"You do not look well, Obito… Did something happen?"
In the underground cave that was still dim and lightless, the exhausted Madara Uchiha slowly opened his eyes.
Looking at Obito Uchiha, who walked out of the Kamui dimension with a heavy expression, he asked weakly.
"I ran into someone I did not want to meet and listened to him say a bunch of irritating things, that's all."
Obito Uchiha's face was dark as he spoke to Madara, whose expression gradually became solemn.
"Also, your plan to scheme against Nagato has failed for now. I don't know what method Akatsuki used, but they directly summoned Rei Kaguya from Kirigakure. And for some reason, Konoha's Jiraiya was also among Akatsuki's group. The Ame-nin led by Hanzo of the Salamander and the Root members White Zetsu recruited were no match for them at all…"
"…More than twenty jonin, over a hundred chunin, plus that salamander brat, and that still was not enough?"
"Descriptions alone are always distorted. Use that genjutsu you showed me last time. Go there, and I will reproduce what I saw for you."
Hearing Obito say that, Madara pondered slightly before nodding in agreement.
The chakra of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path flowed into his old and dying body, allowing him to once again possess the strength to activate Sharingan genjutsu.
The Sharingan he had borrowed from some unknown source slowly spun, pulling Obito Uchiha once more into that blank genjutsu space.
Madara Uchiha's appearance also changed as the genjutsu space manifested, restoring him to the form of his prime.
He even wore a suit of armor that looked very suitable for battle.
"So this is what you looked like in your prime, Madara?"
Looking at Madara Uchiha, who was rarely showing a slightly different side of himself in front of him, Obito asked calmly.
"Before I obtained Hashirama's power and the Rinnegan, my peak was probably like this."
Madara casually moved this illusory body of his.
Then, using the Demonic Statue's amplification of his chakra, he removed the suppression the genjutsu space placed on Obito. After that, he folded his arms and spoke to Obito.
"All right. Let me see what exactly you saw, Obito."
Obito shrugged.
The Mangekyo Sharingan in his right eye appeared.
Using the genjutsu techniques he had learned from Madara during this period, he began recreating the memories in his mind within this blank space.
White Zetsu inciting the Root members.
The Root members launching suicidal attacks.
Nagato and the members of Akatsuki being forced into two separate areas, each facing enemies that were difficult to handle.
Then the Ame-nin launched a surprise attack. Hanzo of the Salamander hid among the figures of the Root members and successfully ambushed Nagato, who lacked experience in high-intensity deathmatches.
Up to this point, everything was proceeding very smoothly according to the plan Madara and White Zetsu had formulated earlier.
Although the matter of White Zetsu using Root's name made Madara unable to stop himself from frowning, considering that he had disappeared for many years and was not suited to revealing himself before Obito had grown, Madara ultimately accepted White Zetsu's somewhat demeaning move.
Then Jiraiya broke away from the area where the members of Akatsuki were, descending like a divine soldier at Nagato's side.
He blocked Hanzo's attempt to kill Nagato and sent Nagato to Mount Myoboku in return.
This development made Madara frown. He turned to Obito beside him and asked, "So Nagato escaped control just like that?"
"If it were only that, killing most of Akatsuki and leaving a few survivors to pass on the message would have been enough. After all, Nagato had already seen Hanzo and confirmed the Root ninja's identities. Once he returned from Mount Myoboku and saw that almost all his companions had been wiped out, he would still fall into darkness."
Obito shook his head.
Then he formed seals and increased his chakra output, saying in a low voice, "The problem is what happened afterward… Those people first summoned a strange woman with the Summoning Technique. Then that woman summoned Rei Kaguya over."
The scene within the genjutsu world changed violently.
First, a being emitting powerful senjutsu chakra appeared in the area where Akatsuki's members were.
Then, not long after, a figure wearing a black robe with red clouds slowly flew into the sky and raised his right hand toward the sky, where heavy rain poured down.
"Water Release: Extracting Current."
His voice was not particularly serious.
Yet it carried power like an oracle from a god.
The rain that had originally fallen from sky to earth, like tears shed by the entire nation, miraculously stopped its descent.
Then it flowed backward.
From earth to sky.
Defying the laws and will of nature, all rainwater within a radius of several miles, as well as the water that had soaked into the earth, gathered toward the figure in the black robe with red clouds like birds returning to their nest.
Rain clouds scattered.
Rainwater gathered.
Under a sunny sky rarely seen in the Land of Rain even once in several years, a sea in the sky appeared in that figure's hand. It was not particularly clear, but it was absolutely shocking.
That dramatic change, like heaven and earth shifting, even left all shinobi present thrown into confusion and bewilderment.
"That person is Rei Kaguya."
Obito Uchiha stood shoulder to shoulder with Madara Uchiha.
Looking at Rei, who still showed powerful presence and pressure even within the genjutsu world, he asked unhurriedly, "With that kind of power, how many tenths of your peak strength does he have, Madara?"
"…Heh. I see. If that is the case, then he truly is not someone your lineup could handle."
Madara's tone did not fluctuate much.
He still sounded like an elder shinobi praising a junior.
But looking at the finger Madara Uchiha could not help tapping lightly against his armor, the corner of Obito's mouth slowly curled into a mocking smile.
So you are not always certain of victory either.
So even you become irritated and uneasy when something beyond your expectations appears…
"Do not rush. That guy's power does not stop there…"
As the two spoke, Rei had already brought that shimmering sea in the sky and arrived above the battlefield between Hanzo and Jiraiya.
Then, under Madara Uchiha's slightly contracting pupils, Rei used the sea in the sky above his head to activate Ice Release: Senbon Rain, a large-scale clearing ninjutsu.
At the same time, the words Rei spoke to Hanzo, whose face was full of disbelief, echoed through the genjutsu world.
"When you get down to it, Ice Release is only a new power produced by applying a special nature transformation to Wind and Water chakra. It can be passed down through bloodline, but it can also be learned through personal talent and effort…"
"Not only Ice Release. Lava Release, Boil Release, Scorch Release, Magnet Release, Storm Release… all Kekkei Genkai that possess special nature transformations but do not cause corresponding changes to the body's organs, and even Particle Release, a Kekkei Tota that requires combining three chakra nature transformations, are powers that can be mastered through independent learning."
"If you cannot accept even the facts placed right before your eyes, then the stage of the new era truly has no place for old fools like you."
"Sage Art: Eternal White Coffin!"
As the massive ice coffin, enormous as an iceberg, formed, Obito Uchiha's genjutsu recreation of his memories ended there.
He turned to look at Madara Uchiha, who had clearly revealed an unhappy expression, and asked with dead, lifeless eyes.
"That is what the guy said… Even in the era of you and Hashirama Senju, he would count as a troublesome opponent, right?"
"That brat learned the Yuki clan's Ice Release too?"
Madara Uchiha did not directly answer Obito's question.
Instead, his expression was somewhat gloomy as he muttered to himself.
"He truly became an enemy that can no longer be ignored without making a sound… Rei Kaguya. Can the bloodline of a mere Kaguya clan really support you in going that far?"
"So what do you plan to do, Madara?"
Obito Uchiha asked expressionlessly.
"After one incident after another, Nagato, who is helping you keep your eyes, has basically already fallen completely toward Rei Kaguya's side. And with his current power, even if I learn everything you have to teach, I probably still cannot defeat him…"
"What do you want, brat?"
Madara Uchiha narrowed his eyes.
His tone became much more serious than before.
"Give me one of the Sharingan you have collected, and teach me medical ninjutsu capable of quickly connecting an eye. I will go retrieve my other eye… You said it yourself, didn't you? Only when both Mangekyo Sharingan are gathered can their greatest power be brought out."
Obito Uchiha looked at the Sharingan in Madara Uchiha's eye sockets as he said this.
"You still cannot let go of that brat called Kakashi, can you, Obito?"
Madara Uchiha looked back into Obito's eyes and asked.
"That is my own business."
Then the two of them stared at each other in silence within the genjutsu world, with the giant ice coffin as their background.
Only when Madara Uchiha smiled somewhat self-mockingly did the silence between them finally break.
"Do as you like, Obito… Just remember what you want to do, and remember the things I have given you."
"You do not need to tell me that… If you are not at ease, inject your ocular power and genjutsu into the eye you lend me. In any case, it will only be something shown to outsiders. As long as it looks like a normal three-tomoe Sharingan, that is enough."
Obito replied coldly.
"Hmph. You still have to learn the medical ninjutsu first… Do not think removing an ordinary person's eye and installing a new one is something so simple to accomplish, brat."
"There is nothing difficult about it… If Rin could do it, then I can too. Easily. Absolutely."
Obito Uchiha looked at Madara Uchiha's face.
On the right half of his face, he forced out an extremely strained expression that looked like a smile, yet also like he was crying.
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