Speedrunning Naruto to the Top

"So this is the moon?"

Occupying the Second Tsuchikage's body with his own consciousness, Uchiha Madara flew while invisible, scanning his surroundings and murmuring, "It's so desolate here…not a single trace of chakra. What's going on?"

He had anticipated that, upon voluntarily releasing the seal on the space-time portal and effectively "inviting" the enemy onto the moon, Ōtsutsuki Toneri would lie in wait—either at the portal itself or on the other side.

And yet, along the way, Madara had only seen a few disabled animal puppets; not a single active puppet anywhere, let alone any clan members standing by in ambush. It was all extremely strange.

Not even Madara, for a moment, could see through Toneri's plan. So as he explored the moon, he transmitted information back to his main body in real time.

As soon as his Wood Clone had cast Edo Tensei, Madara himself departed Amegakure, taking under half an hour to reach the portal's entrance. Receiving the Wood Clone's updates, he went straight into the green lake, swiftly passing through the space-time portal to the moon.

Black Zetsu hadn't joined him, purely out of caution—he was afraid. He feared that the brothers Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo (the Sage of Six Paths) and Ōtsutsuki Hamura might have left some security measure on the moon. If Madara ventured in and triggered that, or if they cut him off and sealed him inside, it would doom him.

If Madara died, Black Zetsu could still attempt to craft a "third" pair of Rinnegan in some future scenario to free "Mother." But if Black Zetsu himself died, Kaguya would truly have no chance. So he didn't dare gamble.

Still, Black Zetsu longed to see his mother, so he directed White Zetsu clones to slip inside the moon using their Mayfly Technique to reach the sealed Kaguya, imprisoned by Six Paths: Chibaku Tensei.

Currently, Kaguya has not been buried by the mass of Yin-chakra stone. She rested in some pitch-black dimension like a sleeping beauty, but White Zetsu still couldn't get close or break that seal.

Even if the moon were cut in half, she couldn't awaken unless the seal was shattered. Because the moon itself was a huge Chibaku Tensei creation, rising into space to absorb "yin stones" from beyond.

As long as the seal was intact, the moon would draw on the sun's energy to power that seal. Similar to how Toneri, forcibly possessed by countless Byakugan, drifted into space and absorbed solar power until his body swelled.

Standing near the silent Kaguya, White Zetsu watched from a distance, and Black Zetsu inwardly vowed, Mother, do not worry. I will save you!

Returning to the moon's surface, the White Zetsu clone found Madara wandering an abandoned city that bore signs of having been destroyed by Silver/Golden Wheel Reincarnation Explosions. It raised an arm, pointing to the artificial sun high above:

"Milord Madara, the enemy is up there."

"That must be the source of the sunlight, I see." Madara's gaze lifted to the shining orb, a faint spark of interest. Deactivating his invisibility, Madara switched the Rinnegan back to Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, summoned Perfect Susanoo, and soared toward the artificial sun in his giant blue warrior avatar.

Drawing the samurai blade at its waist, he slashed open a large rift in the golden barrier. Then, condensing the Susanoo's size, Madara slipped through and entered the interior. The barrier quickly resealed, leaving White Zetsu and Black Zetsu to watch from afar, hoping Madara's plan would succeed.

Once inside, Madara promptly sensed someone's chakra. What puzzled him:

"Only one single chakra signature?" he muttered. "So they moved everyone else out, leaving me to fight…someone alone?"

He couldn't comprehend the logic, but gave no leeway. He flew onward toward the palace. Drawing near, he refrained from having his Perfect Susanoo hack the palace apart—no "opening greeting" of that sort.

Instead, he released Susanoo, eyes shifting to the Rinnegan, and glided to the palace gates. Stepping inside, the place was dimmer without the sun's direct light. Only a few burning torches along the hall, and from his Rinnegan vantage, he saw a luminous chakra presence as brilliant as moonlight in the darkness.

Proceeding closer, the humanoid chakra silhouette sharpened into that of someone who appeared about sixteen or seventeen—a youth wearing white robes lined with black tomoe, seated on a throne, resting his face on the back of his hand. Two pale horns sprouted from his forehead, and his eyes glowed with a blue-white radiance. He seemed to be scrutinizing Madara in turn.

Observing the youth disguised as "Ōtsutsuki Toneri" and adjusting his chakra signature to match Toneri's (thanks to prior absorption), Madara focused on those white dragon horns. His voice betrayed amusement:

"Your appearance differs from what I'd pictured. Are all the Ōtsutsuki just horned mutants?"

"That's the hallmark of a higher life form." The youth—who was actually Izayoi—remained seated, yet exuded a lofty, condescending aura. In a tone of distaste, he said, "Only the pureblooded Ōtsutsuki can bear such horns. Thanks to them, I awakened the Tenseigan at a young age. Meanwhile, you needed to steal Hashirama's power, wait to grow old and senile, and barely then awaken Hagoromo's Rinnegan."

"Aha… So you already know the Rinnegan used by Nagato was originally mine. Did you learn of that via Gedo Statue? You said 'Hagoromo…' So that's the Sage of Six Paths' real name, apparently also tied to the Ōtsutsuki clan?"

So the guess was confirmed. Fixing his eyes on Izayoi, Madara continued, "If the Sage's descendants formed the Uchiha, Senju, Uzumaki, all you need to do is unify their powers to open the Rinnegan. Now your Ōtsutsuki clan, do they remain on earth? You have the Tenseigan. Why sneer at the Rinnegan, calling the Sage a 'failure'? Is it just because you sprouted horns?"

All these doubts were why Madara hadn't launched an immediate assault. He had too many questions. Not least: Did this "Ōtsutsuki Toneri" know about the Ten-Tails? If so, why not hunt down the Bijū, or block Ten-Tails' revival, but instead aim to reclaim the Gedo Statue? Could he secretly want to become the Ten-Tails Jinchūriki while outwardly scorning the Rinnegan?

Izayoi (Toneri) did not answer. Instead, leaning his cheek on one hand, he flashed a sinister grin reminiscent of "War Arc Madara's smirk." He said playfully, "Interesting. So you've been guided by the 'Ōtsutsuki Black Zetsu' to obtain the Rinnegan, yet you claim you never learned the origins of chakra?"

"Ōtsutsuki Black Zetsu…?" Madara's brow furrowed, tension flaring inside him. "Black Zetsu is my will incarnate. Are you trying to sow discord?"

"Ah… So just another pitiful pawn." Izayoi turned scornful, eyes pulsing with radiant blue and white. "In that case, let me show this frog in a well the truth behind this world."

Next instant, Madara's vision reeled, everything rewinding in a blur. When it settled, he was no longer on the moon but back on Earth.

In front of him stood a pale-haired, white-eyed woman, horns on her head, catching a gleaming fruit that fell from a divine tree. She bit into the fruit, an eye of Rinne-Sharingan bursting open along her forehead. Then she rose into the sky, unleashing incomparably vast power, ripping open the heavens and warping space. A star out in the cosmos manifested a giant Rinne-Sharingan, shining red with nine tomoe. That colossal Rinne-Sharingan cast white rays over the entire world, rendering all humans unconscious. The Divine Tree's roots erupted, binding them into cocoons.

Even lacking Ten-Tails Jinchūriki powers, Madara recognized the Jutsu as the Infinity Tsukuyomi promised in the Stone Tablet's text. Yet it was unleashed by this woman, not the Sage of Six Paths. Hadn't the latter developed "Infinite Tsukuyomi" to end all war? The God of Shinobi, the origin of chakra, was Hagoromo, who sealed the Ten-Tails…so what was going on?

A voice that seemed to be Izayoi's echoed in Madara's ear:

"In ancient times, a Divine Tree stood upon this world, bearing fruit every thousand years. This was the 'Chakra Fruit.' The woman who ate it was named Ōtsutsuki Kaguya. She seized unrivaled power to quell all earthly strife, worshipped by humans as the 'Rabbit Goddess.'"

"She long ruled the Earth and bore twin sons. The older, Hagoromo, the younger, Hamura. Both inherited her might."

The scene changed, showing the grown Hagoromo and Hamura with Byakugan.

"Why do they have Byakugan?" Madara muttered. If the Sage was truly the ancestor of the Uchiha and Senju, shouldn't it be the Sharingan? The mother had Byakugan as well. Did that mean the Hyūga clan was also from the Ōtsutsuki clan? Then he recalled Kaguya's brow eye was a Rinne-Sharingan. Soon enough, the images clarified:

Hagoromo's Byakugan mutated into Sharingan after he studied Sage Arts, then advanced to Rinnegan. Together, the two brothers sealed Kaguya. Throughout this, Izayoi's voice continued explaining, letting Madara realize that the Infinity Tsukuyomi was designed not for "peace" but to create White Zetsu. Madara's expression twisted as if his dream had shattered.

But he wasn't fully convinced yet. He had indeed once used Hashirama's cells to create White Zetsu, so some of this might be real. The next scenes made him even gloomier: Kaguya sealed away, the Ten-Tails becoming the Sage's Jinchūriki, and eventually splitting its chakra into nine Bijū.

Meanwhile, Hamura led certain clansmen to the moon with the Gendō Mazō, leaving behind those who had witnessed Indra and Ashura's conflict. Scenes showed Black Zetsu repeatedly bewitching each generation's leading Uchiha, revealing he'd tampered with the Stone Tablet. All culminating in Madara's era with Hashirama, with Black Zetsu lurking behind everything.

He saw how White Zetsu was derived, how Black Zetsu replaced segments of the Stone Tablet. Finally, the fiasco of him acquiring the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, reading the tablet's mention of "creation of all things", and eventually shaping the Rinnegan.

Then how Gedo Statue's tube lets Black Zetsu infiltrate Madara's body in his old age…

Everything matched Madara's own memory except for the references to black-liquid child of Kaguya. Now he couldn't decide if it was all a lie.

If it was fake, how could it be so detailed, linking all eras from Kaguya onward with total consistency, instead of the "silhouette illusions" typical if Izayoi was forging it? And if it was real, why didn't the Sage or Hamura eradicate Black Zetsu? Or why did the Hyūga branch not come to Earth to slay him?

He felt dizzy from the revelations.

Crack! The illusions froze on the image of Madara creating Black/White Zetsu, fracturing like shards of glass.

~~~

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