Chapter Four: And now for the Final Act
Did you know time passes by so much quicker in the Pure World? I couldn't have been there for more than a day or two before I was back among the living in some cramped space… like someone put me in a box… coffin? Meh. Same difference.
The point is: Obito did his job and groomed Nagato perfectly. I'm back, bitches!
… Wait, hold on… Apparently I'm only a zombie at this point. Damn Tobirama… But then again, it is a fairly useful technique. Perfect for a god such as myself. A body that will never age or be permanently injured, and unlimited Chakra. Yes, with a body like this I can accomplish anything! Project Tsukuyomi is back on track!
After reestablishing my mental connection with Black Zetsu, I got a status report on our progress. All things considered, we're not so bad off. Seven of the Tailed Beasts have been captured and secured; there's just the matter of the Eight- and Nine-Tails left. The Rinnegan is still in our possession, but damn if it wasn't a close call on Obito's part…
Apparently, our little pet Uzumaki developed splendidly in my absence and levelled the Hidden Leaf in an attempt to capture the Nine-Tails. The Jinchuriki brat is ironically an Uzumaki like Mito was, but that's a minor detail. The bad news is that Nagato lost and revived the villagers instead of me. How selfish can you get? The little punk. I'm glad he's dead.
But Obito did me proud and did not let this injustice stand. He stormed the Hidden Rain Village for Nagato's corpse so that my eyes would not fall into enemy hands. Obito became the fourth person to wield my brother's eyes… Well, that's not technically accurate. I mean, he's only making use of one Rinnegan for whatever reason; Black Zetsu assures me that one of the White Zetsu is on the hunt for the other one.
Of course, the brat only managed to get the Rinnegan after declaring War on the Great Nations because they wouldn't fork over the Eight- and Nine-Tails. Did the twit have no one else to rely on the capture of those Jinchuriki? Why didn't he just keep them in his Kamui dimension until it was time for the extraction of those Tailed Beasts?
Whatever. The point is, he's waging a pointless war that's wasting resources… my resources. He can manipulate nerdy necromancers all he wants, but when he starts wasting those White Zetsu… my creations… That's when I get irritated.
I don't care if more Hashirama DNA was added to their genetic makeup. White Zetsus are not combat fighters. On top of that, it takes Tailed Beast Chakra to pump those things out in mass quantities, and the Beasts are my pets…
But I digress. Black Zetsu informed me of all this as I stretched my legs and slaughtered hundreds of these Shinobi Alliance losers. The Uzumaki Jinchuriki's Shadow Clone is proving to be tenacious, but Shadow Clones can only spam so much Chakra before…
Oh, would you look at that. He repelled Deep Forest Emergence with droves of Shadow Clones using things that look like wannabe Tailed Beast Bombs… Probably relied on the Nine-Tails' power. Feh.
And did I mention I brought down two giant meteors down on everyone? Izuna, you must be proud of me now. Your former eyes are magnificent.
After playing around with the five Kage for a while, I broke the contract seal of the Impure World Resurrection technique because the Summoner was an idiot and got himself captured. Or something. Not like I care; I'm in no danger of being sent to the Pure World now. There's not a man alive that can seal me away quickly enough…
So I went and rejoined my imperfect living avatar. Which is just unacceptable in my humble opinion, because I'm the epitome of perfection, but I digress. Obito must have felt inadequate and felt the need to pass on his imperfectionism – don't lecture me, that is now a word – to our pet, the Ten-Tails. The idiot couldn't capture the Eight- and Nine-Tails, so he got impatient and initiated the Ten-Tails' revival early.
Foolish mortal.
Still, we were at the penultimate stage. All that remained was for Obito to resurrect me and fork over my Rinnegan. But the fool mouthed off and put himself on my shit list. Which is very short nowadays, on account of there being very few Senju and Uchiha left in existence. Oh, I forgot to tell you that bit, too; Obito did do another good deed and wiped out my backstabbing clan. Despite his imperfectionism, Obito has managed to do some things right.
… Though I will have to explain to Izuna exactly why they had to die. I have so much to tell him…
At any rate, the insubordinate little shit went and became the Ten-Tails' Jinchuriki instead of resurrecting me. After that point I just decided to hang back and play around with Hashirama, who had also been brought back by the Impure World Resurrection. I really enjoy this, because now Hashirama and I don't have to hold anything back; the limitations of mortal bodies no longer plague us.
Obito eventually weakened, as per my projections and expectations. I knew his imperfectionism would be his downfall…
Now the fun can begin! Black Zetsu and I forced Obito to resurrect me, which was very easy in Obito's weakened state. Empty eye sockets are overrated, but I have to live with it until White Zetsu or Black Zetsu gets me one of my Rinnegan… Oh well. Sage Jutsu will have to suffice for now.
Did I ever tell you that being knocked around like a fucking pinball isn't fun? No? Well, that's what the Tailed Beasts used me for as I decided to play for time. I can take anything you throw at me, my pets… Your time is nigh; enjoy your 'superiority' while you still can.
Nope. I will not be sealed away, Kazekage. That's right, I bend reality to my whims and use Susano'o without a pair of Mangekyo in my eye sockets. Bow down, bitches!
Oh. White Zetsu finally showed up… After I lost my fucking right arm… Have you been taking lessons from Obito, Zetsu? … Whatever. I'll just take your arm as compensation.
Aaand I can see! … Is that blood? My blood? Finally! I can truly relish in the thrill of battle in its entirety… First thing's first, I need the Gedo Statue… C'mere you little…
There we go. Someone ripped off one of its arms, but it's really not an impediment. I've got the pen prepared, now it's time to herd in all my pets... Yes, I 'took longer than a minute,' don't patronize me. Obito took months – years – to gather seven Tailed Beasts. I got eight and a half crammed down the Gedo Statue's throat in just a few minutes.
Just another item to add to his long list of imperfections. Fool.
The Kazekage took the former Uzumaki Jinchuriki away to likely treat him before he dies… There really is no hope for him. Black Zetsu will steal the other half of the Nine-Tails and get it to me soon enough. But before that… you and me have a gripe, Tobirama…
The bastard's a zombie now, but I can immobilize him like I immobilized Hashirama. Easy. Just about five more Six Paths rods burrowed deeply into his head, and my bloodlust is satiated… for now. I can afford to be petty. The bastard killed Izuna. He needs to pay.
Anyways, once the Ten-Tails was re-resurrected, I sealed it into my body and became its Jinchuriki. The fact that I'm its third Jinchuriki chafes a little, but I'll get over it… as soon as Obito is slaughtered mercilessly.
I'm sure you can feel this power flowing through me, Izuna; one of your former eyes has returned to its master, and I'm on my way to retrieve the other. I will reclaim it and bring about a perfect world. Just you watch.
… After a significant delay, in which the other half of the Nine-Tails was given to that Uzumaki brat, some Taijutsu user nearly offed me, and I nearly lost Izuna's other former eye… I can now initiate the Infinite Tsukuyomi. I levitated high above the earth and ripped off that horn thing on my forehead, revealing a third eye to the world and the moon.
That's right. I, Madara Uchiha, have three Rinnegan! Oh yeah!
The ultimate Genjutsu was activated, and the people of the world were dragged into cocoons of wood. There were some slight… annoyances left for me to wipe out, but I had won. As I gloated and prepared to end the nuisances, my Will stabbed me in the back and claimed that it was not in fact my Will but some bitch named Kaguya's Will. I knew she was the progenitor of all Chakra-fueled humans, but the sheer audacity of what Black Zetsu was saying infuriated me…
I was a pawn? No. I could not accept that. I would not accept that. Still… Despite my firm stance, Black Zetsu connected me with the Divine Deep Forest Emergence and promptly began to force all of that Chakra into me… While the overwhelming feeling of power was nice, it made me feel… bloated.
Soon Black Zetsu covered every inch of my bloated body, and I knew no more…
After that demon rabbit goddess had her comeuppance, I was left with nothing. Not even the Gedo Statue remained. I felt so hollow and drained… Not even Izuna's eyes could bring me comfort; I knew I was going to die for real this time, and it pissed me off… big time…
I had failed. And now I would have to face Izuna in the Pure World. This was not going to be fun.
Just like before, Madara entered the Pure World with Izuna's eyes. Izuna was still eye-less, though oddly enough his back was turned as Madara approached his brother.
"I'm sorry, Izuna… I failed to properly avenge your death. I failed to change the world." I then told him everything, explained what an amazing journey his eyes have had… How they had been in a total of four pairs of different eye sockets, and how they had almost changed the world for the better.
I began to feel a little worried as I saw Izuna's shoulder's twitch a little at the end of my tale. Was he crying? … No. He was giggling. And wasn't that just disturbing.
"I've been waiting for you, brother…" Izuna chortled as he turned to face Madara. Even with the empty eye sockets, Izuna still managed to pull off a deranged, intimidating stare.
Madara knew right then that he was screwed. In one lunge, Izuna was on him and ripping Madara's Rinnegan out of their sockets. How the hell he did this in the Pure World remains a mystery; but the point is, he succeeded.
"Nooooooo!" Madara shrieked as he was left eye-less. He clawed at his own face in a futile attempt to locate his eyes.
"They were never your eyes, brother," Izuna told him off and flipped the bird. Then he stormed off without another word.
Madara certainly didn't believe in it, but… Karma's a bitch.
Author's Note:
Well, that's over and done with, surprisingly enough… I really liked this internal monologue style of storytelling. Up until the end, of course, but I wanted a conclusion, so I added in one… Now go read Bright Eyes by Rikkudo. I can practically guarantee you'll like it. :D