"Obito, the preparations are complete."
Watching Zetsu suddenly appear behind Uchiha Obito, for some inexplicable reason, Nagato Uzumaki instinctively sensed something ominous.
At this moment, Obito removed the grotesque spiral mask from his face, revealing a disfigured visage even more unsettling than the mask itself.
"It's time to use my real name again. Proceed, Black Zetsu."
At Obito's command, the black half of Zetsu's dual-toned face detached and spread across the ground like spilled ink.
Nagato attempted to activate the Asura Path's abilities to regain mobility, but Black Zetsu was faster. In an instant, he latched onto Nagato's body.
"What is this?!"
Nagato's eyes widened as the chakra within him, previously under his complete control, was violently disrupted. He could no longer activate the Rinnegan, nor even maintain control over his remaining body.
"Heh heh heh, impressive. Even in such a broken state, the Uzumaki body still possesses such immense chakra."
Black Zetsu's raspy, unpleasant voice emanated from Nagato's left cheek.
"Damn it, Zetsu! What do you want with my body?!"
Realizing he had completely lost control of his body, Nagato's face twisted in despair, his anguished roar echoing through the room.
But alas, neither of the two figures before him were easy to deal with—they paid no heed to his cries.
At this point, White Zetsu, who had once served as Black Zetsu's vessel, approached. His body gradually dissolved, merging with Nagato's already crippled form.
As a puff of white smoke rose, the heavily disabled Nagato Uzumaki stood up once more.
Regaining the state of a normal person brought Nagato no joy—only heightened terror. These two individuals were far from benevolent; how could they possibly heal him unconditionally?
Uchiha Obito said nothing further, turning to walk into the adjacent room. Nagato followed closely behind.
It was a vast yet empty room, containing nothing but a massive coffin.
With a casual push, Obito lifted the heavy coffin lid, revealing its contents.
Inside lay a young man clad in ancient Warring States-era red armor, with a thick, spiky hedgehog-like hairstyle.
Gazing at the corpse, Obito nodded in satisfaction.
"Remarkable work, Black Zetsu. To restore such an aged body to this robust state…"
"Heh heh heh, this isn't solely my doing. The rapid advancement of technology in recent years, combined with White Zetsu's immense life force, made it possible.
Enough talk. Step back—I'll perform the technique now."
Obito nodded silently, stepping aside to give Black Zetsu space.
Staring at the corpse, Nagato already understood his impending fate. His face was filled with despair.
From the day of his awakening, he had known the forbidden technique all too well. Yet, due to various concerns, he hadn't even resurrected his most important friend. Now, it was being used here.
"Yahiko… I regret it."
As this thought flashed through Nagato's mind, his newly reconstructed hands—courtesy of White Zetsu—interlocked, forming the snake hand seal.
"Outer Path: Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique!"
The King of Hell, possessing the Rinnegan, rose from the ground. As the zipper on its mouth opened, it unleashed a soul that flew into the corpse within the coffin.
Once the King of Hell dissipated, Nagato's entire body radiated an aura of death before collapsing lifelessly to the floor.
Black Zetsu quickly found another White Zetsu to inhabit, as his pure black mud form was inconvenient for movement.
After a brief moment of silence, the man inside the coffin abruptly opened his eyes wide.
Single tomoe, double tomoe, triple tomoe, Mangekyō Sharingan—Rinnegan!
After gazing at the unfamiliar ceiling for a moment, Uchiha Madara leapt out of the coffin.
Glancing at Obito nearby and his willful avatar, Black Zetsu, Madara was about to speak when a sharp pain shot through his eyes.
The powerful Rinnegan in Madara's eye sockets suddenly cracked, then shattered, falling out of their sockets.
But Madara was not one to panic. Calmly, he walked over to Nagato's corpse and retrieved the eyes he had possessed in life.
Indeed, each pair of Rinnegan was unique. While clear boundaries between life and death posed no issue, the existence of two entities of equal standing meant only one could remain.
True to its origins as an evolution of the Sharingan, the Rinnegan retained the Sharingan's plug-and-play nature flawlessly.
As a puff of smoke rose around Madara's eye sockets, the peak-state Uchiha Madara returned to the ninja world.
At this moment, Madara noticed something unusual. Though the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique could revive the dead, it did not restore youth.
"This vibrant body…"
There was no joy in Madara's eyes. According to the original plan, Obito was to recreate the Ten-Tails, and Nagato would use the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to resurrect him, allowing him to execute the Infinite Tsukuyomi Plan himself.
If he were at his peak, why would he need the help of a mere Uzumaki brat?
In this moment, the fully restored Uchiha Madara perfectly embodied what it meant to be a warlord of the ninja world. With just a single glance, he made Obito—who had been stirring chaos in the ninja world for years—shiver uncontrollably.
"Obito, answer me. Why have you revived me in this state? Where is the Ten-Tails?"
Obito swallowed hard, steadying himself before replying nervously.
"Lord Madara, the ninja world has undergone an unprecedented upheaval. We couldn't collect the nine tailed beasts to resurrect the Ten-Tails as planned. We had no choice but to revive you instead."
A flicker of displeasure crossed Madara's eyes. Despite possessing an exceedingly rare space-time ocular technique and having received White Zetsu cells to avoid blindness, Obito had proven utterly useless.
Tsk, trash is still trash—even with the Mangekyō Sharingan, it seems.
However…
Madara turned his gaze toward Black Zetsu, who had remained silent throughout.
As his willful avatar, even if Obito's mind was as dull as ever, Black Zetsu's guidance should have prevented things from deteriorating to this extent.
So…
Madara narrowed his eyes slightly, amplifying his sensory perception to its maximum.
"There are a few ants scurrying about, but can such meager chakra really have pushed Obito to this point?"
At this moment, Madara was still unaware that Nagato had fully mastered the Rinnegan's abilities, let alone the details of the earlier battle.
But Madara quickly brushed these thoughts aside. Who was he? He was Uchiha Madara—the warlord of the ninja world!
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