"Oh? You've come back?" Madara called when he sensed movement within the cave. Zetsu appeared in the ground before him with an amused grin. Madara stared at him, raising one of his thin white eyebrows. "What's gotten you so happy?"
"You have no idea of the fight you missed," Zetsu said in a childish voice, sounding excited. "You did a good job with Hanako's training." Madara smirked.
"When don't I?" he replied. "Anyway, show me the fight. I won't comment until I see it for myself."
"Sure." Zetsu looked at the man in the eye, and soon the images started to form in his head. For Madara, it was a nice sight to see. Both girls had their right moves. Worthy opponents for the future, he thought. "I wonder though, how Hanako managed to get barely a scratch after that hit. The stomach is quite a sensible spot; she shouldn't have been able to move," Zetsu commented.
"How come you didn't notice?" Madara looked at the white humanoid, Zetsu only stared back at him with confusion in his eyes. "Look closely at the girl's fist. There's a fine layer of chakra between it and Hanako's stomach." Zetsu focused on the image and noticed the green layer of chakra. It was invisible unless one focused hard enough to see it, although he wasn't surprised Madara saw it without effort.
"What's that?"
"Susano'o," said Madara with a smirk.
"Wha—what?!" Zetsu's eyes widened.
"The Susano'o reflects any type of Ninjutsu or Taijutsu. In this case, Hanako used it to reflect the fist's damage away from her stomach. The amount of chakra the fist held, though, is what sent her flying backwards. The damage she got was from hitting the wall; the hit itself didn't affect her at all." Madara explained, enjoying the look of incredulity in Zetsu's eyes.
"But, how are you so sure of it being the Susano'o? That would mean she has..."
"Yes...The Mangekyou Sharingan," the old man affirmed. "Come to think of it, she meets all the requirements. She mastered the normal Sharingan and she's experienced death. She saw her father being killed; the trauma should have been more than enough to awake it."
"But..."
"I've seen it, Zetsu." Madara added. "She used it to protect herself in one of our trainings. I forced it out of her because I felt the power hidden in her eyes from the moment Obito brought her the first time." Zetsu remained silent for a moment.
"But, how come she never used it?"
"She doesn't understand what the Mangekyou is," Madara said. "That's part of the reason I sent her to read the Uchiha stone, but she still doesn't get it. Apart from the Susano'o, I have no idea what kind of abilities she might have. I've never seen that design." He made an extreme effort and stood up. That body wouldn't last much longer. He guessed it was time to let Obito take it from there.
"Zetsu. Tell Hanako and Obito to come. I'd like to speak to them one last time before my time comes." The humanoid nodded and disappeared without a trace. Madara let himself fall on the chair once again. He couldn't walk anymore, and feeling that way was disgusting enough. It was better for him to die now and revive at full power when it was time. Nagato had the Rinnegan. They would gather all the Bijuu and seal them into the Gedou Statue. And then, the plan would begin.
* * *
"Then, what's the plan?" Hiroki asked as he stared at his companions. Itachi, Hanako, Shisui and he were assembled in one of the training grounds, 'discussing' what they would do to deal with the Iwagakure's attack. Hanako looked up to the sky and sighed.
