An underground cavern.
The White Snake Sage was still facing off against Jiraiya and No. 18.
Its body was covered in wounds large and small, blood flowing out nonstop.
With the power of the current Path, as long as it stayed underground, these injuries should have healed almost instantly.
But the White Snake Sage was far too weak.
Having lost its heart and then suffering a sneak attack from No. 18, it simply had no time to recover.
And through the soul-channel connection, it could hear about the predicament Obito and Yakushi Kabuto were facing. Everyone was overwhelmed with their own battles, there was no one who could come help it.
"Accept your fate, No. 1. This is how it ends for you."
No. 18 said, "Let's walk to the end with some dignity."
"Go f*ck your mother!"
The White Snake Sage spat out a mouthful of bloody foam. "In this world, anyone can kill me! Anyone except you, No. 18, you're not worthy!"
"Your body, your memories, everything you have all comes from 'me.' You're killing yourself with your own hands, just to grovel before a human."
"Even if I die, I am still the White Snake Sage."
"Even if you live, you're still just a beast."
With that, it suddenly pulled out a huge bundle of explosive tags from behind its back.
A deafening boom.
Jiraiya shielded No. 18 and fled the center of the explosion.
The blast lasted a long time. When it finally ended, the ground had caved in three to four meters.
Jiraiya asked, "Is it dead? It didn't take advantage of the explosion to escape, did it?"
"It's dead."
Standing at the edge of the deep crater, No. 18 looked down at the ground below, where thin wisps of smoke were still rising. Her voice carried no emotion. "The White Snake Sage no longer exists."
Jiraiya was a rough, middle-aged man.
He wasn't very good at comforting people, let alone a snake. Seeing that No. 18's mood seemed off, he thought for a moment and asked, "Later… want to grab a drink?"
No. 18 shot him a glance. "Are you planning to soak me in alcohol?"
"He was an earthbound spirit tangled in obsession. Death was his true destination. And the path I have to walk is in the 'present,' so… I'm fine."
No. 18 turned and walked away.
Jiraiya shrugged and followed after her.
———
On his way back, Ryosuke saw two groups approaching from opposite directions.
From one side came No. 18 and Jiraiya.
From the other came Uchiha Madara, along with Hidan, Yakushi Kabuto, and Orochimaru, all three held in Susanoo's grasp.
Ryosuke nodded to Jiraiya and No. 18 as a greeting, then looked toward Uchiha Madara.
He pointed at Kabuto and the others.
"What's the meaning of this?"
Uchiha Madara said, "I cooperated with them for several reasons. First, I felt your ideals were too naive, and that achieving them would face too many obstacles."
"Second, Infinite Tsukuyomi, before it was exposed as a lie, was truly beautiful. Third, I believed it could suppress Isshiki, with both sides restraining each other."
But the facts proved that Infinite Tsukuyomi, a shortcut, was fake, and that Isshiki was untrustworthy, and already dead.
Most importantly, Uchiha Madara's hollow eye sockets "looked" toward Ryosuke.
"The strong have the right to be naive."
"The power you've shown is enough to erase all the problems that naivety brings. That makes you the greatest hope for world peace. So..."
He pointed at the three people held in Susanoo's palm.
"I can't let them escape and have a chance to threaten your rule in the future."
"As for me, I'm already a dead man. Whether you want to kill me or let me live doesn't matter."
Uchiha Madara was just that kind of purely rational person.
Infinite Tsukuyomi was a genjutsu that covered the entire world. When it was activated, all living beings across the globe would enter the illusionary world and enjoy beautiful dreams.
Only Madara, as the caster, would keep his consciousness clear, becoming the sole person able to perceive the real world.
Add to that becoming the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, undergoing physical modification, and gaining an extended lifespan… Madara would spend his entire life alone in the world, like a gravekeeper, all to maintain Infinite Tsukuyomi, all to let everyone except himself obtain happiness.
Leaving aside the lie of Infinite Tsukuyomi and the philosophical question of whether life in an illusion even counts as living, Madara's resolve alone far surpassed Obito's obsession with Rin.
Ryosuke thought for a moment. "Let's talk about it after we get back."
Uchiha Madara nodded and silently joined the returning group.
Just as Ryosuke was about to leave, he suddenly locked eyes with Orochimaru.
"Almost forgot."
Orochimaru knew that look far too well and shouted, "Ryosuke, wait...! I can work for you..."
Buzz… Click!
Before Orochimaru could finish, two discs popped out.
'Work for Ryosuke?'
Was Orochimaru's research ability really so rare that his crimes could simply be ignored?
There were dozens of researchers at the institute on the same level as Orochimaru, not to mention that there was nearly a three-year R&D gap between them. Put simply, Orochimaru's technology was already outdated.
After being let out for less than twenty minutes to get some air and listen to current affairs, Orochimaru went offline again. No one knew when he might appear next, or whether he ever would.
As for Hidan, Yakushi Kabuto, and Uchiha Madara, those matters would be discussed after returning. Specialized personnel would evaluate them and arrange appropriate plans.
———
By the time Ryosuke and the others returned to the core battlefield, the fight between Obito and Kakashi was already over.
Lightning Release speed boost + Ripple + White Fang blade techniques, Kakashi, even without using the Sharingan, was firmly in the top tier of combat strength. His short-term burst speed was comparable to Minato Namikaze's Flying Thunder God.
Having lost the Ten-Tails and being severely wounded, Obito had no chance of defeating Kakashi.
"Kill me, Kakashi. End it here. I don't want to die at someone else's hands."
Obito's voice was weak, even carrying a hint of pleading.
Kakashi saw Ryosuke and the others approaching from afar, gripped his short blade, and thrust it down hard, pinning Obito's hands together and nailing them to the ground.
"You want to die comfortably here? Don't even dream about it. You'll face judgment in front of countless people."
Kakashi's gaze was icy.
The Bloody Mist of Kirigakure.
The explosion at the Roran ruins.
The massacre in Amegakure.
Too many bloody cases. Too many dead.
Anyone else aside, Obito, the mastermind behind it all, had to bear responsibility for everything, and die under the gaze of countless eyes filled with grief and hatred.
Obito fell silent for a moment. Only when Ryosuke stood before him did he speak again, "Take my Sharingan."
"Ryosuke, even for your research institute, a matched pair of Mangekyo Sharingan is still rare material. Find a way to upgrade them to Rinnegan, and then… revive the dead."
Ryosuke nodded.
"Alright."
Kakashi couldn't help asking, "Since you could use the Rinnegan to revive Madara, why didn't you revive Rin?"
"Because…"
Lying on the ground, Obito stared up at the sky.
"I'm too ugly."
The further he walked forward, the uglier he became, and the more he dared not face the girl from the past.
Obito didn't want to disappoint her, and even less did he dare meet her eyes.
So he could only place all his hopes on Infinite Tsukuyomi.
When a person lives for decades and, in the end, has only a single "spiritual anchor" left, that person becomes obsessive, becomes insane, becomes... Increasingly ugly.
Just like Uchiha Obito was now.
The Sky Fortress slowly descended. Everyone boarded and left the battlefield behind.
Before departing, Kakashi pulled down his forehead protector to cover his Sharingan and looked tiredly at the battlefield. "So… does that mean the war is finally over?"
"It's over," Ryosuke said. "Today's war is over. In the future, there may still be various wars..."
Some will come from external enemies.
Others will inevitably come from within.
"But at least today, we are the final victors."
Kakashi smiled and boarded the Sky Fortress.
As soon as he entered, he saw Obito with his hands bound, staring blankly ahead.
Kakashi followed his line of sight.
Not far away, Minato Namikaze, in his Edo Tensei form, was waiting for them.
All three had complex expressions.
Ryosuke lightly patted Kakashi on the shoulder and chose not to interfere with the exchange between master and student.
The Sky Fortress took off. Ryosuke went to the refreshment area, brewed himself a cup of black tea, grabbed a pack of chocolate wafer biscuits, and plopped down into a chair.
A wave of exhaustion surged over him all at once.
The despair of the first enemy ambush, the deaths of their comrades, and the humiliation of defeat.
Then charging into the Mad Max world to challenge the President.
After returning, immediately arranging all kinds of pre-war preparations, then fighting the many Otsutsuki, and finally rebooting the universe.
Tired, truly tired.
But when he thought of the gains from this battle, Ryosuke perked up again. Earlier, he'd been too busy fighting and killing to carefully read the system messages piling up one after another.
Now he finally had some free time.
"System, display this round's rewards."