[Las Noches · Deepest depths · Sealing chamber]
Aizen led Sasuke down a long corridor to an enormous stone door. Intricate sealing runes covered its surface, and the aura it gave off made Sasuke's heart shudder.
"Inside... is Uchiha Madara?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes," Aizen said. "He's been sealed here ever since Uchiha Ryūha defeated him. Liuyu didn't kill him. Instead, he kept him as... a tool."
"A tool?"
"Madara has Hashirama's cells, the power of the Rinnegan, and part of the Ten-Tails' consciousness within him. Liuyu needs those things to carry out a certain plan." Aizen pushed open the stone door. "Go in. He's waiting for you."
Sasuke took a deep breath and entered the sealing chamber.
The room was vast, with an enormous Crystal Coffin at its center. A man lay inside-an elderly man with white hair, clad in red armor, his eyes tightly shut. If not for the faint rise and fall of his chest, Sasuke would have thought he was dead.
"Uchiha Madara..." Sasuke approached the Crystal Coffin and looked at the legendary shinobi. "Is he still alive?"
"Alive, but barely different from the dead," Aizen said. "Liuyu sealed his consciousness and modified his body. Now he's nothing but an empty shell, a vessel for power."
Sasuke reached out to touch the Crystal Coffin.
At that moment, Madara's eyes snapped open inside it.
They were a pair of Rinnegan.
"Uchiha... Sasuke..." Madara spoke, his voice hoarse and aged. "You've finally come..."
Sasuke stepped back, watching him warily. "You knew I was coming?"
"Of course I knew." Madara slowly sat up, and the lid of the Crystal Coffin opened on its own. "Because Liuyu arranged all of this. He told me to wait here for you and teach you how to use the true power of the Eternal