Squelch-!
Sharp black fingertips pierced straight through Madara Uchiha's chest!
Crimson blood instantly gushed out!
Madara went rigid, his body frozen in midair. His pupils abruptly contracted, his eyes filled with utter disbelief and shock.
He slowly lowered his head and looked at the black arm thrust through his chest, completely stunned.
Then Black Zetsu leaned close to Madara's ear and, in a cold, hoarse, emotionless voice, slowly revealed the earth-shattering truth buried for a thousand years.
"Madara Uchiha, you got one thing wrong."
"I was never the embodiment of your will, nor was I born for your sake."
"I am-the will of Kaguya Otsutsuki."
"From beginning to end, you were nothing more than a pawn I chose to revive my mother."
Those few words shattered everything Madara had believed in, everything he had clung to, and everything he had worked for throughout his life.
Madara's mind went blank. He stood utterly dazed.
I schemed my whole life and sacrificed everything, only to end up... someone else's pawn?
The ideal I gave everything for was one enormous lie from the very beginning?
He could not accept it, could not understand it, could not believe it. A man who had dominated his era had ended up doing all the work for someone else!
Before Madara could recover from his utter collapse, vast quantities of violently surging chakra flooded his body!
Black Zetsu forcibly activated a Secret Technique, using overwhelming power to alter Madara's body, reshape his constitution, activate the God Tree's power, and awaken Kaguya's deeply buried will!
Madara's consciousness was relentlessly suppressed, crushed, and devoured. The personality that belonged to Madara Uchiha was erased bit by bit.
His body grew taller, transformed, and reshaped itself. His skin, appearance, presence, and chakra all underwent earth-shaking changes!
The God Tree's light blazed