Chapter 147

By the time Ryosuke opened his eyes again, the scene before him was completely different.

Through the Reverse Summoning Array, Ryosuke had arrived in another space.

In the wide and empty space, there was a wooden circular dome, and in the very center of the space was placed a wide wooden chair, where an old man with a dozen tubes inserted into his back was slumped.

Such a scene was one Ryosuke had seen countless times over the past two years.

Even after succeeding as Mizukage, Ryosuke still did not let his guard down when facing Uchiha Madara.

Over the past two years, Ryosuke had maintained close contact with Uchiha Madara, keeping a frequency of meeting Uchiha Madara at least once every three days.

To facilitate meeting Uchiha Madara and to prevent exposure, Ryosuke had directly set up a Reverse Summoning Array between his own basement and the underground space where Uchiha Madara was located.

In these two years of dealing with the devil, Ryosuke naturally knew that getting something for nothing was impossible with Uchiha Madara.

In order not to be exposed, Ryosuke was also willing to act as Uchiha Madara's assistant, using the power of the Hidden Mist Village to push Uchiha Madara's plans and doing quite a bit of dirty work.

However, today, as soon as Ryosuke entered this space, he clearly noticed the difference here.

Not only had the main body of the Divine Tree, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, disappeared, but Black and White Zetsu were also nowhere to be seen.

It seemed that something was about to happen.

Seeing this, Ryosuke narrowed his eyes, forcibly suppressing the excitement in his heart.

Two years had passed, and Uchiha Madara's old age was even more apparent; his originally gray hair had turned pure white, and the wrinkles on his face were as dense as a dried orange peel.

At this moment, Madara exuded an aura of decay, as if he could stop breathing at any moment.

"Cough, cough..."

"Ryosuke, you're here..."

A somewhat weak and aged voice rang in Ryosuke's ears.

This time seeing Ryosuke, Uchiha Madara's expression was a bit different, as if he were deliberately waiting for Ryosuke here.

Mizunuki Ryosuke smiled slightly and locked eyes with the old man sitting on the wooden chair, his gaze devoid of any ripples.

"Mr. Madara, you must take care of your body."

As he spoke, Ryosuke slowly approached Uchiha Madara and skillfully placed a hand on Madara's shoulder, as if this action often occurred between Madara and Ryosuke.

"Cough, cough..."

"No matter..."

"I will not die..."

Uchiha Madara waved his hand slowly, signaling that Ryosuke need not worry.

Seeing this, the deep look in Ryosuke's eyes became even more apparent.

"Ryosuke, you've done well these past few years."

"Our plan being able to proceed in an orderly fashion is also thanks to your help..."

Madara said powerlessly, the weakness in his tone hard to conceal.

"Mr. Madara, you are too kind."

"This is all I should do; for the future of peace in the ninja world, this is nothing."

As he spoke, Ryosuke's eyes were filled with sincerity and fanaticism, as if he were truly a fanatical believer in the Eye of the Moon plan.

Such a performance was almost second nature to Ryosuke now, and no one could see any flaws.

But who knew, after Ryosuke's words fell, Uchiha Madara suddenly stood up from the wooden chair.

"Hahahaha!!!!"

"Ryosuke, there will definitely be such a day."

"The peace of the ninja world will surely be created in your hands and mine!"

After shouting this sentence with indescribable madness, the next action Uchiha Madara took was something Ryosuke never expected.

"Pfft!"

Uchiha Madara pulled out the tubes behind him one by one, letting the unknown liquid in the tubes flow onto the ground.

You must know, these tubes were important tools for maintaining Uchiha Madara's residual body.

Removing these tubes was no different from committing suicide.

Seeing this, Ryosuke immediately pretended to be shocked and hurriedly asked in confusion.

"Mr. Madara, what are you doing?!"

"Without the tubes behind you, your body..."

Ryosuke immediately put on an expression of "the wound is on your body, the pain is in my heart."

Looking at Mizunuki Ryosuke's sorrowful eyes, which were worth at least ten Oscar statuettes, a hint of gratification appeared in Madara's eyes.

"It's okay, Ryosuke."

"My body can only support me to this point..."

After pulling out the tubes behind him, it seemed to be a flash of clarity before death, and Uchiha Madara's voice also regained some vitality.

"Mr. Madara!"

"But..."

Mizunuki Ryosuke pretended to be grief-stricken and said with a choked voice.

"Hahaha!!!"

"Rest assured, the peace of the ninja world will come one day."

"I will not die."

"Although this flesh is decaying, I still have consciousness remaining in the world."

"Black Zetsu is my consciousness clone; he will lead the plan to continue."

"When necessary, Black Zetsu will find you; you just need to assist Black Zetsu in continuing the plan."

Uchiha Madara laughed loudly, seemingly regaining some of the aura of a ninja world hegemon in his dying moments.

Only until this moment did Uchiha Madara reveal the "true identity" of Black Zetsu to Ryosuke.

"Then where did Mr. Black Zetsu go?"

Mizunuki Ryosuke showed an extremely surprised look, then revealed a puzzled expression, asking as if extremely confused.

But to this, Uchiha Madara just shook his head lightly, with no intention of revealing Black Zetsu's whereabouts.

Seeing this, Ryosuke didn't press further, but his eyes flickered slightly.

"Old thing, sure enough, he didn't completely trust me before he died."

"Only knows how to say ghost stories to fool me."

Ryosuke said to himself in his heart, while his face still carried a very excited expression, allowing Uchiha Madara to see no flaws.

"Ryosuke, take this."

"Perhaps it will be of some help to you."

Perhaps because he was about to die, Uchiha Madara took out two items from behind him.

One was a pitch-black ring engraved with the word "Zero," and the other was an ancient scroll.

"What is this, Mr. Madara?"

Mizunuki Ryosuke forcibly suppressed the excitement in his heart and pretended to ask Uchiha Madara in confusion.

"The use of the ring, when it's time for you to know, you will naturally know."

"And in the scroll, there are some little things that might be useful to you."

Mizunuki Ryosuke took the ring and scroll handed over by Uchiha Madara.

After putting the ring away, he opened the scroll and found that it recorded some uses of Yin-Yang Release.

If it were two years ago, Ryosuke would naturally have treated these Yin-Yang Release techniques as treasures, but after receiving the Yin-Yang Release inheritance from the Sage of Six Paths, Ryosuke no longer held the Yin-Yang Release sent by Madara in high regard.

Just as Madara said, these Yin-Yang Releases were indeed just some "little things," and there were no precious secret arts.

"Thank you, Mr. Madara!"

Even though he felt disdain for this in his heart, Madara still pretended to be moved to tears.

"Ryosuke, looking forward to meeting you again in the future."

A rare smile appeared on Uchiha Madara's aged face; he looked at Mizunuki Ryosuke with a meaningful gaze, his words seemingly having another meaning.

And Mizunuki Ryosuke, who knew everything about Madara's resurrection plan, naturally understood what the hidden meaning in Madara's words was.

"Mr. Madara, will we really meet again?"

Mizunuki Ryosuke said slowly, seemingly suppressing his emotions; although it was a question, it was now spoken by Ryosuke in the tone of a declarative sentence.

To this, Madara seemed not to have discovered anything unusual, just closed his eyes after showing a smile.

"Ryosuke, then let us wait and see."

After leaving this sentence, the aura on Uchiha Madara's body began to decline rapidly, like the tide receding from the sea.

Before long, Madara's body was like a piece of withered rotten wood, completely losing its last trace of vitality.

Looking again, he was as dead as dead could be.

Mizunuki Ryosuke stood on the spot for a long, long time...

Seemingly seeing off this hegemon of the ninja world.