Uchiha Madara, Uchiha Madara again!!! Only, compared to the Uchiha Madara who appeared the previous few times...
...this Uchiha Madara was clearly different. When Uchiha Madara first appeared, he was called Six Paths Madara in the video title.
In other words, he had obtained power comparable to the Six Paths Sage, and one could feel his strength even through the screen.
The second time was during the battle between the brothers, Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke. However, at that time, his power hadn't recovered yet, and he was wearing a mask.
Although he only appeared twice, his performance showed him to be powerful and calculating.
Now it was different; he appeared as an old man, which left most people confused.
"What... is going on?"
Ōnoki, who had successfully brought his village's elite Genin to Konoha, stared at the multiverse projection of the aged Madara and for a moment didn't know what to say.
He knew very well that when he was young, Uchiha Madara had already been middle-aged, and now he himself was practically on his last legs.
Uchiha Madara couldn't possibly be young either, yet when he saw Six Paths Madara, Ōnoki assumed Madara had grasped the Six Paths Sage's power to stall his life and keep himself in a youthful state.
But now it seemed that although Madara might not be dead, he was in an extremely, extremely old stage.
So who was that little brat beside him—Madara's successor?
Just as Ōnoki was puzzling over this—
Inside Konoha.
Kakashi, who had briefly met up with Might Guy and was about to start their 'youth showdown', suddenly widened his eyes in disbelief at the images on the screen.
In fact, it wasn't just him; even Might Guy swallowed hard, his pupils trembling slightly as he looked at the youth in the video.
"What's wrong?"
Naruto found their huge reactions odd. Right now he kind of wanted to rush to the Hokage Office and ask Grandpa Third Hokage what on earth was going on at Sasuke's house.
But since the Anbu wouldn't let him or the Pervy Sage through, he could only wait here for good news.
Two videos had already played, yet Naruto realized Sasuke and Grandpa Third still hadn't finished talking. Instead, this bushy-browed uncle and Kakashi-sensei were staring at the screen with looks of utter disbelief.
"That guy... is Madara."
The Nine-Tails inside Naruto spoke, its voice full of dread.
"Madara?! That old man?" Naruto might be a bit face-blind; he couldn't believe the frail-looking elder who might keel over at any second was the Six Paths Madara from the earlier video.
"Yeah, but what surprises me is that the brat in front of him feels familiar."
Although Kurama was still sealed, after spending the past few days with Naruto they'd built a certain rapport.
While absolute trust was still off the table, Kurama had secretly given Naruto a bit of a boost—like sharing some of its Chakra.
Naruto, in turn, showered the fox with concern, even asking how to break the seal, since that gate looked pretty annoying to him.
Kurama didn't mind, though; having a gate was fine. At least here, no Uchiha Madara or Senju Hashirama would suddenly pop in to beat it up.
It longed for freedom, sure, but staying inside Naruto let it watch videos via the multiverse projection—wasn't that great?
"Familiar feeling?" Naruto didn't quite get what Kurama meant by 'familiar' and assumed it was an acquaintance of the Nine-Tails.
"Obito..."
Kakashi's voice trembled as he spoke the name of the man in the video.
"He's... still alive?" Might Guy couldn't believe the person who was supposed to be dead had appeared on-screen.
And now he was with Madara—what on earth was going on?!
The video began to play slowly.
"No one else saw, right?"
the aged Madara asked.
White Zetsu answered, "Only me. Obito killed all the enemies, so no problem."
"Only... he couldn't bring himself to finish Kakashi. But Kakashi didn't see anything; when Konoha's reinforcements arrived he was shouting, 'Who wiped out the enemy?'"
Hearing White Zetsu's report, Madara said slowly, "He can't bear to strike a former comrade?"
"No."
Obito spoke, his voice cold and indifferent. "I simply don't care whether that guy lives or dies."
Facing Madara's Sharingan, Obito said calmly, "In the world I'm about to create, both Kakashi and Rin exist. Tell me how to build that dream world, Madara."
Seeing Obito like this, the aged Madara seemed to smile. "No need to thank me. Come here. From today on, you are the Deliverer. Look into my eyes."
Obito met Madara's gaze, and in that instant the old man's Three-Tomoe Sharingan activated.
In a flash, Madara and Obito arrived in a pure-white space.
The aged Madara spoke:
"This is my genjutsu space. Right now it's only blank, but I can project my will to create and control everything."
"As long as you link to the Gedo Statue and borrow its power, anything—great or small—can be done."
As he spoke, the old Madara raised his hand and shifted into his youthful form, his voice turning young. "Just like this."
"!"
Obito looked startled.
"Use this illusion to craft the ideal world, then cast that genjutsu on all of humanity and bring them in—using the moon in place of this eye."
The scene cut to a blood-red moon.
Madara continued, "Expand the scale of the jutsu, and you can create the world of dreams."
Obito replied calmly, "That sounds too huge for me to swallow right now."
Madara said flatly, "To explain, we must start with the Six Paths Sage and the Ten-Tails."
Obito frowned. "Isn't the Ten-Tails just a creature from myth?"
At that moment the white genjutsu space shifted, and the two stood before an ancient mural depicting a monster; at its center stood a humanoid figure adorned with magatama.
Madara gazed at the mural. "Myth has its factual basis. The Tailed Beasts scattered across the world were formed from the Ten-Tails' power, divided by the Six Paths Sage."
Obito raised an eyebrow, skeptical. "Do you have proof that's true?"
"Yes."
In answer to Obito's doubt, Madara said calmly, "After obtaining Hashirama cells, I transplanted them into my wound. At first nothing happened—but on the verge of death, I awakened the Rinnegan."
At those words, the background showed the aged Madara, and in his eyes... the Rinnegan appeared.
!!!!!!!!
At that instant, the Ninja World shook—was this how Madara obtained the Rinnegan?!
Combine Senju and Uchiha blood and a Rinnegan appears?!! Wouldn't Konoha be unbeatable?
Oh right, the Senju are basically extinct and the Uchiha Clan was wiped out—never mind, then.
The video kept playing.
Madara continued calmly: "But at the same time, another seal was broken. I learned to summon something—from the sealing stone I called forth the shell of the Ten-Tails."
"The shell of the Ten-Tails?" Obito wondered, though through the background image he could see the shell—the thing that had been behind Madara.
"I named it the Gedo Statue, and that sealing stone is what people call the moon."
While Madara spoke, Obito's face showed clear shock.
Madara's tone stayed flat: "After that, I immediately used the statue as a medium to cultivate Hashirama cells. In other words, these artificial humans count as copies of Hashirama—crude ones, admittedly."
On the Gedo Statue, White Zetsu figures appeared, hanging like fruit from a tree.
Madara looked at Obito and went on: "Without both Uchiha and Senju power, the Rinnegan can't be awakened, let alone the statue controlled."
"Your right half is filled with Senju cells; even without the Rinnegan you should be able to control the statue."
Under Madara's words, Obito stared at his right arm—Hashirama cells?
The scene shifted: on a rainy day Obito wore a black hooded cloak, his face hidden by a white spiral mask.
"See that redhead's eyes?"
At this point White Zetsu spoke; not far away stood a red-haired man wearing an Amegakure forehead protector—his eyes were the Rinnegan.
Obito gazed at the red-haired man and said calmly: "So that's Madara's Rinnegan?"
Obito's startling words revealed that the old Madara hadn't possessed the Rinnegan—he had given his eyes to someone.
"Those are Madara's true eyes," White Zetsu chirped. "We quietly transplanted them while the boy was still young."
Black Zetsu's hoarse voice followed: "Nagato is a Senju descendant; apart from Madara, he's the only one who can summon the Gedo Statue."
"First, as Madara said, we bring Nagato under our control..."
Just as Black Zetsu finished, Obito stepped forward.
"What are you doing?" White Zetsu asked in surprise.
"Telling the truth, that's all." Obito walked toward Nagato.
White Zetsu sounded nervous: "Um... should we plan a strategy?"
"No need." Obito advanced slowly; beneath the white spiral mask his Sharingan began to spin.
Madara's voice rang out again.
"Obito, I'll teach you the Uchiha's forbidden techniques, the Six Paths arts, and Yin–Yang Release."
The scene returned to the beginning: Madara reached out, placed a hand on White Zetsu, and a black figure emerged.
It covered most of White Zetsu's body—this was Black Zetsu.
"I poured my own will into it," Madara told Obito. "You can consider half of it as me; it's a degraded product."
"Treat these Yin–Yang creations as your pawns."
As he spoke, Madara formed a seal; from the Gedo Statue extended a branch-like black rod.
"That rod is the embodiment of my consciousness. Use it when you employ Six Paths techniques."
Having given his instructions, Madara started forward; the white tubes linking him to the statue pulled taut.
Crack!
With a sharp tug, the white tubes snapped.
Hah... hah...
Gasping, Madara grew frail, as if about to die.
Still, he sat on the chair, catching his breath, and told Obito: "Go. Until I return, you..."
The scene switched.
Obito walked toward the trio of Nagato, Konan, and Yahiko.
Nagato called out, serious: "Who are you!"
Obito lowered his hood, revealed his Sharingan, and said: "Uchiha Madara!"
Outside the video, in the Naruto World, the Akatsuki Organization.
"Unimaginable secrets! Black Zetsu, I never thought you were Madara's will."
Deidara stared at Black Zetsu in surprise; he had figured the two Zetsu were specially modified, yet his guess had been right.
From what the video showed,
Black Zetsu represented Madara's will,
White Zetsu represented Hashirama?
And the masked man who had acted so mysterious was actually some Uchiha Madara's successor?
...
Black Zetsu said nothing; the rest of Akatsuki didn't matter—only Nagato and that Itachi.
As for being Madara's will—heh, let them think so.
"Ah~ exposed; this video creator is really unfriendly."
White Zetsu stayed calm; he didn't care about being revealed. Before dying, Madara had entrusted everything to Obito and Black Zetsu.
Though White Zetsu had a scrap of intellect, it was only a scrap; born as a weapon, he didn't bother with complex thought.
...That Madara—was Uchiha Obito?"
Itachi's voice wavered; his Three-Tomoe Sharingan slowly spun. The video's final words had been ambiguous.
He would revive—how? With what?
Was it some trigger, or a technique? Or perhaps... At this thought, Itachi couldn't help looking up at the leader Pain's Rinnegan.
With too little intel, Itachi could only guess that Madara needed the Rinnegan to resurrect himself.
It's just that the Rinnegan-wielder in the video was called Nagato, and no one in the Akatsuki Organization went by that name—only the self-proclaimed god, Pain.
In other words, Pain is also a pawn?