After the later Ōtsutsuki clan descended upon the shinobi world, there was never again any need for the whole "Mangekyō to Eternal Mangekyō, then to Rinnegan" process.
They simply consumed chakra fruits and could directly awaken the Rinnegan. All the so-called bottlenecks that plagued the shinobi world were essentially nonexistent to them.
Aoba had done extensive research into this and came to one ultimate conclusion: brute force creates miracles.
As long as the chakra was powerful enough and the body possessed Ōtsutsuki blood, awakening the Rinnegan became completely natural, just like Indra, who awakened it on his own.
Konoha, in its current state, already fulfilled those conditions. Chakra? Check, Sasuke had already completed the fusion of all seven chakra natures and attained the Six Paths Body.
Ōtsutsuki genetics? Also complete. The project had already entered the testing phase. Once successful, it would be applied to Sasuke immediately, allowing him to fully transform into a true Ōtsutsuki. At that point, no pair of Sharingan transplanted into him would cause even the slightest rejection. And if he wished, he could forcibly awaken the Rinnegan just by spending some chakra, it wouldn't be a problem at all.
Of course, Aoba estimated that Madara wouldn't want someone else to help him awaken it. So he gave Madara the first choice.
After a brief hesitation, Madara chose Parting and Elysium. Compared to illusion-based abilities like Kotoamatsukami, he clearly preferred raw, direct combat power.
"Now tell me," Madara said, "how do I awaken the Rinnegan?"
Although Madara had once awakened the Rinnegan, it had cost him nearly all his chakra and life force, and that was with his own eyes.
This time, they weren't his. Even if he could awaken it again, it would probably take decades. So he figured he'd at least hear Aoba's method first.
In the original story, after regaining the Rinnegan, Madara attained a Six Paths body. But prior to regaining it, he couldn't even fuse the seven chakra elements to cast a Kekkei Mōra technique.
This showed that his Six Paths body had never been complete. He relied purely on the high-level abilities of the Rinnegan to achieve it.
He wasn't even on the same level as the current Sasuke, who had first fused his chakra completely before awakening the Rinnegan. The difference in order made a world of difference.
Sasuke, even without the Rinnegan, would still retain the strength of a Six Paths body. Apart from losing the eye's unique jutsu, none of his other abilities would change.
Aoba then took out a sealing scroll. After unsealing it, a dangerous presence immediately filled the room.
"This is… a Truth-Seeking Orb? No… it's different."
Madara stared at the chakra sphere in front of him, visibly cautious. At first glance, the black sphere resembled a Truth-Seeking Orb, but upon closer inspection, it was subtly different. It wasn't absolutely smooth and solid, its surface undulated and pulsated faintly, as if something inside was still being formed.
"This thing is probably appearing in the shinobi world for the first time. I call it the Primordial Flame of Chakra."
"Primordial Flame? It's the result of fusing the seven chakra elements?"
"That's right, but not in the form of a Truth-Seeking Orb. This is a more primitive, more direct manifestation."
"…You want me to absorb this thing?"
"Correct. Lord Madara, you've already acquired all seven elements, but I assume you still haven't been able to fully fuse them, right? Your inability to use Truth-Seeking Orbs without the Rinnegan is proof of that."
"Exactly. So this is a fusion seed. If I absorb it, I'll naturally gain the insight to fuse the seven elemental chakras within me and thus attain a fully integrated Six Paths body."
"Precisely. My method is the opposite of what you did back then. You awakened the Rinnegan first, and through it attained a Six Paths body. My method prioritizes achieving the Six Paths body first, then feeding back into the Sharingan to evolve it into the Rinnegan. And honestly, I think it's the more logical approach."
Surprisingly, Madara didn't argue right away. Instead, he pondered Aoba's words seriously.
In the original story, Madara was proud and arrogant, always looking down on others. But the truth was, he only acted that way because everyone he met was too weak.
When confronted with someone strong enough, even stronger than himself, Madara could show respect.
So after thinking over what Aoba said, Madara nodded.
"You make sense. Now that I think about it, my obsession with pushing the Mangekyō further… might've been the wrong path. I spent the latter half of my life chasing greater eye power, but ignored the fact that the eyes, the body, chakra, and spiritual power are all interconnected.
And at the root of it all is the body and chakra. Trying to skip over them to pursue pure eye evolution… may have been a mistake."
Aoba nodded slightly, truly impressed with Madara's insight. He himself had only realized this recently. Looking back at the original story, it was pretty obvious.
After Madara awakened the Rinnegan, his body deteriorated rapidly, he could barely even handle the energy consumption. That wasn't normal at all.
Because the Rinnegan was supposed to symbolize Six Paths-level power. Awakening it should've meant the body had reached near-perfection, almost undying and indestructible. So the fact that Madara became so frail proved that his path had been flawed.
And yet, even having gone down the wrong path, he still managed to awaken the Rinnegan. That just showed how much of a true genius Madara Uchiha was.
"Lord Madara, your understanding of the Mangekyō really has reached its peak."
"Hmph. Are you mocking me? You clearly figured all this out earlier than I did."
"But these insights aren't mine alone. They're the product of Konoha's Research Division, dozens of the best scientists and shinobi working together."
At that, Madara fell silent.
He had always looked down on ordinary ninja, believing only the elite could grasp the secrets of true power.
But Aoba was different. He came from Earth, and his way of thinking was fundamentally different from the rest of the shinobi world.
In his view, scientific research required both moments of genius and the collaborative effort of countless individuals.
It was the same in the shinobi world. Aoba could provide ideas, thanks to the information from the original story and his Earth-born perspective, but he couldn't turn those ideas into reality by himself.
Konoha's hundreds-strong research division was the true bridge that transformed his ideas into usable results.
"Tch. You brat. Always making flashy things… Fine, I'll take it. Give me one week. Don't let anyone disturb me."
If you would like to read more...
The novel has be completed (Chp. 362) on the patreon -> SaintXI