"I'm sorry, Madara. I failed to stop you from abandoning the 'Eye of the Moon' plan."
Senju Hashirama stood before his friend's grave, speaking with guilt written all over his face.
He had chosen not to erect a gravestone for his friend, worried that those who came later might show disrespect to his remains.
If only he had been able to successfully stop Madara, things would not have ended up like this.
If, during the early days of Konoha's founding, he had noticed that Madara's state of mind was off and intervened in time to persuade him—
Perhaps Madara would not have carried out the "Eye of the Moon" plan, nor would he have chosen to kill his closest friend for the sake of the village.
All these years, he had lived with the guilt of killing Madara.
Even later, after learning from Renya that Uchiha Madara had used Izanagi to fake his death and escape, that sense of guilt never truly faded.
It was merely buried deep in his heart.
Now that his friend was truly dead, and he could only watch helplessly, utterly powerless to stop it.
The guilt in Senju Hashirama's heart could no longer be suppressed.
Renya felt no better either.
Uchiha Madara was far too stubborn, believing only what he saw with his own eyes.
One could say he was utterly impervious to persuasion.
Even if the protagonist Uzumaki Naruto were to appear, he still wouldn't be able to convince old man Madara to abandon the "Eye of the Moon" plan.
Someone with such unwavering conviction—no matter who came, it would be useless.
For the sake of peace in the shinobi world, the only option was to kill him.
If blame was to be assigned, then blame the innately evil Black Zetsu—merely by altering the contents of the stone tablet, it managed to completely mislead Uchiha Madara.
It truly lived up to its reputation as a puppeteer who had been lurking for a thousand years.
However, as long as he was here, Black Zetsu's plan to resurrect Ōtsutsuki Kaguya would never succeed!
Renya would never allow Ōtsutsuki Kaguya to emerge; as for what happened after his own death, that no longer mattered.
Once he was gone, what did the fate of the shinobi world have to do with him?
Besides, a few decades later, the protagonist group would emerge anyway—there was no need for him to worry about such matters.
The two stayed before Madara's grave for a while, then left together.
Senju Hashirama deliberately set up a disguised sealing barrier at the cave entrance, preventing passersby from discovering it.
"Those two guys have finally left!"
Black Zetsu watched them depart, then slowly emerged from the shadows.
Now all that was left was to retrieve Uchiha Madara's body and then use the Edo Tensei developed by Senju Tobirama to summon him back.
The "Eye of the Moon" plan would surely be realized very soon!
At Black Zetsu's signal, White Zetsu dove underground and brought back Uchiha Madara's corpse.
On the surface, there was no sign of any problem.
Black Zetsu looked at Madara's still-fresh body and nodded in satisfaction.
What it feared most was that the Rinnegan might have already rotted.
Fortunately, the storage scroll possessed preservation capabilities, so there would be no deterioration in the short term.
Somewhere in the shinobi world, in an underground space unknown to anyone.
Black Zetsu no longer dared to place its secret base in a cave—what if one day Renya and Hashirama decided to revisit old ground?
Wouldn't everything be exposed?
To be safe, it simply chose a new hiding place.
On the ground lay a ninja tightly bound with ropes, while a White Zetsu possessed another ninja and formed hand seals, using the Edo Tensei technique.
Edo Tensei requires a certain amount of the deceased's flesh, then uses a living person's body as a vessel for the dead person's soul, summoning the soul back from the Pure Land and binding it to the living body.
The ninja used as the sacrifice convulsed violently, his entire body covered in dust, and soon transformed into the appearance of Uchiha Madara.
Madara, who had died just days ago, descended upon the shinobi world once more!
Only this time, unlike the previous use of Izanagi to fake his death, he was summoned in the form of an undead spirit…
"Edo Tensei?"
Uchiha Madara lowered his head to look at his hands and murmured softly.
He was now dressed in a black robe, his appearance reverted to that of his thirty-year-old self.
Though his looks had returned to his younger days, the power of his body was inferior even to that of his old age.
This could only mean that the Edo Tensei technique developed by Senju Tobirama was rather mediocre.
"Heh, so this is the ninjutsu Tobirama researched?"
Madara said with disdain on his face.
"This feeble body isn't even one-tenth as strong as my original body."
He had no intention of belittling Senju Tobirama—it was simply that the body produced by Edo Tensei was truly too weak.
At best, it barely reached the level of an elite jōnin.
With such weak power, let alone dealing with that brat Renya—even facing an ordinary elite jōnin would be somewhat troublesome.
Not to mention realizing the "Eye of the Moon" plan.
The most urgent matter now was to find a pawn and use the Samsara Heavenly Life Technique to revive himself!
As long as he could descend in his peak state, no one in the shinobi world would be able to stop him from realizing the "Eye of the Moon" plan!
"Madara-sama, I successfully summoned you back."
Seeing Uchiha Madara revived, Black Zetsu immediately stepped forward and spoke respectfully.
It had already begun to regard itself as the embodiment of Madara's will.
"Well done."
Uchiha Madara looked at the Rinnegan stored in the cultivation container and nodded in satisfaction.
"Tell me what happened after my death."
He withdrew his gaze and instructed Black Zetsu.
"Madara-sama…"
Black Zetsu recounted everything it had witnessed during this time, one detail after another.
Including how Renya and Senju Hashirama chose a burial site for him and ultimately buried him in a cave.
Uchiha Madara: "…"
That Hashirama fellow actually buried his body in a cave.
At this moment, he truly didn't know what to say.
"Did you find the pawn I told you to look for?"
Uchiha Madara did not dwell on the matter and instead turned to Black Zetsu to ask.
The most urgent task now was to find a suitable pawn so he could revive himself using the Samsara Heavenly Life Technique.
"Madara-sama, I've found several suitable candidates."
Black Zetsu hurriedly presented a list.
Choosing an appropriate pawn was crucial—otherwise, if that person possessed the Rinnegan but refused to revive him, wouldn't that be a problem?
Thus, a suitable pawn had to be cultivated from a young age, have their worldview shaped, and then be personally destroyed.
Once they were made to recognize the cruelty of reality, they would understand the importance of the "Eye of the Moon" plan.
At that point, they would willingly use the Samsara Heavenly Life Technique to revive him!
After all, Uchiha Madara was already in an Edo body—time was not so pressing for him.
He might as well carefully plan the steps ahead.
Uchiha Madara took the list handed over by Black Zetsu and began searching for the most suitable pawn among them.
The list included children from various shinobi villages.
"I'll let you see with your own eyes the day the 'Eye of the Moon' plan succeeds and the shinobi world truly achieves peace!"
If Renya hadn't rejected his plan and interfered,
His ideal would have long since been realized.
Black Zetsu watched Uchiha Madara carefully selecting his pawn and sneered inwardly.
You keep calling others pawns, but in truth, you're nothing more than a pawn in my plan to resurrect Mother.
It truly wanted to see the expression on Madara's face when he learned the truth in the future.
Mother, I'll be able to save you very soon!