Three days later, the Akatsuki organization arrived as a team, clearly having held a meeting in advance.
After all, the person they were about to meet was the Shura of the Ninja World, someone with a legendary reputation.
Although Uchiha Madara had promised not to hunt them down, they still dared not take any chances.
After all, in the entire Ninja World, only they knew about Akatsuki's Tailed Beast Plan—to capture all the tailed beasts and create the ultimate weapon.
Uchiha Madara's words could very well be a test.
They were also very curious about why Nagato's Rinnegan would be Uchiha Madara's eyes.
Besides sealing the Nine Tailed Beasts and creating an ultimate weapon, what other secrets did the Outer Path Demon Statue hold?
Rational members like Uchiha Itachi and Sasori of the Red Sand believed that this secret might be the truth behind the world.
The godlike combat strength of Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara might be tied to that truth.
Once all the Akatsuki members had arrived, Uchiha Madara didn't ask them for their decision. He directly used Yin-Yang Release to plant curse seals on their brains and hearts—should they reveal any information, the seal would activate.
Even in death, the Yamanaka clan of Konoha wouldn't be able to retrieve information from their minds.
Not only that, Uchiha Madara secretly implanted spores inside them, letting White Zetsu clones monitor them constantly.
If they dared leak information, Uchiha Madara could end their lives instantly.
"Now that the curse seal is planted, will you tell us the truth?" Sasori adjusted his cloak and asked Madara.
The others also fixed their eyes on Uchiha Madara.
"Of course. Let me tell you the origin of chakra."
Uchiha Madara kept his word—he needed like-minded subordinates.
He used the illusion power of the Rinnegan to pull them into a genjutsu world.
The Akatsuki members, led by Sasori, found themselves in a mountainous region.
The sky was bathed in the orange glow of sunset.
In the mountains ahead, two shadowy figures were locked in combat—one giant, one man-sized. The giant dwarfed the mountains; the smaller figure was about the same size as them.
Strangely, the two were pure black shadows with only three key features.
The enormous one had ten tails; each movement shook the mountains and land. It had a single scarlet Sharingan eye, with the concentric circles of the Rinnegan and nine tomoe.
The smaller figure wielded a staff and a long sword, with the same purple Rinnegan as Uchiha Madara.
Before Sasori and Uchiha Itachi could analyze what they saw, Madara's voice echoed in their ears.
"A thousand years ago, a monster called the Ten Tails appeared in the Ninja World."
"This creature is immortal. As long as there is life on this planet, it can regenerate from any damage."
"To suppress it and save the world, the Sage of Six Paths developed a sealing technique passed down to this day, called the Jinchūriki Sealing Technique System."
"He sealed the Ten Tails within himself to suppress it, becoming the first Jinchūriki—the Ten Tails Jinchūriki."
As Madara spoke, the smaller shadow absorbed the massive Ten Tails into its body.
The Akatsuki members recognized him instantly—the legendary Sage of Six Paths.
Madara's voice continued.
"After becoming the Ten Tails Jinchūriki, the Sage created the Ninja Clan, distributed chakra to the world, and gave birth to shinobi. His name and story spread throughout history, worshipped as a god—the true god of ninjas."
"But even someone as powerful as the Sage of Six Paths had to die."
"To prevent the Ten Tails from rampaging after his death, he split its chakra into nine, giving rise to nine chakra entities—the Tailed Beasts."
The scene shifted.
In a dark space, the Sage stood in the center of a massive ritual. He released chakra from his body, dividing it into nine distinct animal forms, each with a different number of tails.
Finally, the shell of the Ten Tails reappeared.
Stripped of chakra, the once-conscious beast became an empty husk with a humanoid form.
"The chakra-less Ten Tails became the Outer Path Demon Statue. The Sage of Six Paths launched it into the sky and used it to create the moon."
"In theory, the Ninja World should've entered a peaceful era without the Ten Tails."
"But in his final years, the Sage came to regret spreading chakra. He carved a stone tablet detailing how to awaken the Rinnegan, revive the Ten Tails, become its Jinchūriki, and a jutsu to achieve true peace."
"This tablet can only be deciphered by those with strong ocular power. The closer the eye is to the Rinnegan, the more content can be interpreted, including the final stage—how to obtain the power of the universe."
The scene changed again.
The Akatsuki members appeared inside a shrine, standing before a stone tablet.
Uchiha Itachi's expression shifted.
The others also reacted in surprise upon seeing the Uchiha clan crest on the wall.
"One day, a man with the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan stood before the tablet and obtained the secret to acquiring the power of the universe and achieving peace."
"That led to the Battle of the Valley of the End."
"In that battle, the man with the Eternal Eyes faked his death and escaped."
"Decades later, he was on the brink of death from old age… but finally transcended the limits of reality and obtained the power of the universe."
The scene moved to a cave, where an aged man—rarely awake—suddenly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of Rinnegan.
The Akatsuki knew this old man was Uchiha Madara.
Sasori and the others suddenly understood the true cause behind the battle between the two Konoha founders.
The illusion faded, and they returned to the real world.
Uchiha Madara leaned on the back of his hand and calmly said, "Since I was old and dying, I couldn't realize peace. So I arranged a resurrection plan and transplanted the Rinnegan into the young Nagato. Now that the plan is complete, the Rinnegan has naturally returned to me."
"You want to retrieve the Tailed Beasts, revive the Outer Path Demon Statue into the Ten Tails, and become the second Ten Tails Jinchūriki, the new Sage of Six Paths?" Sasori asked bluntly.
"Correct."
"What is true peace?" Uchiha Itachi asked suddenly.
"It's also a jutsu."
Uchiha Madara raised his hand and pointed to the sky, smiling. "When I become the Ten Tails Jinchūriki, my eye power will be unmatched. I'll project my eye onto the moon and cast a large-scale genjutsu across the Ninja World—Infinite Tsukuyomi."
"This jutsu will pull all humans into an extremely realistic illusion where they are the protagonists. All their dreams will come true. No pain, no aging, no illness."
"They will live forever in this illusion, and their bodies will be sustained by the Ten Tails until death."
"..."
The Akatsuki members exchanged glances in silence.
Their reactions varied.
Deidara scratched his cheek, a little excited. "Everyone will recognize my art? That sounds awesome!"
"Idiot. It's a fake world," Sasori scolded, but his heart was tempted.
If he could live in a world with his healthy parents… even if it was fake, he would gladly accept it.
He'd dreamed of that scene countless times.
Uchiha Madara smiled playfully. "You defectors ran away because you couldn't accept how fake this world is, right?"
Even Kisame grinned at that.
"A world where everyone believes in Lord Jashin? I look forward to it," Hidan said excitedly.
Even Kakuzu was tempted. He'd long been disgusted by the cruelty of the real world.
Only Uchiha Itachi said coldly, "This isn't true peace. You're just running away."
"Yes, it's escape. But it's what countless people want. I'm their savior," Madara replied, same as he told Nagato.
"Not everyone wants to live in a dream. Did you consider how they feel?" Itachi retorted.
"Wars kill countless civilians and shinobi. Did those high-ranking people ever consider their feelings?" Madara sneered. "This dream world will give them happiness, free from pain and betrayal. How do you know they don't want that?"
"Fake is fake. It can never be real," Itachi said firmly.
Madara waved his hand. "You all leave. Let me speak to this junior alone."
The others left reluctantly. Deidara especially wanted to see the elder beat up the younger clan exterminator.
After they left, Madara continued to prop up his face with one hand, tilting his head to observe Itachi, who stood expressionless.
"I'm curious. Why did you exterminate the Uchiha clan?"
"To test my strength," Itachi answered the same as he had to Sasuke.
"Heh…"
Madara smirked. "You left your brother alive to take his eyes and get the Eternal Mangekyō?"
"Yes. I wanted to become the second you."
Madara didn't get angry, nor did he explain how he got the Eternal Eye himself.
His Rinnegan seemed to see through Itachi's words.
"The Eternal Eye alone isn't enough. You need the Rinnegan. I have a way. You've killed your clan. Surely you're willing to kill your brother for the Rinnegan too?"
"I'll give you both methods. Go kill your brother in Konoha. How about it?"
Itachi's Mangekyō spun. Blood tears flowed from his right eye. "Amaterasu!"
Black flames erupted, engulfing Madara.
Madara didn't move. A black crow flew out of Itachi's body.
Its left eye—Shisui's eye—glowed.
"Kotoamatsukami!"
The illusion eye activated.
At the same time, a red skeletal arm formed, holding a red gourd. A red flame sword shot toward Madara.
But it froze in the air.
Madara absorbed the black flames and smiled. "Amaterasu, Kotoamatsukami, the Ten Fist Sword… your luck is impressive."
"But it's all useless before the Ultimate Eye Technique."
Bang!
A punch landed. Itachi's body was thrown back.
He bounced around like a rag doll for ten seconds.
When it ended, his Susanoo vanished. He collapsed, covered in wounds.
Madara stepped on his head. "You never cared about your clan. Don't pretend to be righteous."
Madara could sense everything through his eyes and chakra.
He had seen through Itachi long ago.
"A Konoha spy."
"You're just like Obito. Arrogant. You think everything you do is right."
He sealed Itachi's movement and pressed his hand to his head. "Human Path: Heart Submersion!"
Madara extracted his soul and scanned his memories.
"…Three Mangekyō? All wasted by Tobirama's disciples…"
He sighed. "Such a brilliant generation, yet three fools awakened the Mangekyō."
He returned the soul.
"You're not worthy to be a brother. But for our clan, I'll let you live—leave your eyes for your brother."
He thought of Sasuke, who resembled his own younger brother, Izuna.
Sasuke didn't know the truth yet.
Maybe he could be pulled over to Madara's side.
Compared to Itachi, he was much purer.
And because of that…
Madara looked at Itachi in disgust.
"How dare you try to control your brother with Kotoamatsukami?"
"You talk about truth while using lies."
With that, Madara kicked him away. "Disgusting. Get lost."