This time, Uchiha Itachi's Edo Tensei revival served a total of three purposes,
First, acting as a guide, leading everyone straight into the trap of Amenominakanushi and getting the whole group stranded on the moon.
Second, stabbing his teammates in the back, leaving without a word and successfully letting No. 18 stab the White Snake Sage, allowing Uchiha Madara to break free from Isshiki's control, cut down the God Tree, and lay the foundation for the appearance of the "Pen."
Third, guiding Sasuke to find Ryosuke lying in the desert.
However, if we talk about the greatest and most important significance of all…
Ryosuke looked at Sasuke, who was slowly sheathing his sword. His eyes were closed, his expression calm, as if he had just done something utterly trivial, but, a single tear slid down from the corner of Sasuke's eye.
He wanted to hold back his tears, but then he heard Ryosuke say, "If you want to cry, then cry. He… was your brother after all."
Sasuke met Ryosuke's gaze.
He understood what Ryosuke meant.
It wasn't sadness because of the blood bond of "brotherhood," but because long ago, before Itachi became the Uchiha Itachi he was now, he really had been a good older brother, an eldest son who made his parents proud, a clansman admired by his people.
That Uchiha Itachi later became the beast who slaughtered his entire clan, that was true.
But before he became that beast, he truly was, in Sasuke's life, the most important family member.
He wasn't grieving for Itachi's death.
He was grieving for memories that had once been beautiful, but could never return.
Perhaps…
Ryosuke watched Sasuke silently crying in the rain.
"Dying by Sasuke's hand, was that the greatest meaning of Uchiha Itachi's return through Edo Tensei this time?"
Sniff!
Sasuke sucked all his snot back in and said with lingering sobs, "Brother Ryosuke, let's go."
"Not going to mourn a bit longer?"
"No."
Along the way, Sasuke had seen very clearly that the tragedies caused by Uchiha Itachi were due to his foolishness, and also due to the wrong ideas and indoctrination he had been exposed to since birth.
They were overthrowing the old system and uniting the Five Great Nations and all the ninja villages precisely so people like Itachi would never appear again.
Sasuke took a deep breath. "The war has just ended, and there are still many people waiting for us to save them. Mourning is ultimately for the dead, but we have to protect more of the living."
Ryosuke smiled and nodded.
"Let's go."
———
Ryosuke and his group were on their way back.
Elsewhere, leaving Obito behind as bait, Yakushi Kabuto, Hidan, and Orochimaru were sprinting through the desert at full speed, wishing they had grown a few more legs in the womb so they could run even faster now.
While fleeing, Kabuto and Hidan spoke back and forth, briefly recounting to Orochimaru the major events that had recently occurred in the ninja world.
Anyone who dealt with Orochimaru often knew that this mad scientist was usually a very optimistic person.
No matter how dire the situation, whether it was having his arms sealed by the Third Hokage in the original story, or being counter-killed by Sasuke, as long as he caught his breath, he would once again show that signature Orochimaru smile.
That was only natural. In scientific research, failure is the norm, success the exception. Someone with a bad mindset wouldn't last long on the path of research.
But today…
Orochimaru couldn't smile.
More accurately, when Kabuto had just plugged in the disc and revived him, Orochimaru was still full of grand ambitions, planning to accumulate strength after escaping and then seek revenge on Ryosuke.
But then he turned his head and came face to face with Yakushi Kabuto, the Snake Sage, Perfect Version.
His former lackey had now become the Snake Sage he once looked up to. That alone was shocking enough, and then, Obito became the Ten-Tails' jinchuriki.
Uchiha Madara revived.
Kaguya, the mother of the Sage of Six Paths, broke her seal and returned to the human world.
Otsutsuki Momoshiki, Kinshiki, and Isshiki descended upon the ninja world, attempting to destroy it.
And…
All of the above, each with an impressively long title, every single one symbolizing invincible strength, were, like discounted bread after 8 p.m., taken out in one pot by Ryosuke, one by one.
As if that still wasn't enough, he even restarted the universe.
"…Yes, Lord Orochimaru, you heard correctly. Although everything around us looks unchanged, we are indeed in a brand-new universe."
Kabuto explained in detail.
It had to be said, Kabuto had done everything necessary and unnecessary alike to achieve his goals, killing and burning without hesitation, yet he was someone who valued "loyalty."
All these years, even though he had long since surpassed Orochimaru in strength, he still addressed him as "Lord," remembering the favor Orochimaru had done for him when he was at his lowest.
As Orochimaru listened, he fell silent, left with only one thought in his mind, 'In the past, I was… pretty strong in the ninja world, right?'
'What on earth happened to this world?'
At this moment, Orochimaru's mindset was like playing a game where a single ultimate skill used to deal tens of thousands of damage and that was already considered top-tier, only to quit for three years, come back, and find that now even random mobs had tens of millions of HP. It was utterly absurd.
You can delete your account and start over in a game.
You can't do that in life.
Orochimaru slapped his cheeks hard, forcing himself to regain his optimistic mindset.
Now that even the Otsutsuki had revived and the universe had restarted, the world was vast, surely there was a path for Orochimaru. Even Kabuto could become a Snake Sage.
As long as he stayed alive, Orochimaru's thoughts stopped.
Because not far ahead, a man was sitting quietly atop a sand dune, blocking their path.
It was Uchiha Madara, who had broken free from Isshiki's control.
During the battle, in order to suppress Madara's struggling consciousness, Isshiki had almost completely cut off Madara's influence over his own body, tossing him into the background and sealing him away.
But when Ryosuke pulled out the disc, he directly removed Isshiki's disc instead. Ironically, Uchiha Madara, who had been completely suppressed, was barely affected at all.
Well, not entirely unaffected.
Without Isshiki's black eye and white eye, Madara's own dual Rinnegan, after passing through Obito and Kaguya, had been sealed inside an iron sphere and left behind in the old world.
The current Uchiha Madara was now a blind man with no sight.
Yet he sat there, silent, and an aura that made one's blood run cold spread outward.
Kabuto swallowed hard.
This was undisguised hostility.
After a brief silence, Kabuto spoke first. "We're companions, at least. What are you doing?"
"Companions?"
Uchiha Madara chuckled and said in a lazy tone, "Don't joke with me. You and I were nothing more than using each other. Because of shared interests, I temporarily cooperated with you, but likewise…"
He slowly stood up.
"Because of opposing interests, I will take you back and hand you over to Ryosuke to deal with."
The optimistic smile that had just appeared on Orochimaru's face vanished completely.