Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 323 The End of an Era of Power

"Lord Madara, this is Obito's other Sharingan. What should we do with it?"

White Zetsu approached, holding a bloody two-tomoe Sharingan in his hand. It was the Sharingan from Obito's flattened right eye, which White Zetsu had taken from him when he saved Obito.

The Sharingan needs a pair to unleash its full power, so White Zetsu naturally wouldn't allow Obito's Sharingan to be destroyed.

"Let's hide it on you first and see how Obito's awakened abilities are," Madara said, glancing at Obito's Sharingan.

"Understood, Lord Madara."

As the white zeel spoke, it inserted Obito's Sharingan into the eye of a white zeel that emerged from the ground.

White Zetsu, being a life form created from Wood Release cells, is the perfect candidate to nurture the Sharingan. Without the need for medical ninjutsu, the Sharingan can be used immediately – it's that convenient.

The White Zetsu, equipped with Obito's Sharingan, slowly sank into the ground, entering a deeper, sealed basement.

Inside the basement, a sealing spell sealed off the entire wall, isolating all senses.

Apart from Madara and Black Zetsu, no one else could sense the existence of this secret room.

Why was Obito's Sharingan sealed and isolated in the basement?

Because the Sharingan, especially the Sharingan after it evolves into the Mangekyou Sharingan, can resonate with each other in a special way.

When the distance is not far, it is possible to sense each other's eyes.

Therefore, the secret room where Obito's Sharingan was located had to be sealed to prevent Obito from sensing it.

Since what happened with Li Yao, I've become much more cautious.

This time, they deliberately removed Obito's right Sharingan and didn't put it back in.

Madara meant that if Obito's awakened Mangekyou Sharingan was incredibly powerful, then Obito's right Sharingan was the key to his ability to restrain or even defeat Obito.

He didn't want to go through what happened to Li Yao again.

If Obito's awakened Mangekyou Sharingan abilities are average, or if it doesn't pose a threat to Madara who has awakened the Rinnegan.

Then we'll find another reason to return the right eye to Obito, to strengthen him and prevent any accidents from happening during Madara's death.

Especially that brat Li Yao!

Ban swore that once he was resurrected and returned to his peak condition, he would definitely kill this brat.

Li Yao's spatial abilities were indeed troublesome, but the unique abilities of his Rinnegan were enough to kill that wretched brat.

Thinking of Li Yao, Madara became somewhat agitated. In all these years, this was the first time he had been chased around like this; even Hashirama had never made him feel so humiliated.

Only Li Yao.

The thought that Li Yao had already entered the Dragon Vein made Ban feel a sense of helplessness, as if he had power but nowhere to use it.

"Forget it, let's focus on the plan. Activate the Infinite Tsukuyomi and bring true peace to the world, proving that my peace is the only lasting peace."

Madara shook his head, temporarily setting aside his hatred for Li Yao. He was now focused on the plan, determined to prove Hashirama wrong and himself right.

"Time is running out!"

Ban sighed inwardly, then raised both hands.

Snapped!

Madara clapped his hands together in a hand seal, and the Gedo Mazo behind him suddenly extended a black rod that pierced into his body, drawing a portion of his chakra and then returning a portion of his Six Paths-level chakra to him.

"come over."

Madara maintained his hand seals and called for White Zetsu to come over.

"Yes, Lord Madara!"

Bai Jue understood something, and a serious expression appeared on his face.

"Snapped!"

After White Zetsu arrived, Madara released his grip and placed both hands on White Zetsu's right shoulder. A stream of Six Paths level chakra flowed from his hands into the right half of White Zetsu's body.

Soon, the right half of White Zetsu's body turned black.

"From...from this day forward...you will be Black Zetsu, and the task of guiding...Obito...is in your hands."

Ban spoke weakly and intermittently.

The ninjutsu just now has drained his last bit of life force; he will die soon.

"Leave it to me, Lord Madara," Black Zetsu replied in a hoarse voice.

"Hmm." Madara nodded slowly, then looked at White Zetsu and said, "Black Zetsu is the embodiment of my will, and future plans will be based on him."

White Zetsu stood up and laughed, saying, "Understood, Lord Madara."

At this moment, White Zetsu reverted to Tobi's personality, no longer the sometimes calm and sometimes goofy character, but completely Tobi-ified.

"Poor Madara, he couldn't even see the relationship between Black Zetsu and the calm White Zetsu. He still thought Black Zetsu was his own will. It seems he's really getting old, and his mind is getting a little muddled."

Li Yao's water-escape clone, hidden within the walls of the underground base, watched this scene and suddenly felt like laughing.

Looking at Ban's life as a whole, it can be said that the tea table was full of tragedies; throughout his tragic life, he was always someone else's pawn.

As a child, he was a pawn of his family, fighting for them.

In Konoha, he was a pawn of Hashirama, sacrificing his grudges for the sake of the village, only to be betrayed by his own clan.

Now they're just pawns of Black Zetsu, completely disoriented and unable to even perceive whether their own will is truly their own.

Li Yao's water-escape clones could see it all.

A proud person, yet living his whole life as a pawn in someone else's game—how pathetic and pitiful!

"But it's alright, now that I'm here, you don't have to be a pawn anymore."

Li Yao smiled as his water-escape clone remained hidden inside the wall.

With Madara dead, once Obito obtains the Kamui Sharingan, both Obito and Black Zetsu will die. Madara won't need to appear anymore; he can simply leave behind a legend in the hearts of the people.

Inside the base, after giving his instructions to Black Zetsu and White Zetsu, Madara was on the verge of death. However, just as he was about to die, he suddenly remembered something and, forcing himself to take another breath, asked White Zetsu, "Are you sure Li Yao really entered the Dragon Vein?"

"Ah..." White Zetsu Tobi was stunned for a moment, then said like a chick pecking at rice, "I'm very sure, Lord Madara, I swear on my bowels, I personally saw Li Yao being sucked into the power of the Dragon Vein."

"Phew...that's...good!"

Having received White Zetsu's assurance, Madara finally smiled with satisfaction and departed peacefully.

In his final moments, Ban was most worried about Li Yao, the man who had brought him such trouble.

Fortunately, Li Yao was devoured by the dragon vein and will never appear in this world again. He can now rest assured... oops, he can now wait for the day he is resurrected.

After Madara passed away, his body was brought back to life by a White Zetsu, but it was no longer Madara. Instead, it was a Black Zetsu clone that was impersonating Madara and continuing to guide Obito.

Unlike in the original work, where Madara personally guided Obito to become corrupted before he died.

In that battle, although only a clone of Madara died, the soul and consciousness of the clone were completely devoured by the black hole space, which still caused great damage to Madara.

This time, he couldn't even wait for Obito to wake up, so he could only leave it to his "will," Black Zetsu, to complete.

"The era of a powerful figure has ended!"

Seeing this, Li Yao's water-escape clone smiled inwardly and then quietly retreated, just as quietly as he had come.

Neither Black Zetsu nor Madara noticed the entire process.

soon.

On the ground, a transparent figure emerged from the ground and flew into the sky.

(End of this chapter)