Hey guys, I've put some thought into this topic and after reading some other threads, I've put together a theory as to how Madara will actually revive himself without leaving the battlefield and without using his Edo body as a catalyst. If you are too lazy to read it all, skip straight to the theory at the bottom. First and foremost, I want to list out the potential problems a fan might have with this plot move:
1. Nagato could only revive people who died recently.
2. Madara has no live body to return to, let alone a youthful body.
3. Considering number 2, it seems Madara might use his Edo body to revive himself.
As I stated above I have come up with an idea that bypasses number 3, but for now, let me give some quick background on the issue. Remember that Madara NEVER planned to incorporate Edo Tensei into his plan, he is only able to force Obito to revive him now because he happens to be an edo. His plan from the beginning was simply to have someone else revive him, that being Nagato. To reiterate, both him and Obito knew that the plan could and had to be done without making use of Edo Tensei. So in my mind, this means that he did not plan to, nor can he ever revive his original body using an edo tensei form as a catalyst. So considering all this, how will Madara actually revive himself? Well my theory revolves solely around the Naraka Path:
The Naraka path was the path of Pain that was able to revive fallen allies. It could reconstruct destroyed bodies and could return essential life force back to them. Not only this, but this same creature (the King of Hell to be precise) was also the same being that returned the life-forces back to the villagers. On a side note, keep in mind that those beams of light returning to the bodies were not souls, but life forces. Most of those Shinobi were killed by means other than Human path, so its only logical that what it did was return life-forces to the bodies, thus healing them and allowing the souls to find their ways back instantly. Here is the page in question:
Not only this, but we know for a fact that the King of Hell can store bodies for later revival and even store souls collected through human realm:
Therefore, considering all these facts my theory is as follows:
1. At some point, Madara's remains were consumed by the King of Hell either by Nagato under Obito's orders, or by Kabuto, and was reconstructed and stored in the creature. Considering the gap in time, or perhaps the old age of his body, his soul did not return to him. The body was then stored until they were ready to revive Madara, or in kabuto's case, could simply have been kept for its DNA samples.
2. In order to bypass the long gap in time and the problem with youth that Madara obviously had, a sacrifice is needed. Nagato only BELIEVED that he could only revive people that died recently because he never considered sacrificing his own lifeforce for the cause. Yes he did use so much chakra to revive all those people that it killed them, but perhaps if he used his lifeforce as a direct sacrifice for the Jutsu, then maybe it would allow him to bring back anyone, provided the original body is nearby.
So to summarize, my theory is that Madara's body has been kept in the King of Hell all this time after the creature was used to restore/ preserve his elderly body for later revival. The reason that alone did not revive Madara is because it was either too large of a gap in time or his body was too frail to be brought back to life. In order to successfully bring Madara back and RETURN HIS YOUTH, a sacrifice of a young life force is required, one that will directly transfer his/ her youthful life force into the body in question.
If this theory is true, then I suspect Obito will either expire quickly on site or perhaps will instantly age 70 or so years and expire shortly after.
Thoughts, comments, concerns, suggestions?
1. Nagato could only revive people who died recently.
2. Madara has no live body to return to, let alone a youthful body.
3. Considering number 2, it seems Madara might use his Edo body to revive himself.
As I stated above I have come up with an idea that bypasses number 3, but for now, let me give some quick background on the issue. Remember that Madara NEVER planned to incorporate Edo Tensei into his plan, he is only able to force Obito to revive him now because he happens to be an edo. His plan from the beginning was simply to have someone else revive him, that being Nagato. To reiterate, both him and Obito knew that the plan could and had to be done without making use of Edo Tensei. So in my mind, this means that he did not plan to, nor can he ever revive his original body using an edo tensei form as a catalyst. So considering all this, how will Madara actually revive himself? Well my theory revolves solely around the Naraka Path:
You must be registered for see links
The Naraka path was the path of Pain that was able to revive fallen allies. It could reconstruct destroyed bodies and could return essential life force back to them. Not only this, but this same creature (the King of Hell to be precise) was also the same being that returned the life-forces back to the villagers. On a side note, keep in mind that those beams of light returning to the bodies were not souls, but life forces. Most of those Shinobi were killed by means other than Human path, so its only logical that what it did was return life-forces to the bodies, thus healing them and allowing the souls to find their ways back instantly. Here is the page in question:
You must be registered for see links
Not only this, but we know for a fact that the King of Hell can store bodies for later revival and even store souls collected through human realm:
You must be registered for see links
Therefore, considering all these facts my theory is as follows:
1. At some point, Madara's remains were consumed by the King of Hell either by Nagato under Obito's orders, or by Kabuto, and was reconstructed and stored in the creature. Considering the gap in time, or perhaps the old age of his body, his soul did not return to him. The body was then stored until they were ready to revive Madara, or in kabuto's case, could simply have been kept for its DNA samples.
2. In order to bypass the long gap in time and the problem with youth that Madara obviously had, a sacrifice is needed. Nagato only BELIEVED that he could only revive people that died recently because he never considered sacrificing his own lifeforce for the cause. Yes he did use so much chakra to revive all those people that it killed them, but perhaps if he used his lifeforce as a direct sacrifice for the Jutsu, then maybe it would allow him to bring back anyone, provided the original body is nearby.
So to summarize, my theory is that Madara's body has been kept in the King of Hell all this time after the creature was used to restore/ preserve his elderly body for later revival. The reason that alone did not revive Madara is because it was either too large of a gap in time or his body was too frail to be brought back to life. In order to successfully bring Madara back and RETURN HIS YOUTH, a sacrifice of a young life force is required, one that will directly transfer his/ her youthful life force into the body in question.
If this theory is true, then I suspect Obito will either expire quickly on site or perhaps will instantly age 70 or so years and expire shortly after.
Thoughts, comments, concerns, suggestions?