"Finally, I've been waiting for you!"
Sasuke narrowed his eyes slightly, staring at the long-haired man hovering in midair.
"Your resurrection is perfect timing… it gives me the chance to personally judge you!"
With a low growl, Sasuke stomped hard, launching himself into the air.
Whoosh!
Drawing the Kusanagi Sword from his waist, Sasuke closed in on Madara, unleashing a relentless barrage of attacks.
Madara retreated calmly, his movements were extremely graceful. His movements were fluid and precise, dodging Sasuke's strikes with the barest of effort.
Watching Sasuke with keen interest, Madara couldn't shake a sense of familiarity.
In order to confirm his suspicion, Madara abruptly stopped retreating and caught the sharp Kusanagi Sword with his bare hand.
"Hmm?"
Sasuke was confused by Madara's action. He tried to pull the blade back, but it was as if it were clamped tightly in a vice.
"I see."
Madara said with a faint smile, "I feel it, your Mangekyo is straight! No wonder you are so agile..."
The so-called Straight Mangekyo can only be possessed by the reincarnation of Indra, the son of Sage of Six Paths.
Recognizing Sasuke as another reincarnation, Madara's interest grew. (T/N: The Author smoking something. They make up about the so-called Straight Mangekyo and also make Madara knew about Indra's reincarnation.)
"Why not join forces with me to create a new world?"
In response to Madara's cordial invitation, Sasuke's answer was simple and resolute.
"Join forces? As the true culprit behind the Uchiha Clan's massacre, what right do you have to speak of cooperation?"
Sasuke released his grip on the sword, disappearing in a flash and reappearing behind Madara, aiming to catch him off guard.
However, just as Sasuke's lightning-fast assault was about to land, his body froze abruptly. It felt as if he'd hit an invisible wall.
"What's this?"
Sasuke tried to retreat but found another invisible barrier behind him. He was effectively trapped within a transparent crystalline prison, unable to move.
Madara flipped the Kusanagi Sword, turned to look at Sasuke, and said calmly, "In order to protect something, sacrifices must be made. Even if those sacrifices are friends, brothers, blood relatives, or even one's own children."
Hearing this, Sasuke gritted his teeth in fury.
Madara's words made it clear… he was willing to sacrifice everything for his selfish desires.
For Sasuke, this eliminated any guilt he might have felt about going against his ancestor. Someone like Madara didn't deserve to be called a forebear.
Pfft!
Before Sasuke could devise a way to escape his restraints, a sharp pain shot through his abdomen.
"I've already given you a chance, but you didn't cherish it. What a pity!"
Raising the hilt of the Kusanagi Sword, Madara revealed that the blade had already pierced through Sasuke's stomach. With a casual lift, Sasuke was hoisted into the air, impaled on the sword.
"Pfft!"
Sasuke coughed up a mouthful of blood.
The Kusanagi Sword had penetrated his back, and the splattered blood stained the Uchiha Clan's emblem on his back.
Bang!
With a flick of his wrist, Madara hurled Sasuke to the ground with force.
"The fact that you possess these eyes proves that you've lost much and still strive for more. But all of that ends here."
Madara said indifferently, "Losing yourself will mark the true end!"
"Cough! Cough!"
Lying limp on the ground, Sasuke spat out another mouthful of blood. The stabbing pain in his abdomen was almost unbearable, but he stubbornly struggled to rise, refusing to give up.
He can't die… at least, not yet.
He hadn't avenged the Uchiha Clan. How could he perish now?
He absolutely couldn't die here!
Reaching into his pocket, Sasuke retrieved a small white pill and swallowed it with great effort.
The pill dissolved instantly, transforming into a warm flow of energy that began to nourish his wounds.
"Hmm?"
Madara watched with interest as Sasuke's wound, which is clearly a fatal injury, began to heal rapidly before his eyes.
In just a few seconds, the gaping wound had completely closed.
"Huff!"
Taking a deep breath, Sasuke flipped himself upright and leaped back to create distance from Madara.
"Looks like I underestimated you earlier. I didn't expect you to have some real skill!"
With his body back to peak condition, Sasuke's confidence returned.
"Interesting."
Madara remarked indifferently.
Sasuke snorted coldly, "What's so interesting? You old fossil, don't view me through your outdated lens. I didn't lose anything to awaken the Mangekyo!"
The promotion to two-tomoe was the stimulation of Naruto's Genjutsu, the promotion to three-tomoe was the stimulation of Naruto being taken away by Itachi, and the promotion to Mangekyo was the stimulation of Naruto being poisoned to death.
But in the end, all these events were just well-meaning illusions created by Naruto.
Sasuke hadn't truly lost anything.
As for evolving into the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, it wasn't even through loss or pain but thanks to a mysterious medicine provided by the black-robed figure.
If there was any moment of loss in his life, it was when he first activated the single-tomoe Sharingan… witnessing the massacre of the Uchiha Clan.
And the true culprit behind all that destruction stood before him now: this selfish man!
"You're the one I will never forgive!"
Sasuke prepared to charge at Madara.
"Sasuke, take it now!"
The black-robed figure reminded.
"Take that?"
Although Sasuke hesitated, Madara's overwhelming strength forced him to reconsider.
This wasn't just about raw power, it was a matter of their very realms of existence. Sasuke needed a fundamental transformation before being able to compete with Madara at the same level.
"It seems I have no choice!"
Sasuke sighed and pulled out a spiral-shaped pill from his pocket.
"Oh?"
Madara observed Sasuke with interest, making no move to stop him.
Sasuke's confidence in the pill suggested it could instantly turn the tide in his favor. This arrogance intrigued Madara, and he wanted to see what would happen.
"Hurry up and unleash your power. I hope it's enough to entertain me!"
With his Rinnegan and his body at its peak thanks to the resurrection, Madara was eager to test his own strength.
"As you wish!"
Sasuke snorted coldly and swallowed the spiral-shaped pill in one gulp.
The pill dissolved immediately, not dispersing through his body but targeting his brain… more precisely, his eyes.
"Argh!"
Sasuke screamed as a mix of cool stinging and fiery heat assaulted his vision, a sensation akin to accidentally getting menthol in his eyes.
The alternating sensations of burning and cooling brought both pain and exhilaration.
After about a minute, Sasuke reopened his eyes.
This time, two blinding beams of violet light erupted from them.
"How is this possible!?"
Madara's calm demeanor faltered as he witnessed Sasuke's transformation.
"Could it be... has the era truly changed?"
A storm brewed in Madara's mind.
Because Sasuke's eyes had transformed… they were now Rinnegan!
To awaken the Rinnegan, one normally required the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan combined with Hashirama's cells, and even then, success depended on the body's ability to adapt.
Yet Sasuke had achieved it with just a single pill!
Madara struggled to accept this new reality.