"Crack!"
Madara Uchiha raised a hand to the horn protruding from his forehead and tore it off without hesitation.
A sharp sound echoed through the battlefield.
The broken horn fell away as a slit slowly opened in the center of his forehead. Moments later, a scarlet eye appeared within it—
The Rinne Sharingan.
Madara spread his arms wide, his expression filled with almost fanatical excitement.
"Namikaze Kirito… no matter how powerful you are, what can you possibly do now?"
"Before the Infinite Tsukuyomi, all resistance is meaningless!"
"This world… the entire shinobi world… will finally enter eternal peace!"
At this point, Madara had already realized something.
Defeating Namikaze Kirito through brute force was impossible.
No matter how overwhelming his power became, the man standing before him still felt like an insurmountable wall.
So Madara changed his approach.
If force could not decide victory, then he would complete the Eye of the Moon Plan first.
The battlefield below had already been devastated by the war. Countless shinobi were exhausted, injured, and barely able to stand.
There would never be a better opportunity than this.
Without another word, Madara shot upward into the sky.
The Rinne Sharingan on his forehead reflected against the moon above.
Then—
"Infinite Tsukuyomi!"
The world changed.
Blood-red moonlight spread across the heavens, illuminating the entire planet.
No matter where they were, no one could escape it.
The moment that crimson light touched them, people froze in place as if their consciousness had been dragged away.
Across the battlefield, the Divine Tree began to move.
Its massive trunk pierced the heavens while countless roots and branches burst outward like living serpents.
One after another, the immobilized shinobi were wrapped up and suspended from the tree like cocoons.
The sight was unsettlingly quiet.
Kirito Namikaze watched everything unfold without moving.
He had no intention of stopping it.
Not yet.
The true mastermind behind all of this still had not shown himself.
Only once Kaguya Ōtsutsuki fully revived would the hidden figure lurking behind the scenes finally lose their patience.
That was what Kirito was waiting for.
Second Tsuchikage Mu frowned deeply.
"What is this…? So this is the true nature of the Eye of the Moon Plan?"
The Third Raikage shouted furiously:
"Madara! Stop this madness!"
Even the Third Mizukage's expression darkened.
"That tree… there's something deeply unnatural about it."
Pakura stared at the battlefield in silence before quietly muttering:
"Rasa… in the end, this was the price you paid…"
Meanwhile, many members of the Akatsuki and the Allied Shinobi Forces made no attempt to resist at all.
A world without pain.
A perfect dream where everything one desired could exist forever.
For some people… that illusion was exactly what they had been seeking all along.
As the caster fell into a strange trance-like state, the control over the Edo Tensei weakened.
The reincarnated shinobi gradually regained awareness one after another.
Some tried desperately to save those being captured by the Divine Tree, but it was useless.
The tree showed no interest in the bodies of the Edo Tensei.
And no matter how many branches they destroyed, more simply replaced them moments later.
Faced with that overwhelming scene, even legendary shinobi could only watch helplessly.
Kirito, however, remained untouched.
The branches of the Divine Tree avoided him entirely.
After all, the Divine Tree itself originated from the Ōtsutsuki Clan.
And the Golden Rinnegan within Kirito carried traces of an existence far beyond ordinary humans.
Combined with the life force and chakra of the Six Paths level, the Divine Tree could not absorb him even if it tried.
Another person left untouched was Obito Uchiha.
His body was already at its limit.
His life force had nearly burned out completely, leaving him collapsed on the cold ground, barely conscious.
Madara slowly descended from the sky.
Looking upon the world trapped beneath the Infinite Tsukuyomi, pride filled his face.
"It's finished…"
"After all these years… the Eye of the Moon Plan is finally complete."
He landed before Kirito, staring directly at him.
"How is it, boy?"
"This world has finally achieved true peace."
"No more war. No more suffering."
"Everyone will live forever within their perfect dream."
"And I… Madara Uchiha… am the one who accomplished it!"
But the reaction Madara expected never came.
Kirito simply looked at him quietly.
There was no anger.
Only pity.
Madara's expression stiffened.
"…What is that look supposed to mean?"
Even now, Kirito's gaze remained calm.
"Madara," he said softly, "do you remember what I told you before?"
"You and Obito were never the ones truly in control."
"You were both being used from the very beginning."
Madara's eyes narrowed instantly.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Kirito continued calmly:
"The Infinite Tsukuyomi… the Eye of the Moon Plan… none of it was truly your will."
"You were guided toward this outcome."
"Like a puppet."
Madara's expression darkened.
Under normal circumstances, he would have dismissed those words immediately.
After all, who in the world could manipulate Madara Uchiha?
But then—
A thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.
The Uchiha Stone Tablet.
It had been passed down through generations within the clan.
Yet before him, no one had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan capable of fully reading it.
So who wrote those words in the first place?
And why had he never questioned it before?
Madara's pupils contracted slightly.
For the first time—
Doubt appeared in his eyes.
"…Wait…"
Then—
"Pssh!"
A black hand suddenly pierced straight through Madara's chest from behind.
Madara's body froze.
His eyes widened in disbelief as he slowly turned his head.
Standing there was a pitch-black figure.
"…Black Zetsu?"
Black Zetsu let out a low chuckle.
"Hehehe…"
"Madara… you truly worked hard for all these years."
Kirito remained silent, watching calmly.
Black Zetsu's grin widened.
"He was right, you know."
"From the very beginning… you were nothing more than a pawn."
Madara's face twisted violently.
"What… are you talking about…?"
Despite possessing the power of the Ten-Tails, Madara suddenly realized he could no longer move properly.
The chakra within his body was being pulled away against his will.
Even worse—
He couldn't resist it.
Black Zetsu spoke almost mockingly.
"Did you really believe I was your creation?"
"Don't be ridiculous."
"You never had that kind of power."
"I stayed beside you for one reason only…"
"To make sure this day would come."
His voice grew colder.
"The Divine Tree has bloomed."
"The Infinite Tsukuyomi has been activated."
"Which means your role is finally over."
Nearby, Obito suddenly burst into laughter while lying on the ground.
"Hahahaha…!"
The sound was hoarse and bitter.
"So even you ended up like this, Madara…"
"You called me a pawn…"
"And in the end, you weren't any different."
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