This puppeteer is a bit... well...

Chapter 115 Epilogue

Quiet, quiet, quiet.

Long Erfei was in the sky, staring intently at the person lying in the spiderweb-like pit, holding his breath.

Logically speaking, an elderly person who is nearing the end of their life would not be able to survive such a blow.

But he was, after all, Madara Uchiha.

Although he was defeated by Hashirama Senju throughout his life and was constantly manipulated by Black Zetsu's schemes, it cannot be denied that the other party was a stronger person than the strong.

In terms of strength, experience, will, and wisdom, they are beings who surpass ordinary people.

When dealing with someone like that, you can't be too careful.

"I'll go check on the situation."

Red was worried that her opponent might have some suicidal idea, so after giving Madara an over-the-shoulder throw, she immediately retreated to create distance.

Seeing that the person in the pit hadn't reacted for a long time, she became anxious and wanted to check the situation.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Red made a hand seal and created a shadow clone, sending it to check the situation.

A moment later, the shadow clone finished assessing the situation, shook its head at the two, and said, "Dead."

After saying that, he disappeared into smoke with a "bang".

Ryuji and Hong both breathed a sigh of relief.

Despite his arrogant demeanor in battle, it was merely a tactic to put pressure on the enemy.

In fact, the more arrogant he acts, the greater the pressure he is under, which is why he resorts to underhanded tactics.

"Master, what should we do now?"

Red looked at Ryuji, waiting for instructions.

The purpose of my visit to Amegakure is twofold: first, to complete the mission in the Land of Iron; and second, to seize the Rinnegan.

But now that the plan to seize the Rinnegan has failed, they don't know what to do next.

"Let's collect Madara's body first, and then go to the front lines later." Ryuji maneuvered his armor to land on the ground, preparing to move Madara's body into his personal space and use instruments to preserve its cell vitality.

But as he lifted the body, Madara Uchiha's hood fell down, revealing a pair of perfectly intact eyes.

Long Er was stunned.

He remembered that after Madara Uchiha gave his Rinnegan to Nagato, he only had one Sharingan that he had stolen from someone else.

Furthermore, the ninjutsu Madara used to escape the Sand Burial at the end was clearly Izanagi, which would cause one of his Sharingan eyes to completely lose its sight.

In other words, Madara Uchiha should be completely blind by now.

Thinking of this, Long Er's expression changed, and he grabbed the corpse's left shoulder and tore it off.

As a result, the dismembered corpse contained no blood, only white, plant-cell-like substances.

"What is this!?"

Hong was taken aback when she saw the strange phenomenon.

"It's a White Zetsu."

Ryuji threw the corpse on the ground, took a deep breath, and began to sort out the entire course of the battle in his mind.

Possessing that level of combat power, the opponent was undoubtedly Madara Uchiha himself. It's just that at some point later, he switched bodies with a White Zetsu.

He continued to ponder deeply and realized the problem.

It was a red sandstorm funeral.

Throughout the entire battle, Madara Uchiha remained within the two's sight, making it impossible for him to have the opportunity to switch bodies with White Zetsu.

The two only briefly lost sight of Madara when they were swallowed by the sandstorm.

Madara Uchiha used Izanagi to alter the reality that he was killed by the Sand Burial, and then directly burrowed underground to exchange bodies with the White Zetsu who had been lying in wait.

But if that's the case, why did the effect of Izanagi disappear from Madara's corpse?

No, I understand.

From the very beginning, it was the White Zetsu that was killed by the Sand Burial, and Madara's Izanagi was not aimed at himself, but at that White Zetsu.

Madara had already completed the substitution the moment he was swallowed by the Sand Burial, and then used Izanagi to confuse me and Kurenai's eyes, thus buying time to ensure his escape.

"Izanagi requires prior preparation to use. Madara Uchiha had been planning to use the Golden Cicada Shedding its Shell tactic to escape for a long time. This guy..." Ryuji didn't know how to evaluate him anymore. He could only say that he was indeed Madara Uchiha.

Although he always respected Madara Uchiha, he subconsciously looked down on him somewhat.

Because Madara always lost to Hashirama Senju, his entire life's fate was always controlled by Black Zetsu.

After being resurrected by Edo Tensei, he put on a show of bravado, but was repeatedly humiliated.

In addition, when he told him that the Eye of the Moon plan was a trap, the other party thought he was being played without even thinking.

This made Ryuji think that although Madara had great power, he was extremely arrogant and his mind had become somewhat damaged.

but now……

"I've learned a lesson!"

Ryuji sighed again.

This battle made him clearly realize the gap between himself and the top-tier experts.

It doesn't come from strength or speed, but from experience.

But there's nothing we can do about it.

Even if Long Er lived two lives, it would still be far less than half a lifetime of someone else's life.

"Master has done very well. If Master were a little older, he would definitely be stronger than that Uchiha Madara." Kurenai comforted him from the side, making Ryuji want to laugh.

"I'm not so arrogant as to think that I can surpass what others have achieved in nearly a century with just a few years of effort. Rather, I'm already quite pleased with this small gap."

Hong paused for a moment, then smiled with relief.

Although the owner didn't need comforting and was a little sad, seeing the owner's good attitude made the owner happy.

"Alright, this wasn't a complete loss." Ryuji sent the White Zetsu's corpse into his personal space and preserved it with his equipment, then continued, "At least we've achieved our goal of acquiring the White Zetsu. Now we have a Celestial Body."

"Even without a White Zetsu body, I believe Master will create a Sage Body himself."

"Perhaps, but how much time would that waste?" Ryuji said noncommittally.

"Master is too modest."

Faced with Hong's flattery, Long Er shrugged and did not respond.

He returned to the road, next to Xiao Nan's body.

The girl's eyes were still wide open, and her skin was already infected with purple.

This is Iwata's poison.

Puppet masters are also poison masters; their weapons are coated with poison.

"The poison has spread throughout her body, all her cells have died, and she can't be cultivated anymore." Ryuji closed Konan's eyes, somewhat regretfully.

He doesn't lack the cells of a master, so he's not interested in a body like Xiao Nan's, nor is he interested in the God Paper Technique... well, okay, he is indeed interested in the God Paper Technique.

After all, turning your body into paper looks really strange.

However, the main purpose of creating the new Konanchi was not to study the God Paper Technique, but to deal with Nagato.

Nagato has turned to the dark side, but his leg is still intact, so he doesn't need to rely on machines to move like in the original story.

He will become even stronger than in the original story.

Although Ryuji was confident that he would become stronger than Nagato in the future, his cautious nature made him want to take out an insurance policy.

That's another Xiao Nan.

pity.

"Don't be discouraged, Master!" Red took out a glass bottle and waved it proudly in front of Ryuji.

A pale blue orb of light floats inside the bottle.

"This is……"

Long Er's eyes widened.

He wasn't truly unfamiliar with the object; rather, he was worried about being disappointed.

So I want to confirm before I get excited.

"That's right, this is Konan's soul." Hong handed over the bottle and smiled. "Konan seemed a little abnormal before she died. I sensed something was wrong and intercepted her soul just before it went to the Pure Land."

"Well done!"

Ryuji took the bottle containing Konan's soul and happily clapped his hands in celebration with Kurenai.

The souls of this world... unless the soul itself possesses techniques or abilities such as manifestation, are all consciousnesses curled up inside chakra spheres.

It will overflow from the body upon death and then dissipate to reach the Pure Land.

Ordinary people cannot see it, cannot detect it, let alone touch or intercept it.

Only someone like Kurenai, who possesses various talents and is proficient in related types of ninjutsu, could pull off such a clever maneuver as intercepting a soul before it travels to the Pure Land.

……

Inside an unknown cave.

Nagato woke up in a daze.

As he looked at the unfamiliar rock face, his consciousness gradually returned, and the image of Xiao Nan's tragic death flooded his mind.

"Konan!"

Nagato gasped and sat up abruptly. The violent movement triggered a flare-up of his burns, and the intense pain made him groan involuntarily.

"You'd better not make any rash moves."

Hearing the weak voice, Nagato looked up sharply and saw an old man with a full head of white hair, as thin as a rake, his hair covered by bangs, with only one empty eye showing, sitting under a strange golem.

Did you save me?

Nagato recalled the situation during the battle and asked.

"it's me."

"Thank you, sir."

"You're welcome."

"?"

"There's a price I'm paying for saving you."

Upon hearing this, Nagato remained silent for a moment, then said, "I don't have any money right now. I'll come back to thank you later!"

"I'm an old man who's about to die, I need..."

What do you need money for?

Upon hearing this, Nagato fell silent once again.

This old man is so strange.

Even if one's time is running out and one is about to die, one generally wouldn't say that one is about to die.

Moreover, the person who was able to rescue him from such a master could not possibly be an ordinary old man.

And there's this strange place and these bizarre golems.

For some reason, Nagato felt that the golem looked familiar.

"...Who are you?" After a moment of silence, Nagato asked.

"I am Madara."

"Madara?" Nagato paused, then instinctively asked, "Which Madara?"

"Uchiha Madara".

"..." Nagato fell silent again.

After a long pause, he finally said, "I'm not in the mood for jokes right now."

"I'm not in the mood for jokes."

Nagato stared intently at the old man, whose expression remained calm and unchanged.

After a moment of silence, Nagato asked, "Let's assume you're Madara Uchiha. What price do you want me to pay?"

Do you know about the Eye of the Moon?

"..."

Looking at Nagato's surprised expression, Madara slowly explained his plan.

Of course, only he himself knows whether it's true or not.

Finally, he said, "You don't need to rush to agree. You can think about it for a while. I'll come back to you in a few years, and then you can decide whether you want to become my assistant."

……

To prevent anyone from using techniques like the Impure World Reincarnation, Ryuji cremated Konan's body.

He rushed to the battlefield with the red ribbon.

But by the time they reached the front lines, the war was already over.

Under the cover of the steel fortress and the mechanical birds, the puppeteer forces launched a surprise attack on the Akatsuki, inflicting heavy losses on them.

Then, the Sand Village camp heard the commotion, gathered its forces, and launched a general offensive.

Except for a few who escaped, all of the more than 3,000 members of the Akatsuki organization were killed.

(End of this chapter)