Madara looked at him and fell silent for a few seconds.
Then he slowly raised a hand and waved it toward Black Zetsu in the corner of the cave.
"Wake the girl."
Black Zetsu hesitated. "Lord Madara, now—"
"Wake her."
Black Zetsu said nothing more.
His black body writhed as he moved beside Naori. He extended a tendril and lightly touched her forehead.
Naori's eyelashes fluttered, and she slowly opened her eyes.
The first person she saw was Mirai.
"Mirai?!" Naori sounded startled and overjoyed, but her voice quickly turned to panic. "Run! It's a trap! You have to—"
She stopped mid-sentence.
Black Zetsu's tendrils had wrapped around her, leaving her unable to move.
Her Sharingan activated on its own, the three tomoe spinning wildly, but Madara had placed seals on Black Zetsu's tendrils. She couldn't break free.
"Naori, don't move." Mirai glanced at her, his voice softening. "It's okay. I'm here."
"Mirai, run! He's too strong!"
"How strong?" Mirai tilted his head. "He's just an old man clinging to life through the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path."
Madara's brow furrowed.
He said nothing. Instead, he rose from the stone platform.
Tubes still connected to his body, but his legs could support him now.
The next moment, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path visibly began to wither, sending every bit of power it had accumulated into Madara Uchiha.
Madara's body visibly grew younger, soon returning to its prime.
All he lacked was a pair of Rinnegan!
"Children are always so arrogant. I'd rather not stoop to your level, but you could use a lesson!"
Madara raised his right hand before his mouth. "Storm Release: Light Fang!"
A thin beam shot from his mouth, straight at Mirai.
Golden chakra erupted across Mirai's skin. The Nine-Tails Chakra Cloak covered him