Ryosuke and Diavolo sat facing each other, with the small whiteboard used for lessons earlier placed between them.
To this day, no one knew why Samui had stuffed a whiteboard into a pile of supplies.
Ryosuke wrote and drew on the whiteboard as he explained the next plan to Diavolo, "...Before entering the Evil Spirit Space, I fired the Cavalry Spin at Giorno. At that exact moment, I clearly saw that Gold Experience Requiem's Return to Zero was neutralized by the Infinite Spin."
"Once the Return to Zero effect is canceled, it becomes possible, for a short time, to normally activate Stand abilities and launch an attack on Giorno."
This conclusion was extremely important, it was the core condition for turning the tide of battle.
However, it also brought up another problem.
Giorno had chosen to give up Return to Zero in order to throw Ryosuke into the Evil Spirit Space, allowing Ryosuke to fire the Cavalry Spin.
Even if Ryosuke now knew that the Cavalry Spin worked, once he stepped out of the Evil Spirit Space, Giorno would no longer give him another chance to throw a steel ball.
"So, I have to go to a 'safe house' that Gold Experience Requiem can't interfere with."
Diavolo was a smart man and immediately understood what Ryosuke meant. "You mean, here I won't be affected by Gold Experience Requiem… but that's not right. Before you arrived, I was still experiencing death."
Ryosuke nodded slightly.
The Evil Spirit Space was still embedded within a small subspace of Morioh and remained within Gold Experience Requiem's range of influence.
Whether it was piercing through it with the Cavalry Spin, crushing it with the pure gravity of C-Moon, or using Made in Heaven's infinite acceleration… Ryosuke had countless ways to tear open this tiny Evil Spirit Space and return to reality.
But Ryosuke clearly sensed that the final punch delivered by Gold Experience Requiem had left him with a rule, "Never being able to reach the reality of escaping the Evil Spirit Space."
Ryosuke could not, by subjective will, fire the Cavalry Spin, apply gravitational crushing, or activate Made in Heaven's acceleration.
"The 'safe house' I'm talking about isn't this boundary between death and survival, but..."
Ryosuke slightly raised the whiteboard marker in his hand and pointed it at Diavolo.
"It's you."
"Me?"
Ryosuke nodded.
Diavolo's Stand, King Crimson, possessed an extremely terrifying time-based ability, Time Erasure.
King Crimson could erase the next several seconds of time. During those erased seconds, everyone would act mechanically and unconsciously, like preprogrammed machines.
Except for Diavolo, no one would remember what happened during those seconds, nor would they experience any sensation of that time.
For Ryosuke, this was equivalent to another form of "thought stoppage."
"...Once I enter the erased-time state, I will, according to a preset program, unconsciously throw the Cavalry Spin."
"Because this steel ball won't carry the intent of 'I want to leave the Evil Spirit Space,' it will be thrown normally and tear open a spatial rift."
"Of course, before it flies toward Giorno and neutralizes Return to Zero, I still won't be able to leave the Evil Spirit Space."
"But as long as the steel ball flies straight toward Giorno, Gold Experience Requiem's automatic defense mechanism will activate."
"Return to Zero and Infinite Spin will cancel each other out."
"At that instant, we can break free from the effect of 'never being able to XXX' and leave the Evil Spirit Space, launching an attack on Giorno."
Ryosuke put down the marker.
"This is my plan."
After listening, Diavolo's thoughts raced. After a moment, he raised two fingers.
"There are two problems."
"First, in my current state, I can't summon King Crimson."
Diavolo's physical body had died, and his soul was trapped in an endless cycle of death experiences.
King Crimson had already sunk to the bottom of the Tiber River in Rome along with his body.
If he could still summon King Crimson, how could he have ended up like this?
Ryosuke smiled, took out an artificial White Zetsu experimental body from the burned-down room, and lightly tapped Diavolo's arm.
The next second, the White Zetsu experimental body's appearance changed drastically, turning into Diavolo's likeness in the blink of an eye.
Diavolo felt his vision blur, and then he entered this body without the slightest sense of discomfort.
Ryosuke then took out a piece of the Saint's Corpse and pushed it toward him.
The moment Diavolo grasped the Saint's Corpse, the long-vanished King Crimson reappeared behind him.
Lacking a physical body?
For an ultimate lifeform, reconstructing a body was absurdly easy.
As for a Stand?
The Saint's Corpse inherently had the effect of activating Stands.
With both combined, King Crimson could naturally return to the world.
The key was the soul.
Thanks to Gold Experience Requiem's curse, Diavolo's soul had been preserved to this day.
If before, Ryosuke had merely helped him dispel the curse, then now, he had truly brought Diavolo back to life.
If this wasn't a miracle, then what was?
And then there was the radiance surrounding Ryosuke, condensed from the thoughts and wishes of countless people from the Naruto world, faint murmurs and blessings could even be heard within it.
Diavolo swallowed, an uncontrollable thought rising in his heart, 'As expected… 'Emperor' really is me, Diavolo! That has never changed!'
'Even the gods are protecting me!'
Just as Diavolo was immersed in shock, Ryosuke's calm voice came over. "What's the second problem?"
Diavolo froze for quite a while before remembering. "Once we go out and enter Gold Experience Requiem's field of vision, my King Crimson won't be able to activate Time Erasure."
"In other words, using Time Erasure to fire the Cavalry Spin can only be done once, and only within this Evil Spirit Space."
"What I originally wanted to ask was whether you could guarantee that the Cavalry Spin tearing open space would hit one hundred percent."
"But now…"
Diavolo laughed.
If resurrection from death was possible, what could this person in front of him not do?
Giving a steel ball automatic cruising and target-seeking functions would be easy, "I can't guarantee that the Cavalry Spin will hit."
Ryosuke said this while pointing at the sky. "But the final step… someone will help me."
Diavolo's eyes immediately lit up.
"You still have accomplices?"
Ryosuke corrected him. "Companions."
———
"...That's the entire plan."
Uchiha Madara finished his explanation.
Everyone fell silent for quite a while, digesting what they had just heard.
Uchiha Madara didn't urge them. He turned his head to look into the distance, staying alert for enemy attacks, while continuously making more precise inquiries to Amenominakanushi.
He knew exactly what the cost of doing this was.
Uchiha Madara was willing to bear it.
Cost was like a loan, only true powerhouses were qualified to shoulder it.
Long before setting out, Madara had already prepared himself to die in battle. At most, it was death; at most, it was loss. He… Feared nothing.
Josuke thought for a moment and asked, "How are we supposed to help with the final step?"
Uchiha Madara raised his hand and pointed at the two people standing at the very back.
"The key lies with them."
Following his gesture, Josuke and Hot Pants looked toward the two Josephs from different periods.
Uchiha Madara said in a low voice, "You need to use Hermit Purple to form two chains."
"Chains made of 'causality.'"
"One will lead to the underworld, sending a signal to Ryosuke. The other…"
"Leads to true victory."
(A/N: For ease of distinction, from here on, the younger Joseph will be referred to as 'Joseph,' and the elderly Joseph as 'Old Joseph.')
"But…"
Joseph raised his head in confusion. "I don't know how to use Hermit Purple."
Hearing this, Old Joseph smiled.
He took out the Saint's Corpse that Ryosuke had hidden on him and thrown over together with everything else.
Old Joseph held the relic in one hand and extended the other toward his younger self.
"Now you can."
The confusion in Joseph's eyes immediately turned firm, and he extended his hand as well.
One old, one young.
Two hands, tightly clasped together.