"Madara-sama… it's started over there…"
Deep underground, a White Zetsu clone rose through the earth beside Uchiha Madara, who was resting with his eyes closed, and reported the latest intelligence.
"That brat didn't just pressure the Third Mizukage head-on—he also seems to have seen through the genjutsu you placed on him. What do we do? Use more contingency measures and try to kill him there?"
"He's impatient," Madara said, shaking his head.
Then, as if discarding an entire board with one flick of his hand, he added calmly, "But this round… let him have it."
"Is that really okay?" White Zetsu hesitated, uneasy. "That Kaguya brat is growing too fast. If we give up this chance, by the time your plan begins, he might truly become a threat."
"It's not that I want to give it up," Madara replied, his voice carrying a rare hint of resignation. "It's that right now, I must."
He tilted his head toward the grotesque, towering statue behind him—the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path—and murmured:
"The moment I leave the range of the Outer Path, my body will die from life force exhaustion. Obito's ocular power is rising quickly, but without another matching Mangekyo, he can't reach a level that can contend with Kaguya Ren anytime soon."
Madara's tone stayed cold and measured.
"As for Kirigakure, the Third Mizukage is nothing but a mediocre. Even betting his life won't threaten Ren. I also left a contingency on the Six-Tails, but a single rampaging Six-Tails alone isn't enough to decide this battle."
A faint scoff.
"So there's no point exposing it."
White Zetsu fell silent, then spoke with an odd mixture of disbelief and awe.
"It's hard to imagine… even Madara-sama would admit there's nothing he can do about that Kaguya Ren."
He paused.
"After you're gone, if Obito wants to stir the shinobi world under your name, he'll have to hold back because of Ren's existence."
Madara's mouth twitched—almost self-mocking.
"I misjudged that brat's capacity. This is the bitter fruit I have to swallow."
Then his gaze sharpened again.
"But it's not entirely bad. Obito has his own thoughts—he won't necessarily follow my plan obediently. If his reckless impulses smash against Ren until his head breaks open…"
Madara's voice sank.
"…then he'll accept borrowing my power to complete the Eye of the Moon Plan."
White Zetsu hesitated, then added another piece of news.
"Speaking of that… a clone from the Land of Rain brought back something troubling."
Madara's displeasure was immediate.
"That Kaguya brat went to meet Nagato before returning to Kirigakure. Counting the Uzushiogakure incident, that makes their second meeting."
"Tch." Madara's voice was sharp. "That Kaguya brat really loves sticking his hand into everything, doesn't he?"
A pause.
Madara reached toward White Zetsu.
Darkness writhed—and half of White Zetsu's body turned black.
Madara's already-feeble aura sank further, his breath turning ragged.
"Hah… hah…"
"My time… is running out."
His eyes narrowed.
"Go, Zetsu. Go to the Land of Rain. Push Nagato into darkness."
Madara's voice turned low and cruel.
"That pain in his heart is already there. Make him lose more. Make him suffer more. Make him feel—remember—how deep the darkness of this shinobi world truly is."
"Yes."
…
"Mo-monster… he… he crippled an entire ANBU squad with a single strike…"
Outside the Mizukage's office, a Kirigakure ANBU muttered in horror as he watched Ren casually slash weapons away and pin the squad members to the wall with Ten-Finger Piercing Bullets.
"If he weren't a monster, how would he dare launch a coup alone?" another ANBU barked, punching him awake. "Move! The Third-sama is about to counterattack!"
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
Dozens of ANBU formed seals together, with the Third Mizukage at the core. A massively amplified Water Dragon Bullet rose coiling around the Mizukage Tower like a small mountain made of water, baring fangs as it lunged at Ren standing by the hole the Third had smashed through.
At the same time, a second wave—Lightning Release specialists—unleashed a coordinated follow-up.
"Lightning Release: Multiple Thunder Orbs!"
Bright thunder orbs struck the water dragon mid-flight.
In an instant, lightning crawled across the dragon's body, turning it into a composite technique infused with both Water and Lightning.
The sight made Ren think of a different line of history—where the Fourth Raikage and Mei combined Lightning and Water to restrain an Edo Tensei Madara.
Alive shinobi coordinating really are better than corpses and puppets, Ren thought idly.
Not that it matters against me.
He formed the seal for "Dragon," inhaled, and spoke softly.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Burst Orb."
A compressed sphere of wind chakra formed in his mouth—like a miniature Tailed Beast Bomb—and fired straight into the lightning-water dragon.
The water dragon swallowed it.
Then the wind orb expanded violently from within.
A blast of hurricane force ripped through the technique, detonating it into countless tiny electrified droplets.
A lightning rain fell over Kirigakure.
Yet its destructive power was minimal—more numbing than lethal.
"Just Wind Release… and he broke the Third-sama's lightning-water dragon…?!"
"So strong…"
Suikazan Fuguki's face sank.
He tore the wrappings off Samehada and roared, "Don't stand there like idiots! Move! We'll buy the Third-sama time!"
His eyes flicked sharply.
"Juzo—use the Hidden Mist Jutsu!"
"Hidden Mist? Now? Here?" Biwa Juzo stared at him like he'd lost his mind. "Against Kaguya Ren?! Are you joking, Fuguki?!"
"…Habit," Fuguki muttered, face stiffening as he remembered the embarrassing truth—Ren was the best in Kirigakure at mist.
Before either of them could form a new plan, Ren's side had already acted.
He released an improved Hidden Mist infused with senjutsu chakra.
It blended silently into Kirigakure's ever-present fog, turning the area around the Mizukage Tower into a pale, soundless dead zone—
"Wind Release: Typhoon Pass!"
A young, childish voice rang out from within the fog.
A massive gale erupted from its origin point, forcibly halting the mist's spread.
"Good, Yagura! Push harder—don't let him take our vision and perception that easily—!"
A short, boyish jonin—carrying a hooked staff taller than himself—nodded, preparing to pour more chakra into the wind.
Then his expression changed.
He abruptly cut off the wind and swung his weapon forward.
A rippling water mirror materialized.
"Water Release: Water Mirror Technique!"
A figure formed from water leapt out of the mirror, matching Ren's movement perfectly and blocking his strike as he emerged from the fog.
Ren's brows knitted.
He looked at Yagura—who stared back with fierce resolve.
"Don't get in my way, Yagura."
"I refuse!"
Yagura Body Flickered forward, joining the water-mirror copy to attack Ren from both sides, and demanded through clenched teeth:
"The Third-sama already promised to hand the Mizukage seat to you after the war! Why can't you wait even that long, Kaguya Ren?!"
"Because whatever is controlling him wants the war to continue," Ren replied evenly, shifting his stance and forcing the water-mirror copy back. "And I don't want to inherit a Kirigakure where the elites and the backbone have been shattered into a broken generation."
"You're talking nonsense!" Yagura snapped, furious. "The Third-sama is the Mizukage—the strongest shinobi in the village! How could anyone silently control him with genjutsu?!"
His voice was sharp with indignation.
"That insulted the will of strength passed down from the First Mizukage, Byakuren-sama. I want you to correct yourself immediately!"
Ren stared at him for a beat.
Then he clicked his tongue.
"…Coming from you, that has absolutely zero persuasive power, Yagura."
Ren's speed exploded—like a phantom.
Before Yagura and the water-mirror copy could react, Ren was already behind him, two fingers pressed to Yagura's spine.
"Wha—"
"Lie down and rest for a bit," Ren said softly. "This will end soon."
His voice turned clinical.
"Shikotsumyaku: Bone-Swap Puppet."
"Gaaah—!"
A specialized bone shot from Ren's fingertip, piercing Yagura's body and lodging against his spine.
Under Ren's control, it rapidly spread into a bone membrane that wrapped the spinal column tight.
Yagura's small body convulsed violently and collapsed.
The mist—once halted by his wind—surged again, expanding outward.
Ren closed his eyes briefly, sensing the Third Mizukage's position, then took a single step back—
And vanished into the fog once more, like a ghost swallowed by white death.
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