Uchiha Ryūha and Obito stepped out of the Garganta, one after the other, and set foot on this land of the "dead."
It was damp and cold, permeated by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's distinctive, nauseating chakra.
And... an ancient, decaying presence that still concealed terrifying power, like a volcano on the verge of going dormant.
Deep within the cave, upon that stone chair.
Uchiha Madara slowly raised his head.
His withered face lay hidden in shadow. Only his eyes burned with a deep, icy light in the darkness, fixed on the two men emerging from the Garganta.
His gaze lingered on Liuyu for a moment first.
That spotless white haori, that calm, indifferent young face, those unfathomable black eyes.
It was him.
Madara reached his conclusion in an instant.
The unknown powerhouse who had severed his connection from afar, grievously wounded his mind, and even mocked him.
His presence... truly was unfathomable.
Then Uchiha Madara's gaze fell upon Obito behind Liuyu.
When he saw that pale, unnatural half of Obito's body and the bone mask covering half his face.
And especially the scarlet Mangekyō Sharingan beneath that mask, with its bizarre, distorted pattern-
Even Uchiha Madara, whose composure had been tempered by decades of experience, felt his pupils abruptly contract!
"Obito..."
Madara's voice rasped like a worn-out bellows, filled with incredulous shock and anger.
"You actually... ended up like this?"
"And your eye... what is that?!"
That was no normal Mangekyō!
It was filled with something ominous and twisted, an uncanny aura he had never encountered before, as though it could devour everything!
"Like this?"
Obito Uchiha stepped forward, stopping just behind Liuyu's side, his remaining right eye fixed on the old, withered figure in the stone chair.
It was this man.
*This "ghost," hiding underground, tethered