The story split in two...
While Director Yamada strode forward on the path toward realizing his ideals, Black Zetsu, the aloe-like man, quietly returned to the aged Madara and began his regular work report.
In a sunless underground cavern, the frail and elderly Uchiha Madara was steadily approaching the pinnacle of shinobi... while also approaching the death that short-lived beings could never escape.
Through his research, and by fusing the Wood Release cells he had gone to such lengths to obtain from Hashirama all those years ago, the Uchiha clan head who had once cast his shadow over the shinobi world had finally followed the records on the stone tablet at Naka Shrine to touch upon the wondrous power unique to the Sage of Six Paths. Yet in stark contrast, the passage of time had still caused the once high-spirited Rose of the Battlefield to wither day by day.
—Over the past few years, having clearly felt the pace of his life draining away accelerate, the aged Madara had rarely taken the initiative to interfere with the development of the shinobi world. Instead, he devoted all his energy to studying the fusion of the Sharingan and Wood Release chakra, hoping to complete the development of the Rinnegan's powers as soon as possible!
But that did not mean the aged Madara knew nothing about the situation in the shinobi world.
On the contrary, through Black Zetsu's regular reports, Madara was thoroughly informed of every major development across the various fronts after the outbreak of the Second Shinobi World War.
And in the eyes of the Uchiha ancestor who had personally carved his way through the shinobi world, the only news from all these child's-play wars that could stir even a trace of interest came from Yamada Soji!
This interest had nothing