Yanwu brought Uchiha Madara to Mount Lu.
Before the great waterfall, a purple-haired woman sat quietly in meditation.
The moment Uchiha Madara saw the woman, he knew she was Athena.
But when he shouted and rushed to Athena's side, he was utterly stunned:
The Athena before him had somehow become a faded, elderly woman. Though her long purple hair and white dress remained unchanged, her eyes had sunk deep into their sockets, and she no longer possessed her former beauty.
Her face was covered in wrinkles, and all the teeth in her mouth had fallen out. Looking so frail and aged, she could not possibly be associated with the Athena who had once been a god.
Yes... having lost her divine body, she was no longer Athena. She was merely an ordinary woman. She would grow old, and she would die...
The reason she had not allowed Uchiha Madara to go to Sanctuary or come looking for her was nothing special. It was simply because she had grown old, and she did not want him to see her in such a frail, aged state...
"Athena... how could you... be so foolish... Even if you grew old... so what..."
Uchiha Madara sat beside Athena and watched her quietly.
She smiled. She had become so old that she could no longer speak, yet she simply continued smiling in silence.
As she smiled, her body suddenly tilted to one side, and she would never sit up again.
Tears welled up in Uchiha Madara's eyes...
So this was the truth behind everything...
Alan's Forked Path Mirage had been real...
To bear such sorrow in this way—this truly was the most tormenting thing in the world!
Uchiha Madara cried out:
"Aaaaaaah!"
At his side, Athena's body instantly scattered away like ashes, and a stone pillar