Silence.
Ryuji flew in the sky, staring intently at the person lying in the spiderweb-like crater, holding his breath.
Although, logically speaking, an old man at the end of his life, after enduring such a blow, should be impossible to survive.
But he was, after all, that Uchiha Madara.
Although his entire life was a defeat to Hashirama, and he was constantly manipulated by Black Zetsu's schemes, it still couldn't be denied that he was a being who surpassed the strong.
Whether in strength, experience, will, or intelligence, he was a being beyond ordinary people.
Facing such a being, being overly cautious was not excessive.
"I'll go check the situation."
Aka, worried the opponent might have some mutual destruction method, had immediately retreated and created distance after giving Madara the shoulder throw.
Seeing no reaction from the person in the crater for a long time, she was somewhat anxious to confirm the situation.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Aka formed hand seals, creating a shadow clone, sending the clone to check.
Moments later, the clone finished checking, shaking its head at the two. "Dead."
After saying that, with a poof, it turned into smoke and disappeared.
Ryuji and Aka both sighed in relief simultaneously.
Despite appearing so arrogant in battle, that was merely a small tactic to pressure the enemy.
In reality, the more arrogant he acted, the greater the pressure he was under, hence using such tactics.
"Master, what now?"
Aka looked at Ryuji, awaiting instructions.
The purposes for coming to Amegakure were first to complete the Land of Iron's mission, second to seize the Rinnegan.
But now the plan to seize the Rinnegan had failed; she didn't know what to do next.
"First collect Madara's body, then head to the main battlefield later." Ryuji controlled the armor to land, preparing to move Madara's body into his personal space to preserve cell vitality with instruments.
But as he lifted the body, Madara's hood fell off, revealing a pair of intact eyes.
Ryuji froze.
He remembered Madara, after giving his Rinnegan to Nagato, only had one Sharingan stolen from someone else.
Moreover, the Ninjutsu Madara used at the end to avoid the Sandstorm Burial was clearly Izanagi, which would cause one Sharingan to permanently lose its light.
Meaning, Madara should now be completely blind in both eyes.
Thinking of this, Ryuji's expression changed. He grabbed the body's left shoulder, tearing it off.
The result: the split body had no blood, only white, plant cell-like material.
"What is this!?"
Seeing the anomaly, Aka couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
"It's a White Zetsu."
Ryuji threw the body to the ground, took a deep breath, and began organizing the entire course of the battle in his mind.
Possessing that level of combat power, the opponent was undoubtedly Madara himself. Only later, at some unknown point, he switched bodies with a White Zetsu.
He continued pondering, thinking of the problem.
It was Aka's Sandstorm Burial.
Throughout the entire battle, Madara had been within their sight; there was no chance to switch bodies with a White Zetsu.
Only when engulfed by the Sandstorm Burial did they briefly lose sight of Madara.
Madara used Izanagi to alter the reality of being killed by the Sandstorm Burial, then directly burrowed into the ground to switch places with a White Zetsu that had been lying in wait.
'But in that case, why would Madara's corpse show the effects of Izanagi wearing off?'
'No, I understand.'
'From the beginning, it was the White Zetsu that was killed by the Sandstorm Burial, and Madara's Izanagi targeted not himself but that White Zetsu.'
'Madara had already completed the body switch the moment he was engulfed by the Sandstorm Burial, then used Izanagi to deceive Ryuji's and Aka's eyes, buying time to ensure his own smooth escape.'
"Izanagi needs to be prepared in advance to use. Uchiha Madara had long planned to escape like a gecko cutting its tail. This guy..." Ryuji didn't know how to evaluate him anymore, could only say, as expected of Uchiha Madara.
Although he had always taken Madara seriously, subconsciously, he still somewhat looked down on him.
Because Madara had always lost to Hashirama, and the fate of his entire life had been controlled by Black Zetsu.
After being reanimated by Impure World Reincarnation, though he put on enough swagger, he was repeatedly slapped in the face.
Plus, earlier telling him the Eye of the Moon Plan was a trap, yet the other dismissed it without a thought, thinking he was being played.
This made Ryuji think that although Madara had great power, he was extremely arrogant, and his brain had become somewhat handicapped.
But now...
"We got taught a lesson!"
Ryuji sighed again.
This battle clearly showed him the gap between himself and the top-tier strongest.
It wasn't in terms of power or speed, but experience.
But this was unavoidable.
Even with two lifetimes, Ryuji couldn't compare to half of the other party's life.
"Master has already done very well. If Master grows a bit more, you will definitely be stronger than that Uchiha Madara." Aka comforted from the side, making Ryuji want to laugh.
"I'm not arrogant enough to think a few years of effort must surpass nearly a hundred years of another's effort. Rather, being only this far behind, I'm already quite satisfied."
Aka was taken aback, then smiled in relief.
Although her master didn't need her comfort, which was a little saddening, seeing her master's good attitude made Aka happy for him.
"Alright, this time wasn't without gains." Ryuji sent the White Zetsu's body into his Personal Space, preserving it with instruments, then continued, "At least we achieved the goal of obtaining a White Zetsu; a Sage Body is in the future."
"Even without a White Zetsu's body, I believe Master could create a Sage Body himself."
"Maybe, but how much time would that waste?" Ryuji said noncommittally.
"Master is too modest."
Facing Aka's flattery, Ryuji shrugged, not responding.
He returned to the road, beside Konan's body.
This girl's eyes were still wide open, her skin already infected with purple.
This was Iwata's poison.
Puppeteers were also poison masters; their weapons were coated with poison.
"The poison has spread throughout the body; all cells are necrotic, it can't be cultured." Ryuji closed Konan's eyes, somewhat regretful.
He didn't lack cells from powerful individuals now, so he wasn't coveting a body of Konan's level, nor was he interested in her Dance of the Shikigami... well, okay, he actually was interested in the Dance of the Shikigami.
After all, turning the body into paper seemed very strange.
But the main purpose for wanting to create a new Konan wasn't to study the Dance of the Shikigami, but to deal with Nagato.
Nagato had already fallen into darkness, but his legs weren't broken, so he didn't need machine assistance to move like in the original work.
He would become stronger than in the original work in the future.
Although Ryuji was confident he would become stronger than Nagato in the future, his cautious nature still made him want to create an insurance policy.
That insurance was another Konan.
Unfortunately…
"Master, don't be discouraged!" Aka took out a glass bottle, waving it proudly before Ryuji's eyes.
A pale blue sphere of light floated inside the bottle.
"This is..."
Ryuji's eyes widened.
He wasn't truly unfamiliar with this thing, but worried about premature celebration.
So he wanted to confirm first before being happy.
"Correct, this is Konan's soul." Aka handed over the bottle, smiling. "Konan seemed somewhat abnormal before her death. Sensing something was off, I intercepted her soul before it went to the Pure Land."
"Well done!"
Ryuji took the bottle containing Konan's soul, happily high-fiving Aka in celebration.
Souls in this world... unless the soul itself had a Ninjutsu or ability to manifest or such, were consciousness curled up inside a Chakra Sphere.
It would leave the body upon death, then dissipate on its way to the Pure Land.
Ordinary people couldn't see it, couldn't detect it, much less touch or intercept it.
Only someone like Aka, possessing various talents and skilled in related Ninjutsu, could perform such a slick operation of intercepting a soul before it reached the Pure Land.
…
In an unknown cave.
Nagato woke up in confusion.
Looking at the unfamiliar rock walls, his consciousness gradually cleared. Images of Konan's tragic death flooded his mind.
"Konan!"
Nagato exclaimed, abruptly sitting up. This violent movement triggered his burns, and intense pain assaulted him, making him groan involuntarily.
"You'd better not move recklessly."
Hearing this weak voice, Nagato sharply looked up. An old man with white hair, withered like a stick, bangs covering his face except for one empty eye socket, sat beneath a strange statue.
"Did you save me?"
Nagato recalled the situation during the battle and asked.
"It was me."
"Thank you, old man."
"You don't need to thank me."
"?"
"Saving you comes at a price."
Hearing this, Nagato fell silent for a moment. "I have no money now. I'll come back to thank you later."
"I'm an old man about to die; what do I need money for?"
Hearing this, Nagato fell silent again.
'This old man was too strange.'
'Even if nearing the end, about to die, ordinary people wouldn't say they were about to die.'
'Moreover, being able to save me from such powerful opponents meant he couldn't be any ordinary old man.'
'Plus this strange place and strange statue.'
For some reason, Nagato felt this statue looked familiar.
"...Who are you?" After a moment of silence, Nagato asked.
"I am Madara."
"Madara?" Nagato was stunned, instinctively asking, "Which Madara?"
"Uchiha Madara."
"..." Nagato fell silent again.
After a good while, he said, "I'm not in the mood for jokes."
"Nor am I in the mood to joke with you."
Nagato stared intently at the old man. The other party's expression was calm, unchanging.
After another moment of silence, Nagato asked, "Assuming you are Uchiha Madara, what price do you want me to pay?"
"Do you know about the Eye of the Moon?"
"..."
Looking at Nagato's surprised expression, Madara slowly narrated his plan.
Of course, whether true or false only he himself knew.
Finally, he said, "You don't need to answer immediately; you can think about it for a while. I'll come find you again in a few years; you can decide then whether to become my assistant."
…
To prevent someone from using a Ninjutsu like Impure World Reincarnation, Ryuji cremated Konan's body.
He headed towards the battlefield with Aka.
But when they arrived at the main battlefield, the war had already ended.
Under the cover of the Iron Fortress and mechanical bird, the puppeteer unit launched a surprise attack on Akatsuki, inflicting heavy losses.
Afterwards, the Sunagakure's camp heard the commotion, gathered their forces, and seized the opportunity to launch a full-scale attack.
Of the over three thousand Akatsuki's members, except for a few that slipped through the net, all were killed.