Chapter 95: Subconsciousness

[Kaede POV]

"Where am I?" I muttered and gradually woke up.

I sat up and investigated my surroundings. I'm currently in a dark black void that reminds me of the universe. A bright white moon illuminated the pitch-black space, and a tiny inch of water covered the ground. I was extremely anxious about my new location however, I also felt peaceful and relaxed with an extreme sense of familiarity.

"My injuries' all gone...' I thought and checked my body.

I could clearly remember my battle with Tomura, how he broke my arm and that I blacked out once he activated All For One...

My expression darkened at the memory, 'I needed to leave this place fast!'

Suddenly the ground started to shake as pure white marble stairs emerged. The moonlight shined upon the structure giving it a grand appearance. I was wary of the structure but my instinct told me I should climb it.

Since I have no better idea, I decided to venture and see what awaited me above. After a few minutes of walking, I finally reached the top and was shocked beyond belief. On the top, there was a flat, circular marble platform. On the platform, two men sat at a low table across from each other.

The first person was a fair-skinned man with long black spiky hair that fell to his waist. There were prominent creases under his eyes. The man wore crimson armour with numerous metal plates around his chest, abdomen, shoulders and thighs.

The second person was a pale-skinned elderly man. He has shoulder-length brown hair with a braided lock hanging in front of his left ear. A pair of horns protruded from his forehead, and the man wore a white kimono with a pattern of six black magatamas.

The two were in an intense game of Shogi, not minding my dumbfounded expression: "Madara and Hagoromo...." I unintentionally voiced out.

"Oh? You know our names?" Hagoromo glanced at me with a hint of surprise.

Before I could respond, Madara interrupted me: "C'mon, your move old man..."

"Hmmm," Hagaromo stroked his beard, deep in thought, Madara was grinning triumphantly but his expression crumbled when Hagoromo checkmated him in one move.

"Damn it all!" Madara shouted in frustration as he flipped the board in anger.

"Heh, you need to practice for at least ten no one hundred years to defeat me!" Hagoromo exclaimed.

The two men glared at each other as sparks seemed to form between them.

*Cough Cough* I awkwardly coughed into my hand to get their attention.

The two stopped their staring contest and faced me, "I apologise for our rude behaviour. So, you may have some questions, but before we start, let us officially introduce ourselves." Hagoromo said, "My name is Hagoromo Ōtsutsuki, and I'm the first Sharingan user."

"Eh, shouldn't your last name be Uchiha?" I wondered out loud.

Hagaromo sighed sadly: "My son changed his last name to Uchiha once he married."

"He made a good choice, Uchiha sounds like a way better name than Ōtsutsuki," Madara said proudly.

Hagaromo's mouth twitched, and he smacked Madara on the head: "Ouch, what was that for you old geezer?!"

Madara clicked his teeth in annoyance: "Anyway, I'm Madara Uchiha, I'm the descendent of this senile man!"

A tick mark appeared on Hagaromo's forehead, but he decided to ignore Madara's comment, and I couldn't help but giggle at their childish behaviour. But my laughter died down as I stood up from my seat: "It's nice to talk with you two, but I need to get out of here." Panic rose into my voice.

"Ah yes, the battle with that villain wasn't going so well... But don't fret, everything will be fine. Ask us some questions first, and we will answer to the best of our abilities." Hagoromo replied.

I got no choice but to believe him, so I sat back down: "Where are we?" I asked.

"We're in your subconscious," Madara responded.

"Subconscious?" I repeated.

"It was a form of the mental plane inside one's mind. Only a selected few were strong enough to manifest this private space." Hagoromo explained.

"Does it all look like this?" I asked while looking around,

"Don't know, obviously we've never been to other people's mind space," Madara answered and I blushed at the stupid question.

"Why are we here, if this was my mental plane, why are you two here?" I asked and stared looked at Madara and Hagoromo confusingly.

"Madara and I were mere remnants of the past. A small part of our soul resides in every user of the Sharingan, think of us as artificial intelligence of some sort that only activates on certain requirements." Hagoromo explained.

"Why specifically you two?" I questioned, "And what requirements?"

"We were the only two because we've achieved something that shouldn't normally be possible, and now you will be the third!" Madara and Hagoromo activated their Sharingan; however, their blood-red eyes soon turned a light purple colour, and the pupil dawned a wavelike pattern.

I gasped, Rinnegan! I never thought that I would be able to see it in this life. But even if I reached this level of strength, it would be all over if Tomura took my quirk away...

Hagoromo must have read my thought as he gave me a sympathetic smile: "You don't have to worry. We won't let him take your quirk."

Suddenly, my subconscious rumbled loudly as the space above us started to crack.

"Wh...What's happening?" I said.

"Hmmm, speaking of the devil... It's here...."

White cracks appeared on the top of the empty void as an enormous snake emerged from the break. The basilisk was giant, with dragon-like wings coming out of its back.

The monster hissed and bared its fangs at us. Hagaromo and Madara frowned as the two stood up: "What is that thing??" I yelped and stared at the horrifying monster.

"If I have to guess, that must be the embodiment of the All For One quirk; just like its name, it even looked evil," Madara answered with disgust.

"No matter, we will simply have to kill it," Hagoromo muttered.

He held out his hand as a black shakudo staff appeared in his palm and six black orbs floated behind him. Madara smirked as he was suddenly wielding a massive gunbai fan and scythe in his hands. The weapons were connected with a metal chain, and Madara did some test swings while nodding to himself.

"Even in death, I never thought I had to fight," Hagoromo commented.

"Sit back on this one. Let us show you our power!" Madara boasted.

The enormous serpent roared as it spewed a dark black haze out of its mouth, the smoke travelled towards us, and anything that came in contact with it started to rot. As the damage to my mind space increased, I felt a massive headache and I clutched my head in pain.

Hagoromo raised his hand as one of the orbs floated towards the smoke and absorbed it completely. The snake hissed angrily as it warily observed the dangerous enemy. Madara smirked at the monster's cowardly behaviour.

Madara tensed his legs muscles and leapt at the serpent. I was surprised by his strength as the marble platform broke apart from the power.

Madara's Rinnengan flared as he appeared at the serpent's face with a single swing of his scythe, and the monster's skull split open. The snake's body went limp as it started to dissolve into nothing but ash.

I exhaled in relief as the pain left, Hagoromo was there to support me from collapsing: "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine..." I replied with a shaky breath.

Hagoromo nodded: "With the threat gone, let's continue our talk."

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