Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosion, a strike unleashed at full power that is enough to cut the moon apart.
Although Aoba did not use its full strength, given Uchiha Madara's current state, he was almost completely unable to resist under this blow.
His entire body, along with Susanoo, was cut cleanly in half from his left shoulder all the way down to his right waist.
Although he was an Edo Tensei body and could not feel any pain, under this attack launched with Truth-Seeking Orbs, he also lost the regenerative ability of the Edo Tensei.
Now he could only rely on the Rinnegan's power to control half of his body as it floated in midair.
"It seems… I've lost."
There was not much unwillingness or regret in his eyes. That move from Aoba just now was something he might not have been able to block even at his peak.
It was nothing more than the victor taking all.
At this point, he only had one last lingering obsession.
Uchiha Madara looked toward Aoba in the distance.
"Junior, was my plan really that worthless?"
This time, Aoba did not mock him outright like before.
"Faking your death in battle against Senju Hashirama, obtaining Hashirama's cells to awaken the Rinnegan, then choosing Uchiha Obito as your proxy, and finally handing your own eyes to a complete stranger, Nagato, before dying. Using them to collect the tailed beasts and revive yourself completely."
"I have to say, this really was a very good plan. A plan that spanned several decades like this, at the very least, I truly don't have the kind of breadth to lay something like that out. From this point alone, Senju Hashirama really was inferior to you."
Hearing Aoba say this, especially hearing him say that Senju Hashirama was inferior to him, Uchiha Madara was in a fairly good mood.
But Aoba was not finished. His attitude remained the same as before, "But your so-called Infinite Tsukuyomi, dragging everyone into a genjutsu world, lowered the level of the entire plan and also doomed you to fail."
"You don't understand the genjutsu world. The genjutsu world…"
Uchiha Madara subconsciously wanted to say, "What's so bad about the genjutsu world," but Aoba directly cut him off.
"Of course I won't deny that countless people would long to live in the genjutsu world you built. After all, real life is filled with all kinds of pain. In the genjutsu world, they can escape reality, regain all the loved ones they lost, and live lives they never had before."
"But at the same time, there are even more people who never like your fake world. More people prefer to live truly."
"There is only one kind of heroism in this world. That is to love life even after seeing the truth of it."
"Even if you ultimately succeeded in carrying out the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan, you are destined to be unable to maintain such a massive genjutsu forever. Even the Sage of Six Paths had a limit to his lifespan, let alone you."
"If you don't change people's inherent understanding, someone will always break your fake world. When that time comes, nothing will change."
"..."
Uchiha Madara fell silent, "Then what about you? Even if you unify the ninja world, what can you change?"
"What the future of the ninja world will look like, I don't know either. This is nothing more than a road still being explored, just like when Senju Hashirama proposed the one country, one village system back then. When a more suitable system appears, it will naturally replace it."
"But the genjutsu world you mentioned isn't completely useless either. When the time comes, setting up a few genjutsu halls in each city to relax the mind wouldn't be bad."
With a few casual words, Aoba clearly defined the future position of the genjutsu world in the ninja world.
When Uchiha Madara heard that the genjutsu world he had fought for half his life was going to be treated as a place for mental relaxation, the corner of his mouth could not help but twitch.
"Then let's see how far your path can go."
After saying that, he closed his eyes, not wanting to say anything more.
Although he had lost, at least someone acknowledged that he was stronger than that idiot Hashirama.
It was just a pity that once sealed, he would not be able to brag to that guy in the Pure Land.
Aoba did not say anything else and directly sealed him into a sealing scroll.
"Aoba, what should we do with this Black Zetsu?"
Seeing that Uchiha Madara had been dealt with, Konan reminded him about Black Zetsu, who was still trapped in the cage.
"Th-that, Lady Konan, Lord Aoba, I was actually forced by that Uchiha Madara to help carry out his plan. Now that Uchiha Madara is dead, I'm willing to join Konoha and devote myself to Konoha's development from now on."
As soon as Konan mentioned him, Black Zetsu hurriedly cut ties with Uchiha Madara. Inside the cage, he dropped to his knees, even prostrating himself flat on the ground.
"Is that so?", Aoba looked at Black Zetsu with some surprise, but soon revealed a meaningful smile, "There actually is a place right now that needs you to devote yourself."
"Please give your orders, Lord Aoba. As long as it's something I can do, I'm willing to do anything!"
Black Zetsu immediately declared his stance.
To him, as long as he could live, that was better than anything.
As long as he lived, there was still hope.
He had already endured for a thousand years. Enduring for a few more decades was nothing.
Of course, he had no way of guessing that Aoba already knew his true identity. After all, this was something even Uchiha Madara did not know.
How could Aoba possibly know?
"Aoba, this Black Zetsu is very likely suspicious…"
Konan leaned close to Aoba's ear and could not help but quietly remind him.
"I know, but this guy really is still somewhat useful to me. I'll explain it to you later."
Aoba replied in a low voice at her ear as well.
"Mm!"
Hearing him say that, Konan did not continue to warn him.
Aoba simply gave a light tap to the birdcage containing Black Zetsu, and the entire cage vanished from the spot.
———
Black Zetsu only felt his vision blur.
When he could clearly see his surroundings again, standing in front of him was a person with a surprised expression, who looked a bit perverted, yet was extremely familiar to him.
"Orochimaru?"
———
Aoba brought Konan, Nagato, and the unconscious Uchiha Hikari back down to the ground.
The Six Paths of Pain, which had stopped operating earlier due to Nagato losing consciousness, finally arrived.
Fortunately, those puppets had been relatively far from the battlefield at the time.
Otherwise, after losing control, it really would not have been certain they could be preserved intact.
Especially the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails jinchuriki.
Not long after, Sasuke also returned with Uchiha Itachi's corpse.
Uchiha Itachi originally did not want to die quite so much anymore. He wanted to find Aoba and ask him how exactly he had been taking care of Uchiha Mikoto.
But after seeing Aoba's strength, he let go and died peacefully.
As for what Kumogakure's fate would be after this…
Kumogakure was already gone.
After experiencing fierce battles involving tailed beasts, Wood Golems, and Susanoo one after another, it could only be said that quite a few civilians hiding in the safe zones survived. After all, Aoba had avoided those areas several times when making his moves. But the ninja were basically wiped out.
Even those who survived probably no longer had the will to oppose Konoha.
Later, once Samui's body recovered almost completely, she could be sent over to take over.
The matters here could be considered concluded.
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