Compared with the two Hashiramas chatting away enthusiastically, Edo Madara was heartbreakingly silent.
He sat quietly without a word, his gaze never leaving Izuna and Shingetsu.
But whenever they looked back at him, Madara turned his head away in shame, quietly averting his eyes.
Without question, this world's Edo Madara was at the lowest point of his life-
His ideals had shattered, and decades of painstaking effort had vanished overnight.
And he had been so ridiculous, so convinced of his own cleverness. Whether manipulating Obito or transplanting the Rinnegan into Nagato, he had violated his principles, yet all of it had merely paved the way for Black Zetsu's conspiracy.
Now, Madara had even lost the last strength he possessed.
There was no helping it. The sacrifice Tobirama had used to reanimate him was Shimura Danzō.
Granted, even without the Rinnegan and with his strength greatly diminished, Edo Madara still stood near the top of the pyramid, among a select few.
But for the Asura of the Ninja World, who had once towered over all others at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World, such a fall from grace was utterly intolerable.
Worst of all, this immortal reanimated body had completely blocked his path to growing stronger.
This body was a cage.
Of course, Impure World Reincarnation Hashirama and Impure World Reincarnation Tobirama were victims too. Their strength was even lower than Edo Madara's now.
After all, however rotten Shimura Danzō was, he was still stronger than Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu.
When asked why he had chosen those three as sacrifices for Impure World Reincarnation, a certain master of forbidden techniques answered:
"Hmph, using those three disgraceful students as your sacrifices was generous enough! You even wanted White Zetsu? Where was I supposed to catch them? You ask too much..."
Izuna