245 Naruto: Snatching the Mangekyō

Somewhere in the Land of Rain, torrential rain poured down relentlessly. Uchiha Madara stood amidst the downpour, clad in his crimson battle armor. His mind replayed the events from just moments ago, and he found himself unable to recover from the shock.

He, Uchiha Madara, had been utterly crushed in battle—without question, without any room for dispute!

Not even Senju Hashirama had been able to accomplish such a feat back in their time.

Hashirama had indeed been stronger than him, but the gap between them had never been as overwhelming as what he had just experienced against that Uchiha girl.

That girl—Uchiha Hikari—had surpassed him in every conceivable way.

Perhaps the only advantage he still held over her was his wealth of battle experience.

"A relic of the old era, am I?" Madara chuckled to himself. "How amusing… Good. Only opponents like this can make me feel truly alive."

Hearing Madara's words, Black Zetsu finally let out a sigh of relief.

For a moment, he had genuinely feared that Madara would lose his fighting spirit after being so thoroughly overpowered by Hikari.

If Madara lost his will to fight, then Black Zetsu would be in serious trouble—there was no backup plan for that.

Madara was his final trump card.

Black Zetsu studied Madara curiously before asking, "Madara-sama, what do you plan to do now?"

He was genuinely intrigued. Aside from the Rinnegan, did Madara have any other means of revival?

Madara turned to look at Black Zetsu and said, "The Rinnegan—I need to find a way to reclaim my Rinnegan. Only then can I be revived."

Black Zetsu hesitated before responding, "Madara-sama, due to Obito's reckless actions, Nagato has become highly vigilant against me. I can no longer get close to him."

Retrieving the Rinnegan from Nagato—who was now the Jinchūriki of the Ten Tails—was an impossible task.

Madara, however, ignored his concerns and instead asked, "Is the battle at Konoha still ongoing?"

Black Zetsu was momentarily stunned before sending a pulse through the earth, transmitting the question to his White Zetsu clones monitoring the battlefield.

A moment later, he received a report.

"Madara-sama, the battle is still ongoing. Right now, Nagato is locked in combat with a mysterious figure whose origins are unknown."

Even as he relayed this information, Black Zetsu felt a deep sense of disbelief.

Nagato was fighting against an unknown opponent?

Had this report not come directly from White Zetsu, he would have thought it was some kind of joke!

Nagato was the Jinchūriki of the Ten Tails. Theoretically, no one in the shinobi world should be able to stand against him!

As he processed this information, Black Zetsu realized how unfamiliar the shinobi world had become.

He turned to Madara, his tone serious. "Madara-sama, the situation at Konoha is unexpected. Nagato has grown even stronger. The Ten Tails within him seems to have reached a more complete form."

Madara nodded slightly, his expression unreadable.

At that moment, Zetsu emerged from the ground.

The instant Madara saw him, his chakra surged explosively.

"Boom!"

A pillar of blue energy erupted as the Complete Body Susanoo materialized.

With a flap of its wings, Susanoo soared into the sky, carrying Madara and Black Zetsu toward the battlefield.

Inside Susanoo's forehead, Madara turned to Black Zetsu and asked, "According to you, Nagato believes you are still sealed away, correct?"

"Yes, Madara-sama," Black Zetsu answered respectfully.

"Good." Madara nodded. "Once we arrive at the battlefield, find an opportunity to retrieve my Rinnegan."

"Huh?" Black Zetsu was dumbfounded, staring at Madara in shock.

What kind of ridiculous plan was this?!

So after all this time, Madara had only come up with this as a solution?

Madara crossed his arms and spoke in a firm tone. "Overly complex plans have too many potential points of failure. If even one step goes wrong, everything collapses. That's why my previous resurrection plan failed—it was too convoluted."

"…Understood, Madara-sama." Black Zetsu had no choice but to grit his teeth and comply, even as he inwardly cursed the absurdity of the plan.

...

Meanwhile, back at Konoha, the battle between Nagato and Jigen continued to rage.

The clash showed no signs of ending anytime soon—the two were evenly matched, neither gaining a clear upper hand.

After absorbing the Divine Tree and awakening his Rinne Sharingan, Nagato's perceptive abilities had reached a new level. He could now track and predict Jigen's black rods, unlike before when he had struggled to counter Jigen's Daikokuten technique.

"Tch… Why has Nagato become this strong? Even his appearance has changed… And didn't he spit out that Divine Tree earlier?" Tsunade muttered in confusion as she observed the battlefield.

Nagato had grown significantly stronger compared to before.

The most obvious indication was the number of Truth-Seeking Orbs floating behind him—they had increased from six to nine.

At this level of power, even minor details could signify immense growth.

"Perhaps the Divine Tree isn't as simple as we thought," Akira remarked. "It might not just be a special kind of tree—it could be hiding something much deeper."

From what he could see, it was highly possible that Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's consciousness had begun to stir. She might have granted Nagato a portion of her power.

The Rinne Sharingan was undeniable proof of this theory.

That dojutsu belonged solely to Kaguya—none of the other Ōtsutsuki had ever possessed it.

However, when it came to the Ōtsutsuki clan, even Akira himself only had fragmented knowledge. Much of it was guesswork rather than certainty.

"There's still too much we don't know about the Ōtsutsuki clan… Even chakra itself came from them," Tsunade sighed.

The thought of the vast gap between humanity and the Ōtsutsuki was unsettling.

The sheer disparity in power was unfathomable.

They simply knew too little about the Ōtsutsuki!

"Is there any way we can capture Jigen alive? We might be able to extract information about the Ōtsutsuki from him," Tsunade asked coldly, her eyes narrowing.

"The chances are slim," Akira shook his head. "Jigen's personality won't allow him to be taken alive. If he's cornered, he'll undoubtedly unleash his full power, which will make capturing him virtually impossible."

"Even if we had overwhelming strength, restraining someone with his speed and space-time abilities is nearly impossible."

'Unless, of course, we had Uchiha Sasuke's special Rinnegan.'

Jigen's space-time techniques functioned differently from Kamui and the Flying Thunder God—they involved opening a dimensional gateway.

This presented an opportunity for Amenotejikara.

In theory, if the timing was perfect, Sasuke's ability could prevent Jigen—or even Isshiki—from teleporting away, effectively trapping him forever.

Unfortunately, that was just a theory—one that could only be tested more than a decade from now.

After all, Sasuke was still just a child, spending his days pestering Itachi to play ninja games with him.

For now, this idea was nothing more than a distant possibility.