At present, Uchiha Obito was still obediently attending the Ninja Academy, faithfully playing the role of a dead-last failure. Clearly, Uchiha Madara hadn't placed his attention on him yet.
And the reason Madara was so eager to make contact with Uzumaki Nagato was because of—
Himself.
Kyusei's achievement of becoming a perfect jinchūriki had obviously triggered a sense of crisis in that old schemer.
If Madara continued to wait, then once Kyusei fully matured, he would become a massive threat to Madara's plans.
Which meant that personally grooming Uzumaki Nagato had become inevitable.
The Rinnegan…
Even half-paralyzed, nearly dried into a husk by the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Uzumaki Nagato had still possessed the power to nearly wipe out Konoha.
And even in that state—after prolonged, high-intensity battles, after consecutively defeating Konoha's ninja, after unleashing techniques like Super Shinra Tensei and Chibaku Tensei—
That emaciated Nagato still had enough chakra left to use Rinne Tensei and resurrect all the dead Konoha shinobi.
That alone proved that even crippled, skeletal Uzumaki Nagato possessed chakra reserves comparable to a tailed beast—no, not inferior in the slightest.
If left unchecked, then in the future Kyusei would be facing—
A healthy Uzumaki Nagato, wielding the Rinnegan, mastering all five chakra natures, unifying the Six Paths, and possessing a fully developed Uzumaki constitution.
And given Madara's vision, he would never allow Nagato to have any weaknesses. His Uzumaki vitality would be cultivated to the absolute limit.
By then—
A top-tier final boss would be born.
Immune to genjutsu.
Able to absorb ninjutsu.
With physical combat fully maxed out.
And because of the Rinnegan, even in terms of techniques, Nagato would stand at the very peak.
…Damn it. Can I even beat that?
Kyusei couldn't help but start doubting himself.
And worse—he didn't even know whether a fully healthy Nagato would be able to use Limbo.
If he could use Limbo—
Then it was over. Just straight-up over.
Seeing that everyone present was still discussing the incident itself, Kyusei couldn't exactly blurt everything out. His interest quickly waned.
Yahiko was already dead—killed by Madara's hand.
Nagato's descent into darkness was now inevitable.
He had to do something.
"…What if we send someone strong enough to investigate the Rain Village?" Kyusei said.
The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them.
If someone were to be sent to the Rain Village, Jiraiya would definitely volunteer.
Yet Jiraiya remained seated, not moving at all.
Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at Kyusei and said:
"None of Konoha's top combat forces are allowed to leave the village."
"The current situation in the shinobi world is like a taut string. If any one of us leaves the village, other nations may assume we're plotting something."
"War could break out at any moment."
"Moreover, staying in Konoha allows us to gather intelligence from all sides as quickly as possible."
"And if war truly begins, we can mobilize and support the battlefield immediately."
Hiruzen spoke calmly, then his gaze sharpened as he looked directly at Kyusei.
"Especially you."
"As our strongest combatant, you absolutely cannot leave lightly."
"I still haven't settled accounts with you over the last incident."
Kyusei's mouth twitched.
He'd been planning to sneak out alone, head to the Rain Village, see whether Madara was there—and maybe conveniently kill Nagato before he fully developed.
Instead, Hiruzen pinned him firmly inside Konoha.
"kaoru, during this period, you must keep an eye on this brat."
Hiruzen turned to the blonde girl beside Kyusei.
"Yes, Hokage-sama," kaoru replied softly, nodding.
Under normal circumstances, she might indulge Kyusei and let him do as he pleased.
But this involved the battlefield—thousands upon thousands of lives.
This time, she couldn't let him run wild.
Yagura Karatachi subtly glanced at the blonde girl.
She can control the Nine-Tails' jinchūriki?
The moment his gaze landed on kaoru, she looked straight back at him.
Their eyes met.
Yagura calmly withdrew his gaze.
This woman was strong.
Not weaker than him.
Another hidden combat asset of Konoha.
It only further proved that his choice had been correct.
Compared to the uncertain alliance of the Lands of Wind, Earth, and Lightning, siding with Konoha offered far greater value.
In this conference room alone, there were seven shinobi on his level—
And one Uzumaki Kyusei who surpassed conventional power scaling altogether.
"Mizukage-sama, do you have any further suggestions?" Hiruzen asked after most points had been discussed.
Yagura Karatachi had earned the position of Fourth Mizukage through genuine ability—but it was his scheming mind that Hiruzen truly feared.
This man grasped human nature with terrifying accuracy, and his vision was long-term and clear.
Though Hiruzen wasn't pleased about having been played earlier, they were now undeniably on the same ship.
"No," Yagura shook his head.
"There's an unknown force meddling, trying to muddy the waters."
"The enemy is in the dark; we are in the light. For now, the best course of action is to respond with patience."
"Hanzō the Salamander will understand this as well."
"The man who once triggered the Second Shinobi World War won't be so shortsighted."
The situation had taken even him by surprise.
He hadn't expected such a force to still be lurking in the shadows of the shinobi world.
That ninja using Uchiha-style swordsmanship—
Killing a jōnin like Yahiko within ten moves.
A genuine Kage-level threat.
Someone like that hiding in the dark made anyone uneasy.
But the circumstances were special.
War was imminent.
Even knowing ill intent existed, they had no choice but to temporarily shelve it and focus on the Lands of Wind, Earth, and Lightning.
Once war began, Yagura had no doubt that Ōnoki of the Two Scales wouldn't spare the Mist.
After a brief exchange between the supreme military leaders of the Lands of Fire and Water, the meeting quickly adjourned.
Kyusei left the conference room with kaoru, his thoughts heavy.
For him, eliminating Uzumaki Nagato as quickly as possible would be ideal.
But Hiruzen's reasoning made sense.
Leaving aside whether he could even kill Nagato—
As long as Uchiha Madara was still alive, he would never allow Nagato's life to be threatened.
And with every nation on edge, the moment someone noticed Kyusei leaving the village, war would erupt instantly.
If he were then tied down by Madara—
Konoha would suffer devastating losses.
Moreover, kaoru would never allow him to leave.
When it came to matters of right and wrong, she had her own firm principles.
And without any concrete proof that Madara was still alive—
No matter how much Kyusei insisted, no one would believe him.
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