The Land of Frost.
This small country, located in the buffer zone between the three great nations of Fire, Earth, and Lightning, has a peninsula extending outward at its northernmost edge.
Because warfare frequently breaks out across its territories, and because the peninsula is a coastal dead end…
Shinobi trapped here have an extremely high probability of dying. Over time, no one is willing to come anymore.
This place is called the Mountains' Graveyard. It is also the stationing ground of the "Shura of the Shinobi World," Uchiha Madara.
And within this secret base—
Madara sat upon a broad, hard stone chair.
Behind him loomed a colossal being.
At a glance, it resembled a human form, though only vaguely humanoid.
The monstrous figure sat cross-legged, its wrists joined together and raised in a lotus-like posture, its entire body covered in wooden protrusions.
Several tubes extended from its body and connected to Madara's back, infusing its master with chakra.
And from its form, other branch-like conduits wound outward, as though nurturing something like fruit…
This was the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, which Madara had summoned after awakening the Rinnegan.
"I'm so mysterious~ The mysterious one is me~ What does poop even feel like~"
The White Zetsu assigned to Obito hummed a little tune as it emerged from the ground.
Madara let out a silent sigh.
Spending every day with these defective bodies, he felt as if even his intelligence had begun to decline…
They were always talking about things like poop.
It wasn't as if Madara had never disciplined them—he had killed dozens, at least.
But their intelligence was simply like this. Even after producing new ones, they would still ask what poop felt like, as though that question were carved into their very bones…
Over time, Madara had no solution.
They were not afraid of death. Even after dying, they would still ask you. Other than accepting it, what else could he do?
Whenever he thought about it, Madara felt a trace of bleak desolation.
He had lived a life of bold legend. Though he had been unable to defeat Hashirama, he was still known to the world as the Shura of the Shinobi World…
And yet in his old age, he had to spend his days in the company of these intellectually deficient artificial beings.
If word got out, people would laugh at him!
If Hashirama ever learned that someone asked him every day what poop felt like—and that he had no solution at all…
Madara practically wanted to die.
Sometimes, Madara would think that perhaps this was the silent punishment of that old rival for secretly biting off a piece of Hashirama's flesh…
"Shut your mouth!" Madara said in a low, heavy voice.
"Yes, Madara-sama!" White Zetsu shuddered, then immediately returned to its grinning expression, trotting over to Madara and seeking credit: "Madara~ Madara~ Mada—ra-sama…"
"I found the Uchiha you wanted!"
"The kind that's a little dumb, kind-hearted, loves family, and has talent!"
Madara's gaze sharpened as he slowly pushed aside the tubes behind him.
He stood up, worked his body a little, and lightly gathered chakra.
His mood was somewhat heavy. He had not become younger—he was still aging at a slow pace.
He had awakened the Rinnegan too late…
Only when his oil was nearly spent and his lamp about to go out did he obtain those Sage's eyes and summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
And because of that, even though awakening the Rinnegan brought him a vast amount of chakra, it still could not return his body—whose very foundation had been severely damaged by aging—to its peak.
He could only use the method of having the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path pour chakra into him to delay aging as much as possible.
Madara could feel that if he dragged this out for another ten years, he would reach the point where he would not even be able to pull the tubes out…
He would have to rely entirely on the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to cling to life.
"Talk," Madara said, waving his hand in irritation.
To be honest, Madara had also thought that if he deeply developed the Rinnegan's abilities, and combined that with White Zetsu's all-pervasive intelligence-gathering, it was not as though he had no chance of finding a good way to restore his body…
It was just that this matter was truly taxing and exhausting.
In an environment of complete solitude—where there were only his Yin–Yang Release creations and these idiotic artificial beings…
Having to keep up steady communication with these morons, planning all kinds of schemes, and still not necessarily getting a correct result…
It made Madara feel like dying.
The Shura who once dominated the shinobi world—was he supposed to grit his teeth and truly become a preschool teacher who communicates with Poopman?
The proud blood of the Uchiha made him unable to endure such days.
"There's a kid who's probably called Uchiha Obito!"
"On the way home, just because of a word or two, he got really worried about his grandma, and while running, he awakened the Sharingan!"
"And in daily life he's also very friendly, loves helping others, helping people cross the road…" White Zetsu muttered on.
Under Madara's orders, quite a few White Zetsu had been lurking within the Uchiha clan compound, watching this clan's rising new blood from time to time.
"Mm…"
Madara nodded slightly and murmured, "It barely counts as acceptable."
He closed his eyes and recalled words Izuna had once said to him.
"Our clan members who truly have potential aren't like the outside world's stereotypes."
"The ones who look aloof and strong—more likely than not, their ceiling is already locked; they're merely middling."
"On the contrary, those who are kind-hearted, who love deeply, and even those who are a bit unreliable and scatterbrained…"
"Those are the clan members in whose hearts the power of Uchiha love is buried."
"And yet many clan members see them as weak, as not fitting the Uchiha image…"
"We have to protect these clan members, big brother—let them feel the clan's love. Only then can you become the best clan head the Uchiha have ever had!"
Those words had already passed nearly fifty years ago.
Yet as they echoed in Madara's ears, it was as though it had been only yesterday.
But the current Madara could no longer use his younger brother's words to properly care for the clan…
He even had to practice the exact opposite of that doctrine!
His younger brother had said that such clan members had potential and should be carefully protected.
Then, conversely, didn't it mean that such Uchiha were more likely to fall into darkness and easier to manipulate?
There was no choice—who told his clan members not to follow him?
Yet because of this, Madara had in truth suffered torment in his heart, having violated his promise to Izuna to take good care of the clan…
But the grand blueprint of the Eye of the Moon Plan, to a certain extent, dispelled the guilt in his heart.
It didn't matter—they were all the same…
"You still need to look for one who is sufficiently intelligent and wise, yet also kind and compassionate…"
"Preferably with excellent talent as well, and a brain that works," Madara said in a low voice.
Compared to finding a puppet…
Madara actually wanted to find a substitute for Izuna.
If such a person truly existed, then after meticulous testing…
Madara would even be willing to speak heart-to-heart with this spokesperson!
A lonely old man greatly needs to communicate with others—especially when the idiots around him keep asking about poop…
"Madara-sama, are you making a wish here?"
This White Zetsu picked its nose. "Ha! That's impossible! Even I can guess—you're missing someone, right…"
"Just make do with it! I think this Obito is quite good, don't you?"
Madara took a deep breath. His fist hardened.
But blasting this White Zetsu with a single punch would be meaningless, because the next one would still be just as idiotic.
"Kite, come here!" Madara slightly raised his voice.
Not far away, a swirl-faced White Zetsu walked over with a sway. "What is it, Madara-sama! But I gave myself a new name—Tobi!"
Toward this White Zetsu, Madara displayed considerable tolerance. "Fine, then Tobi it is…"
Because it was very intelligent and very special—it could even use Wood Release and ninjutsu.
Among these White Zetsu, it was one of the few that resembled a human.
"You take a squad of White Zetsu and secretly monitor the Uchiha clan compound…"
"But remember." Madara took out a map, pondered for a moment, and drew a circle on it.
"This area must still not be entered. It may be sensed by Mito. That woman is, after all, Hashirama's lover—her abilities are troublesome."
"But she should be dying soon. When the time comes, it will be more convenient."
"Fortunately, Senju Tobirama—that disgusting thing—established the Uchiha Police Force and the Konoha prison together, and placed the clan compound in a remote area…"
Madara spat.
Otherwise, before Mito died, using White Zetsu to find a spokesperson would not be convenient.
With the brains of the vast majority of White Zetsu, it was too difficult to have them restrain their malice.
"Yes, Madara-sama!"
Madara waved his hand, dismissing White Zetsu.
He felt very tired…
Originally, there was no need to choose a successor from within the Uchiha clan at all.
The one he had chosen was Nagato.
But Madara had not expected that this barren land of Konoha would actually produce a pure white lotus like Jiraiya!
Originally, Madara had planned that once Jiraiya displayed the malice and greed a normal shinobi should have…
He would suddenly appear and kill Jiraiya, using the enmity between Nagato and Konoha, and then guide that hatred to cultivate him into his own spokesperson.
But when Jiraiya saw the brats from another village—who even seemed to possess the Rinnegan—he neither snatched nor seized anything. Instead, he focused entirely on teaching those children how to protect themselves!
He even played some kind of "Toad Squad" make-believe game…
Madara watched for three whole years…
And in the end, Jiraiya simply left, truly planting the seed of peace in Nagato's heart.
"Has that matter been handled?" Madara seemed to be speaking to himself.
From within his shadow, a pitch-black creature responded. Its name was Black Zetsu: "The information about Nagato and the others' deaths has already been spread. That Konoha shinobi has learned of it and will not continue searching for the time being…"
"Nagato and the others are also experiencing the suffering of the shinobi world. I believe it won't be long before they understand that this place is hell…"
Madara nodded.
Leaning back, he reattached the tubes to his body.
"By the way, Madara-sama…" Black Zetsu spoke softly.
"Konoha seems rather strange! They've obtained a great deal of money and even distributed quite a bit to the Uchiha clan…"
"That Obito also received some. Should we do something?"
Madara frowned, but then shook his head. "No need to pay attention. It cannot change the cruelty of the shinobi world. It is merely useless effort."
Distributing money to the Uchiha clan?
Although it was clearly not done with good intentions at first hearing!
But since it could allow the clan members to live slightly better, then there was no need to interfere. Let it be for now…
Not interfering could be considered his form of atonement.
Besides, in this world, money held no meaning.
Only the Rinnegan and the Eye of the Moon Plan held meaning…
Madara sank into a deep sleep and no longer responded to Black Zetsu's words.
And Black Zetsu, hidden in the shadows, also let out a sigh in his heart.
After finally encountering a reincarnation of Indra capable of awakening the Rinnegan…
It was still too late.
Without a bit of mental stimulation, lacking drive, and single-mindedly thinking about this so-called spokesperson plan…
Black Zetsu did not think highly of this plan.
One could only say that without itself, this plan would be full of loopholes…
Fortunately, it could follow up in real time, mobilizing and managing White Zetsu to clean up after Madara.
As for Sarutobi Hiruzen, whom Uchiha Madara had criticized as meaningless—
He did not know.
And even if he knew, he would not care.
Because by changing Konoha, it seemed his talent had improved somewhat, and his training had grown somewhat faster…
The Hokage arrived at Konoha's research laboratory.
Together with Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Hiruko, he discussed the village's upcoming research plans.
Konoha could not stop here!
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