"It's true. The one who undid the seal wasn't Black Zetsu—it was Madara Uchiha. That man was reborn from the Pure Land."
"After his rebirth, even you would have found it difficult to stand against him."
Sasuke Uchiha barely shifted his body. The Cursed Seal on him rapidly tightened with Uzumaki Kuming's emotional fluctuations, making him rather uncomfortable. Boruto beside him was unaffected and listened intently. He had never heard anyone speak of such secrets of the shinobi world before. All he knew was that many Konoha shinobi, including his great-uncle and grandfather, had died in the Fourth Shinobi World War.
"Madara Uchiha?"
"Reborn?"
"Though he was strong, how could he possibly be a match for me now?"
Uzumaki Kuming murmured. It wasn't arrogance; he simply had absolute confidence when facing Madara Uchiha. If the reborn Madara Uchiha had received no further enhancements, then even if Kuming could not defeat him, he should not have fallen in battle.
Unless...
"Madara Uchiha obtained some kind of power?!" Uzumaki Kuming immediately grasped the heart of the matter and asked in a low voice. Sasuke Uchiha looked at Kuming's shifting, dark expression and finally decided to tell him.
"He awakened the Rinnegan and captured six Tailed Beasts: the One-Tail, Two-Tails, Three-Tails, Four-Tails, Five-Tails, and Eight-Tails. Then, somehow, he obtained the Chakra of the remaining Tailed Beasts and became a pseudo Ten-Tails jinchuriki."
"He even possessed the powers of Wood Release and Sage Mode."
"With those, he became incomparably powerful. Even when all the strongest shinobi in the world joined forces, they still weren't Madara Uchiha's match."
After Sasuke Uchiha finished speaking, he looked at Uzumaki Kuming and silently watched the changes in his expression. After a long while, Kuming finally let out a deep breath. Then a relaxed smile appeared on his face