Obito returned to the cavern, his hands braced against the table.
He needed power.
More importantly, he needed the truth.
In this world, only one person possessed the power to unravel every mystery and stand against the monsters of Konoha.
Obito slammed the scroll open onto the stone table.
It was the only item of value he had found after scouring every stronghold Black Zetsu had left behind—the Reanimation Jutsu, a forbidden technique developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
That fellow Black Zetsu seemed to have a hobby of collecting various secret techniques from across the shinobi world; the transcription of this scroll dated back ten years.
"Reanimation Jutsu..."
Obito muttered the instructions written on the scroll.
"Summoning the soul of the deceased from the Pure Land back to the world of the living, using a living person as a sacrifice to bind the soul within dust... wiping out their personality or preserving their consciousness through the implantation of a talisman..."
His gaze lingered on a line of small text at the end of the scroll.
"By adjusting the flow of the sacrifice's chakra and the frequency of the formula, the caster can interfere with the physical age of the deceased upon resurrection to a certain extent."
Obito's eyes flickered.
There would be no point in summoning an old man who could barely walk.
What he wanted was Madara Uchiha in his prime.
The Asura capable of rivaling the God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju.
'I might not have Orochimaru's technology to scientifically modify corpses or implant Hashirama's cells for enhancement...'
Obito turned to look at the White Zetsu clone in the corner, its expression vacant under the influence of genjutsu.
This was the best sacrifice he could find at the moment.
White Zetsu was essentially a low-quality duplicate of Hashirama's cells. While it couldn't provide the refined physical modifications Orochimaru was capable of, as a vessel, it would at least ensure Madara could manifest a portion of his former strength.
"Arise, ghost of the Uchiha."
Obito formed hand signs with one hand.
Tiger—Snake—Dog—Dragon.
Finally, he slammed his palms together.
"Reanimation Jutsu!"
Black runes instantly surged from beneath Obito's feet, crawling over the White Zetsu clone like a swarm of living snakes.
"Aaagh!"
The White Zetsu let out a blood-curdling scream as its body was rapidly encased in dust and debris.
Dust swirled and spiraled upward within the dark cavern, gradually coalescing into a human form.
Obito took a step back, warily watching the figure take shape.
As the dust settled, a set of dark red plated armor was revealed.
It was a style from the Warring States period.
Next came the wild, long black hair and a young, arrogant face marred by cracks.
Madara Uchiha.
He stood there silently with his eyes closed and arms crossed, radiating a suffocating surge of chakra.
Even as a dead man, even without moving, the murderous aura forged in a sea of blood made Obito's heart skip a beat.
Suddenly.
Madara opened his eyes.
The pupils that should have been pitch black were now a murky, ashen gray—the signature mark of Reanimation.
Madara looked down at his hands and clenched his fists tightly.
His brow furrowed instantly.
"This sensation in my body..."
Madara's voice was low and raspy, tinged with dissatisfaction. "Is this not the Rinne Rebirth Jutsu?"
He looked up, his gaze piercing toward Obito like a blade.
"Obito?"
Madara asked coldly, "Since you knew the plan for my resurrection, why use such a low-rate forbidden technique?"
Obito took a deep breath, suppressing the tremor in his heart.
"Because the plan has changed, Madara."
"Changed?"
Madara sneered, his lips curling into a look of disdain. "Did that Nagato brat betray us? Or are you lot just so incompetent that you couldn't handle even this?"
He cracked his neck, the sound echoing through the cavern.
"Never mind."
Madara didn't lash out immediately; instead, he began to examine his physical condition.
He attempted to channel the chakra within his body.
A moment later, his expression darkened further.
"No Rinnegan..."
Madara touched his eye sockets.
Although chakra was surging forth incessantly, he could clearly feel that the power flowing through this body was limited to the period when he possessed the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
He lacked the Rinnegan he had awakened in his later years.
Nor did he have the Hashirama cells he had transplanted into his chest after biting off a piece of Hashirama's flesh at the Valley of the End.
This body was simply Madara Uchiha in his youth.
"Obito."
Madara lowered his hand. A red light instantly surfaced in his ashen eyes as three tomoe spun rapidly, merging into an intricate pattern.
The Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.
He glared at Obito, his tone chilling. "It seems you haven't been following my script. This body may be young, but compared to the resurrection I envisioned, it falls far short."
"You didn't perform any physical modifications on me?"
Obito fell silent for a moment.
He knew exactly what Madara was talking about.
But he understood nothing of complex biological modification techniques.
"I didn't have the time or the technology," Obito replied.
Obito reverted to his original voice, no longer pretending to be Madara. "The current situation doesn't allow for slow preparations."
Madara's eyes narrowed slightly at the sound of the voice.
"Incompetent fool!"
Madara sized up the masked man before him and snorted. "It seems that after all these years, you've made no progress at all."
These words struck a nerve with Obito.
He didn't lash out, however, simply stating coldly, "I brought you out this time because the plan has spiraled completely out of control."
"Out of control?"
Madara laughed arrogantly, his voice echoing through the cavern. "In this world, nothing escapes the control of Madara Uchiha! As long as I am here, as long as these eyes remain..."
"Black Zetsu has disappeared."
Obito cut off Madara's laughter.
The laughter stopped abruptly.
Madara's gaze sharpened instantly. "What did you say?"
"Black Zetsu, the manifestation of your will, has gone missing."
Obito stared into Madara's eyes, emphasizing every word. "Furthermore, a woman has appeared in Konoha. She possesses the Byakugan, can use a technique called 'All-Killing Ash Bones', and claims to be Kaguya Otsutsuki."
"Kaguya?!"
For the first time, a look of bewilderment appeared on Madara's arrogant face.
He certainly knew that name.
It was recorded on the Uchiha stone tablet—the progenitor of chakra, the legendary Rabbit Goddess.
But he had always believed it was merely a myth, or a legend concocted by the Sage of Six Paths.
"That's impossible."
Madara denied it flatly. "Princess Kaguya was sealed a thousand years ago. How could there still be members of the Otsutsuki clan in this era?"
"I wish it were a lie too."
Obito pulled a photograph from his robes and tossed it to Madara.
In the picture, a woman in a white robe with floor-length hair and two horns on her head hovered over Konoha.
Opposite her, the once invincible Deva Path of Pain looked utterly pathetic.
Madara caught the photo, his eyes fixed intently on the woman.
Those physical characteristics...
"This..."
Madara's fingers trembled slightly.
Arrogant as he was, he was no fool.
If this woman truly was Kaguya, then Black Zetsu's disappearance and Obito's current panic both had an explanation.
"Is this why you resurrected me in this half-baked state?"
Madara crushed the photo into dust and looked up, killing intent surging in his eyes. "Because you're afraid. You realized you couldn't face that woman, so you used the Reanimation Jutsu on me?"
Obito produced a kunai covered in talismans—the charm used to control reanimated subjects.
Obito said coldly, "Whether that woman is Kaguya or not, and regardless of whether the Eye of the Moon Plan is a sham, I need you to test Konoha's strength."
Madara looked at the talisman in Obito's hand, a mocking curve appearing on his lips. "Obito, do you really think you can control me with Tobirama's trash jutsu?"
Obito ignored the mockery.
He gripped the seal-covered kunai tightly.
This was the talisman capable of erasing a reanimated subject's personality, turning them into a total killing machine.
Madara's composure made him realize something was wrong; he couldn't allow him to retain his self-awareness any longer.
A self-aware Madara Uchiha was the ultimate uncontrollable variable.
"Once your personality is erased, you will be nothing more than a combat weapon with infinite chakra."
Obito's voice, muffled by his mask, sounded heavy and resolute.
He lunged forward.
The kunai in his hand was aimed straight for the back of Madara's head.
The movement was swift, precise, and ruthless.
Madara simply stood his ground, his eyes full of contempt for his junior.
"Naive."
Madara's lips moved slightly.
Just as the kunai was about to pierce the back of his head...
Madara's hands began to weave signs at blinding speed.
Rat—Ox—Dog—Horse—Tiger—Boar...
Obito's pupils contracted sharply.
He recognized these signs.
'This is...'
"Reanimation Jutsu: Release!"
Madara shouted.
A terrifying surge of chakra erupted from his body.
Boom!
A shockwave billowed out.
Obito's kunai stopped exactly one inch from the back of Madara's head.
It wasn't because Obito stopped.
Rather, an invisible wave of chakra had forcibly repelled his hand.
Obito was sent flying by the shockwave, slamming heavily against the rock wall of the cavern.
Rubble tumbled down.
Ignoring the pain, Obito quickly flipped to his feet and glared at Madara in the distance.
Madara's body was now emitting a layer of brilliant white light.
The obscure runic formulas that had bound his body were now shattering inch by inch.
That was the contractual bond between the caster and the deceased.
Obito's heart sank.
"How is this possible..."
Obito's voice betrayed his shock. "How do you know the signs to release the Reanimation Jutsu?"
This technique was a forbidden jutsu developed by the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
Aside from Tobirama himself, no one should have known the method to break the contract.
Madara stood at the center of the light.
He rolled his wrist, a pleasant smile appearing on his face.
"That despicable fellow Tobirama developed this desecrating jutsu specifically to be used as a self-detonating weapon."
Madara slowly turned around, looking at Obito with eyes full of mockery.
"As long as it's a weapon, there's always a risk of it losing control."
"Before my final battle with Hashirama, I specifically studied Tobirama's techniques."
"Though he was a devious man, his understanding of jutsu development was truly unique. It wasn't hard to unravel this technique once I reverse-engineered the flow of chakra."
Madara raised his hand, staring at his palms that brimmed with power.
"There is one fatal flaw in this technique."
"That is, if the reanimated one proactively performs the release signs..."
Madara clenched his fist.
The air exploded in his palm.
"Then, I am no longer under the caster's control."
"Right now, I have an immortal body, infinite chakra, and..."
Madara looked at Obito, the three-tomoe Sharingan in his eyes spinning slowly until they settled into the pattern of the Eternal Mangekyo.
"Unlimited visual prowess."