Zhang Yu knew very well, however, that someone like Madara couldn't be cowed by threats.
He wasn't stupid.
To make him behave for the time being, Zhang Yu needed a big enough bargaining chip.
Zhang Yu leaned forward and looked at Madara.
"Madara Uchiha, do you think all your plans are under your control?"
Madara's gaze turned cold.
"What are you trying to say?"
"I'm saying I know a great deal about what happened after you died."
Madara said coldly, "You're testing me."
Zhang Yu shook his head.
"There's no need for that."
He pointed at himself, then at the tavern.
"I oversee all the souls in the Pure Land."
"The secrets of all the dead are no secrets to me."
Madara stared at him.
"The Pure Land?"
Zhang Yu said calmly, "You can think of it as the final resting place of the dead. And I am the one who can let the dead leave the Pure Land."
Madara didn't immediately argue.
After all, he really was standing here.
He had an intact body, a clear mind, and his own power.
That alone was the strongest proof.
But admit that Zhang Yu oversaw the Pure Land?
Impossible.
Even the Sage of Six Paths might not dare make such a claim.
Madara sneered.
"You oversee all the souls in the Pure Land?"
"You think words like that can scare me?"
Zhang Yu leaned back in his chair, his expression still calm.
"You don't have to believe me."
"I didn't expect you to believe me right away, either."
Madara walked up to the table, looking down at Zhang Yu.
The oppressive presence of his crimson armor was almost in Zhang Yu's face.
Zhang Yu's palms were sweaty.
But he didn't back down.
The system's rules were there. He was scared, but he couldn't act like a coward.
Especially not in front of Madara Uchiha.
The more cowardly you acted, the more he looked down on you.
Zhang Yu raised his head and met his gaze.
Madara lowered his voice.
"Since you say you control the secrets of the dead, tell me one."
"Get one word wrong, and I'll make you understand that the rule supposedly preventing me from attacking the host may not protect you for long."
His words were full of pressure.
But after hearing them, Zhang Yu grew more confident instead.
Because Madara was getting anxious.
Someone who truly didn't care wouldn't press for answers.
The fact that he pressed showed he cared.
Zhang Yu tapped the table twice with his fingers.
"What do you want to hear about?"
"Hashirama?"
Madara's expression didn't change.
"Izuna?"
Madara's brows finally drew down.
That name was different for him.
Zhang Yu didn't continue talking about Izuna.
Some trump cards couldn't be played all at once.
He changed tack.
"Or do you want to hear about that so-called ultimate plan of yours to change the Shinobi World?"
Madara's gaze turned completely cold.
"You even know about that?"
Zhang Yu didn't answer.
He slowly rose to his feet.
Looking at Madara, he said, emphasizing every word, "Madara Uchiha, you spent your life laying plans, manipulating pawns, and waiting to be resurrected.
"What you truly wanted was never revenge, nor was it simply to rule the Shinobi World."
The disdain finally vanished from Madara's face.
The lights in the tavern flickered faintly, and the crimson armor cast a large shadow.
Zhang Yu's voice was quiet, but his words fell like knives.
"You want to create a world without war, without suffering, and without losers."
Madara said nothing.
His silence was the best response.
Zhang Yu took another half step forward.
"You think that's salvation."
"You think that as long as your plan succeeds, everyone will find happiness."
"You think the entire Shinobi World will find true peace under your will."
Madara stared at him, his eyes once again turning into the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan.
But this time, he didn't use genjutsu.
He simply kept his eyes fixed on Zhang Yu.
"Who exactly are you?"
Zhang Yu raised his head.
"I told you."
"The man who oversees the souls in the Pure Land."
Madara said coldly, "I don't believe that's who you are."
"Then let me put it another way."
Zhang Yu paused for half a breath, then slowly spoke the name.
"Infinite Tsukuyomi."
As the words fell, Madara Uchiha's pupils abruptly contracted.
This time, he didn't hide it behind a sneer.
Because that name should never have come from the mouth of an ordinary person.
Infinite Tsukuyomi was his true ultimate plan.
Precious few people knew the full scope of it.
Even Nagato was just a pawn he had placed on the board.
Even Obito only knew what he was supposed to do; he might not truly understand the whole truth.
Yet the man before him sat in a shabby little tavern, without the slightest aura of a ninja, and casually spoke that name.
Madara stared at Zhang Yu, his voice growing utterly grave.
"Where did you hear that?"
Seeing his reaction, Zhang Yu felt reassured.
Just as I thought.
When dealing with someone like Madara Uchiha, the system's rules alone weren't enough.
He had to make him understand that he hadn't summoned him through luck.
Zhang Yu said unhurriedly, "The Eye of the Moon Plan: use the Ten-Tails' power to reflect off the moon and cast the entire Shinobi World into genjutsu."
Madara said nothing.
But the fingers hanging at his side twitched slightly.
Zhang Yu continued, "You want everyone to live in a dream, a place without war, betrayal, death, or suffering."
"In your view, reality is rotten to the core."
"So you want to drag everyone into a dream you consider perfect with your own hands."
The tavern was so quiet that the faint sound of the oil lamp burning could be heard.
Madara Uchiha's expression had completely changed.
A moment ago, he had only been suspicious.
Now, for the first time, a chill rose in his heart.
It wasn't fear of power.
It was the feeling of having his secrets stripped bare, layer by layer.
It was as if he stood in the middle of a battlefield, believing he controlled everything, only to find a pair of eyes above him, watching him from beginning to end.
Madara said coldly, "Go on."
Zhang Yu glanced at him.
"You want to hear more?"
"Speak."
Madara uttered just one word.
Zhang Yu didn't hold back.
"You used Izanagi to rewrite your death in the battle at the Valley of the End, fooling Hashirama and the entire Shinobi World."
"You obtained Hashirama's flesh and implanted it in yourself, but didn't awaken the Rinnegan until your later years."
"You didn't keep the Rinnegan for yourself. Instead, you secretly transplanted them into Nagato of the Uzumaki Clan."
"You waited for Nagato to grow up, and for the day he would use Rinne Rebirth to truly resurrect you."
With every sentence Zhang Yu spoke, Madara's gaze grew colder.
But he didn't interrupt.
Because Zhang Yu was far too accurate.
So accurate that it was as if he had seen it with his own eyes.
Zhang Yu raised a hand and rapped on the table.
"Of course, you also put an even more important pawn in place."
Madara's gaze sharpened.
Zhang Yu said slowly, "Obito Uchiha."
At that name, Madara's expression finally changed completely.
If Infinite Tsukuyomi was the core plan and the Rinnegan the key to resurrection, then Obito Uchiha was the last executor he had personally groomed before his death.
No one in the Shinobi World should have known about that.
Still less could the owner of a small Konoha tavern have known.
Madara suddenly stepped forward.
His crimson armor struck the edge of the table with a dull thud.
"You even know about Obito?"
Zhang Yu didn't retreat.
He even poured himself a glass of water.