Indra’s soul, filled with shock and questions, finally returned to the Pure Land with the Sage of Six Paths.
His rivalry with his brother Asura would come to an end as the Sage of Six Paths revealed the truth.
However, that was a matter for the departed.
The real world.
Without Indra's chakra, Uchiha Madara's strength did not plummet drastically. Yet, without the special boost from Indra's chakra, Madara felt something was missing from his power.
It seemed the rapid growth of his ocular power was no longer present.
"Orochimaru, have you truly surpassed me and genuinely touched the power of the Sage of Six Paths?"
After Black Zetsu's self-detonation and the appearance of the Sage of Six Paths and Indra, Uchiha Madara’s mindset shifted. He glanced at the silent Black Zetsu, then turned to Orochimaru and asked.
Seeing the formidable figure finally emerging from his own world, Orochimaru smiled and replied.
"Indeed!"
"Madara-senpai, seeing the goal you pursued your entire life achieved so easily by a junior like me, how do you feel right now?"
Indeed, it was easy.
Yang Release originated from the Sage of the Slug’s gift, while Yin Release was supposed to be achieved through his own efforts. However, the Sage of Six Paths, worried that Orochimaru might act recklessly, drained Indra's power completely and decided to lend a hand himself.
Although Uchiha Madara didn't know how Orochimaru's Yang Release power reached its limit, he could infer something from the Sage of Six Paths's attitude towards Orochimaru.
A cheat!
An old man who bestows cheats, like the Sage of Six Paths, who appears in many storybooks, was not too uncommon.
"The feeling..."
Uchiha Madara shook his head calmly.
"If I had known the true meaning of the Moon Eye Plan before, I might have felt envy and even considered trying to seize it."
"But now..."
Madara sighed, his face aging by more than ten years in an instant as the beliefs he had held for decades crumbled.
At this moment, he truly possessed the demeanor of a nearly seventy-year-old man.
Calm, detached, having seen through life and death.
"I always had this feeling, as if Hashirama and I were old acquaintances from a past life."
"That's why, when we met by the Naka River in our childhood, we deliberately hid our families' origins and became friends."
"We trained together, skipped stones together, and dreamed of the future together..."
"Despite many twists and turns, we eventually reconciled, suppressed the wars in the ninja world together, and established Konoha hand in hand."
"But later..."
Uchiha Madara sat cross-legged on the ground, toying with his fan, his eyes filled with lament.
"As the clan head of the Uchiha clan, while organizing clan belongings, I accidentally..."
"No! It should be inevitable!"
Madara said, glancing at the silent Black Zetsu and sighing self-deprecatingly.
"I discovered the stone tablet that recorded the method for bringing true and lasting peace to the ninja world."
"From it, I learned about the origins of the Uchiha clan, the process of evolving the Sage's Eye, and how to obtain the power of All Creation. And..."
"The ultimate genjutsu that promised to bring peace to the ninja world – the Infinite Tsukuyomi!"
"Heh!"
Uchiha Madara gave a bitter laugh.
With his ability to think restored, his mind was exceptionally clear. What initially seemed like a natural course of events now appeared utterly ridiculous.
"According to the Uchiha clan's records, I was the first to awaken the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan."
"In ninjutsu and taijutsu, I was second to none in the ninja world."
"Even in genjutsu, which I was least proficient in, with the help of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, I dared to claim unparalleled mastery in the ninja world."
"Yet, even I..."
"Failed to grasp the essence of the Infinite Tsukuyomi!"
"The ultimate genjutsu – the Infinite Tsukuyomi..."
"Constructing a world-encompassing illusion with ocular power to achieve permanent peace..."
"Heh heh..."
"The ultimate genjutsu, a mere genjutsu... For someone with the Sage's Eyes like me, how ironic that name is!"
After a moment of lament, Uchiha Madara turned to Black Zetsu and asked calmly:
"Black Zetsu, releasing the Infinite Tsukuyomi should be the only way to free that progenitor of chakra from its seal, correct?"
Black Zetsu did not meet Madara's gaze but looked at the Six Paths-level Orochimaru with complex emotions, then nodded distractedly.
"Yes!"
"After that progenitor of chakra is released, what will become of the ninja world?"
Black Zetsu hesitated for a moment, then shook his head at Uchiha Madara.
"I don't know!"
"In Mother's eyes, the ninja world is her personal nursery. All beings in the ninja world should live and die according to her will."
"I cannot fathom her true intentions."
"Just like that powerful being from the Otsutsuki clan lurking in the Land of Hot Water, I did not find his existence in the memories passed down to me by Mother."
"Perhaps she forgot, or perhaps..."
"She too feared something."
"However, there's no point in discussing this now!"
Black Zetsu echoed Uchiha Madara's sentiment with a sigh. He then looked up at Orochimaru, a look of despair on his face.
"Orochimaru, I never expected you to receive Hagoromo's help and become the second Six Paths-level powerhouse in the ninja world."
"Although I don't want to admit it, it's clear that you now possess the ability to kill or seal me."
"What do you intend to..."
"Do with me?"
The power of the Six Paths level, whether it be Senjutsu, Yin-Yang Release, or Fuinjutsu, had reached an entirely new realm.
A complete Six Paths-level individual was enough to make Black Zetsu willingly surrender any resistance.
Uchiha Madara was also curious.
Curious how Orochimaru, this junior who seemed to understand everything, would deal with Black Zetsu, the one who had caused so much turmoil in the ninja world.
"Deal with..."
Orochimaru savored the word, which held the power of life and death over Black Zetsu, finding it novel.
But he did not covet it.
Compared to the threat posed by the entire Otsutsuki clan to the ninja world, Black Zetsu's millennium-long schemes were as childish and ridiculous as a child's play.
Even without Orochimaru's emergence, the prophesied child named Naruto Uzumaki would have united the ninja world's forces, crushed all of Black Zetsu's schemes, and sealed Kaguya Otsutsuki once more.
And that seal would be even more thorough, leaving no chance for escape.
Because the place where Kaguya Otsutsuki was sealed was within her own Amenominaka dimension.
Orochimaru's current sense of crisis did not stem from Kaguya Otsutsuki but from the deeply hidden Isshiki Otsutsuki and the entire clan behind him.
According to the progression of events in his memory, the thousand years after planting the God Tree was the time the Otsutsuki clan waited for the chakra fruit to ripen.
In the near future, the ninja world would inevitably face invasions from more than one member of the Otsutsuki clan.
Kinshiki Otsutsuki, Momoshiki Otsutsuki, and so on.
Because of Orochimaru's existence, the Sage of Six Paths had explicitly stated that he would no longer interfere with the ninja world's future development, dedicating himself to teaching his two sons in the Pure Land.
Therefore, in the face of future invasions by the Otsutsuki clan, Orochimaru would likely be fighting alone.
In such a situation, the existence of Black Zetsu and Kaguya Otsutsuki might serve as a valuable asset on the scales of power between the ninja world and the future strength of the Otsutsuki clan.
With this in mind, Orochimaru casually dispelled the restraints on Black Zetsu. Under its astonished gaze, he said solemnly:
"Black Zetsu, let's make a deal!"
"I represent the ninja world, and you..."
"Represent Kaguya Otsutsuki!"