"It seems quite a lot of interesting things happened after my death, then. Why don't you tell me exactly what took place?" Madara said calmly.
"Indeed, much has happened. It all probably started around six years ago—"
Black Zetsu sighed softly, then decided to begin from the encounter between Uchiha Itachi and Biwa Jūzō.
One could say that all their misfortunes had begun from that moment onward!
Black Zetsu spoke slowly, and Uchiha Madara listened attentively. After all, having been dead for so many years, he needed to absorb all this new information.
However, as he listened, his expression gradually turned strange—then that strangeness slowly deepened into gravity.
By the time Black Zetsu had finished recounting everything, even Madara's expression was one of disbelief.
And not only him—none of those present looked particularly well.
For Uchiha Madara, these were just fragmented words. But for the others, they were memories of bitter, painful experience!
"So, in other words…"
No one knew how much time had passed before Uchiha Madara finally spoke in a deep voice.
"In Konohagakure there appeared an unbelievable man—someone who might be a descendant of the Sage of Six Paths' younger brother, and who awakened unimaginable power?"
"That's right—Dust Release, Wood Release, even Senjutsu and the Flying Thunder God Technique."
Nagato let out a sigh. He wasn't very familiar with Uchiha Madara, though he'd always felt that this man was somewhat suspicious.
Especially since Uchiha Obito had once impersonated him—but right now, he couldn't be bothered to dwell on that.
He might not have been able to defeat Kitagawa Gen or Ōtsutsuki Genshiki, but that didn't mean he couldn't deal with these people!
"He's a true all-rounder—an unbelievable individual!"
"Hmph. Sounds like a fusion of Hashirama and that despicable Senju Tobirama, doesn't it?"
Uchiha Madara had never met him, but from the description alone, he instinctively felt irritated.
"And the Senju clan possesses artifacts similar to the Uchiha's?"
"That's right—right here."
Black Zetsu pressed his lips together, while Obito straightforwardly handed the "Senju relic" over to Uchiha Madara.
"And Senju Hashirama and Senju Tobirama have already been reawakened. It's precisely because of that that we—"
"Hashirama's been revived too? That's great news!"
Uchiha Madara instinctively ignored Senju Tobirama; in his eyes, that man was worthy only of disdain.
Glancing at the piece of tree bark, he found that he could clearly see every bit of information on it.
That alone proved his body had been tuned quite well!
"The Sage of Six Paths' younger brother, huh? And that so-called 'God' who seeks to destroy the world—Ōtsutsuki Genshiki."
Uchiha Madara was feeling truly exhilarated now. He had never imagined that in just a little over a decade after his death, the world would have become so fascinating!
First came Kitagawa Gen, suspected descendant of the Sage's younger brother; then this world-destroying God—Ōtsutsuki Genshiki.
Not only that, it was now confirmed that the previous "world-destroying God" had been Ōtsutsuki Kaguya—and on top of that, even Hashirama had been revived through Impure World Reincarnation.
Such a world was enough to make him thrilled to the core.
He finally understood why his "own will" had sought to restore Nagato and arrange for him to see him again.
It was entirely because that man still had to exert more effort—still had to draw the enemy's fire.
"This world is truly fascinating."
The smile on Uchiha Madara's face grew wider; after all, he was a being born for battle.
Though this world had grown rather strange and chaotic, it was now a place where he could truly unleash himself once more!
'But that brat Obito has had some unexpected gains too, hasn't he?'
'Well, whatever—it's all roughly the same.'
'It's about time I moved around a bit—started preparing for my complete resurrection!'
While Uchiha Madara contemplated how to resurrect himself in the future, Kitagawa Gen stood before the Divine Tree, lost in thought.
And on the massive trunk of that towering tree, two figures wrapped in special white cloth could be seen!
They were being transformed by the Divine Tree, slowly evolving into new White Zetsu.
"It really is a bit beyond expectations."
Kitagawa Gen watched the God Tree's power continuously operate and felt the changes in those "new White Zetsu," and he finally nodded.
"Moreover, this transformation not only turns the 'control rights' over the White Zetsu into mine, but also reshapes them according to my thinking. Looks like my luck isn't bad."
The reason he had worried about problems was because he was using the White Zetsu that belonged to Kaguya.
After sending Ino home, Kitagawa Gen acted decisively.
Only, he was also tangled over one matter—should he grab those bandits and bring them in, or adopt some method that was even more effective?
"For example, the things Kaguya cultivated back then?"
He was not sure how long cultivating White Zetsu would actually take, and he likewise needed to consider one question—Infinite Tsukuyomi.
It seemed the birth of White Zetsu required coordination with Infinite Tsukuyomi?
Even if he might not need to go to such trouble, after thinking for a moment he still planned to use semifinished products.
"After all, that stuff has very strong plasticity, and I also have fragments of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path and Kaguya's chakra—it will only be easier for me!"
Thinking of this, Kitagawa Gen made his decision.
And for him, finding one or two such White Zetsu truly did not count as difficult.
He even thought he could locate Obito's whole army of White Zetsu.
It just wouldn't be of any help to him; he had no need to go find that many 'idiots.'
It would be better to wait until Obito had transformed them, and then he would consider it.
"Only, although these things have strong plasticity, using them to resist the Ōtsutsuki is a bit of a joke, isn't it?"
This question indeed puzzled Kitagawa Gen. After thinking it over, the answer was probably twofold.
"One is to inject other power into them like Obito did, and the other…"
Was probably to turn them into 'God Tree creatures'!
'God Tree creatures' were indeed fierce, but Kitagawa Gen remembered that this stuff seemed to backfire easily.
If it were him, he absolutely would not take that risk.
The White Zetsu he modified and cultivated only needed some appropriate power blended within their bodies.
"For example, Yin Release and Yang Release."
In fact, pure Yang Release already matched Senju Hashirama quite well; it was just that his mischievous streak flared.
"When Uchiha Madara is resurrected and sees a Senju Hashirama configured similarly to him, I wonder if he'll still be able to dance?"
A hint of a wicked smile appeared on his face; only then did Kitagawa Gen shake his head and shift his thoughts away.
"The information from Isshiki is still continuously converging, but there is already some data about his 'Ten-Tails space.'"
Isshiki's things were what Kitagawa Gen currently paid the most attention to.
Whether the Ten-Tails, or the remains of Ōtsutsuki Shibai—those were all things he longed for.
"However, there are some troubles too. The space can more or less be pinpointed, but breaking open the space requires careful thought."
Breaking a space is not a simple matter; even Kitagawa Gen needed to weigh it carefully.
Still, he felt there was no need to rush this. His bloodline development had far from reached its limit.
Perhaps once he awakened Yomotsu Hirasaka, he could think of a way to slip straight into Isshiki's space.
"At worst, I can go dig out Uchiha Obito's eye!"
Obito's Kamui could be traversed even by Ame-no-Minaka, and could even transmit power from the interstitial layer between the Pure Land and the living world to Kakashi.
Such an outrageous pair of eyes awakening in him was indeed something of a waste—but it also showed just how special Obito was.
"Hm?"
However, just as Kitagawa Gen was thinking, he suddenly sensed something.
"Is it that guy, Kisame?"
After falling under Kitagawa Gen's control, Kisame had always been quite diligent.
He had been continuously sending Kitagawa Gen whatever intelligence from the Akatsuki he could access.
The previous time, since all those deployed had been Edo Tensei, he hadn't learned much, and Kitagawa Gen hadn't paid it much mind.
But this time…
"They're finally preparing to move?"
Kitagawa Gen's expression turned slightly delighted; he had really waited too long for the Akatsuki to act!
He had always been short on chakra to replenish his God Tree Source, yet it seemed those people had been stunned by his earlier attacks.
They had stayed completely still, and even when they did move, it was only in trivial ways.
It had gotten to the point where he was almost ready to make Ōtsutsuki Genshiki take the field himself and arrange a "Gen vs. Genshiki."
"At last, you're moving—and moreover…"
When he saw the following information, Kitagawa Gen couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.
"Uchiha Madara has been reincarnated with Edo Tensei too?"
"But that's fine as well…"
Kitagawa Gen's eyes lit up—Uchiha Madara's appearance was not a bad thing.
He had been wondering how to bring out his modified White Zetsu; now that this man had appeared, it saved him an unknown amount of trouble!
"Especially since the direction you're heading in happens to be the Land of Earth."
After sorting out all these messy thoughts, Kitagawa Gen took one last look at the God Tree's condition before turning and leaving the area.
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