Crack, crack, crack—
Szzzt—
The instant Black Zetsu caught Uchiha Madara's two weapons, a flash of red suddenly streaked toward him.
In the blink of an eye...
Black Zetsu was seized by an invisible force!
Then countless black rods stabbed into him, as if they were free!
It was none other than:
Rinnegan: Limbo: Border Jail!!
Rinnegan: Black Rods!!
"Ugh..."
"Th-this... you..."
Black Zetsu was still struggling to process what had happened.
Only when Limbo lifted him off the ground, his body bristling with black rods, did Black Zetsu finally see:
Chen Yiban, one eye a Rinnegan and the other a Sharingan, had crossed hundreds of meters and arrived right in front of him in an instant.
Flying Thunder God?!!
"Y-you secretly added Flying Thunder God markings to Lord Madara's weapons?"
Black Zetsu stared at Chen Yiban in astonishment.
All the while, he hoped the real Uchiha Madara would hurry and come to his rescue.
"Secretly?"
"Who said I added them secretly?"
"Madara, didn't you know?"
Chen Yiban watched Black Zetsu, bound before him, with a wicked smile... His final question was strangely cryptic.
Then—
Squelch—
Another black rod pierced Black Zetsu from behind, plunging into his heart.
"Ghh...!" The force restraining Black Zetsu suddenly tightened.
And behind him—
"Still calling me Lord Madara, Black Zetsu?"
"You call me Lord Madara, but in your heart, I'm just the first pawn in your plan to resurrect Kaguya Otsutsuki. Isn't that right?"
Uchiha Madara held a black rod, its entire length driven into Black Zetsu's chest.
"Black Zetsu, this time... let Madara speak some heartfelt words to you!"
With his pale purple Rinnegan open, Uchiha Madara glared coldly at Black Zetsu, the black rod in his hand buried in his heart.
"Madara... y-you..." Black Zetsu stared at him in shock.
"How did I find out? Is that what you're wondering?" Uchiha Madara turned to Chen Yiban in front of Black Zetsu and gave him a faint smile, then continued:
"Perhaps... I really should thank him."
All the while, Chen Yiban watched the scene unfold with an amused smile.
"Enough. This thing is a menace. I'll seal it away for good."
Chen Yiban started to reach out, ready to send Black Zetsu to a prison where he would be confined to despair forever.
"Wait. There's one last thing I want to ask it," Uchiha Madara suddenly said.
Chen Yiban paused.
Then he simply smiled. "Since we're the best of partners now, I suppose I can let you."
Chen Yiban gave his approval.
A faint smile, almost impossible to notice, appeared on Uchiha Madara's face.
"L-Lord Madara, don't let him deceive you! Don't you want to activate the Eye of the Moon and bring true peace to the world?"
In his despair, Black Zetsu struggled desperately to survive.
But...
Limbo: Border Jail and the Rinnegan's black rods had him completely immobilized!!
"Peace?" Uchiha Madara suddenly erupted in anger.
Thrust—
Another black rod stabbed into Black Zetsu's heart.
"Gah...!!" Black Zetsu felt every bit of it.
"Peace that turns all of humanity into White Zetsu? Is that the kind of peace you mean, Black Zetsu?!"
Murderous intent filled Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan.
Then:
"I was going to ask one last thing... What was originally written on the stone tablet?"
"But suddenly, I don't care anymore!"
As he spoke, Uchiha Madara glanced at Chen Yiban.
"Go ahead."
"Wait, wait, Madara... We can change the God Tree's programming. It doesn't have to turn people into White Zetsu." Black Zetsu panicked.
But—
"So everything he told me just now was true!"
"Black Zetsu, you really... were deceiving me!!!"
At last, Uchiha Madara had no choice but to believe the secrets Chen Yiban had just revealed to him with the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan's ocular technique.
In an instant, anger and despair consumed him.
"Black Zetsu...!!"
Uchiha Madara wanted to vent his fury.
But—
Whoosh—
Chen Yiban promptly sent Black Zetsu, now powerless to resist, into the Beast Pet Space: Subspace to be imprisoned for eternity.
"What are you doing?" Uchiha Madara looked at Chen Yiban in displeasure.
Chen Yiban found it a little amusing. "Enough. Don't act like a childish brat. We went to all this trouble to catch it. If it slips away because we're careless, we'll have gained nothing."
At that, Uchiha Madara forced down his anger.
"Hmph. I don't need you to tell me that."
Uchiha Madara turned and strode off, a little haughtily!
Chen Yiban couldn't help but smile again. Then he folded his arms and watched Uchiha Madara over there.
Chen Yiban knew...
Now that he knew the truth, Uchiha Madara must be feeling utterly disappointed.
Sure enough:
"Hashirama, was I really wrong?"
"My dream... is shattered!"
Chen Yiban had only just walked over when he heard Uchiha Madara on the roof of a skyscraper, looking down at all of Amegakure and lamenting his fate.
"What, going to jump?" Chen Yiban called out.
Then he offered some consolation:
"It won't work. You and I both have Hashirama's power. A fall like that won't kill you!"
"Try something else!"
At that,
Uchiha Madara immediately turned his cold Rinnegan on Chen Yiban.
Only then did Chen Yiban speak with complete seriousness:
"Just because this plan failed doesn't mean every plan will."
"Do you remember when Konoha was first founded? Was there anything wrong with the idea we had back then?"
"Make the world submit to our power, and unite the entire Shinobi World!"
"That is the most practical way to 'achieve peace' in the real world."
"The conflict-ridden world Hashirama helped create indirectly led to the First Shinobi World War, the Second Shinobi World War, and the Third Shinobi World War. Who knows how many people died along the way?"
"Should we really wait until the Fourth Shinobi World War, or even the Fifth, before we act?"
"Unification is the most practical and lasting peace. And the two of us... have the power to make it happen!"
"Isn't that right?"
Chen Yiban looked at Uchiha Madara.
Then, slowly, he held out his right hand.
After considering what Chen Yiban had just said,
Uchiha Madara's Rinnegan faded, returning to ordinary black eyes.
Smack—
Uchiha Madara clasped Chen Yiban's hand!
And so,
the two "Uchiha Madaras" smiled at each other.
From that moment on...
the two "Uchiha Madaras" would fight side by side to unite the entire Shinobi World!!
So tremble!
World of the shinobi!!
Before you continue