Uchiha Madara Enters the Body

"Everyone was equal in death…"

Uchiha Itachi held his forehead. He clearly knew that Mercenary Tao had been trying to mislead him, and that most of what the man said was frighteningly extreme.

But combined with his own experiences, his disappointment in his clan, and his disappointment in Konoha’s higher-ups, he found himself believing Mercenary Tao’s words more and more.

Beyond good and evil, the man was indeed "fair."

Mercenary Tao’s cruelty was indiscriminate. Good people would not be spared because of it, and evil people feared it just the same.

Not yet thirteen years old, Uchiha Itachi looked at Bai Cangshu. As he continued thinking, all kinds of thoughts began to emerge. At first, he had still entertained the idea of assassinating Mercenary Tao, but after witnessing the man’s absolute strength, he slowly began to learn from him, using his words to contemplate the true nature of this world.

Boom!

Crack, crack—

The air seemed to have been fired from an invisible cannon. The excessively compressed air distorted space into seeming ripples, while Blazing White currents howled from violent friction all around. The terrifying force of the punch, carried by the air cannon, blasted through Uchiha Obito’s body and ploughed through the forest behind him.

"Uchiha Obito, go back. Without reclaiming Kakashi’s eye, you are no match for me."

Bai Cangshu’s punch missed, and he waved a hand, signaling Obito that he could leave.

Beneath the mask, Uchiha Obito’s mouth twitched. He tilted his head slightly and noticed the trees collapsed dozens of meters behind him. Even though the punch had missed, the force it released and the air blast it stirred up were already this destructive.

He had clearly avoided the attack using Kamui, yet the other man acted as though he simply did not want to fight him.

Tch, this really was… hopeless.

Obito recalled that instant just now, when the other man, wrapped in purple ripples, had crossed more than ten meters in a flash and appeared before him. That speed almost reminded him of when he had been defeated by Minato-sensei’s Flying Thunder God.

Fortunately, he had been mentally prepared beforehand, and he had not been in the middle of attacking, so he had not exposed an opening. At the critical moment, he activated Kamui again and made the punch miss.

Moreover, from the intelligence gathered earlier, Mercenary Tao’s defense was terrifyingly high. His only chance was probably to get close, use Kamui to drag the man into his Kamui Dimension, and then… starve him to death.

But Kamui was not especially fast to activate. With the reaction speed and mobility Mercenary Tao had displayed, he could easily break free. If Obito rashly approached and tried to restrain him, he could easily be killed in an instant.

Thoughts flashed through Uchiha Obito’s mind. He knew Mercenary Tao was telling the truth. He had originally planned to reclaim Kakashi’s eye in Konoha, but that damned woman had learned of everything beforehand and hidden Kakashi away.

If both of his eyes were intact…

A chill flashed through Uchiha Obito’s eyes. If he possessed Dual Kamui, then whether it was this Mercenary Tao or that woman, he would have a good chance of killing them instantly.

Bai Cangshu also found it somewhat regrettable. Obito’s Mangekyō Sharingan Kamui truly was a rare divine technique. Its priority was extremely high, while it also possessed powerful utility and life-saving capabilities.

Merely relying on the ability of one eye’s Kamui to phase himself out was enough to leave a physical fighter like him helpless.

As long as Obito could react, he could phase himself out and ignore any attack rooted in real space.

To kill someone like that, Bai Cangshu would have to either fully accommodate Satoru Gojo’s abilities right now, or let Satoru Gojo take over his body and use the overwhelming control of Domain Expansion: Unlimited Void to prevent Uchiha Obito from activating Kamui.

But neither was realistic at present. Although Bai Cangshu and Satoru Gojo shared a certain tacit understanding as beings of the same kind, he still could not hand over control of his body.

Nor would Satoru Gojo drop his guard and allow Bai Cangshu free use of all his abilities.

Bai Cangshu turned around and sat atop the Summoning Beast. In the distance, he could already see Ran taking out an optical instrument and scanning the ground. The place marked on the map was probably here.

He completely left his back exposed to Uchiha Obito, hoping the other man would come assassinate him. Only at the instant Uchiha Obito attacked him would he have a chance to kill him.

But after thinking for a moment, Uchiha Obito drifted backward, his figure gradually dissolving into space.

"Mercenary Tao, once I reclaim my eye…"

Bai Cangshu merely waved a hand and laughed loudly.

"You should be thanking me. I helped you eliminate a hidden danger."

At that moment, Ran shouted loudly.

"Found it! There’s a corpse here!"

Orochimaru appeared beside Ran in a Body Flicker. Looking at the aged, withered corpse, he became even more certain of his goal.

Even a ninja like Uchiha Madara, who together with Senju Hashirama had nearly dominated the entire Warring States Period, had ultimately only decayed to death in this barren grave.

How insignificant humans were.

That was the limit of short-lived species. No matter how breathtakingly brilliant someone was, they would ultimately be unable to withstand the passage of time.

Whoosh.

Bai Cangshu flashed over and arrived before Uchiha Madara’s corpse. With great interest, he weighed the corpse in his hands.

"With this amount of flesh, it should be enough to perform Impure World Reincarnation, right?"

Orochimaru nodded. The corpse had been well preserved, so naturally it was enough.

Impure World Reincarnation required a certain amount of the deceased’s flesh to perform the technique. This served as an anchor for the soul, calling it back from the Yellow Springs before placing it into another person’s body as a vessel. Dust would then cover the vessel, transforming it into the deceased’s appearance.

The upper and lower limits of a power system like Chakra were enormously far apart. Ordinary ninja could only throw Shuriken, move quickly, and cast low-level ninjutsu, yet high-level ninja could even accomplish something like reviving the dead to a certain degree.

Bai Cangshu immediately sat cross-legged nearby, his back to Orochimaru.

"Begin, Orochimaru. Put Uchiha Madara’s soul into my body."

Orochimaru looked at Mercenary Tao, an eerie smile appearing on his face.

"Aren’t you afraid I’ll take this opportunity to tamper with you?"

Bai Cangshu merely chuckled without answering.

But Orochimaru clearly saw the swaying purple ripples on the other man’s body flicker.

He stopped provoking this beast and directly began casting the technique on Uchiha Madara’s corpse.

Orochimaru instantly completed his hand seals. As Chakra surged, Uchiha Itachi led Hiranaka Hana and the barely breathing Danzo a little farther away.

In an instant, an extremely cold and silent aura began to emerge.

What Orochimaru could not see was the dense black aura beginning to emanate from Uchiha Madara’s corpse.

Bai Cangshu found that aura incomparably familiar.

He closed his eyes, as though he could once again hear the turbulent Yellow Springs. That river of death, soaked with countless yin spirits—its calm waters were stirred by Orochimaru’s Chakra.

Guided by Uchiha Madara’s flesh, a completely submerged soul rose from within it and slowly floated upward.

At last, it returned from the Yellow Springs to the world of the living.

Orochimaru sensed the state of his technique. He could not directly observe the Yellow Springs or souls, but after many experiments, he had come to grasp the boundary of whether the technique had succeeded.

Orochimaru looked at Mercenary Tao’s back, pointed with both hands, and directly sent the summoned soul into Bai Cangshu’s body.

Normally, this step would directly kill the "vessel." No matter how strong or weak the summoned soul was, it was not something the living could touch.

Plop—

When something invisible entered his body, it actually made a distinct sound.

Bai Cangshu felt the icy soul enter his body and instantly sat upright.

You have come into contact with Spirit Entity: Uchiha Madara

You have used Trait: Yin Spirit Possession

Accommodating...

With his eyes closed, Bai Cangshu saw a man in black combat clothes and layered red armor opening his eyes indifferently within his mental space.

"…Impure World Reincarnation…"

"You are truly unlucky. Fine, then hand this body of yours over to me…"

Buzz!

The mental space shook violently. The next moment, a white Consciousness Space appeared. Uchiha Madara instantly looked down and saw countless black yin spirits raising their heads from a murky yellow river that stretched beyond sight.

As though they sensed a "newcomer," countless yin spirits shrieked and began fighting over one another again.

The densely packed black yin spirits piled atop each other. In moments, dozens of pitch-black Yin Spirit Towers appeared. They collided and merged, becoming terrifying towers hundreds of meters tall. One spirit after another tried to pull others down, climbing toward the highest point themselves.

The Yin Spirit Towers rapidly approached the throne suspended at the center of the pure white Consciousness Space.

On the throne sat a muscular and handsome man wearing an eerie, cruel smile. He looked at Uchiha Madara and spread his arms.

"Welcome to my… Yellow Springs."

Then, with a thought from Bai Cangshu, Uchiha Madara fell from the air. The towering Yin Spirit Towers swiftly seized the soul closest to the throne. Countless yin spirits, Grudge Spirits, and cursed spirits shrieked as they clawed at Uchiha Madara’s spirit body.

Uchiha Madara snorted coldly, and a powerful repulsive force erupted.

Boom!

The Yin Spirit Towers shattered in midair. Large numbers of yin spirits were blasted apart and fell into the Yellow Springs, where they began reviving once more.

Standing below, Satoru Gojo lifted the black blindfold covering his eyes. His eyes, flowing with blue skies and white clouds, met Uchiha Madara’s scarlet gaze.

"Tch, that guy brought back another incredible bastard…"

In another corner, the Death God’s body expanded as it continuously devoured other yin spirits. Yet while soaked in the Yellow Springs, yin spirits were constantly being separated from Its body again.

Even with Uchiha Madara’s arrogance, he frowned at the chaotic sight before him.

"Did Impure World Reincarnation fail?"

"What exactly is this man’s soul…?"

You have accommodated Spirit Entity: Uchiha Madara

Energy +3, currently: ?

"Uchiha Madara, if you want this body, defeat these guys first…"

Bai Cangshu smiled mockingly. Then, as tens of thousands of yin spirits below began to riot and even the Yellow Springs started churning, he withdrew from the Throne of the Heart.