Cough, cough~
Madara Uchiha coughed up a large amount of blood, his voice laced with disbelief. "Black Zetsu, you actually… betrayed me?"
From behind him, Black Zetsu's voice sounded, "Betrayal? No. I am merely acting according to Mother's will."
"Mother? Weren't you created by me?" Madara, his body now immobile, spoke, an unspeakable dread in his voice. Black Zetsu's betrayal had made him realize that something was terribly wrong. What truly concerned Madara wasn't his own impending death, but whether everything he had done, his entire life's ambition, had any meaning at all. He didn't understand where things had gone so catastrophically awry.
"Madara Uchiha, all of this was merely your own wishful thinking," Black Zetsu sneered, his voice dripping with contempt. "I was never created by you. I am the embodiment of Mother's will. Mother! After waiting for a thousand years, I am finally going to revive you!" Black Zetsu's voice was filled with a crazed, fanatical fervor.
Reviving Kaguya Otsutsuki required two conditions: the God Tree and the Infinite Tsukuyomi. After such a long period of waiting and meticulous preparation, Black Zetsu had finally succeeded.
"Revival?" Madara's gaze was already beginning to lose focus, and he murmured the word weakly.
"That's right! The true purpose of the Infinite Tsukuyomi was never to create a peaceful world, but to plunder! This technique can only be activated by someone possessing the Rinne Sharingan. By projecting its ocular power onto the moon, it plunges the entire world into a genjutsu, and everyone is then encased by the God Tree, their chakra absorbed to nurture a new Chakra Fruit. If not released in time, those ensnared will transform into White Zetsu, ultimately leading to the end of the world as you know it. And you, Madara, will become the vessel for Mother's revival!" Black Zetsu explained, his voice filled with triumphant malice.
Hearing these words, the light in Madara Uchiha's eyes completely faded. He made one last, desperate struggle. "Impossible! How could the contents recorded on the clan's stone tablet be wrong?"
Black Zetsu scoffed. "That was merely the result of me altering the stone tablet a thousand years ago!" As he spoke, Black Zetsu's body began to slowly melt and spread, creeping towards Madara Uchiha's entire form. Once this black substance completely engulfed Madara's body, Kaguya Otsutsuki would be revived.
Just as Black Zetsu was step by step about to consume Madara's body, another unexpected change occurred.
In the air, a few meters away from Madara Uchiha, a black spatial portal suddenly appeared. From within the portal, a tall and powerfully built figure slowly emerged. This was a special ability that could only be possessed after successfully evolving to the Kekkei Mora stage: the ultimate space-time ninjutsu, Amenominaka! It allowed the user to freely traverse different dimensions. Compared to Obito's Kamui or the Flying Thunder God Technique, Amenominaka was an even more heaven-defying ability.
"You are?" Seeing the figure suddenly appear, Black Zetsu's voice was filled with undisguised surprise. When he got a clear look at the newcomer's appearance, he cried out in even greater shock, "Tatsuya Akimichi! Impossible! How could you have evolved to the Kekkei Mora stage?!"
The newcomer was none other than Tatsuya, who had successfully consumed the fruit of the God Tree. After defeating and completely absorbing all of Isshiki Otsutsuki's memories, Tatsuya had mastered the method of cultivating the God Tree and ascending to the Kekkei Mora stage.
According to the Otsutsuki clan's methods, they typically relied on continuously plundering the energy of various planets to cultivate a God Tree. This method not only required the sacrifice of an Otsutsuki clan member but also inflicted devastating, cataclysmic damage upon the planet's native life forms.
However, Tatsuya, who possessed the Fujinhoin and his unique physical clone bodies, had found another path. By cultivating a large number of physical clones and then using the Fujinhoin and the Body Activation Secret Technique, he could rapidly generate vast amounts of chakra for the God Tree to absorb. Coupled with the demon sealed within Demon Sealing Mountain, as well as the Zero-Tails and the Dragon Vein, Tatsuya, operating from the isolated islands far from the mainland, had finally, after more than a year of dedicated effort, fully cultivated the God Tree.
"Heh heh, quite surprising, isn't it?" Tatsuya said, a malicious grin spreading across his face as he looked at Black Zetsu, who was still attempting to consume Madara Uchiha. His timing was truly impeccable. It was time to reap the fruit!
Tatsuya extended his right hand, and a grey bone spike shot out from it, streaking directly towards Black Zetsu. Black Zetsu shrieked in terror, trying to accelerate the process of consuming Madara's body. Unfortunately, it was all too late. The grey bone spike struck Black Zetsu, and he, along with the portion of Madara Uchiha's body he had already begun to assimilate, quickly turned to ash and disintegrated in the air, his desperate, unwilling cries silenced forever.
"I never expected someone like you to appear in the ninja world," Madara Uchiha, now missing a part of his body and on the verge of death, said with a faint, almost serene smile as he looked at Tatsuya. His smile held a sense of release, of acceptance. Immediately following this, this legendary powerhouse, who had once dominated an entire era, passed away. Silently, without a sound. Apart from Tatsuya, no one else witnessed his final moment.
Looking at the deceased Madara Uchiha, a thoughtful glint flickered in Tatsuya's eyes. He removed the Rinnegan from Madara's eyes, then directly fed Madara's corpse to the God Tree, which promptly absorbed it.
After doing all this, Tatsuya formed a seal and dispelled the Infinite Tsukuyomi. As the genjutsu was lifted, people slowly began to awaken from their dream-like state.
With this, the war was finally, truly over.
After the war, a month passed quickly.
Konoha Village.
Konoha, which had been almost completely reduced to ruins during the battle, was now a hive of bustling reconstruction activity. On the outskirts of the village, a large number of ninja wearing Konoha uniforms were still incessantly discussing recent events.
"Have you heard? Lord Tatsuya has personally led a delegation to Iwagakure for negotiations! It's said that this time, he's going to truly and completely unify the entire ninja world! In the future, there will only be one ninja village in the entire ninja world—our Konoha Village!" one ninja said, his voice filled with excitement.
"Really? How could Iwagakure possibly agree to something like that?" someone else exclaimed in disbelief upon hearing this.
"Tch! With Lord Tatsuya there, do they dare not to agree? In this great war against Akatsuki, Lord Tatsuya was the ultimate finisher! If not for Lord Tatsuya, the entire ninja world would have been done for!" the first speaker scoffed, his voice filled with an indescribable sense of pride.
"That's true! Lord Tatsuya's strength was already incredible a long time ago. After not seeing him for over a year, Lord Tatsuya, who was able to defeat Madara Uchiha, must be even more powerful now!" another person chimed in, his voice filled with awe.
"That's natural!" the first speaker replied with conviction.
"I heard that the Divine Court from before was actually founded by Lord Tatsuya. Is that true?"
"Of course, it's true! Didn't you see how all the powerful members of the Divine Court were standing on our village's side during the great battle?" ... ...
Just as this small group of Konoha ninja was heatedly discussing these matters, in the distant sky, a colossal, floating fortress was slowly flying towards Konoha. Within the fortress, Pakura and Guren stood side-by-side at the edge of a plaza, gazing out at Konoha in the distance.
"Guren," Pakura said, her voice filled with complex emotions as she looked at the ruined landscape of Konoha, "from now on, this will be our home."