On Konoha's outskirts, at the edge of the forest.
In the center of the crater.
Madara Uchiha's body lay there silently.
No.
That was not a "corpse."
Deep within his dim right eye, the power of Izanagi was slowly awakening.
A second time.
At the cost of permanently blinding his last Sharingan.
Rewriting life and death.
"Ugh..."
A low groan, like something from the depths of hell, escaped Madara's lips.
His body began to tremble slightly.
Those fatal wounds-the hole punched through his chest, the fractures where his head had been smashed-slowly healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Blood flowed backward.
Torn muscles rejoined.
Shattered bones returned to their original state.
As though time were flowing backward over his body.
As though death had never come.
"Cough, cough..."
Madara Uchiha abruptly sat up, coughing violently.
Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
His left eye was vacant.
His right eye was vacant now, too.
Both eyes had lost their light.
The price of Izanagi.
Both Sharingan, permanently blind.
"What... what an Eight Gates: Gate of Death..."
His voice was hoarse, carrying an irrepressible anger, along with a trace of... indescribable admiration.
"What a man, that Might Duy."
He reached up and touched his empty eye sockets.
"To think a mortal body could push me this far..."
His lips curled into a bitter, almost self-mocking smile.
"But unfortunately..."
He slowly stood, facing the dark void.
"It can only be used once."
"Eight Gates: Gate of Death can only be used once."
"Whereas Izanagi..."
He did not finish.
But his meaning was already clear.
He had used Izanagi twice.
Both Sharingan had gone completely blind.
From now on, he was a blind man.
But-
He was still alive.
As long as he lived, there was a chance.
As