"Lord Madara!"
Inside the dim cave, Black Zetsu and Uchiha Setsuna respectfully greeted Madara Uchiha, who had just emerged from the coffin wearing his armor.
"This is... the Reanimation Jutsu?"
Madara, now back in the ninja world, didn't respond to Zetsu and Setsuna right away.
Instead, he raised his hand and looked carefully at his own gray, lifeless skin, which had a fish-scale-like texture, almost like paper scraps.
After sensing the current state of his body, he finally lifted his eyes and focused on the two standing before him.
Though his gaze was calm and plain, there was a faint dissatisfaction in his aura.
Even from a close distance, Uchiha Setsuna felt a heavy pressure facing Madara directly.
"A lot of unexpected things happened," Black Zetsu stepped forward to explain.
"Because Nagato is closer to Konoha, we can't control him. So the plan to collect the Tailed Beasts became difficult without the cooperation of the Rinnegan.
We wanted to retrieve the Rinnegan from Nagato, but the problem is, Nagato has already mastered the power of the Rinnegan deeply. Plus, with intelligence leaks, several attempts have failed."
"Has Nagato really grown that strong?" Madara mused, but there was no regret or anger in his tone.
To him, Nagato was just a suitable vessel for the Rinnegan. His main role was, after mastering the Rinnegan's power, to perform the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique once, allowing Madara to be revived at his peak state.
Black Zetsu, who Madara considered a derivative of his own will, was always responsible for guiding Nagato along the planned path.
But it was obvious now that Black Zetsu's guidance had failed.
"It's not just Nagato. Even those two kids who followed him have changed a lot in strength. Especially Yahiko. Lord Madara should still be careful when facing him, even in his Reanimation state," Black Zetsu's tone was cautious.
He had suffered many losses because of Yahiko and Nagato.
"They're just a few kids," Madara said lightly.
No matter how much Black Zetsu praised Nagato and Yahiko's strength, Madara didn't care.
Because in his heart, the only people who could truly match him in power—aside from the mysterious Sage of the Six Paths—was just Hashirama Senju.
If the opponent wasn't Hashirama, then he didn't care or respect them.
Even if there was someone else, they first had to stand before him, show their strength, and earn his recognition!
"They are no longer the children you once saw. Now, Nagato and Yahiko are among the strongest in the entire ninja world. Especially Yahiko—he wields a power that can harm souls and break Yin-Yang Release. Though you are now an immortal Edo Tensei, facing Yahiko, Edo Tensei's immortality doesn't work as it should."
Uchiha Setsuna added from the side. His appearance looked a bit aged now.
If it weren't for the Wood Release cells injected into his body, the strain of the Mangekyo Sharingan would have long been too much, and he wouldn't be able to maintain his peak condition.
As an Uchiha who pursues power, he gained the strength he dreamed of and combined the Uchiha and Senju bloodlines to raise his fighting ability even more.
But even that couldn't change his current situation in this drastically changed ninja world, where he could only protect himself.
Even his precious Mangekyo Sharingan's abilities were weakened and restricted when facing today's strong shinobi.
"The ninja world now is completely different from the one you remember, Lord Madara. Otherwise, we wouldn't have needed to revive you early with Edo Tensei."
Black Zetsu's tone was full of helplessness.
He wasn't shaken when the plan went out of control, nor when Nagato—the vessel of the Rinnegan—went out of control.
But this new change in the ninja world felt familiar, and while shocked, it broke his composure!
Because from the changes in the ninja world now, he vaguely saw a scene from a thousand years ago.
But back then, the one who directed that scene was Otsutsuki Hagoromo—the legendary Sage of the Six Paths! He dispersed his mother's power, which gave birth to the ninja, a group with chakra power.
Now, another power has emerged in the ninja world. Though it isn't as widespread or as easy to cultivate as chakra yet, the birth of the ninja wasn't sudden either.
This new power has the potential to replace chakra and ninja, just like how ninjas once replaced monsters and samurais. This is something Black Zetsu is extremely wary of.
As the third child of Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, Black Zetsu knew very well that their mother needed chakra!
The ninja world was their mother's nursery!
But now, someone planned to eliminate chakra, even planting other fruits in their mother's nursery.
This was absolutely unacceptable to Black Zetsu.
What made things worse was that the biggest suspect was Konoha Village, which knew him very well.
Neither he nor the White Zetsu offspring could approach Konoha, or else they would be exposed.
He had once risked sneaking in again to gather information about this new power. Before he could investigate, he was discovered.
He nearly got trapped in Konoha, sacrificing many White Zetsu, and finally escaped in the chaos.
What made Black Zetsu grind his teeth was that Konoha, having mastered this detection method, not only did not keep it secret but shared his existence and the detection method to the allied villages.
Even Kirigakure, which was supposed to be isolated under their control, recently showed signs of danger that Black Zetsu and Uchiha Setsuna both sensed.
"Then explain it to me," Uchiha Madara planted his Gunbai into the ground, sat down with one hand supporting his knee, resting his cheek on his empty hand, and ordered.
So Black Zetsu and Uchiha Setsuna explained the changes in the ninja world after Madara's death as best as they could, focusing especially on Konoha and the existence and spread of this new power.
"Is it the Hollow?"
Madara was not completely ignorant of the Hollow. During the Third Great Ninja War, Kumogakure had used Hollow power, and White Zetsu had recorded the scenes, replayed in front of him.
But the Hollow power Black Zetsu described was somewhat related yet clearly very different—like two different species.
If he had to compare, it might be the difference between chakra and senjutsu?
Regardless, this power sparked some interest in Madara.
According to Black Zetsu's intelligence, all the five great ninja villages' Kage, except Kirigakure's Mizukage, almost all possessed Hollow power.
And in Five Great Ninja Villages, there was even talk of a "Concentrated Spirit Zone," where Hollows belonging to the Hueco Mundo could come into the living world to hunt and roam.