Chapter 321: Heartbreak
"Uchiha Yasushi! This doesn't concern you. Don't make this worse for yourself!"
Madara's roar carried pure fury, but Yasushi merely smiled before forming a casual hand seal.
Madara's body locked instantly. Frozen. Paralyzed.
"UCHIHA YASUSHI!" Shock and rage warred in Madara's voice as his eyes blazed with murderous intent.
Yasushi ignored the outburst completely, maintaining his infuriatingly cheerful expression while adjusting the hand seal. Madara's Edo Tensei body shuffled forward obediently, then dropped to its knees before Yasushi like a puppet with cut strings.
"Oh my, Lord Madara—did you forget? You've been dead for quite some time now!"
Yasushi's tone dripped with false sympathy.
"I simply never bothered activating the Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation's control mechanisms before. Terribly sorry if that created the wrong impression!"
"UCHIHA YASUSHI!!!" Fire practically erupted from Madara's eyes. He looked ready to tear Yasushi apart molecule by molecule—but under the technique's absolute control, only his mouth remained functional. Not even his fingers could twitch.
"Now, now—no need getting so upset!"
Yasushi waved dismissively, completely unbothered by the legendary shinobi's fury.
"If you want to blame someone, blame that evil Senju Tobirama!"
"That wicked bastard created this wicked technique, condemning you—the great Uchiha Madara—to suffer exploitation even in death. Unable to rest peacefully. What a tragedy."
"SENJU TOBIRAMA!!!"
Madara's simple psychology proved laughably easy to manipulate. One sentence redirected his rage entirely.
But the next moment, Black Zetsu emerged from underground, immediately recapturing Madara's furious attention.
"OTSUTSUKI HAZETSU!!!"
"So you're working together!"
"Is that really so hard to understand?" Yasushi spread both hands, expression suggesting he was addressing a particularly slow child. "Anyone associating with Black Zetsu? Obviously not a good person."
Yasushi's casual self-deprecation finally dampened Madara's explosive anger. Rationality crept back into his mind.
"So from the very beginning... you knew what the Moon's Eye Plan actually did?"
"Obviously!" Yasushi's confirmation came sharp and certain. "Only a gullible fool like you would believe a world of complete illusion could save the shinobi world."
"Black Zetsu's goal was always rescuing his mother Kaguya."
"Following the normal timeline, you'd become the Ten-Tails jinchuriki, cast Infinite Tsukuyomi, bring the entire shinobi world to the brink of extinction—then Black Zetsu would backstab you. Use your body as the sacrifice to resurrect mommy dearest."
"Then the Sage of Six Paths makes his dramatic entrance, saves the world, seals his mother away again. Curtain falls. Everyone applauds."
The revelation struck Madara silent. Fury flashed through his eyes, but beneath it lurked disappointment and soul-deep pain.
"So the stone tablet beneath the Uchiha compound... also fake?"
"There never was any method to bring permanent peace to the shinobi world?"
Now Black Zetsu joined the offensive, nodding with undisguised glee.
"Uchiha clan members are wonderfully predictable. Once committed to a direction, you charge straight ahead without deviation."
"Especially after awakening Mangekyou Sharingan—most of you develop mental issues. Zero capacity for flexible thinking."
"The stronger the individual, the deeper the obsession. The more powerful you become, the stupider you get."
"I merely needed identifying what you wanted, then adding small modifications to that tablet. You swallowed the bait perfectly."
Though Madara had braced himself after discovering the deception, having the truth laid bare still hit like a physical blow.
He'd always suspected being used as a chess piece. But never imagined his life's grand ambition—the peace he'd gambled everything to achieve—was nothing but an absurd fraud from beginning to end. Not one genuine element in the entire charade.
The faith that sustained him through mountains of corpses and oceans of blood began fracturing with tooth-grinding cracks.
Remembering everything sacrificed for eternal peace—the years invested, the agonizing choices made, the unbearable prices paid—Madara's chest tightened painfully. His entire existence felt negated. Rendered meaningless.
Izuna's dying smile in his memories suddenly blurred. Those lonely nights spent planning in isolation transformed into needles stabbing his nerves.
"Hahahaha..." Yasushi's laughter rang out beside him, voice coated in honey-sweet malice—a serpent's forked tongue licking at open wounds.
"Madara, use that shriveled brain of yours for once. If achieving peace was truly that simple, wouldn't the Sage of Six Paths have done it himself? Why leave instructions on stone tablets for descendants?"
"There never was any 'Moon's Eye Plan.' Only the 'Black Zetsu Rescues Mommy Plan!'"
Black Zetsu's revelations had already cracked Madara's heart. But when Yasushi drove those poisoned words—"Black Zetsu Rescues Mommy Plan"—like venomous needles into his ears, that crack shattered completely. Obliterating his remaining convictions to dust.
Memories forcibly buried in his mind's depths broke free from their restraints, rioting through his consciousness.
Every sacrifice from his entire second life became a cosmic joke when confronted with those two words: "Rescues Mommy."
But Yasushi refused mercy, eyes gleaming as he continued his perfectly calculated assault. Each word sharpened to pierce hearts.
"Oh, speaking of which—Madara, you certainly worked hard for the 'Black Zetsu Rescues Mommy Plan!' Your contributions proved quite significant!"
"The plan's core required the Rinnegan. For those eyes, you murdered even your closest friend—Senju Hashirama himself!"
"Hashirama..." Pain lanced through Madara's chest. He nearly vomited blood as infinite regret surged from his heart, flooding his entire being.
Memories deliberately forgotten erupted like a dam breaking. Two young figures standing side-by-side on Naka River's banks, swearing their oaths together. In the memory's torrent, that scene shattered into millions of faded glass fragments. Crystal-clear water instantly stained crimson.
His body began trembling uncontrollably. His eyes shifted repeatedly between Mangekyou Sharingan and Rinnegan—cycling endlessly.
These eyes he'd taken such pride in, considered the key to achieving peace, now mocked his stupidity like branded marks of shame.
"I... I killed him..."
Madara's voice came hoarse and broken, as though he'd swallowed burning coals. Each word ground painfully from his throat.
He'd justified his actions countless times—Hashirama didn't understand true peace, Konoha had betrayed him, fate forced his hand.
Yet those midnight rationalizations now became countless needles stabbing back at his heart.
Before reality's harsh light, every excuse crumbled. Only naked truth remained—
Black Zetsu's lies had blinded him!
His own obsession had consumed him!
He'd personally murdered the only person in this world who understood him, who'd been willing to achieve their shared dream together!
In his daze, Madara seemed to see Hashirama's open arms again—that reconciliation space always held vacant for him now permanently empty.