Unfortunately, closing their Net accounts didn't mean they could actually run away.
In the end, while still strengthened by the Sage of Six Paths' power and able to enter Six Paths Sage Mode, First-World Hashirama was absolutely invincible in the main world. Ultimately, he personally came out and captured both Madara again.
Under the wood-binding from a Hashirama empowered by Six Paths Sage Mode—a force even Ōtsutsuki Kaguya had to take seriously—it was impossible for two reincarnated Madara to fight back.
"You really are the same as always," First-World Madara lay there wrapped up in Wood Release like a mummy, not even able to refine a sliver of chakra. He was sprawled out, his tone lifting slightly: "In the end, you still chose the village?"
Before going to fight Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, he had already guessed it might end like this and had even prepared countermeasures. He just hadn't expected that his own Hashirama would inexplicably wield enough might to slice into Kaguya's body with a single strike.
When the enemy fled, he had no choice but to follow back. He'd wanted to adjust his plan, slip away during the pursuit of Kaguya. But Final-Chapter Obito and Sasuke's sudden move convinced him that, together with the other "Madara," he completely lost any chance to resist.
He knew Hashirama far too well, and likewise Tobirama. Attacking Link would certainly provoke Hashirama to intervene. Being indecisive had no meaning; better to fight to the bitter end in one go.
If death befalls him, so be it.
Once resurrected once, he could be resurrected a second time—whether by Link or Edo Tensei. As long as someone needed his power, inevitably he would one day get another chance.
He simply did not believe that the naïve "Ninja Alliance" could hold forever, nor did he believe any other parallel Konoha would stand by while the main-world Konoha possessed a unique Link. Nor did he believe so-called "love" could bring world peace.
That was precisely why he'd once tried to shoulder everything by himself, forcibly imposing "peace."
Hence, all that's left now is to wait.
First-World Hashirama fell silent for a moment, then said: "I don't want to kill you, but if we let you escape, you'll definitely make a move on Link."
He wasn't that indecisive; otherwise, he wouldn't have steeled himself to kill his best friend at the Final Valley. Today was no different.
Thanks to Link, true peace was within sight. Over in the Second-World Ninja Alliance, it seemed they'd found a new path…
"Brother." Main-World Tobirama's voice was calm as he cast a glance at the two Madara lying on the ground, bound stiff as dogs. He couldn't be bothered to look further, turning to Hashirama: "Just get rid of them; we can't afford any more delays with Kaguya."
Final-Chapter Naruto stepped up, meaning to speak for them— after all, they had recently fought side-by-side. But wanting to kill them now… He'd hoped they could just be placed under surveillance or something.
"Wait." Link suddenly spoke, halting them and drawing all eyes his way. He gazed at the two Madara. "I have another way to deal with them."
"How about we reincarnate them to a different world?"
It wasn't a great solution, nor was it awful.
It didn't kill them, nor leave them a chance to stir up trouble. Sending them off to another world basically amounted to exile.
No one objected. In the tense atmosphere, that became the unspoken decision.
Even the two Madara themselves neither resisted in anger nor showed delight. In an unexpectedly calm, subdued manner, they accepted their fate.
Twenty minutes later, in the lab—
"Phew—"
As the technique array on the ground activated, the souls of the two Uchiha Madara were directly drawn out. Neither the Wood Release binding nor their Rinnegan could stop it one bit. Once the technique fully engaged without being destroyed, apparently nothing could halt it.
All around, people stood silently watching, each with their own thoughts.
Very soon, once the two souls were pulled away, one of them sent back a coordinate for its new world of reincarnation.
(Yorknew City… I recall…)
Link immediately recognized that name— "Hunter x Hunter," right? That's a pretty decent world.
Even if he lost his Rinnegan, with Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan alone, Madara in the Hunter x Hunter setting still wouldn't be weak. Along with war-honed experience, if he developed some special Nen ability, his future might be quite formidable. At least he wasn't dropped right into the Dark Continent.
Shortly, the second Madara was reincarnated. The mutated Edo Tensei fed back the final info:
(Land of Asura… that rings a bell.)
Aha, from "Fist of the North Star"! Not bad, though that post-apocalyptic environment is tough.
He glanced over at Hashirama: "They've both been reborn into other worlds."
Main-World Tobirama collected the pair of Rinnegan in a container and said, "Well then, Brother."
First-World Hashirama gazed at Madara's body lying there, closed his eyes for a moment, then reopened them calmly: "Let's go."
Unrolling the scroll, Final-Chapter Naruto, Sasuke, and Obito approached, and the four promptly vanished into the vortex.
Main-World Tobirama stashed away the Rinnegan and also sealed Madara's remains into a scroll: "Koharu, Homura— come help. We've got a ton to do."
In the Third Parallel World, the entire populace was still ensnared by Divine Tree World of Trees. Probably only after Final-Chapter Naruto and Sasuke performed the dissolution seals would it end. Meanwhile, the chaos post-Kaguya spelled massive reconstruction.
Moreover, Second-World Hashirama had died there, never returning, so presumably they'd want to bring him back via reincarnation…
"Yes, Lord Tobirama." X2
Koharu and Homura answered in unison.
"You'd better leave me two people to do my own workload," Link said, feeling headache building.
Main-World Tobirama looked pretty cheerful, with no intention of pursuing Link's sneaky moves with the Final-Chapter crew. "If you had that many people to help, what would you do as Hokage yourself?"
He left that remark, using Flying Thunder God to depart.
The Rinnegan plus Madara's body were extremely valuable. He needed to preserve them at once. Also, he and the two Minato needed to figure out how their choker-seal had failed on them.
Both the other two Minato, and Orochimaru, wore faint smiles and left together. The four Hokage from the Final-Chapter world, who had been earlier engaged in some fighting, had already been returned to their own dimension. Thus, in an instant, the lab felt deserted.
Link rubbed his temples: "Sasuke, keep an eye on Uchiha Izuna, that guy might cause trouble."
"Sure," Main-World Sasuke nodded.
Taking the Hokage hat from Bubble, Link got back to work. "Then I'll go do my job as well."
Tomorrow he'll attend the Five Kage Summit…
[Inwardly]
He felt that his life was growing more and more divided. Once Kaguya's matter was resolved, hopefully he could incorporate his main world into the Ninja Alliance swiftly.
Then, with the alliance secure, he could lead teams on expeditions through all the accessible Naruto timelines, preemptively dealing with hidden threats.
In those parallel dimensions from which he had already gleaned a sense, time was all flowing forward once he visited. If he simply ignored them, he might later face multiple emergent Kaguya. Especially that "Asuma's death arc" timeline of Shippūden…
From Shippūden's start to the end of the Fourth War is under a year, so time is quite pressing.
~~~
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