Hearing the system prompt, Jokichi withdrew the hand resting on Madara while simultaneously tossing the Virtual Life helmet to him.
"Put this thing on your head, press the button, and you can use it. There's a beginner's guide inside, so don't worry about not knowing what to do."
Madara hesitated for a moment but still put it on his head as Jokichi said.
He was a dead man anyway, and summoned via Impure World Reincarnation...
Even if that person wanted to harm him, he had no way to resist.
Seeing Uchiha Madara immersed in the game, Jokichi returned his gaze to the system prompts.
"Forge."
Chanting silently in his mind, four items instantly appeared in his hands.
A basketball; a thumb-sized crystal where red and green fluorescence intersected; a green crystal; and a fist-sized pearl that seemed to be burning.
"Dancing King: Once you pick up the basketball, you will automatically master singing, dancing, and rapping, and integrate them completely to become the Dancing King of the world."
"Perfect Sage Crystal: A crystal containing vast vitality and spiritual energy. After consumption, the body will be transformed by the crystal's power, acquiring a Sage Body and Sage Eyes."
"Faint Divine Tree Crystal: A crystal containing the power of the Divine Tree. After consumption, you will gain the power of the Divine Tree."
"Sunflare Pearl: Possesses powerful scorching power. It can greatly amplify Fire Release ninjutsu and imbue it with natural power. It can also be embedded in items and tools to grant them the same effect."
Jokichi didn't have time to think and directly stuffed the basketball into the system space.
Holding this thing, he almost couldn't resist the urge to sing, dance, rap, and play basketball.
But the moment he thought of that handsome basketball pose that went viral on the internet in his past life, he couldn't help but shiver.
Fortunately, after putting the basketball in the system space, the urge to sing, dance, rap, and play basketball vanished.
"That was close!"
Jokichi wiped non-existent sweat from his forehead, then focused his attention on the remaining three items.
The Divine Tree Crystal needs no explanation; it was the power Madara stole from Hashirama.
And the Sunflare Pearl belonged to the same series as the Thunder Pearl, but with a fire attribute.
In the future, he might have the chance to gather the pearls of the remaining three attributes.
And the Perfect Sage Crystal...
To be honest, Jokichi hadn't expected the Sage Crystal forged from Madara to grant both the Sage Body and Sage Eyes simultaneously.
Although it wasn't a perfect Sage Body, it was still incredibly awesome.
Hashirama's Sage Body was probably around that level.
Glancing at Madara, who was still immersed in the game, Jokichi held the Sage Crystal and Divine Tree Crystal, and absorbed them directly.
Having reached this realm, he no longer needed to swallow them to absorb them.
Two massive streams of power flooded into his body, silently transforming him.
However, compared to the power already within Jokichi, these were simply too insignificant. Not only did they fail to alter his cellular structure, but they were also absorbed as mere nutrients.
The absorption process was very fast, completely finishing in about five minutes.
Jokichi felt the changes.
His vitality and spiritual energy had strengthened once again, which in turn strengthened his chakra and visual prowess.
However, they hadn't strengthened by much.
Jokichi's current physical hardware had reached the peak of the Six Paths level, comparable to the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki.
The only one who could surpass him was Kaguya, who ate the Chakra Fruit and became the true form of the Divine Tree.
A Madara who only possessed a Sage Body and the Rinnegan, but didn't even know senjutsu, hadn't yet reached the Six Paths level.
The crystals forged from such a state didn't offer him much improvement.
However, this "not much" was only relative.
If these two crystals were given to someone else, they could quickly cultivate a super-Kage level expert.
At this moment, Uchiha Madara took off the helmet, looking at Jokichi with slightly trembling pupils.
"What did you just show me?"
Hearing this, Jokichi looked up at him, the corners of his mouth curling slightly into a light smile. "The future."
After speaking, he added, "The original future."
"The original future..."
Uchiha Madara chewed on this phrase for a moment, a sharp glint flashing in his eyes, and asked, "Are you from the future?"
Jokichi froze for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh.
"If you want to think so, then go ahead and think so!"
"However, after seeing all this, don't you have any thoughts?"
In the Virtual Life game, Jokichi had fully replicated Uchiha Madara's plotline in the Fourth Shinobi World War.
From being summoned by Kabuto via Impure World Reincarnation, to being backstabbed by Black Zetsu while casting the Infinite Tsukuyomi, allowing Kaguya to seize his body, everything was presented completely and intact.
In other words, Madara knew his own future.
...
Madara remained silent.
He strongly suspected that everything he saw was a lie deliberately woven by Jokichi.
However, that version of himself in the game was simply too similar to himself.
Combining many scenarios, he asked himself.
If he were in that scenario, what would he do?
The answer was exactly identical to his actions in the game.
If all of this was a lie deliberately woven by the other party to deceive him, then he understood him far too well. He had completely grasped even minor habits and behavioral patterns.
But asking him to admit that his decades of planning were nothing but being a pawn in someone else's hands was more agonizing than killing him.
The once all-powerful Asura possessed pride stronger than anyone else's.
Unwillingness, humiliation, bewilderment, regret...
Various emotions intertwined in his chest, filling him with mixed feelings. Finally, it all culminated in a long sigh.
"Sigh!"
"I've always treated others as pawns to be used, but I never expected to become a pawn in someone else's hands. This is truly ironic!"
After saying this sentence, Madara's aura waned.
Although under the state of Impure World Reincarnation, any bodily changes would be restored to their original state, changes in the heart could not be interfered with.
After learning the whole truth, Madara's heart died.
"Brat, although I don't know what your standpoint is, or what you're plotting. But if you ever get the chance to meet Hashirama, please help me say sorry to him."
Holy light emanated from Madara's body, and the dust clinging to his surface was peeling off bit by bit.
He tilted his head back, his gaze ethereal, not knowing what he was thinking about.
"Born in war, growing up in war..."
"Families cannot reunite, friends cannot acknowledge each other..."
"There is only endless sorrow, not a trace of joy..."
"I am weary of war, I hate war, I want to end war, but..."
"Can this cursed world truly never usher in peace?"
A tear seemed to glisten at the corner of Madara's eye.
Jokichi was surprised.
An Impure World Reincarnation body has no tears or blood, yet Madara was crying.
Looking at that aged face that was now only partially remaining, Jokichi's heart was somewhat moved. He clenched his fists and smiled. "No, this cursed world will end in my hands. From now on, it will usher in permanent peace."
"Is that so?"
A trace of gratification flowed from his remaining half eye.
"I hope you don't repeat my mistakes and become a useless person like me!"
The dust echoed in the secret chamber with his final voice, and the missing-nin used as a sacrifice fell heavily.