As his field of vision gradually turned white, the blood flowing across the ground became painfully vivid.
The interwoven red and snow-white scenery took on the colors of a blazing sunset.
"I obtained the authority through your mother..." A weary smile appeared on Madara Uchiha's face.
Forcing his body to obey despite pain so intense he could not breathe, Madara Uchiha clung desperately to Yanbai's arm.
It hurt...
It hurt so much...
It hurt too much...
Madara Uchiha could think of nothing but that word.
As though repeating it in his mind would lessen the pain... yet after so many years apart, he had finally caught hold of Yanbai.
Even with pain tearing through his entire body, Madara felt not the slightest hatred.
Despite the overwhelming pain, Madara had never thought of escaping that suffering through death.
He did not want to simply disappear.
He still wanted to live.
He wanted to do something...
To do the things he had always wanted to do but never had;
To leave behind the things he had wanted to leave but never had;
There were so many things he had wanted to do that he had never done;
So many things he had wanted to leave behind that he had never left.
An ending like that was far too tragic.
A life like that was far too sad.
As long as he kept his eyes fixed on Yanbai.
Madara Uchiha could face pain that numbed even his will to live, and abandon those thoughts of wanting to die.
...It hurt.
...It hurt.
...It hurt... it hurt so much... but...
That single word kept filling Madara Uchiha's mind.
His continually disintegrating skin showed the immense agony Madara Uchiha was enduring.
Coughing up blood, Madara Uchiha clutched Yanbai's arm tightly, stared into his eyes, and