This truth was indeed a massive blow to Madara.
"Hahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHA!", Madara couldn't help but laugh, dragging his aging body along. His laughter was as unrestrained as it had been in his prime.
He recalled the battle he had with Hashirama at the Valley of the End.
Hashirama had changed his thinking and used a wooden clone to deceive him, while his real body appeared behind him, piercing his chest with a blade.
That was the first time he had experienced betrayal. That betrayal had torn his heart apart but also strengthened his convictions.
"You changed first, Hashirama!"
"I will learn from you. Anything that stands in my way, I will cut down!"
However, he never expected to be betrayed again.
If the stone tablet left behind by the Sage of Six Paths had been altered by Black Zetsu, if the Eye of the Moon Plan could not bring peace, then everything he had insisted on—how laughable was it?
Thus, he laughed maniacally, laughed until his voice was hoarse, completely ignoring the fact that he was now an old man, that laughing so hard could even cause a brain hemorrhage.
Obito watched and couldn't help but feel pity for Madara. He sighed, "In the future, Black Zetsu controlled me and dug out your heart from behind. You wouldn't want to experience that again, would you?"
Madara stopped laughing and looked at Obito, "So, after realizing the Eye of the Moon Plan was a lie, you rejected it and even used the space-time ability of your Mangekyō to return to the past, hoping to change everything?"
Obito shook his head, "I'm not sure if my Mangekyō can really reverse time. In the end, I died as well. I only wanted to join Rin in the Pure Land."
"But suddenly, inexplicably, I did return to the past. Since I'm back, I might as well try to change things."
After a pause, Obito continued, "Besides, I gave up on the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan much earlier. Even without Black Zetsu's betrayal of you, I had already stopped obsessing over it."
Madara was puzzled. He asked, "Why?"
Obito couldn't help but recall the Allied Shinobi Forces standing behind Naruto.
"To gather the nine-tailed beasts and activate the Infinite Tsukuyomi, I had no choice but to declare war on the Five Great Nations simultaneously. During that war, I suddenly realized that so many people fought with all their might, refusing to fall into what we believed to be a beautiful dream."
"At that time, I thought. If Infinite Tsukuyomi was truly right, then everyone should feel happy, shouldn't they? Why were so many people willing to die resisting it?"
Madara was momentarily stunned but then refuted, "Obito, you are thinking too one-sidedly."
"Although I didn't experience that battle, I understand that most of those who opposed you were from the Five Great Shinobi Villages, correct?"
"They represent the interests of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. They want to maintain their lofty positions, so they cannot tolerate anyone challenging their authority."
"Have you ever thought that those people deserve to die? If they were all eliminated, wouldn't the shinobi world become a better place?"
Obito fell silent for a moment.
He recalled how, during the Fourth War, the daimyos of various nations were protected by the Five Great Shinobi Villages. These people controlled the shinobi world, oppressed civilians, and dictated the rules and systems that reduced shinobi to mere tools, leaving the world in ruins.
If, after becoming the second Sage of Six Paths, he had been more resolute and killed all the daimyos and their subordinates, perhaps the world would have become just as Madara envisioned—better.
But then, he sneered, "Yes, Madara, you make sense. I once held a similar view. The Five Great Nations do not represent the entire shinobi world, only their own interests. But from another perspective, does that mean all shinobi from the Five Great Nations are not people? That they don't deserve to live?"
"What you did was sacrifice everyone else's lives to protect your own interests. So, how are you any different from the Five Great Nations?"
"You are merely more violent, more ruthless, and more extreme than them."
Madara sneered and retorted, "So, you've been assimilated by Konoha, haven't you?"
"Because that place holds emotions you can't let go of, a life you desire, correct?"
"Just like when I left Konoha, everyone was immersed in their happiness, and no one was willing to follow me anymore."
Obito suddenly realized. It was true.
Unknowingly, he had started to represent Konoha's interests.
Through his time with Rin, Kakashi, Minato-sensei, Kushina-nee, and the Uchiha clan, he had become unwilling to see this happiness destroyed.
If he could protect this happiness, he was willing to pay any price.
In the end, he was still selfish. Compared to this happiness, the shinobi world and peace seemed unimportant.
But—was that wrong?
Obito became agitated, "Then, Madara, aren't we just running away?"
"Did you execute the Eye of the Moon Plan for the sake of peace, or because you were betrayed by Hashirama, betrayed by the Uchiha, and left with no one by your side?"
"You felt an unprecedented emptiness, so you needed a grand lie to fill it, didn't you?"
"So, wasn't this plan born from your abandonment by others. Your desire to abandon the world? You, too, are selfish!"
Madara suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.
He couldn't help but wonder—if at the Valley of the End, Hashirama had not betrayed him but had instead extended his hand again, what would he have done?
If, when he left the village, there had been Uchiha willing to follow him, what would he have done?
Perhaps he would have made the same choices, but his heart would not have been as devoid of softness as it was now.
People, in the end, are influenced by others. Even live for them.
In that moment, Madara, already aged, seemed to grow even older.
Obito noticed his condition and asked, "Madara, have you developed a death wish?"
Madara smiled bitterly, "Yes, I don't care anymore. No matter when you changed your mind, in the end, Infinite Tsukuyomi was just a lie. No matter what I did to make you my pawn, I was still Black Zetsu's pawn."
"I... don't want to be a pawn anymore. Even if I still believe in Infinite Tsukuyomi... forget it."
"Can you tell me about Kaguya Ōtsutsuki?"
Obito sat down on a flat piece of ground in front of Madara and began speaking slowly.
"Kaguya Ōtsutsuki was not a native of this world. She came from beyond the heavens."
"It was her arrival that spread chakra throughout the shinobi world. That's why she's also called the progenitor of chakra, the Rabbit Goddess."
"But she…", At this point, Obito hesitated for a moment because his knowledge of these things was pieced together from fragments, "She seemed to be facing a powerful external enemy."
"So, she began using Infinite Tsukuyomi to extract chakra from humans, turning them into White Zetsu. This not only strengthened her but also created a White Zetsu army."
Madara spoke, "So that was the true purpose of Infinite Tsukuyomi? To collect scattered chakra and unite it into one whole?"
Obito nodded, "Yes. This act was opposed by her two sons, who joined forces to seal her away."
"One of them is someone you are very familiar with. Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo. He founded Ninshū and spread the use of chakra, hoping that chakra could connect people's hearts and lead them to mutual understanding."
"He was later known as the Sage of Six Paths."
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