Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 384 Uchiha Madara in the Pure Land: What's going on? Has the Shinigami been replaced?

Half a month has passed, and information has gradually spread throughout the ninja world.

The fact that Amegakure had mysteriously disappeared could not be kept secret; almost every ninja village knew about it.

Rumors began to circulate, saying that Amegakure had provoked Konoha and was subsequently wiped out by Jiraiya, one of the legendary Sannin, using a forbidden technique never before heard of.

After hearing these rumors, many ninja villages went to Konoha to inquire about the situation.

However, Konoha neither denied nor admitted to this matter.

After all, in a sense, isn't this exactly what Jiraiya did? It's just that it's not some forbidden technique, but a summoning technique.

Why should the Spirit Lord bear the responsibility? The Spirit Lord is just a spirit beast; how can he take the blame?

Having just subdued Sunagakure and made it a subordinate, Konoha then wiped out Amegakure. Suddenly, Konoha, which had seemed somewhat weak since the end of the Third Shinobi World War, became formidable, making the other major ninja villages very uneasy.

Gradually, some true news began to circulate in the ninja world, thanks to Konoha's deliberate relaxation of restrictions.

The legend of the Dragon Land Spirit Lord, one of the three holy lands, gradually became well-known among the higher-ups of the ninja world.

After absorbing several meteors, the planet Chibaku Tensei in the sky finally grew to the size of the moon, and the ninja world inexplicably gained two moons.

At night, two moons hang in the sky, a truly spectacular astronomical sight.

However, soon, many astronomers and scholars in the ninja world discovered that after that mysterious planet grew to the size of the moon, it stopped expanding. At the same time, the tidal changes and other phenomena that should have occurred in theory did not happen in a very strange way.

At least for now, apart from shining brightly at night and competing with the moon, it has no other impact on the ninja world.

In this situation, Konoha released another message saying that the asteroid was a secret technique of the Spirit Lord, and that everyone should not worry about anything.

From this point on, the Spirit Lord's fame truly resounded throughout the entire ninja world, and at the same time, the asteroid in the sky was tacitly referred to by everyone as "Illusory Moon".

In a valley in the Land of Rain, this was the original base of the Akatsuki organization during the reign of Hanzo the Salamander in Amegakure.

In the years since the Akatsuki took over Amegakure, the village had gradually fallen into disrepair. Now that Amegakure is gone, the remaining Akatsuki members have reactivated this abandoned base.

Inside the mountain cave, Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, Obito Uchiha, and the remaining members of Akatsuki—Black and White Zetsu—were gathered together discussing their future path.

Uchiha Itachi sat silently on the rock, listening to his friends' pointless discussion, feeling rather bored.

The reason he secretly infiltrated the Akatsuki organization was because he judged that the organization was highly threatening and might be plotting something big to overthrow the ninja world, so he was there to gather intelligence.

The result is terrible; it has turned into this terrible state, leaving Itachi Uchiha feeling very confused. In this state, is there still any need for him to remain in hiding?

Judging from the current situation, if he withdraws now, the Akatsuki organization might just dissipate on its own in a couple of days.

"Spirit Lord." Itachi Uchiha felt a mix of emotions. According to Black Zetsu, the Spirit Lord had said that his younger brother, Sasuke Uchiha, was currently training in Ryuchi Cave and was considered a disciple of the Spirit Lord.

This news left Itachi Uchiha with mixed feelings. On one hand, he was relieved that Sasuke had a powerful master and a strong backer. On the other hand, he felt that things were getting out of control and he was worried about how things would turn out.

Because he had something on his mind, Itachi Uchiha could no longer tolerate the noise. He stood up and walked out of the cave with a blank expression.

"Itachi-san!?" Kisame Hoshigaki glanced at Black Zetsu upon seeing this, then followed after him.

After the two of them left, Black Zetsu and Obito Uchiha looked at each other in silence.

After a long silence, Obito Uchiha said, "Clearly, the Eye of the Moon Plan is in trouble. With our current abilities, we are simply unable to resolve this predicament, so..."

At this point, his tone turned serious as he said, "We must bring that person out to take charge."

The "that person" he was referring to was undoubtedly Madara Uchiha.

According to Madara Uchiha's original plan, after collecting all the tailed beasts and making all the preparations, Nagato would use the Rinne Rebirth Technique to completely revive him and officially launch the Eye of the Moon Plan.

But now, both Nagato and the Rinnegan are sealed in the so-called Void Moon, hanging in the sky, enjoying the same treatment as Kaguya Otsutsuki, the goddess of the rabbit.

If Black Zetsu had the ability to release Nagato and retrieve the Rinnegan from that illusory moon, why would he bother with this whole plan? He could just go and rescue his mother, wouldn't that solve everything?

Obito Uchiha clearly lacked the ability to break the deadlock. Although it was equally uncertain whether Madara Uchiha possessed such an ability, well, let's just try anything, even if it seems hopeless.

Now that things have come to this, they have no other choice, do they?

After a moment of silence, Black Zetsu could only nod helplessly and say, "Given the current situation, this is indeed the only option."

Madara Uchiha is on a completely different level from the other ninjas; perhaps he really can break the deadlock?

"With the Rinnegan lost, what method do you intend to use to summon that person?" Obito Uchiha asked in a deep voice.

"The Impure World Reincarnation Technique." Black Zetsu sighed and said, "My master, Lord Uchiha Madara, also knew this forbidden technique. As a backup plan, it can be used to revive him in case the Rinnegan plan goes awry."

During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Madara Uchiha used the Impure World Reincarnation technique to break free from Kabuto Yakushi's control. While everyone else's souls returned to the Pure Land, he was still able to roam freely, demonstrating that he truly controlled the Impure World Reincarnation.

Madara Uchiha always believed that Black Zetsu was a product he created and a key to executing subsequent plans. Given his ruthless nature, how could he not make multiple preparations?

If something goes wrong with the Rinnegan, Edo Tensei is his other option.

"That's good. Let's prepare to carry out this plan and revive that person." Obito Uchiha nodded with a slight sigh of relief.

Clearly, Black Zetsu has been trying to find a solution since the destruction of Amegakure, but he hasn't come up with any ideas. So he has decided that if all else fails, he will revive Madara Uchiha to see if that can solve the problem. Therefore, he has prepared the medium needed for the Impure World Reincarnation.

For example, Madara Uchiha's body tissues, and the White Zetsu container.

Let's get right to it. Since things have come to this point, what's the point of delaying?

Soon, Obito Uchiha and Black Zetsu began setting up the ritual for the Impure World Reincarnation technique, preparing to revive Madara Uchiha in the Pure Land.

Meanwhile, in Ryuchi Cave, Bane had already withdrawn his interest from the illusory moon in the sky; for now, he figured it was fine to just let it hang there.

On the bed, Bane had once again transformed into a spirit form, constantly radiating soul power as if communicating with something.

At the same time, he was also holding the finger of death in his hand, using it as a guide.

As the terrifying soul energy continuously overflowed from his body, the space inside Ryuchi Cave gradually became less stable.

Orochimaru held a notebook in his hand, carefully observing the situation and recording it in detail for future use.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

A few days ago, with Bane's help, he successfully changed his container and returned to his original body, which he had cloned. It must be said, it felt very comfortable.

Without the side effects of resurrection, the Spirit Lord's intervention was simply perfect in this matter.

Meanwhile, after returning to his own body, Orochimaru began to practice the Spirit Transformation Technique, also aiming to achieve the state of unity between spirit and body.

Unfortunately, his hands were not his own soul, which made progress in the spiritualization technique very difficult. It was like, "I understand the principles, but I just can't do it well."

Therefore, Orochimaru is now very much looking forward to the Spirit Lord finding the Grim Reaper, whether he kills him or not, because then his hands will be back.

Once his hands were back and his soul was whole, Orochimaru felt he could follow in the footsteps of the Spirit Lord and move towards the unity of body and soul!

Just as Orochimaru was carefully observing the changes in the situation and recording relevant information, it seemed that the soul energy released by Bane had finally reached a certain level, and a pitch-black spatial rift appeared from the cave.

"Pure Land!" Orochimaru exclaimed, a hint of excitement in his eyes.

As soon as the crack appeared, Bane opened his eyes quickly, then grabbed the two sides of the crack with both hands, exerted force, and his soul vibrated, forcibly tearing apart the boundary between the Pure Land and the mortal world, between life and death!

"Drink!!!" Bane roared, his soul power surging, tearing open a gap in the pure land large enough for him to enter.

"Hahaha, Death, I'm back again!!!" Bane grabbed the finger and shouted excitedly, then without hesitation, he plunged into it.

Orochimaru was also tempted by this scene and even wanted to chase after him, but in the end, he restrained himself and watched as the Spirit Lord entered the Pure Land. Then the crack quickly healed and disappeared, and Ryuchi Cave returned to normal.

At the same time, Bane had completely entered the Pure Land. This was the first time he had entered in this form of unity of body and soul, unlike before when he always left his physical body outside.

Perhaps it was precisely because he was in a completely spiritual state that he did not feel the same sense of rejection he had experienced in the Pure Land this time.

It felt like a fish in water, very comfortable, even more comfortable than the outside world, a kind of environmental comfort.

"It's still as desolate as before," Bane murmured, looking at the seemingly endless desert.

Then he discovered that, as a spirit, he no longer needed to breathe, but how to put it, he hadn't really died; his bodily instincts were still there.

Even though it was useless, he still maintained his breathing movements as usual, such as lung exercises.

Therefore, with each breath, he absorbed the pure soul power of the Pure Land into his body, as if his soul was becoming stronger every moment!

"So, I don't need to eat dirt anymore?" Bane thought to himself, raising an eyebrow as he assessed the situation.

Next, he began to try to absorb the pure soul power of the Pure Land by absorbing natural energy.

The moment this thought arose, the soul power within his body reacted swiftly. Then, a vast amount of soul power surged from all directions of the Pure Land toward Bane's location, transforming into a dense and pure soul vortex, eagerly plunging into Bane's soul body.

Almost visibly, Bane's spirit became purer, more powerful, and was even beginning to materialize.

The transparency inherent in his soul was constantly being filled into his body. However, perhaps his vessel was too large. Even though the soul power was condensed and gathered into a vortex, continuously pouring into his body, the filling speed of this soul materialization was still very slow, not even enough to fill a fingernail.

Just then, suddenly, Bane spotted a streak of light flashing across the desolate landscape in the far distance. Then, not too far from him, the Pure Land was opened up again.

"Has anyone in this world used any magic related to the soul?" Bane asked, observing with some curiosity in his eyes.

Then he paused for a moment, because he watched as Madara Uchiha's soul, in the form of a stream of light, passed through his sight, pierced the cracks in the Pure Land, and went to the mortal world.

Meanwhile, Madara Uchiha, who had finally been awakened, was also quite bewildered on his way out of the Pure Land. He watched with great astonishment as Bane ruthlessly absorbed the soul power of the Pure Land, his eyes filled with confusion and doubt, before disappearing into the Pure Land.

"What's going on? Death has been replaced? He didn't look like this before!?"

This was Madara Uchiha's last thought before leaving the Pure Land.

(End of this chapter)