Inside the underground hideout, water seeped from the stone walls and dripped into the puddles below with faint splashes.
Madara Uchiha stood in the center of the stone chamber. His Impure World Reincarnation body looked far dimmer than before.
Fine cracks had appeared along his arms, neck, and chest.
They were not wounds left by battle.
They were signs that the power of Impure World Reincarnation was fading.
Black Zetsu clung to the shadows on the wall. Half his body slowly emerged as he reported in a low voice:
"Nagato lost."
"All Six Paths of Pain were destroyed, and Uchiha Ren forcibly took both Rinnegan."
Madara's expression did not change, but his gaze darkened.
"What about Obito?"
"Ren's Rinnegan technique locked down the coordinates of the Kamui Dimension. Obito couldn't interfere with the battle anymore."
Black Zetsu continued:
"He retreated into the Kamui Dimension in the end."
"The Uchiha Family absorbed the Akatsuki Organization, too. Konan and Nagato are both alive, but they're in Ren's hands."
Silence settled over the stone chamber.
Madara raised a hand and watched the cracks of Impure World Reincarnation slowly appear across his palm.
"That fool Nagato had my Rinnegan, Hashirama's Cells, and my cells, yet he still lost."
"Obito is even more useless."
"He couldn't even handle a brat who had only just awakened the Rinnegan."
Black Zetsu said nothing.
Madara's gaze fell on him.
"Ren has awakened his own Rinnegan. He won't use the pair he took from Nagato anytime soon."
"He has his own Rinnegan, far more than an ordinary person."
"Nagato's eyes are no longer essential to him."
Black Zetsu nodded slowly.
"You think he'll put that pair away?"
"Or give them to someone else."
Madara spoke coldly:
"Uchiha Ren won't keep holding on to something he has no use for."