Naruto: If I ask you to kill Sasuke, you will become a succubus?

Without waiting for my reply, he jumped down from the tree again and stared at my face - to be exact, my blind right eye.

He should know about Izanagi, but the Izanagi I used has been modified, and even Itachi cannot confirm it. Uchiha Madara lacks information and may not know that I am blind.

What he was looking at should be the scar left by Itachi.

The scar had stopped bleeding, but the scar had not disappeared yet.

Uchiha Madara made a “tsk” sound, “How did it become like this? Did he really scratch you? Did he hurt your eyes? He must have avoided it, right?”

I said nothing.

"Don't pretend. I know who Uchiha Itachi is better than you do. Controlling you for the Sharingan? Ha, he wouldn't do such a thing."

"..."

"But I am very curious. Uchiha Itachi was willing to kill his own parents for his brother and Konoha... Why can you let him help you like this?"

"..."

"Don't play dumb. I know that the drama you and Uchiha Itachi performed was all for the purpose of saving the One-Tailed Jinchuriki. Didn't I not interfere with anything and let you save him?"

I finally realized that there was no need to continue acting in front of Uchiha Madara.

I replied cautiously, "Because he is my teacher."

This is the biggest intersection between Uchiha Itachi and me, and it is also the only convincing explanation on the surface, but it is obviously untenable in front of Uchiha Madara.

He sneered, "If he could let down his guard so easily and get close to people, he wouldn't be called Uchiha Itachi."

I simply asked back: "Then what else do you think it could be?"

Uchiha Madara was silent for a moment, and seemed to be really thinking.

After a while, he said in a low voice: "... Could it be that he likes you?"

Since he thinks this is the case, I can't think of any other more reliable explanation.

I nodded, "I see...Itachi-sensei seems to have fallen in love with me."

Uchiha Madara: "..."

He stood up straight, for a while, then folded his arms, and after a while, he clenched his fists.

I couldn't see his expression clearly because of the mask he was wearing, but judging by his body movements, he seemed to be inexplicably capricious.

"……what's on your mind?"

"Heh, I think Uchiha Itachi has good taste, but at the same time I also think... is he worthy?"

"You seem to have a problem with Itachi-sensei. But weren't you the one who asked him to teach me?"

"He's only capable, and there's nothing left for him to teach you. You might as well just kick him out."

"So you came to me just to find out that Itachi-sensei likes me?"

"Don't be fooled by him." Uchiha Madara said, "Although he looks good and has a reputation as a genius, he has a gloomy personality and a deep mind. He can do anything. So what if he likes you? He can even kill his own parents with his own hands. Such a person cannot be trusted at all."

I was confused and didn't know how to respond.

"So, you won't do anything to me?" I asked after a while, "You appear in front of me, not intending to attack me or hurt me, but just to see how I am doing? Will you interfere with my actions? For example, if I want to go back to the Hidden Mist Village next, will you stop me?"

"You can do whatever you want." Uchiha Madara said simply, "...But, there's no need to say that I have nothing to do. I just want to have some fun. You see, the show you and Uchiha Itachi put on is quite interesting. That kind of difficult struggle to achieve the goal... It's just like an ant struggling to survive, which makes people feel pity."

I don't know why, but I feel like he's trying to find a seemingly reasonable excuse for his behavior.

In fact, his behavior of suddenly appearing in front of me at any time and saying a bunch of nonsense is not in line with the mysterious and dangerous style of Uchiha Madara as the mastermind behind the scenes.

I think maybe it’s because he likes Lin that he cares about me.

I didn't expect Uchiha Madara to be such an affectionate man...

I couldn't help but ask him out of curiosity: "What kind of person is Nohara Lin?"

But Uchiha Madara seemed to find my inquiry sudden, because he looked startled.

"what?"

"If you didn't know her, how could you like her? And you cared about me so much after her death... There must be some story between you, right?"

"..."

"How did you meet? Does she know you are Uchiha Madara? Or did you use a fake identity?" I pondered for a moment, "You must have used a fake identity."

The situation suddenly turned around.

Just now Uchiha Madara kept asking questions and I could only answer in silence. Now I am the one asking questions and he remains silent.

"What's wrong? Can't you tell me? Even though you are very old... Lin must be a very good girl, for you to be attracted to her, right?"

"Lin...of course she is very good."

I smiled: "Teacher Kakashi told me before that Lin is a very gentle girl, and also a very powerful medical ninja. I also wanted to be a medical ninja before!"

"Then why did you change your mind?"

"Well... because, compared to being a medical ninja who always pays attention to the condition of his companions and strives to survive until the last moment, I prefer to rush forward and eliminate all dangers directly."

Uchiha Madara seemed to smile silently. "Really? I think so too."

"You really do soften your attitude every time you mention Lin."

"I only do this to you." Uchiha Madara said, "No one else is worthy of mentioning her in front of me."

"Am I special because I look like her, or because... I have half of her genes?"

"It's more than that. It's because you are you."

"what?"

"No matter how similar you look to Lin, you are not her. Even if you have Lin's genes, you can never be compared with her. If you use this to shake me, you are looking down on me. I will kill anyone who dares to defile Lin. The reason why you are special is that... although you have these, you don't intend to exist as a fake. You have walked your own direction, and that is... the direction I am interested in."

"It sounds like Lin and I have different personalities, don't we?"

"Lin is very gentle. But this world does not allow such gentleness to exist. She tried hard to protect her companions... However, if she does not resist this world and create new rules, not only will she not be able to achieve her wish, but she will even be swallowed up by the world." Uchiha Madara said: "But you have embarked on a path of resistance. Didn't I say that I am very curious about what kind of path you can take. So far, I have been observing you. Even if you teamed up with Itachi to infiltrate Akatsuki, even if you saved the One-Tailed Jinchuriki, didn't I stop you? Maybe you won't believe it, but I really want to see how far you can go."

I thought for a while and asked, “Can you help me?”

"what?"

"Since you said you want to see how far I can go, why not give me a hand?"

"……What's up?"

"Do you know the whereabouts of the Red Sand Scorpion's true form?"