Staring intently at the black-robed figure, Masked Madara dared not show the slightest negligence.
The cavern descended into a heavy silence.
After a long while, Masked Madara laughed strangely, "I look forward to our next meeting… if you're still this lucky then, Uchiha Sasuke..."
As he spoke, his body began twisting, forming a vortex reminiscent of his entrance.
Bang!
Before Sasuke could react, the black-robed figure flared with green light.
Just as the vortex was about to engulf Masked Madara completely, his eerie laughter abruptly stopped.
"Impossible! How is this possible!"
With the cavern now bathed in the green light, the swirling vortex enveloping Masked Madara vanished in an instant.
"Trying to escape? Not on my watch."
The black-robed figure said coldly.
There was no way she would let Masked Madara flee. He was Sasuke's greatest enemy, and his words moments ago had implied an intent to use his Space-Time Ninjutsu to ambush Sasuke when least expected.
Such hidden dangers had to be eradicated directly!
"Sasuke, I can't give you the luxury of torturing him slowly. My abilities can only seal off his Space-Time Ninjutsu temporarily. I'll disable him completely and leave you one hour for your vengeance."
Without waiting for a reply, the black-robed figure darted toward Madara. Before he could complete a hand seal, her slender hand emerged from her robe, transforming into a fearsome claw. She then slammed him into the ground with a single strike.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A relentless barrage of blows left Madara utterly incapacitated. Even his mask shattered and fell away.
"Hmm?"
The black-robed figure let out a small sound of surprise.
"What's wrong?"
Sasuke asked.
The black-robed figure explained, "This guy is not the real Uchiha Madara. Danzo has seen the real Uchiha Madara, and this man's face doesn't match!"
"What on earth is going on?"
Sasuke frowned slightly, 'Is it not over yet?'
Without thinking too much, Sasuke said, "It doesn't matter. Anyone involved in this deserves no mercy. Disable him… I'll handle the rest!"
"Got it!"
The black-robed figure nodded. She then took out several dark green pills from her sleeve and shoved them into Masked Madara's mouth.
Masked Madara struggled, but the pills dissolved instantly upon entering his mouth. A chilling sensation flooded his body, spreading to his limbs and paralyzing him completely.
"Try this one, too." The black-robed figure said with a rare hint of amusement, popping a purple pill into Masked Madara's mouth.
"What's that?"
Sasuke was immediately interested.
The black-robed figure explained, "This pill heightens all sensory perceptions by a hundredfold and keeps the victim fully conscious."
"Sounds like Itachi's Tsukuyomi made manifest..."
Sasuke's eyes gleamed with cruel anticipation.
One hour had initially seemed insufficient to Sasuke, but with the enhancement of amplified senses, every second of pain would feel like an eternity for Masked Madara. It was the perfect tool for his revenge.
"He's completely immobilized now. The rest is up to you."
As she said that, the black-robed figure took the initiative to leave the cave and even erected a green energy barrier, blocking all sound from escaping.
Sasuke understood that the black-robed figure didn't want to witness his darker side.
This gave Sasuke the freedom to unleash his full fury and enact his vengeance as he saw fit.
"Are you ready?"
Sasuke, his Sharingan filled with fury, stepped forward deliberately toward the fallen Masked Madara...
Outside the cave, in the normally dreary skies of Amegakure, the weather was a rare clear and sunny day. Birds chirped energetically, their songs carried by the breeze.
Inside the cave, however, it was a symphony of screams… an unrelenting cacophony that painted the scene as hell on earth.
An hour passed, neither too short nor too long.
As time neared its end, the black-robed figure re-entered the cave. The green light sealing the space flickered faintly, signaling its imminent dissipation.
"Time's almost up. End it cleanly!"
The black-robed figure reminded.
"Understood!"
Sasuke replied darkly.
At this moment, Sasuke's body was covered in blood, his eyes were already blood red. On the ground, Masked Madara lay in a mutilated state, with bones exposed, flesh stripped away in patches… a gruesome spectacle reminiscent of execution by a thousand cuts.
"I have cut off your flesh and blood for hundreds of members of the Uchiha Clan to comfort their souls in the afterlife. And this final strike is for the childhood you stole from me. This is the price you pay!"
Masked Madara, breathing raggedly, could not utter a single word.
His silence was not only due to his injuries but also because his voice had long given out after an hour of unending screams.
As the green glow dimmed further, signaling the barrier's end, Masked Madara's Sharingan flickered in a desperate attempt to activate Kamui and escape. But Sasuke acted decisively, his blade slicing cleanly through Masked Madara's neck, severing his head from the body.
Blood sprayed in arcs, staining the cave red as the life drained from Madara's body!
"Sasuke, are you alright?"
The black-robed figure asked with genuine concern.
Sasuke waved his hand, "I'm fine, check his memories."
Slumping to the ground, Sasuke panted heavily. The vengeance he had just enacted filled him with an inexplicable, bitter satisfaction… yet he felt something was missing.
The main reason is that the face under the mask is not Uchiha Madara's.
This left Sasuke uneasy, convinced that other culprits might still remain hidden. Until every enemy responsible was slain, his vengeance would remain incomplete.
Moments later, the black-robed figure finished her memory probe and sighed deeply, "Sasuke, it's true. He was involved in the massacre of your clan. You didn't kill the wrong man. But… it's not as simple as you think."
"Is knew it!" Sasuke's freshly calmed eyes flared scarlet once more, "Who else is there?"
"This man's real name is Uchiha Obito. Uchiha Madara asked him to do everything before he died. This Obito is a pitiable pawn in his own right. Although his memories are vague, my analysis, combined with others' recollections, leads to one conclusion."
With resolute conviction, the black-robed figure continued, "Nagato's Rinnegan was implanted by Uchiha Madara. Obito was manipulated by Madara as well. Madara's ultimate goal seems clear: he couldn't accept dying of old age and sought resurrection through the Rinnegan."
"What do you mean?"
Sasuke asked in doubts.
The black-robed figure elaborated, "Nagato received the Rinnegan as a child and has no memory of how it happened. Obito, however, has seen Madara's Rinnegan. This suggests Nagato's eyes originally belonged to Madara. Moreover, the Biju Capture Plan Obito followed was devised by Madara. Everything leads back to him."
"In the end, Madara likely intended for Nagato to fail, at which point he'd use the Rinnegan's powers to revive himself. Obito was merely a tool to gather the Biju, all to achieve the so-called Eye of the Moon Plan."
"So you're saying the catalyst for all of this, the massacre, the chaos, was the Uchiha Clan's ancestor himself?"
Sasuke couldn't believe it. But the black-robed figure's explanation was too logical to dismiss.
Still, the idea was unbearable to him. His clan's ancestor had sacrificed his descendants in pursuit of his own ambitions. Yet, if anyone was capable of such cold, calculated ruthlessness, he knew it would be Madara himself.
"Damn it…" Sasuke muttered, his voice trembling, "Why did it have to be this way..."