Chapter 315: Serial Backstabs! Uchiha Douhuan Perishes?
"Uchiha Douhuan, you're not dead?" Uchiha Madara gritted his teeth, looking at the smiling Uchiha Douhuan, and said in disbelief.
"Lord Former Clan Head, given what you're saying, you were able to cross life and death to return, and I merely survived your sneak attack. Is that really something worth praising?" Uchiha Douhuan said unhurriedly.
"I... I really underestimated you..." Madara said, his rapid loss of life force and strength making it somewhat difficult to speak. He stared deadly at Uchiha Douhuan, "To think that the goose hunter would have his eyes pecked out by a goose all day long. Decades of scheming, only to have the peach picked by you, a yellow-mouthed brat."
"Lord Madara is being too modest," Uchiha Douhuan said with a laugh. "Even I have to admire your plan. Whether it was the meticulous arrangement spanning decades or the courage to include your own life in the calculation, this junior is very impressed. However, Lord Madara miscalculated one point, and that is, a plan isn't better just because it's longer. A longer time span means more variables."
"Am I right? Lord Madara? From the very first day I learned of your plan, I was waiting for this moment. But when I truly began to make arrangements against you, it only took me a week," Uchiha Douhuan said with a smile.
"Stop wasting time talking to him! Lord Douhuan!!" Tobi shrieked with all his might!
Uchiha Douhuan, who had long been prepared, his figure appeared in front of Madara like a ghost. His expression was frighteningly calm, and his hands had already formed a jutsu formula more complex than the one Madara had used before!
This was the improved jutsu he had created based on the original sealing formula, precisely for this moment.
"Lord Madara, your mission is complete," Uchiha Douhuan's voice was cold and merciless, like a final judgment.
He stretched out his palm, aiming at Uchiha Madara, who was pained and stiff from Black Zetsu's backstab and whose power was out of control, and at the restless Ten-Tails chakra in his body, which was eager to find a new container!
"Sealing Technique: Divine Tree Unification!"
Weng—!!!
A huge, rotating spiral-shaped sealing jutsu formula appeared in Uchiha Douhuan's palm, erupting with an unimaginable suction force!
"No—!!!" Uchiha Madara let out a desperate and unwilling roar. He could clearly feel that the power of a god, which he had obtained through so much hardship, was being crazily extracted! Along with his Rinnegan, his Truth-Seeking Orbs, his everything... was surging towards Uchiha Douhuan!
That blow from Tobi was not just a backstab, it had opened a "valve" for the power, a channel specially designed for transferring the power of the Ten-Tails!
The incomparably vast flood of the Ten-Tails' chakra, no longer under Madara's control, surged into Uchiha Douhuan's body like a bursting river!
The process was far smoother and faster than when Madara had swallowed it! It was as if Uchiha Douhuan's body and soul were the truly recognized, more suitable container for this power!
"Ahhhhhh—!" Uchiha Madara's body shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye. His skin lost its luster, his hair turned gray, and the light of his Rinnegan completely dimmed... He was viciously dragged down from the throne of a god, turning back into a weak, broken, and dying mortal.
And Uchiha Douhuan, suspended in the air, withstood the infusion of that majestic power. His form underwent a heaven-and-earth-shaking change:
A white robe with tomoe naturally condensed and draped over his body.
Nine jet-black Truth-Seeking Orbs appeared behind his back, slowly rotating.
On his forehead, a Rinne Sharingan, containing the power of all creation, suddenly opened!
A Six Paths-level pressure, far more stable, deeper, and closer to the origin than Uchiha Madara's, enveloped the entire world!
The position of the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki had, at this point, changed hands!
Uchiha Douhuan had formally replaced Uchiha Madara, becoming the new, perfect Ten-Tails Jinchuriki!
Tobi took the opportunity to detach himself from Madara's shriveled body, like a shed snakeskin. He stood at Uchiha Douhuan's side and saluted with a raised hand:
"Congratulations, Lord Douhuan! Loyalty! Sincerity!"
Uchiha Madara, like a puppet with its strings cut, fell from the sky and slammed heavily onto the ground, on the verge of death. He stared with lusterless eyes at the figure in the sky who had replaced him, his eyes filled with endless regret, anger, and bewilderment. His lifelong plot, the power he had pursued even at the cost of making the entire world his enemy, had ultimately become a wedding dress for another.
Uchiha Douhuan slowly opened his eyes, glanced at the fallen Uchiha Madara, and finally looked towards the ominous red moon in the sky.
However, that gaze that seemed to see through the essence of all things only lasted for an instant in Uchiha Douhuan's eyes. He slowly turned his head, his gaze turning to Tobi, who was standing quietly to the side. He raised his hand in a return salute, and then spoke.
"Is everything taken care of?" Uchiha Douhuan's voice was calm and without ripples, showing not the slightest trace of the excitement or arrogance of having just seized the power of a god, as if just confirming a routine piece of business.
"Reporting to Lord Douhuan," Tobi's voice was still humble, but there seemed to be a subtle difference, a new gravity. "It has been strictly handled according to your instructions. Black Zetsu's seal has been opened."
"That's good," Uchiha Douhuan nodded lightly, as if not surprised by this answer at all.
After a short silence, Tobi's tone took on a trace of imperceptible worry, "But, Lord Douhuan, with all due respect, is doing this... perhaps too risky?"
"It is indeed a dangerous move," Uchiha Douhuan frankly admitted. His gaze once again turned to the boundless sky. That pair of newly born eyes, containing the power of the Rinne Sharingan, seemed to be able to pierce through layers of space, to see certain existences in the distant sea of stars. His face was as calm as water, only in the depths of his eyes did a trace of the fanaticism and resolution of an ultimate pursuer flash past.
"But only in this way. I have no other choice," he continued, his voice low but firm. "The current state of this Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, although the power is strong, is ultimately a borrowed 'vessel,' a planned path. It cannot let me truly touch... the most essential root of Yin-Yang Release."
"I understand," Tobi said no more and lowered his head deeply.
Just at this moment, the Konoha crowd, having regrouped, finally returned to the core battlefield with difficulty. The first thing they saw was the fallen, dying Uchiha Madara, as if he had been drained of everything. Immediately, everyone's gaze was uncontrollably drawn to the new figure in the sky.
"That's... Douhuan?!" Senju Hashirama was the first to recognize him. The tense string in his heart subconsciously relaxed. A look of relief after a disaster and a little confusion appeared on his face. "When did he... This is great! It seems he was the one who stopped Madara in the end!" Although he didn't know the specific process, seeing the familiar Fifth Hokage standing tall in the sky, while the biggest enemy was defeated, was undoubtedly the brightest dawn in a desperate situation.
However, his younger brother, Senju Tobirama, his pupils shrank abruptly. He keenly caught the white tomoe robe on Uchiha Douhuan, which was identical to Uchiha Madara's, as well as the nine Truth-Seeking Orbs slowly rotating behind him! An extremely ominous premonition instantly seized him.
"Big brother! Be careful!" Senju Tobirama roared sternly, his face turning extremely ugly. "We've probably... been deceived by this kid from the very beginning! The power fluctuation and form on his body are exactly the same as that lunatic Uchiha Madara! The Uchiha clan... is indeed naturally evil! His goal is probably also..."
Before his angry roar could finish, as if to confirm his worst guess—
Uchiha Douhuan in the sky slowly turned around. He did not look at the shocked Konoha crowd below, but instead cast his pair of eyes, which contained infinite power, the Rinne Sharingan, towards the moon in the sky, which had already been dyed an ominous red.
He raised his hands and formed an ancient, obscure, and even bizarrely different seal from the current ninjutsu system. Every movement pulled the vast natural energy around him and the Ten-Tails chakra, causing slight tremors in space.
Then, a cold and clear, yet like a final judgment, voice echoed in the desolate sky above the battlefield, shattering everyone's last shred of hope:
"Infinite Tsukuyomi!"
"What?!" The relief on Senju Hashirama's face instantly froze, turning into unbelievable shock and heartbreak. "Douhuan, you...?!"
"Damn it!!!" Senju Tobirama was furious. His chakra boiled, but due to his reincarnated body and previous injuries, it was difficult for him to launch an effective attack immediately.
Minato Namikaze, Sarutobi Hiruzen, Kakashi, and Neji, who had just recovered a little... all the ninjas on Konoha's side had their faces drastically changed! To rise from hell to heaven, and then be instantly kicked back into hell, the huge gap and the cold feeling of despair drowned them.
They had fought with all their might, paid a heavy price, and just when they seemed to see hope, they discovered that the final mastermind behind the scenes was actually the Fifth Hokage they had always trusted and placed high hopes on! This betrayal was far more suffocating and enraging than the oppression brought by Uchiha Madara.
However, at this moment, they were battered and bruised, their chakra almost exhausted. Facing a perfect Ten-Tails Jinchuriki who was in perfect condition, and had just completely inherited all of Uchiha Madara's power, and was perhaps even stronger, any anger and struggle seemed so pale and futile.
They could only watch helplessly, watching Uchiha Douhuan complete that final seal, watching the red moon in the sky flare with brilliance, that Rinne Sharingan pattern as if coming to life, about to cast its light of the eternal dream over the entire ninja world...
The moment the seal was completed, high in the sky, the moon, which had been dyed an ominous blood-red, its light suddenly reached its peak! On the surface of the moon, the huge Rinne Sharingan pattern seemed to have completely come alive. Ripples flowed, and an ominous light poured down like a tangible substance, piercing through the clouds, ignoring the distance, and instantly enveloping the entire land of the ninja world!
That light was not dazzling. On the contrary, it carried a strange gentleness and warmth, as if it could soothe all pain and satisfy all desires.
"No...!" Senju Hashirama let out a powerless cry, trying to block with his last bit of Wood Release, but that light penetrated all physical obstacles.
Minato Namikaze tried to activate the Flying Thunder God, only to find that space itself seemed to be solidified by this light.
The souls of Naruto and Sasuke, in the Six Paths space, also seemed to sense the drastic change in the outside world and were extremely anxious.
Kakashi, Neji,... all of Konoha's ninjas, as well as every living being in every corner of the ninja world, whether ninja or civilian, whether they possessed chakra or not, at this moment, without exception, raised their heads.
Their eyes, the moment they came into contact with that moonlight, transformed into the same form as the one on the moon's surface—the Rinnegan!
Immediately after, an extreme sense of peace and happiness engulfed their consciousness. All pain, war, loss, regret... seemed to be completely erased at this moment. Empty but satisfied smiles appeared on their faces, but their bodies lost all strength and slowly went limp.
From their backs, white substances began to seep out, quickly enveloping their entire bodies, turning into huge, cocoon-like white forms. Countless white cocoons were rolled up by the wooden vines (God Tree roots) rising from the ground and hung on the trees, like a forest filled with bizarre fruits.
Silence.
A deathly silence replaced the previous clamor.
The entire battlefield, the entire Konoha, the entire Land of Fire, the entire ninja world... in just a few short breaths, completely fell into an eternal "peace" and "dream."
Infinite Tsukuyomi, complete.
Uchiha Douhuan floated in the air, indifferently looking down at this world enveloped in white light and silence. His Rinne Sharingan reflected the countless hanging cocoons, as if admiring his most perfect masterpiece.
However, just at this peak moment of "success," just as he was in control of the overall situation and his mind was perhaps the slightest bit relaxed—
The strange change occurred again!
Behind him, a fluctuation of space-time suddenly flashed, and a pitch-black spike instantly pierced Uchiha Douhuan's back heart.
"Now! For Mother!!!"
It, like the most lethal venom, instantly detached from Uchiha Douhuan's shadow and, with a speed beyond imagination, pounced fiercely on his undefended back heart!
This attack was swifter, more vicious, and more precise than Tobi's backstab of Uchiha Madara before! It had grasped the momentary fluctuation when the Infinite Tsukuyomi had just completed, when the power of the God Tree was most closely connected to the caster, but also at its most specific point!
"Pfft—!"
The pitch-black blade, composed of the purest Yin Release, easily pierced through the seemingly invincible Truth-Seeking Orb defense and once again accurately hit the heart!
"Ugh...!" Uchiha Douhuan's body suddenly stiffened. For the first time, a look of disbelief appeared on his face.
He could feel a power that was far colder, far more ancient than what he had used to seal Madara, a power that specifically targeted the core of the God Tree and the soul source of the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, frantically pouring into his body!
This power was not for plundering, but for... assimilation and sacrifice!
"Black Zetsu... you... how could you open my seal?!" Uchiha Douhuan tried to struggle, but found that his body was completely disobedient. The power of the Infinite Tsukuyomi was feeding back, but it mixed with Black Zetsu's cold power, and instead became the shackles that bound him! The power he had meticulously planned to obtain had now become his grave!
"Hehehehe... Uchiha Douhuan! You, this pawn who is even more outstanding, and even more terrifying than Madara!" Black Zetsu's voice was filled with endless malice and the pleasure of success. "Did you think you were using me? Controlling everything? Laughable! All of your actions were in service of this moment! The brilliance of the Infinite Tsukuyomi is the best catalyst to awaken Mother! And this perfect body of yours, which contains the Ten-Tails, is the most perfect sacrifice and hotbed to welcome Mother's return!"
A look of unwillingness appeared on Uchiha Douhuan's face as he was swallowed by Black Zetsu. However, at the last moment, no one noticed the fleeting smile at the corner of Uchiha Douhuan's mouth, and the strange light that flashed from the blue crystal pendant that had been hanging around his neck.
(End of chapter)