The next week went peacefully, not counting the arrival of a giant, that went unnoticed by all but two people, Nico Robin and Madara. While Robin only saw him as a source of social contact, which despite all of the effort of the scholars and Madara's occasional aid she still lacked, to Madara Saul was the first envoy of chaos. The giant, while trying hard to hide it, was obviously a skilled and experienced warrior, so what was he doing here of all places?
Robin had just left, when Saul's eyes wandered up towards a rock-formation. "Come out." He demanded.
Madara walked out, still wearing his disguise. "Good evening."
The giant's eyes remained narrowed. "Who are you?"
Madara smiled. "My name is Izuna Nara, and from what I overheard, you are Saul. Tell me Saul, what is a giant doing so far away from Elbaf?"
"My ship sank." Saul replied.
Madara shrugged. "Well, that's too bad for you. Still, you could ask for aid. Unless you're a pirate, there's no reason why the Marines should be unwilling to pick you up and send you home."
Saul's face darkened. "I am not a pirate, but I lost trust in the Marines. What about you?"
Both had immediately been able to tell that their opposite was a experienced warrior.
Madara shrugged again. "I have never had any faith in the Marines to begin with, but nobody will try to arrest me after looking at me, if that's your question." At least not while the henge is still up, Madara silently added.
After that, the giant and the shinobi decided on a cease-fire. Still, a tinge of worry remained.
A few days later, Madara's worries deepened. Saul had apparently finally learned just where he was, and seemed to be in a panic. That on the other hand made Madara nervous. The giant obviously knew something they didn't, and it couldn't be good.
Earlier he had noted a woman with white hair running through the town like a woman possessed, a woman that seemed oddly familiar. And now Saul was acting as if Ohara was a landmine about to go off. Together, these facts were beginning to paint a worrying picture, especially since his clone had just informed him that the Marines had shown up and kicked everyone but the scholars out of the library.
His thoughts were interrupted by Robin running off, heading towards the Tree of Knowledge. Madara decided he'd better be there first.
In Madara's opinion, the next few minutes could have come straight out of a drama.
The marines searched the library, finding the hidden room, and retreated. Once they were gone, Madara had clones seal the books into scrolls, starting with those he hadn't read yet, together with the researchers' scripts and the Poneglyph. He had a feeling the scholars wouldn't need them much longer, and you never knew when the scripts and a block weighing ten tons that had withstood pretty much every attempt to destroy it might come in handy. While the clones did so, Madara sat on a higher window and looked down.
He saw a unspeakably arrogant man dragging the white-haired woman he had seen before to the herded scholars, and accused them of some heinous acts, with Professor Clover holding a speech about what they had been doing, what they had discovered, and their beliefs. It was actually quite moving, but it did not stop the man, who was apparently called Spandine, from shooting the professor. Madara made a mental note to kill him at an appropriate time. He had actually liked the old man with the odd haircut.
Robin's admission of being able to read the old language was a show of both great loyalty and complete lack of self-preservation. The scholars were shocked, Spandine was surprised, Madara was impressed, and the white-haired woman seemed almost proud. When they called her Nico Olvia, a suspicion started to grow in Madara. Could it be?
Cannon-fire on the Tree of Knowledge pulled him out of his thoughts. Together with the explosion to get into the hidden room, the entire plant seemed to be aflame.
Spandine ordered a retreat, while the white-haired woman finally admitted she was Robin's mother. All very touching, but now Madara had to act, or his prey would escape.
He jumped down, landing right in the middle of the inferno, and used a trick that back when he was a child, every Uchiha knew. With just a bit of chakra, the flames parted before him. The entire act looked like the flames were flowing away from the ground Madara wanted to step on, and flowed back together behind him, as if it were water. "Spandine, where do you think you're going?"
The leader of the CP9 stared at the man who was walking towards him, the flames seemingly avoiding him, as if frightened. "W-Who are you?" He demanded.
The man smiled. "Oh, just someone who wants to make sure you have a very, very bad day."
Spandine twitched. "I don't know who you are, but if you side with the Oharans, then you'll find a price on your head faster than you can say 'justice'!"
The man laughed, his left hand covering his face. "Oh that's rich! Thanks for the warning, but it just so happens that there already is..." There was a POOF, and before Spandine stood a completely different man. "...a price on my head." He finished, revealing his face.
Spandine stumbled back. "I-I-It can't be! The demon of Mariejois, M-Madara Uchiha?"
Clover stared at the scene before him. "Izuna? You were really..."
The man looked at him, and Clover actually saw a tinge of regret in the other man's eyes. "I'm sorry for the deceit, but I believed it safer for all involved if I didn't reveal my true identity."
Spandine seemed panicked. He knew just how much destruction this monster in human skin could dish out. "Protect me! Fenrir, protect me!"
One of the men flanking him charged at Madara. Madara prepared for an attack, but instead, the man suddenly disappeared, before Madara felt two fists pushing against his back. "Rokuougan!"
Madara had never felt anything like that before. His entire body was wracked with pain, the impact of the attack lifting him off the ground. The man appeared before him, calling "Shigan!" To Madara's luck, the blow was aimed at his heart, in other words the part of his armor that was reinforced the most. The finger dented the armor slightly, but it did not penetrate.
Madara landed on his feet, wiping a bit of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Not bad. What was that?"
Fenrir blinked, amazed that the man could still stand after the first blow. Still, there was no reason to not answer a soon-to-be dead man his last question. "It's the Rokushiki, a martial art that we CP9 use. The first attack shows that I have mastered it completely. I am CP9's strongest fighter, Mire Fenrir, your death."
Madara cracked his neck. "That first attack sure packed a punch. I had no idea that such a thing was possible. It seems I've underestimated you all. There are some skills that don't require a Devil Fruit, who would have thought?" Then he grinned. "You'll have to teach me."
Fenrir blinked. "Teach you? I will kill you."
Madara scratched his head. "It seems I have not made myself clear. That was not a request."
With that, both fighters vanished.
