Faint green moss glowed along the damp rock walls, illuminating the hunched figure connected to the massive, grotesque Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Madara Uchiha, once a man who had commanded the winds and clouds, was now reduced to a withered shell. Only his newly awakened purple Rinnegan, containing the Power of All Creation, gleamed in the darkness with a light that looked down upon the world.
Several tubes pumping life force into him clung tightly to him and the statue like ugly parasitic vines.
"Lord Madara! Lord Madara!"
Several White Zetsu burst from the rock wall in a scramble, their voices warped with excitement. "Konoha! That ANBU commander in Konoha, Neji! Latest news! He..."
The White Zetsu reported incoherently.
How Neji had risen to power by stepping on Shimura Danzō, how he had single-handedly crushed the Hidden Mist army, sealed Isobu, instantly killed the Third Mizukage, and even... sealed the "God of Death" summoned by an Uzumaki Clan forbidden technique!
The power he had displayed had already earned him the Ninja World's fearful comparison to the "God of Shinobi," Hashirama Senju!
"Comparable to Hashirama... the God of Shinobi?"
Madara Uchiha's cracked lips curled into a twisted arc. His low laughter echoed through the empty underground space, carrying deep mockery and unwillingness.
"Hmph! I, Madara Uchiha, have hidden myself from the world, and now any stray cat or dog dares call himself a 'god'?" His laughter gradually grew louder, filled with domineering arrogance and long-suppressed resentment. "God of Shinobi... Hmph! So what if he was the God of Shinobi? Hashirama! In the end... I was the one who laughed last! Hahaha, hahahaha, hahahahahaha!"
Amid his wild laughter, his Rinnegan erupted with a soul-shaking radiance, mysterious and unfathomable.
Madara lovingly stroked those eyes, feeling the world-overturning power contained within them.