies and fast healing abilities. 

Shanks' training method took that even further—he had abandoned traditional chakra usage and instead used it to nurture his body. 

This wasn't just about increasing physical strength. 

During this process, his body was constantly merging with the spiritual energy within chakra, which led to… 

"Breaking the limits." 

Yes, Shanks had already broken past his limits. 

In all his decades in the ninja world, Madara had never seen anyone reach this level of pure physical power. 

Meanwhile, Shanks had noticed that Madara had been acting strangely lately, often muttering to himself. 

"Seems like Madara's time is running out. His body is getting weaker by the day." 

Shanks sighed.

Madara looked the same as usual, but Shanks' senses were too sharp. 

Madara's body was already at its limit, like a candle flickering in the wind. It had been through too many battles and could no longer withstand the passage of time. At this rate, he had at most three months left to live. 

Shanks hadn't expected that he would be the one to see Madara off. 

Boom! 

He set down the massive boulder he had been carrying. That was the end of his daily training for today. 

But unlike usual, Madara didn't leave right away. 

Lately, everything Madara had been doing was just to keep up with Shanks, to avoid being left behind by the new era. 

But right now, compared to his own struggles, uncovering the truth of the past was more important. 

"Madara-senpai, is something on your mind today?" 

Shanks asked curiously. 

"There's something I want to confirm." 

"Shanks, you should know that history has been altered and buried on purpose, right? The real history isn't what we've been told." 

Madara's sudden words made Shanks pause. 

After all, the Poneglyphs weren't something ordinary people paid attention to. 

But then Shanks' eyes lit up. The fact that Madara knew about them only made him seem even more unusual. 

As far as he could remember, Roger had also been searching for the Poneglyphs, which were linked to the secrets of the entire pirate world. 

The so-called Poneglyphs contained the history that the World Government had altered—the lost century buried in the past. 

It was one of the biggest mysteries in the world of pirates. 

Shanks was well aware of this, but what he didn't know was that what Madara was talking about was something completely different. 

Yet, reality was often stranger than fiction. Because of Black Zetsu, the history of the ninja world had also been tampered with. 

And somehow, these two people from completely different worlds were now thinking in sync. 

Seeing Shanks' reaction, Madara understood that he was aware of these things. 

"I do know some things about the Poneglyphs, but I've never seen one myself. So even though I know they exist, I don't know exactly what's written on them." 

Shanks nodded. Since Madara brought up the Poneglyphs, he figured he might as well share what he knew. 

"Has Madara-senpai also been investigating that lost history?" 

"I just suddenly remembered that an old friend of mine was involved in it." 

Madara shook his head to himself. 

The friend he was talking about was Izuna. And Izuna's death had always seemed suspicious. 

"I see. Well, when I set out to sea, I'll keep an eye out for you." 

Shanks didn't say much more and simply agreed. He was already planning to search for the Poneglyphs anyway, so it wouldn't hurt to help along the way. 

"But, Madara-senpai… you might not be around by then." 

"Hah! What are you talking about? Don't let my age fool you. You might die before I do." 

Madara's face darkened at Shanks' words. 

The heavy atmosphere from before quickly faded, turning back into their usual banter. 

"Brat, don't underestimate me. Among the people from my era, I might be the only one still alive." 

"Just watch and see." 

Madara spoke with pride. 

He, Uchiha Madara, was not only powerful but also incredibly hard to kill. How could anyone compare to him? 

They couldn't beat him in strength, and they couldn't outlast him either. 

For him, Uchiha Madara, there was no such thing as "thirty years east, thirty years west."

Thirty years? Try over ninety years. The people from back then are all dead, but Madara is still alive. 

"Alright, once I set sail and find the Poneglyph, I'll come back and tell you." 

"Madara-senpai, just wait here." 

Shanks rested his hands behind his head, grinning as he spoke. 

"Set sail? You really think that broken ship of yours can make it out to sea?" 

"Must be a material problem. If I had a branch from the Divine Tree, I could definitely build a great ship." 

Madara froze for a moment when he heard that. 

Using the Divine Tree to build a ship? Do you even know what the Divine Tree is? 

Wait… something's not right. How does Shanks even know about the Divine Tree? 

Then it hit him—Shanks had some knowledge of the lost history. It actually made sense for him to know about the Divine Tree. 

"You really have the guts to even think about using the Divine Tree." 

"I'm a pirate. A pirate's ship is their most valuable possession. Putting more into it is only natural." 

Shanks spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

Using the Divine Tree for his ship would show his status as a high-class pirate. He was going to be one of the Four Emperors in the future, after all. As someone with the Face-Fruit ability, he had to keep up appearances. 

"How much Divine Tree do you need?" 

Madara, standing nearby, suddenly asked. 

That question left Shanks completely stunned. 

Wait… how much? 

Madara-senpai, just what kind of background do you have to ask me how much Divine Tree I need? 

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