Deep inside the underground base in the Upper Capital, the portal cast a ghostly blue glow through the enclosed space.
Its frame was made of grayish-white metal, its surface covered in intricate technique markings. The passage within was deep and stable, leading toward another world.
Uchiha Madara stood before the portal, his gaze sweeping from the markings on the frame to the slightly distorted space within. After a moment of silence, he spoke.
"So this is the passage connecting the two worlds."
Tianyi stood beside him, his hands resting naturally at his sides. His gaze also rested on the portal, and he nodded.
"That's right. But before we return to the Ninja World, there's one more problem to resolve."
Uchiha Madara's brow twitched slightly. He turned toward Tianyi. "You mean-Zetsu!"
As he spoke that name, an unprecedented chill crept into his voice.
That chill was not mere anger. It was the coldness that emerged only after something he had trusted for years stabbed him in the back, forcing him to reassess his entire past.
"Heh heh heh..." Uchiha Madara's low laughter echoed through the cavernous underground space, cold and self-mocking.
"To think that I, Uchiha Madara, spent decades dominating the Ninja World, fought a great battle against Hashirama Senju, obtained his cells, and laid plans for decades-
"Only to end up a pawn used to rescue some woman sealed on the moon!"
As the last few words fell, an overwhelming presence erupted from him.
There were no fluctuations of chakra within it, no flow of ocular power-those ordinary eyes held no supernatural strength.
Yet the pressure of Uchiha Madara's own will and pride still filled the entire space in an instant.
For someone as proud as Uchiha Madara, nothing was more hateful than being deceived, especially a deception spanning decades,