You Really Planned to... Use Me as a Puppet?!!!

High above, chakra intertwined into a storm as Uchiha Madara and Uchiha Yoru fought on without pause.

Destructive shock waves burst through the sky. The aftershocks of their jutsu rained down like meteors, kicking up clouds of dust across the land!

Suddenly!

Uchiha Yoru's figure came to an abrupt halt.

Madara furrowed his brow and was just about to strike when Yoru vanished right before his eyes!

Without warning!

Black Zetsu's heart tightened. Before he could react, a chilling power had already descended in silence.

"What—"

Black Zetsu managed only half a cry before a sharp pain tore through its back!

The Truth-Seeking Orb transformed into chains as if alive, sealing every chakra pathway in its body in an instant and cutting off its chakra!

"You... how could you—!"

Black Zetsu shrieked, its face contorting with terror.

Uchiha Yoru's figure slowly appeared. He lifted Black Zetsu into the air, the Rinnegan's swirling patterns turning in his eyes like a judgment being passed.

He said nothing, only stared at Black Zetsu, as if looking through its skin at a thousand years of scheming.

The next moment, his Rinnegan suddenly glowed, and strands of chakra began to peel away from Black Zetsu's body—

"What are you doing!? Stop!! Don't look—!"

Black Zetsu struggled violently, screaming itself hoarse, but it couldn't break free of the chakra chains.

"You... you'll destroy everything!!!"

Black Zetsu suddenly howled, its voice trembling as if it were terrified beyond measure.

Uchiha Yoru remained silent and gave his hand a slight tug.

Black Zetsu's memories, like shards of broken glass, were forcibly pulled from its body, one after another, and manifested in the air—

—Infinite Tsukuyomi descended, and the world fell into slumber!

—The God Tree's roots pierced humanity, quietly turning people into White Zetsu!

—The White Zetsu army had been lying in wait for a thousand years, ready for the signal!

—At last, atop the God Tree, Kaguya slowly opened her eyes and gazed down at the world below with cold indifference!

"So this is... your so-called way of bringing peace?"

Uchiha Yoru's voice fell like icy rain, cold and unforgiving.

Black Zetsu's eyes flew wide. Then it struggled violently and roared in a hoarse voice:

"You don't understand! You don't understand at all!!"

"Everything I've done... was to bring my mother back!"

"She is the beginning of the world! The true goddess!! The source of all life!!"

"Those humans—they betrayed her! Sealed her away! She only wanted to bring peace to the world—!"

Black Zetsu's voice had gone mad, like a twisted obsession crying out:

"I waited a thousand years... I guided generation after generation into war... I awakened the Rinnegan...!"

"I was willing to do anything! All to free her from that damned seal!!"

It threw back its head and roared, its voice tearing through the air:

"I am the true will! The will of Kaguya Otsutsuki!!"

As it spoke, its breathing grew ragged. Then it suddenly realized—it had revealed too much.

In the distance, Uchiha Madara's body shook. He stared fixedly at the scenes in the air, his pupils contracting sharply.

He gazed blankly at the images of the God Tree and Kaguya, murmuring in a voice that seemed forced up from deep in his chest:

"...Everyone... turned into White Zetsu?"

"Infinite Tsukuyomi... wasn't for peace, but to... revive Kaguya?"

His voice trembled. He seemed unwilling to believe what he was seeing, yet every scene had come from Black Zetsu's own mouth.

Black Zetsu's body writhed like boiling black mud, its eyes full of terror.

It opened its mouth, trying to explain itself, but only a faint whimper escaped.

Uchiha Yoru tossed it to the ground, where it landed at Madara's feet. He said nothing.

Madara slowly crouched down and stared at Black Zetsu's twisted, terrified face. He asked, word by word:

"...From the very beginning... you were deceiving me?"

Black Zetsu's lips trembled. After a long moment, it finally managed to choke out:

"I... I only wanted... to bring my mother back..."

—Smack!

Madara slammed his fist into the ground, sending shards of stone flying!

"You really planned to... use me as a puppet?!!!"

In that instant, his presence changed completely.

It wasn't anger.

It was a bone-deep, heavy chill.

He stood up and fixed Black Zetsu with a gaze as sharp as a blade.

Clang—!

Two black rods shot through the air!

One from each side, they plunged viciously into Black Zetsu's body!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!"

Black Zetsu's scream echoed high in the sky as it writhed in agony.

Uchiha Madara slowly turned his gaze away and fell silent for a long while.

The storm continued to roar. It seemed as though the only sound left between heaven and earth was his breathing.

His eyelids lowered. Only after a long silence did he murmur to himself, as if asking himself—or perhaps the heavens:

"What had I spent my whole life fighting for?"

"Peace? Ideals? Order?"

He closed his eyes. Memories of the past surged through him like a tide—Konoha amid the flames of war, the Ninja World in chaos, Hashirama's retreating figure, and the vow long since buried under dust.

When he opened his eyes, his gaze was clearer than ever before.

He looked at Uchiha Yoru. There was no longer any will to fight in his eyes, only sternness and scrutiny:

"You knew all along, didn't you?"

"...About Black Zetsu's goal, about Kaguya, even about the future."

Uchiha Yoru stood above the void, his black robe stirring despite the still air. His expression was unchanged, yet he radiated an oppressive presence that brooked no challenge:

"You saw the outcome of the Fourth Ninja World War with your own eyes."

"That wasn't an illusion deceiving you. It was a tragedy that had really happened."

Madara slowly lowered his eyes, his voice low:

"I thought I could end the wars... but I was just another pawn being manipulated."

"And I led you, along with everyone else, down the path to ruin."

He lifted his head and looked at this young yet composed successor. A trace of weariness and conflict passed through his eyes:

"What about you, Uchiha Yoru?"

"You saved me. Why? And how do you intend to end the chaos in the Ninja World?"

Uchiha Yoru answered calmly:

"Unification."

"No power struggle among the Five Great Nations. No mutual suspicion between villages."

"No false peace maintained through war, and no need to numb the masses with gods or illusions."

His voice was calm, yet carried an unshakable resolve:

"I'll use true order and strength to keep the Ninja World from sinking back into chaos and endless cycles."

"Not compromise, not idealism, but—true control."

Madara gazed at him and remained silent for a long while.

In those eyes, which had looked down upon countless people on countless battlefields, he now saw a younger, yet clearer and more resolute version of himself.

He suddenly let out a soft sigh:

"So you've already surpassed me..."

Then he raised his head. His arrogance was gone, replaced by solemn recognition:

"Uchiha Yoru."

"Since you bear the will to unify the world and have the power to suppress even the gods... I have no reason to refuse."

"But there's one thing you need to understand."

"Unification doesn't depend on strength alone. It depends on whether the person who wields it is ready to bear the 'loneliness' that comes with it."

Uchiha Yoru nodded, his voice low:

"I understand."

"True peace isn't about ending war. It's about managing the desires and divisions that follow."

"I'm not afraid of being abandoned by everyone or condemned by the whole world."

"What I fear is this world falling once more into the abyss we've both seen."

At those words, Madara gave a faint smile. At last, a long-lost ease returned to his eyes:

"Good."

"I, Uchiha Madara—from this day on, will serve under you."

He slowly held out his hand, palm up, as he had when he once forged an alliance with Hashirama. Then he said softly:

"But if you ever waver and forget your original purpose, I'll be the first to drag you down from your pedestal."

Uchiha Yoru smiled faintly and clasped his hand.

"Until that day comes, I'll take charge of the Ninja World."

At last, the storm slowly subsided.

The two Uchiha stood shoulder to shoulder, with a sky already beginning to change behind them.

A new era for the Ninja World quietly began.