"You… you are…"
After recognizing Uchiha Madara's appearance, Danzo stumbled back several steps in horror. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.
Although he had unwillingly served Madara for over a year, this was his first time meeting the man's *original body* up close.
Wasn't Uchiha Madara supposed to have died at the Valley of the End? Could it be—he'd been faking his death all along?
A thousand thoughts raced through Danzo's head.
His shock clearly came from realizing the old man's true identity rather than the Rinnegan itself. After all, Danzo didn't even know what the Rinnegan was.
This wasn't how things were for Black Zetsu, though.
"Lord Madara, you've finally succeeded!"
Black Zetsu said excitedly, eyes locked on Madara's Rinnegan, his expression bordering on ecstasy.
Up until now, he had already lost much hope in Uchiha Madara and had been planning to abandon this old man, turning his attention instead to grooming Fugaku Uchiha.
Who could've guessed that Madara would actually create a miracle before dying—awakening the Rinnegan.
As Black Zetsu prepared to continue flattering Madara and probing about the Rinnegan's abilities, he suddenly remembered Madara's earlier words accusing him.
Instantly, Black Zetsu's smile melted into tears as he wailed:
"Lord, I truly couldn't handle Heiyan. Even one of my arms was severed by him. I barely managed to escape with my life."
"I don't want to hear your excuses."
Upon hearing this, Uchiha Madara snorted coldly, then emotionlessly continued:
"But I can give you a chance to redeem yourself. Within seven days, no matter what method you use, bring me the stone tablet that Uzumaki Heiyan brought forth on the battlefield. If you fail, don't bother returning to see me."
"Yes! I'll definitely make amends and never disappoint you again, Lord."
Black Zetsu bowed low immediately.
To be honest, he would've gone after the Six Paths stone tablet anyway, even without Madara's orders. After all, the final part recorded on that tablet was actually the fabricated Moon Eye Plan created by himself—it was waiting for Madara to decipher using the Rinnegan.
Now that Uzumaki Heiyan has slipped into a coma, this was the best opportunity to act.
Thinking thus, Black Zetsu immediately bid farewell to Madara and turned around to leave, eager to accomplish this task as soon as possible.
However, just after taking a few steps and before reaching the hidden room's entrance, Uchiha Madara suddenly asked behind him:
"You should understand how important that stone tablet is to me, shouldn't you?"
"Of course, Lord. Please rest assured."
Black Zetsu instinctively answered, assuming Madara was worried about his ability to complete the mission. However, right after speaking those words, his face changed abruptly—he realized too late that he'd let slip too much.
During all these previous years, Madara had never mentioned anything about that stone tablet to him.
"Lord Madara, I…"
Realizing his mistake, Black Zetsu's face paled as he tried to explain himself to Madara. But at that exact moment—
Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan pupils instantly expanded, releasing terrifying waves of ocular power.
The next moment—
Boom!
Without warning, Black Zetsu's body exploded, scattering into countless black liquid droplets across the hidden room.
Due to the suddenness of it all, he didn't even have time to let out a scream.
"I've wanted to kill you for a long time."
Madara Uchiha looked at the black liquid scattered across the ground and sneered coldly. The reason he had sent Black Zetsu to retrieve the Uchiha clan's stone tablet was merely a test—to see just how much of his secrets this other party knew.
So, the moment Black Zetsu slipped up, Madara acted without hesitation, eliminating this threat that had been hiding by his side for years.
In Madara's memories, ever since his younger brother Izuna died, this mysterious figure wearing a triangular straw hat suddenly appeared, constantly manipulating him into opposing Konoha and Hashirama. After the legendary battle at the Valley of the End, it was also this strange man who stole his corpse from Konoha, then after Madara revived using Izanagi, placed him beneath the earth for care and recovery.
Though the stranger had always remained loyal toward him, Madara was naturally suspicious. Once he obtained the power of the Rinnegan, he no longer needed such a questionable follower groveling around him.
"What happened?!"
Danzo, standing nearby, was instantly scared witless upon witnessing Black Zetsu's instant explosion. He absolutely couldn't comprehend how Madara had killed Black Zetsu with just a single glance.
Actually, it would've been strange if Danzo could see it, because this was one of Madara's Rinnegan Dojutsu techniques.
Similar to the Mangekyo Sharingan, when someone awakens the Rinnegan, they also gain their own unique Dojutsu technique.
The technique residing within Madara's Rinnegan was called [Limbo: Border Jail]—a jutsu that split his "shadow" into an alternate dimension overlapping with reality, capable of shielding the original body from enemies' attacks or launching sudden assaults against opponents.
What made this technique so formidable was that its shadow form was undetectable and imperceptible, impervious to physical attacks, yet able to harm individuals in the real world from the parallel dimension.
Back in the original timeline, during the Fourth Great Ninja War, Madara first used this technique and effortlessly defeated all nine tailed beasts at once.
It was a technique with power bordering on invincibility.
After eliminating Black Zetsu, Madara walked toward Danzo without expression.
I'm done for.
Danzo didn't dare move an inch, his back soaked in cold sweat, thinking he was next to die like Black Zetsu. Unexpectedly, however, Madara simply walked straight past him, completely ignoring Danzo's existence.
"Been a while since I last got back in action."
Muttering to himself, Madara proceeded out of the hidden room.
"I actually survived?"
A feeling of narrowly escaping death surged within Danzo. He then realized that perhaps Madara had left him alive because this former advisor to the Hokage still retained some slight usefulness.
As it dawned on him, Danzo's eyes flickered with thought. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to trail Madara from behind.
Outside the Mizukage building.
With thousands of Mist shinobi watching, Madara stepped out—his hair white with age and deep lines etched across his face.
"That old man is the one! Kill him!"
Instantly inflamed, the Mist shinobi unleashed a storm of dazzling ninjutsu techniques aimed directly at Madara, attempting to completely bury him beneath their attacks.
"Never thought it had been over twenty years… and now no one even remembers Madara Uchiha anymore."
"Impossible!" Madara muttered, shaking his head with a bitter smile. Then, facing the barrage of ninjutsu flying toward him, Madara stood firm without dodging or evading. Instead, he extended an aged palm forward.
Blocking Technique Absorption Seal: Cancellation of All Techniques.
An unbelievable scene unfolded.
Woo woo woo.
Like a black hole, Madara Uchiha's palm emitted an immense suction force. Any chakra-based ninjutsu attack reaching his front got absorbed into his body, vanishing like a clay ox disappearing into the sea — not even a ripple stirred.
This was a technique that used Rinnegan's power to absorb and neutralize all ninjutsu. In the original timeline, after transplanting his Rinnegan into Nagato, Madara had bestowed this ability upon Preta Path, one of the Six Paths of Pain.
"How could this happen?!"
Seeing Madara absorb all their techniques, numerous Mist ninja were shocked beyond words.
Before they could recover their composure,
Madara Uchiha extended his other hand and aimed it remotely at their leader—the baby-faced Yagura Karatachi.
The next second,
with terror on his face, Yagura felt himself lifted off the ground by an irresistible gravitational force. No matter how fiercely he struggled, it was useless. Before their very eyes, he was dragged toward Madara Uchiha and grabbed around the neck.
[Universal Pull]!
Woo woo woo.
Once again, Madara's palm emitted strong suction, devouring all the chakra within Yagura Karatachi's body. Then several black receivers blasted out from Madara's palm, impaling Yagura's limbs as he screamed in agony and pinning him to the pillar of the Mizukage building.
"Hurry and save Lord Yagura!"
"Don't use ninjutsu against that old man anymore! He's immune to ninjutsu! Use taijutsu against him!"
From the crowd of Mist ninja came many panicked shouts.
"Stand aside!"
Several Kaguya clan ninja rushed out from the crowd. Utilizing their Dead Bone Pulse ability, they hardened their bones into swirling bone spears and attacked Madara Uchiha at high speed.
This time, Madara extended both hands simultaneously. Just before multiple bone spears pierced through his body, he activated Rinnegan's power once again.
Boom!
A powerful repulsive force radiated outward from Madara in all directions. Those Kaguya ninja immediately flew backward even faster, like cannonballs crashing into the crowd and causing massive casualties.
This was none other than [Shinra Tensei].
Blocking Technique Absorption Seal, Universal Pull, Shinra Tensei.
After Madara Uchiha sequentially unleashed these three jutsu, everyone present was awestruck by the eerie and terrifying power within his body.
Not a soul dared to step forward.
"Is it over already? Then it's my turn to act."
Madara swept his gaze around, eyes filled with contempt, speaking slowly.
Then, under everyone's astonished and fearful stares, he clapped his palms together, creating a floating black sphere between his hands, which rapidly ascended to midair above them all.
"Haa!"
With a low shout, Madara clasped his hands together, his Rinnegan's ocular power erupting.
[Planetary Devastation!]
Buzzzzz.
A powerful gravitational force suddenly surged from the black sphere floating in the air. This force cracked the ground for several hundred meters around, as if a magnitude-ten earthquake had just hit.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Countless rocks of varying sizes, broken walls, trees, plants, and even pond water were lifted into the air by that pull, flying toward the sphere and merging with it.
The ninja of Kirigakure were no exception.
In this moment, nearly a thousand people fled in panic, but they were caught by the gravity field and yanked one by one into the sky, helplessly blending with the fragments of rock.
Eventually, above the village of Kiri, a massive sphere formed—nearly a hundred meters in diameter—and simply floated there suspended in the air.
"Clang!"
Witnessing this scene, the remaining ninja dropped their weapons, completely losing any will or courage to fight.
They fell to their knees on the ground, regarding Madara Uchiha as a god. Desperately kowtowing—bowing deeply with forehead touching the ground—before him, they begged the deity for mercy and forgiveness like mere mortals.
Danzo had watched the entire one-sided battle unfold, deeply shocked beyond words.
Just three days earlier, he'd believed Heiyan was already invincible across the world of shinobi, yet now, compared to the divine power displayed by Madara Uchiha, Heiyan seemed pale in comparison.
Far away at the edge of the crowd,
a Konoha spy ninja nervously used a camera hidden inside his sleeve to record everything happening here. Then quietly disappeared, rushing the intelligence back to Konoha as quickly as possible…
After swiftly suppressing this rebellion with overwhelming force, Madara Uchiha turned around and returned to the underground hidden chamber.
Danzo followed closely behind, carefully copying every move he made.
Back inside the hidden room,
Madara made the Summoning Seal, and through the power of his Rinnegan, connected to a distant space.
"Poof!"
After the smoke cleared, a colossal statue had been summoned.
It was a humanoid statue seated upon a purple lotus throne.
This Demonic Statue of the Outer Path possessed nine eyes. Its body appeared wooden and lifeless; ten column-like protrusions jutted out from its back. Both hands were joined upward—as though praying to the heavens.
"The stone tablet's inscription was true. This thing truly exists."
Madara looked up, gazing at the statue, murmuring to himself.
Its name was Demonic Statue of the Outer Path—an empty shell of the Ten-Tails. Over a thousand years ago, it had been sealed inside the Moon by the Sage of Six Paths. Today, Madara used the power of his Rinnegan to summon it again from within the Moon's interior.
According to Madara, while the chakra of the Ten-Tails had long been extracted by the Sage of Six Paths and divided among the Nine Tails, its physical vessel still retained immense vitality.
Madara sat down on the chair and performed another hand seal.
[Swish! Swish! Swish!]
Instantly, several tubes extended from the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, piercing directly into Madara's back, continuously channeling life energy into his body.
"Ahh..." Madara couldn't help but let out a low moan of satisfaction.
Through this method, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path could at least grant Madara twenty to thirty more years of life, giving him ample time to realize his grand plan.
Next, Madara Uchiha planned to personally reclaim the Uchiha clan's stone tablet from Heiyan Uzumaki and use his Rinnegan to decipher its key contents, hoping to find a way to save the world and achieve the "true peace" he had long pursued.
However,
After careful consideration, he ultimately decided to proceed cautiously, suppressing his immediate urge to storm Konoha.
Firstly, it was naturally due to Heiyan's strength that made Madara feel wary. In his eyes, Heiyan had already attained a power level comparable to Hashirama Senju in his prime.
Secondly, and more importantly, although Madara had successfully awakened the Rinnegan as he desired, unfortunately, he possessed only one of these Immortal Sage eyes.
He gently touched his right eye—the one blinded by using Izanagi. Because of this, his Rinnegan remained incomplete, unable to unleash its full power.
[Limbo: Border Jail], for instance. With only one Rinnegan, Madara could summon just a single shadow clone, which might not guarantee killing Heiyan. But if he had two Rinnegan eyes, he could instantly summon four shadow clones, making it effortless to obliterate Heiyan on the spot.
Therefore, for Madara, the top priority now was to use the power gained from awakening—the combined force of Yin and Yang Release—to create a new Rinnegan for his right eye.
This process would take some time—anywhere from several months to a year or two. After all, creating a Rinnegan was no simple task.
Even so, Madara had spent decades hiding deep beneath the earth, enduring over twenty years of patient silence. A little extra time wouldn't make much difference now.
"Uzumaki Heiyan, your reign of defiance won't last much longer."
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