Leaning against a big tree, sitting cross-legged on the grass, the reanimated Madara appeared calm.
A gentle breeze passed by, and like the fallen leaves scattered on the ground, his hair lifted in the wind.
Madara reached out his hand, wanting to feel the coolness brought by the breeze.
Unfortunately, in his reanimated form, he couldn't feel anything.
"It's almost time. As long as Kisame successfully captures the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, once the seal is complete, Kisame will bring me back to life."
"And I will become the second Ten-Tails Jinchuriki after the Sage of Six Paths."
To be honest, Madara absolutely hated his current reanimated body.
A body that has no sensation, no touch, no smell, and no taste. He was truly fed up with it.
Luckily, this kind of life would soon be over.
"Heh, has it finally come?"
After Madara lamented for a while, the people from Konoha finally appeared before him.
"You really made me wait... Hmm? Hashirama? You really have been revived."
Standing up, Madara was about to make a snide remark, but before he could finish, he saw the face of Senju Hashirama across from him.
At that moment, even without the sensations of his reanimated body, Madara felt a fire ignite inside him.
He really wanted to have a good fight with Hashirama.
On one hand, it was to feel the long-lost joy of battle.
On the other hand, he also wanted to show off his current strength in front of his good friend.
However, before he could challenge Hashirama to a fight, he saw his younger self, along with two Izunas.
This caused Edo Madara to lose his composure.
His younger self was whatever—he would just think that Konoha had brought out an imposter.
But what was up with the two Izunas?
Were they also imposters?
"Tch~ If we finish this quickly, I can head home. I've had enough of this idiot already."
Seeing Edo Madara looking somewhat dazed, the Second Madara felt like he was looking into a mirror.
Thinking about it, if it weren't for the appearance of the light screen, he would've ended up in the exact same situation as the person in front of him—humiliated, ashamed, and made a fool of.
Because of this, he wanted to finish off Edo Madara quickly so that his older self wouldn't keep acting foolish.
"Madara-san, don't rush. Let Izuna try first," Jiraiya said, holding back the Second Madara's desire to act, before turning to the two Izunas.
It was clear that Jiraiya wanted them to try and convince Edo Madara.
The two Izunas exchanged a glance, sighed at the same time, stepped forward, and both said, "Big brother." X2
"Wait a minute."
At this point, Edo Madara had already snapped out of his dazed state. He raised his hand to stop Izuna from speaking, then looked at the Konoha group and loudly asked, "Hashirama, what the hell is going on? Why are there two Izunas?"
Saying this, he pointed at the Second Madara, his expression angry as he continued, "And what's the deal with this fake?"
Hearing himself called a fake, Second Madara gritted his teeth and laughed angrily, saying, "Come, come, let me show you who the real fake is."
Seeing that Second Madara was about to make a move, Hashirama reacted quickly, grabbing him and whispering, "Calm down, Madara, this isn't his fault. He doesn't know the full story."
"Fine, but if he provokes me again, don't blame me."
Second Madara suppressed his anger, then stared hard at the Edo Tensei Madara.
Edo Tensei Madara didn't care much.
Even though his current Edo Tensei state made him look old, out of everyone here, only Hashirama was a match for him.
Strength brings confidence.
Facing the impatient Second Madara, Edo Tensei Madara wasn't angry, in fact, he even found it a little cute.
"Madara, the situation is a bit complicated."
After calming Second Madara down, Hashirama looked at Edo Tensei Madara with a complicated expression and said, "To put it simply, there are two Izunas in front of you, one is from here, and the other is from forty years ago."
"What do you mean by here, there, forty years ago? I don't understand what you're saying."
"Uh, never mind, just know that both Izunas are real, and both are your younger brothers."
"Both are real?"
Edo Tensei Madara was pleased.
He trusted Hashirama wouldn't lie to him.
"Izuna, come over here, let your big brother take a good look at you both."
Hearing this, the two Izunas walked over.
The reanimated Madara Uchiha crossed his arms, holding one Izuna in each arm. The scene suddenly became warmer.
"Big Brother, give up on your Moon Eye Plan. We don't stand a chance."
"Yeah, Big Brother, the Moon Eye Plan is a lie created by Black Zetsu. Its purpose is to release the sealed Kaguya."
The two Izunas hadn't forgotten their own matters. After a brief hug, they both began to persuade reanimated Madara.
Madara wasn't surprised by their persuasion.
When he found out that Izuna had been revived by Konoha, he knew that Jiraiya and the others would definitely send Izuna to try and convince him.
He just didn't expect that, to persuade him to surrender, they would make up such an absurd reason.
Did Black Zetsu really deceive him? Doesn't he know?
Did they really think Madara Uchiha was a fool?
After Black Zetsu appeared in the form of his own will, Madara had taken many indirect approaches to test it.
But the results of every test showed that Black Zetsu was indeed the embodiment of his own will.
It even knew the changes in his mindset from childhood. How could that be fake?
Moreover, Madara had learned about the Moon Eye Plan by reading the Uchiha clan's stone tablet.
Black Zetsu couldn't have tampered with the stone tablet, could it?
Without the Sharingan, it didn't have the ability to do that.
"Izuna, I know you must've been threatened by the people of Konoha. But it's okay, you two stay back and watch as I take care of them."
Seeing that Madara had said this much, the two Izunas realized that their persuasion had failed.
They shrugged toward Konoha's side and started running farther away.
I can't just run away. If a fight breaks out, they don't want to be caught in the crossfire.
"Madara, is there really nothing to discuss?"
"Come on, Hashirama. I've been waiting for this moment for a long time."
The attitude of the Edo Tensei Madara was resolute.
He was determined to carry out the Eye of the Moon plan, to fight with Hashirama, and to kill anyone else who wasn't relevant.
"Always dragging things out. In the end, aren't we still going to fight?"
Second Madara complained, then, without any honor, took the first move.
"Heh, didn't expect this fake to come rushing to his death."
If the Second Madara had decided to just leave and not take action, Edo Tensei Madara probably wouldn't have killed him.
After all, this fake really did look just like him.
He was so identical that it seemed like they were made from the same mold. Edo Tensei Madara didn't want to kill him.
But once he took the initiative, things changed.
Unless he was losing, anyone who dared to strike at him had to die.
With a thought, as the Second Madara rushed forward, Edo Tensei Madara grinned and quickly formed hand seals.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
Edo Tensei Madara's plan was simple: a large-scale Great Fireball Jutsu that could not only deal with the fake Madara in front of him but also hit Hashirama and the others in the back.
It was a two-in-one deal, which was incredibly efficient.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
But what he didn't expect was that the fake Madara was quick on his feet, also using the same jutsu, and it looked even bigger than his own.
"Impossible, who are you really?"
The two massive flames clashed, and because Edo Tensei Madara hadn't used his full strength, he couldn't overpower the other's flames.
Covered in flames, the reanimated Madara stared in disbelief at the imposter before him, trying to figure out who this person was.
"Tch, don't you get it? I am you, just forty years ago."
Reanimated Madara: ????
I didn't study much, don't lie to me.
Forty years ago?
Forty years ago, I wasn't that young either, right?
Wait, young?
Reanimated Madara glanced at the equally Second Tobirama and Hashirama, then looked back at the imposter.
It was then that he truly began to believe the person in front of him was, in fact, himself from forty years ago.
*********
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