"Are you trying to humiliate me?"
Uchiha Madara's expression darkened instantly after hearing Ryūjin's words.
He could accept defeat, but humiliation was something he would never tolerate.
"Humiliate you? Yeah right, I don't have time for that."
Ryūjin clicked his tongue, his eyes shifting as Kotoamatsukami activated without warning.
He simply looked at Madara.
That was enough.
"From now on, you follow my orders."
The command was implanted directly into Madara's will.
Madara was not like Hashirama.
Hashirama had fought Ryūjin out of duty as Hokage, everything he did was for the village. After their battle, he accepted defeat without dragging things further.
So when Ryūjin used Kotoamatsukami on him, it was limited. Just a simple restriction, nothing more.
Madara was different.
This was someone completely consumed by obsession. Like Obito, he had been twisted by Black Zetsu, clinging to the Eye of the Moon Plan like it was absolute truth.
Leaving someone like that untouched would only create problems later.
Ryūjin wasn't worried about those problems, but dealing with them early was easier than letting them pile up.
Explaining the truth to Madara?
He dismissed the idea almost immediately.
Obito was proof of how pointless that was. People who treated the plan as their belief wouldn't change just because someone talked to them.
Unless there was undeniable proof.
And that kind of proof didn't exist here.
The only real way to break Madara's belief would be to make Black Zetsu confess everything in front of him.
Ryūjin could do that.
He just didn't care enough to bother.
Madara wasn't worth that effort.
Changing his will directly was faster.
Madara's body stiffened slightly after being hit by the genjutsu, his eyes losing focus for a brief moment before returning to normal.
But his attitude had already shifted.
"Lord Ryūjin."
His tone was respectful.
"Who brought you back?"
Ryūjin asked again.
"Black Zetsu."
Madara answered without hesitation, recounting everything clearly.
Ryūjin nodded slightly.
"As expected. Once I started targeting the Tailed Beasts, I became a problem that needed to be removed."
He understood the reasoning.
Didn't mean he was going to ignore it.
Just as he was about to continue, Madara's body suddenly collapsed.
Rustle...
His form began to break apart, turning into something like loose, shifting particles.
In the center of it, Madara's body disappeared, replaced by a White Zetsu corpse.
Black Zetsu had released Edo Tensei.
"Figures."
A cold look crossed Ryūjin's face.
"If you're going to come at me, don't expect me to sit still."
His figure vanished instantly.
---
The next moment, Ryūjin appeared near Kannabi Bridge.
He didn't know the exact location of Madara's hideout, only a general direction.
That was enough.
Once Sage Mode activated, every trace of chakra in the area became clear.
Nothing could hide from him.
"There it is."
He locked onto the target almost immediately.
But something caught his attention.
Another familiar chakra signature.
Obito.
"Still alive, huh. Lucky bastard."
Ryūjin didn't dwell on it.
Obito wasn't worth the attention right now.
Kamui activated.
His body twisted into space and disappeared.
---
Underground Base, Kannabi Bridge.
The atmosphere was tense.
Obito, Black Zetsu, and White Zetsu all looked uneasy. Even Tobi, who usually couldn't sit still, was unusually quiet, crouched on the ground and absentmindedly drawing with a stick.
"You released Edo Tensei, right?"
Obito finally spoke.
Black Zetsu nodded.
"It's done. Madara's soul has returned to the Pure Land."
Obito's expression eased slightly.
If even Madara had been captured completely, that would have been too much.
"Obito, what now?"
Tobi spoke up, stopping his drawing.
No one answered immediately.
Because the answer was obvious.
Ryūjin was too strong.
Strong enough to make everything feel pointless.
"We need to speed things up and cooperate with those people," Black Zetsu said after a pause.
Obito said nothing.
Even with allies like Yomi and Shinno, he didn't feel confident.
That golden sword alone was enough to shut down everything.
Suddenly, a White Zetsu emerged from the ground.
"Ryūjin just appeared at Kannabi Bridge."
"What?!"
Obito and Black Zetsu reacted instantly.
"What is he doing there?"
"I don't know. He showed up, then left immediately using Kamui."
That answer made things worse.
Both of them felt it.
Something was wrong.
Buzz.
A familiar spatial distortion appeared inside the base.
Before anyone could react, Ryūjin stepped out of the vortex.
"U-Uchiha Ryūjin?!"
Tobi jumped up in panic, his voice shaking.
That fear was real.
He had already been killed once by Ryūjin.
"How did you find this place?"
Obito's voice was tense, his eyes locked onto Ryūjin.
This base was supposed to be untouchable.
No one knew about it.
And yet, here he was.
"Relax. I'm not here for you."
Ryūjin glanced at him, indifferent.
"If you can survive in front of me, that's your problem, not mine."
Obito subconsciously let out a breath.
Then immediately felt irritated at himself for doing it.
"Zetsu."
Ryūjin shifted his gaze.
"You should've stayed in your lane. You had your plan, I had mine. But you just had to poke at me."
Black Zetsu froze.
"You… what are you talking about?"
"Oh, come on. You're Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's son. You've been using Madara and Obito this whole time just to revive her."
Ryūjin's tone was flat, but every word hit hard.
"You really thought you were controlling everything?"
"Impossible!"
Black Zetsu staggered, his voice filled with disbelief.
"How do you know that?!"
That secret had been buried for a thousand years.
No one should know.
Not even the Sage of Six Paths had known the full truth.
Yet Ryūjin laid it out like it was nothing.
Obito turned slowly toward Zetsu.
"You're… not Madara's will?"
"And what do you mean, using us?"
His voice was unstable.
"Don't listen to him! He's lying! I am Madara's will!"
Black Zetsu snapped back immediately, but there was tension in his voice.
Too much.
Obito wasn't stupid.
He could see it.
Everything started to fall apart in his mind.
"Zetsu, your plan ends here."
Ryūjin didn't give him time to recover.
His eyes shifted to the Rinnegan.
"Chibaku Tensei."
An overwhelming force lifted Black Zetsu into the air.
The ground cracked apart as massive chunks of rock surged toward him, sealing him layer by layer.
Within seconds, a massive sphere formed, trapping him completely.
Ryūjin extended his hand.
"Universal Pull."
The sphere flew toward him.
Then Kamui activated.
The entire mass vanished into his dimension.
Black Zetsu was gone.
Just like that.
Obito stood there, motionless.
He hadn't tried to stop it.
Couldn't.
His mind was already collapsing under the weight of everything he had just heard.
His entire belief system was breaking apart.
Everything he had done…
All of it might have been meaningless.
"Ryūjin… was that true?"
His voice was low, uncertain.
"Were we just… pawns?"
Ryūjin glanced at him.
"You already know the answer. You just don't want to admit it."
That hit harder than anything else.
"Don't take it too personally. Even Madara got played. What chance did you have?"
Ryūjin shrugged.
"A thousand-year-old schemer pulling strings behind the scenes. You falling for it isn't surprising."
With that, Kamui activated again.
He disappeared without another word.
Obito stood there in silence, completely lost.
After a long moment, he turned toward Tobi.
"What do you think… was he telling the truth?"
Tobi scratched his head, thinking hard.
"I don't know… but hey, forget that for a second."
He pointed at the ground proudly.
"Look, does this drawing look like poop?"
Obito stared at him.
For a moment, he seriously considered kicking him across the room.