Actually, Uchiha Madara was overthinking it.
Emiya Shirou didn't care about the future revival of the Ten-Tails. He openly told Madara everything that had happened since his own revival.
For example, Uchiha Obito, in his attempt to seize control of the Eye of the Moon plan, had ordered his subordinates to kill a tailed beast. This caused their plan to capture the beasts to be delayed, preventing it from starting early.
For example, Obito tried to take power in the Akatsuki and worked with Orochimaru to use the Edo Tensei to revive the previous Hokage, nearly destroying the organization. This, however, also unexpectedly led to Shirou's own revival.
In short, Obito insisted on stirring up chaos with infighting. Emiya Shirou was constantly busy cleaning up the mess Obito made.
"Truly shameful..." After listening to everything, Uchiha Madara couldn't help but apologize.
The veins on his forehead bulged. He hadn't expected the Obito he had so carefully chosen before his death would end up being so foolish and short-sighted.
After all, Black Zetsu, whom Shirou had left for Madara, was quite reliable.
He always carried out any mission for Madara without hesitation and took good care of him.
By contrast, Obito, the one picked out by Madara... had caused them all sorts of trouble.
Madara faintly regretted his choice. Maybe what he saw in Obito near the end was just enough power to awaken the Mangekyo Sharingan, but that power ended up limiting his vision. The strength of the Mangekyo and the power needed to carry out the Eye of the Moon plan were worlds apart.
That idiot... making such a mess for the sake of controlling the plan.
What was so important about control, anyway?
Weren't they all aiming for peace in the ninja world, for everyone to enter the world of the Infinite Tsukuyomi?
Who cast the jutsu shouldn't matter.
Well... maybe it did matter. After all, whoever absorbed the Ten-Tails' power and activated the Infinite Tsukuyomi could be called a god, able to reshape the world. It wasn't strange for Obito to have his own ambitions.
But, as Madara watched Emiya Shirou, he couldn't see any intention to fight Obito for control of the plan. Shirou was still sincere toward Madara as an ally.
In everything he said, he deferred to Madara on the matters of the Ten-Tails' revival and the Eye of the Moon.
"Our plan... it's up to you now," Shirou said. "Because the Edo Tensei can't return someone to their peak, my body has had some issues. Obito stole your eye and betrayed the Akatsuki, so Black Zetsu found Kabuto to revive you. Now, I have to entrust all of this to you again..."
"You don't look like someone with body problems, Lord Emiya..." Madara narrowed his eyes, aware of the terrifying chakra hiding within Shirou.
It was so strong it even made him uneasy. "If my sensory skills aren't wrong, your strength seems even greater than Hashirama's!"
That was truly astonishing. Faced with Emiya Shirou's chakra, Madara felt there was a gap between their powers... a gap like a staircase.
No, it wasn't an illusion. Madara recalled how Shirou had effortlessly changed the weather when greeting him—proof that Shirou's power was on a whole different level.
"This kind of strength... should be called Six Paths Sage-level power," Emiya Shirou explained, not stingy about sharing his secrets.
He dangled a lure. "When you obtain the Ten-Tails, you'll be able to have power of this level too. Sage-level chakra contains seven types of nature transformation. It's a qualitative leap from normal chakra..."
That description immediately drew Madara's curiosity. When Madara awakened the Rinnegan, he had truly mastered six chakra natures, but this was a level even higher than that.
As a warrior who loved battle, seeing someone stronger made him eager. Madara wanted to experience Six Paths Sage-level power for himself. His fingers twitched, unable to suppress his curiosity and the urge to challenge Shirou.
"You'll understand once you get the Ten-Tails," Shirou said, acting as if his blindness prevented him from seeing Madara's challenging intent. He casually continued to bait the hook.
"Where do we stand with the plan now?" Madara finally got back to the main issue.
"The situation... is rather bad," Shirou admitted, leading Madara deep into the Akatsuki base.
The Gedo Statue still sat there, an empty shell. Clearly, the plan was still at step one.
No... it might have actually gone backward. Even the Rinnegan Madara had left behind had been lost.
Of course, there was some progress.
At least the Akatsuki was incredibly powerful now. Whether it was the fully revived Shirou or the Edo Tensei Madara, they both had enough power to dominate the ninja world and seize any tailed beast.
The problem was, the Three-Tails still hadn't revived. No matter how strong they were, their power had nowhere to be used.
Just as Madara was about to sigh and grumble about the mess the Eye of the Moon plan was in, a swirl of summoning smoke rose, and the Gedo Statue vanished.
"Summoning Jutsu..." Madara smirked in disbelief. He was surprised someone would be bold enough to use his own Rinnegan to steal the Gedo Statue right in front of him. "Someone just summoned the Gedo Statue away..."
"It should be... Obito," Black Zetsu reported, emerging quietly from the ground. "The other Rinnegan is in Kabuto's hands. Only Obito in the ninja world has transplanted the Rinnegan now..."
"He transplanted my eye?" Madara glanced at Black Zetsu and suddenly smirked. "Well—this is perfect."
He needed someone to finally bring him back to life. The foolish Obito was digging his own grave. Madara planned to use him as a sacrifice for the Rinne Rebirth.
"Track him down," Shirou added. "Black Zetsu, leave the Akatsuki and the Eye of the Moon plan to Madara from now on."
"Then..." Black Zetsu was agreeable, though he looked at Shirou with concern.
"..." Though Shirou couldn't see, he precisely pinpointed Sasuke Uchiha's location. "I'll look after that kid. He'll be our backup for the plan."
"There's really..." Madara began to say it was unnecessary, but after looking at Sasuke's face, he agreed instead and even grew interested. "That kid, he's the last Uchiha?"
The youngest member of his clan... would he stand at his side in the future?
Things seemed to be getting interesting.
Before the Eye of the Moon plan officially began, Madara started to take a real interest in nurturing Sasuke. He even hoped this young kinsman might become his comrade, especially since this Sasuke looked a lot like his old brother, Izuna.
"Izuna... before you died, you wanted me to protect the Uchiha clan," Madara thought to himself. "But at that time, not a single clansman chose to follow me…"
At that moment, as he thought of his brother's final words, seeing the young Sasuke before him felt like fate. "So now... did you really mean for me to protect the last Uchiha kid?"