Naruto: I am Uchiha Shirou [390]

"Uchiha Shirou!"

On the battlefield of the shinobi world, after a thunderous explosion, Six Paths Madara was sent flying into the ruins in a sorry state. Yet, despite his battered appearance, he was unusually excited.

"Your strength! Your character! I, Uchiha Madara, acknowledge you. I'm willing to call you the greatest person in the shinobi world since the Sage of Six Paths!"

Amidst his crazed and excited laughter, blood still stained the corners of Six Paths Madara's mouth, but he was beyond exhilarated.

He lost!?

No! He didn't lose! He was only defeated by his own will.

"Haha, Uchiha Shirou, no matter who wins, the Uchiha will be the savior of the shinobi world."

Madara's wild laughter declared to the world: so what if I lost? Isn't it still under Uchiha's rule?

More importantly, Shirou's dream of unifying the shinobi world had sprouted just like his own once did.

"Madara!"

On the opposite side, Shirou also smiled—indeed, the power of Six Paths Madara was formidable.

Just then, an unexpected change occurred!

Squelch!

Blood splattered everywhere!

"Impossible!"

"Madara!"

Hashirama shouted anxiously—the only person on the battlefield who truly cared about Madara.

Madara's smile froze, his face showing utter disbelief.

"Cough! How could this be!"

With blood gushing, Madara looked down in disbelief at the black hand protruding from his chest.

Black Zetsu!

It was his own will incarnate, Black Zetsu, who had struck from behind at this critical moment, piercing his heart—something he'd never imagined.

Seeing his plan succeed, Black Zetsu was also excited. This was a blow he'd prepared for a thousand years, and it had finally worked.

"You were wrong, Madara. The Uchiha aren't the saviors."

Black Zetsu's hoarse voice echoed, shocking everyone, while Madara's pupils slowly turned, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"My body… I can't move!"

Such a wound was nothing to Madara, but after Black Zetsu's hand pierced his chest, he found he couldn't move at all, not even gather chakra.

Even the shadows split off by Limbo: Border Jail couldn't move.

Seeing his plan succeed, Black Zetsu laughed hoarsely, looking smugly at the shocked Madara.

"It's not over yet—this is just the beginning."

Black Zetsu's rasping voice made Madara's face darken.

"Impossible! Black Zetsu, I created you—you are my will!"

"Heh! Madara, you're wrong. I'm not your will—I'm my own, I am Kaguya's will."

Witnessing this, the Allied Shinobi Forces were all stunned.

Black Zetsu laughed wildly: "Mother, I'll soon rescue you! Hagoromo and Hamura, the end for you two bastards has come!

A thousand years! Over a thousand years! Hagoromo, Hamura, you bastards made it so I have no love!"

With that last sentence, Black Zetsu shouted with a twisted face. A thousand years of hiding and loss, all because of Hagoromo and Hamura's actions.

Hagoromo and Hamura were born with what Black Zetsu craved above all else for a millennium.

The sudden upheaval shocked everyone. Who was Kaguya? Sage of Six Paths Hagoromo?

Was that the Sage's real name? And who was Hamura?

Why was this black thing screaming in such pain?

"You've all been fooled!"

Suddenly, a furious shout rang out. From the ruins came a figure.

It was Uchiha Obito, now in Six Paths Mode—Six Paths Obito.

That familiar power made Black Zetsu wary. Alarmed and furious, but seeing his plan succeed, Black Zetsu snarled:

"That's Hagoromo and Hamura's power! The Sage of Six Paths, that bastard, after sealing Mother, swallowed Hamura's power too!"

As the terrifying aura swept forth and the powers of yin and yang merged, Six Paths Obito's strength now surpassed that of Sasuke and Naruto in the original story, who each only received half the Sage's power and thus checked each other.

With yin and yang together, one plus one was greater than two.

"Obito!"

Countless people were shocked at his appearance; now, revived as Six Paths Obito, with purple Rinnegan eyes, he roared:

"Conspiracy! This entire world—all of this is an elaborate conspiracy! We've all been fooled!"

Revived, Six Paths Obito's aura changed dramatically, shouting about a thousand-year-long conspiracy.

As everyone was stunned, the ground trembled, and an immense, terrifying chakra surged toward Madara's body.

Black Zetsu laughed wildly: "Too late! Even if you know, so what? The Rabbit Goddess will descend. And you, Obito! You think you're the savior?

Fool! You'll always be a pawn in someone else's game!"

Black Zetsu cursed Obito. He'd always been Madara's pawn, and now he was merely the Sage of Six Paths' pawn.

Now, acting like a savior. If someone didn't know better, they'd think he'd had an epiphany.

Black Zetsu guess: Hagoromo must've used that Rin girl to manipulate this fool.

"This chakra is even stronger than the Ten-Tails!"

"Incredible!"

Countless people were shocked by the thousand-year conspiracy, and terrified at the chakra gathering before them.

This was the power absorbed by the God Tree, now emerging from the earth and gathering in Madara's body.

The overwhelming power made Madara scream in agony.

"Black Zetsu! Madara! While you're swelling with power and can't move, I'll stop you—it's my win!"

With hatred in his eyes, Six Paths Obito roared, grabbed two black rods of Six Paths power and charged.

Suddenly, a thunderclap resounded. To everyone's shock, Shirou intercepted Six Paths Obito midair.

"Uchiha Shirou! Are you insane?!"

Seeing himself blocked, Six Paths Obito shouted in anger:

"If Kaguya descends, it'll be a disaster for the whole world! Now is the best chance to seal this power. If we join forces, I promise—I will never interfere with you again. I'll take Rin to the ocean and never set foot on the continent again."

No wonder Obito was so resolute—it was all for Rin.

Truly the ultimate simp of the shinobi world.

Yet in midair, Shirou holding the Kusanagi sword only looked at him calmly. Under Obito's expectant gaze, Shirou smirked and said something that stunned everyone:

"Is that so? But—I refuse."

"What?!"

Everyone was shocked by Shirou's decision, even Obito couldn't believe it.

What was Shirou thinking?

"Uchiha Shirou, isn't your ambition to rule the world? Fine! I swear I'll never stand in your way. Isn't that enough?"

In Obito's mind, none of this mattered except for Rin. If not for her, he wouldn't care about the shinobi world.

"How could mortals understand the thoughts of gods?"

Aloft, Shirou looked at Obito's anxious face and sneered.

Kaguya's arrival?

He'd been waiting for this for so long!

Far away, seeing Shirou stop Obito, though he didn't know why, Black Zetsu couldn't help but laugh excitedly.

"Haha, Uchiha Shirou, don't worry. That so-called disaster is nonsense. A thousand years ago, Kaguya's era was the most peaceful in history.

Just like your goal of unification—under absolute power, the world was peaceful. After the Sage's so-called ending disaster, the world descended into endless warring…"

Black Zetsu railed against the Sage, who'd labeled Kaguya as a disaster.

He forgot that under Kaguya, no one dared start a war, no matter what was said in secret.

That era, by comparison, was the most peaceful.

What about after Kaguya's defeat?

The world entered hundreds of years of chaos, only ending when Hashirama and Madara founded the villages.

But even then, peace was only halfway achieved.

"Madara!"

Sensing Madara's will to resist, Black Zetsu, who knew him best, shouted:

"I'm telling the truth. Isn't your goal peace? What Uchiha Shirou is doing now—Kaguya did a thousand years ago.

We're all seeking peace. Give up resistance!"

Amid Madara's agonized screams, his eyes grew bloodshot, but as their minds connected, he was shocked.

He saw Black Zetsu's millennium of loneliness—but more importantly, in Black Zetsu's fragmented memories, he saw the peace of Kaguya's era.

Though it was forced, and there were some dissenters, it showed one thing:

Uniting the world was the right path—if one was strong enough, peace could last forever.

"So that's it!"

Enlightened, Madara smiled in relief. Under the surging chakra, he looked up at Shirou and smiled.

"Heh… So, someone achieved what I dreamed of a thousand years ago…"

Muttering, Madara was finally swallowed by the immense chakra.

Thump thump!

Suddenly, the world echoed with the sound of a heartbeat. Everyone was shocked—it was as if the heartbeat came from the heavens themselves.

At the same time, the huge chakra began to shrink, filling Obito with rage.

"Uchiha Shirou! You're the shinobi world's greatest criminal! Don't you realize you're unleashing a disaster? Kaguya's arrival will destroy us all!"

"Destroy the world?!"

Seeing Obito's anger, Shirou only sneered.

"You believe everything you're told. Who said Kaguya would destroy the world? Did she do it a thousand years ago?

It was the Sage who, after ending her era, plunged the world into a thousand years of war. Who's the real disaster!?"

Is Kaguya the disaster, or is it the Sage?!

"Mother! You've finally descended!"

Black Zetsu shouted, eyes tearing up. Those who have always had, take it for granted; those who lack, treasure it most.

As the chakra shrank, under flowing silvery hair, everyone watched in awe. Only Black Zetsu was ecstatic.

"Mother!"

"Ah!"

But Black Zetsu's excitement froze, staring in disbelief—where was she? Where was his mother?

As the terrifying chakra shrank, amid Madara's screams, the power soared into the sky, leaving his body and taking the tailed beast chakra with it.

He instantly fell from Six Paths mode to just Rinnegan with black hair.

"Impossible!"

Black Zetsu, Obito, Madara, and even the Sage hidden in the shadows were all stunned.

"No! No way! Mother is a god—immortal!"

Black Zetsu despaired—nothing happened. He thought of one possibility: his sealed mother had died, or it wouldn't be like this.

The Sage, hiding in the darkness, was thrilled.

"Could it be? Has the thousand-year seal finally erased Mother's will?"

The Sage was excited—he and his brother were embodiments of the God Tree's power, fearing it would be reclaimed.

As the power left, Madara dropped from the sky, gasping for breath, shocked to find he was still alive, his chest wound from Black Zetsu healed. Though powerless, he survived.

But hadn't Black Zetsu used him as a vessel?

"What's this?!"

Everyone looked up at the blood-red moon. The terrifying power had entered the moon.

Black Zetsu saw this and muttered:

"Is this power going to break through Hagoromo and Hamura's seal and rescue Mother from the moon?"

Next, the blood moon's glow bathed the world in red, shocking everyone.

"Impossible!"

A beam of moonlight shot down—not at Madara, but at the Allied Shinobi Forces.

Only Shirou smiled.