[On The Other Side Of The Ninja World]
After fighting Tobi, Hanzo of the Salamander found himself unable to do anything to him, but if Tobi wanted to kill Hanzo, he had to materialize.
But once he gave up intangibility, Tobi's actual combat strength was inferior to Hanzo's.
The nuclear weapon he previously held, the Nine-Tails, had also fallen into Konoha's hands because of Tobi's carelessness.
Tobi fled from the Hidden Rain Village.
Forced out of the Hidden Rain Village, he escaped north to the Land of Frost.
"I'm so pissed off, where's Hanzo of the Salamander's conscience?!"
"He actually dared to get stabbed, everyone who gets stabbed deserves to die!"
Tobi said angrily. Usually, he liked jokes and fun, but this time he was truly furious.
Beside him, the Venus flytrap-like White Zetsu looked slightly helpless. "Tobi, forget it. Anyway, the Great Sage only told you to improvise freely. Victory and defeat are common in war."
"Then what do we do now? Go back to Mount Myoboku? My Sage assessment is going to count as a failure."
Tobi sat on a rock helplessly.
The Venus flytrap White Zetsu shook his head. "You probably don't know yet, but a new situation has appeared in the ninja world."
"Uchiha Madara didn't die, and he has obtained the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path. He even successfully extracted White Zetsu from it."
The moment he heard that, Tobi was shocked.
"You're saying Uchiha Madara has the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path?", Tobi immediately asked.
The Venus flytrap White Zetsu nodded. "Yeah. Uchiha Madara is using the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to stay alive."
Tobi's expression changed drastically.
"He's just a mortal! What does he need the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path for?!"
"How can this be allowed!?"
"Isn't the Great Sage doing anything about it?"
Tobi fired off three questions in a row.
Back then, he and Black Zetsu had controlled the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
Naturally, he knew this thing was White Zetsu's lifeline.
If something happened to it, all the White Zetsu would be finished.
He didn't even know what the urge to poop felt like, so now that he heard a madman like Uchiha Madara had obtained the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, he naturally panicked.
"Calm down. The Great Sage would never give the real one to Uchiha Madara. That Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is fake. What I mean is, we can infiltrate his side."
The Venus flytrap White Zetsu said.
Tobi thought for a moment and felt it was a good idea. "In that case, let's do that."
———
[Graveyard of the Mountains]
Beneath the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, three white-haired old men sat below it, relying on the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to stay alive.
Those three old men were naturally... Uchiha Madara, Senju Tobirama, and Uchiha Izuna.
"We're already old. We need the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to stay alive. Most likely, we won't be able to complete our dream while we're alive. My idea is to raise successors and arrange the pieces beforehand."
"We'll transplant my Rinnegan into him. After that, he'll revive the three of us. At that time, with the strength of the three of us together, the ninja world can be pacified, and the ultimate dream can also be achieved.", Uchiha Madara spoke in a deep voice.
Uchiha Izuna had no objections.
Although he wasn't sure whether his elder brother's path was truly correct.
As long as his brother insisted on walking it, then as his younger brother, Izuna would support him with everything he had.
Senju Tobirama lightly tapped the edge of the stone table with his fingers and nodded thoughtfully. "Madara, have you found one?"
Uchiha Madara slowly shook his head.
"A mortal body simply cannot withstand the vast power of the Rinnegan. Those capable of enduring that destructive backlash are already extremely rare."
"Even battle-hardened adults might not survive for even a moment, let alone the child I'm searching for, one still in swaddling clothes."
Uchiha Madara paused, his tone carrying the feeling of staking everything on one gamble. "I've placed all my hopes on the Uzumaki Clan."
"Only their naturally massive chakra and undying life force might produce descendants worthy of these eyes."
"I see..."
Senju Tobirama nodded, his expression suddenly becoming much more serious.
"White Zetsu's intelligence report just arrived. The entire Land of Whirlpools is already under siege by several surrounding ninja clans working together."
"The Hidden Mist Village is secretly supplying food and weapons from behind the scenes, adding fuel to the fire while reaping the benefits.", Senju Tobirama said calmly.
Before he finished speaking, Uchiha Izuna's brows tightly furrowed, and frost instantly gathered in his eyes. "The Land of Whirlpools is in trouble, and Konoha is just watching? What is Sarutobi Hiruzen doing?"
Konoha and the Uzumaki had been blood allies for generations. Even though the Uzumaki distanced themselves from Konoha during the First Great Ninja War to protect themselves, Senju Hashirama later personally visited Uzushiogakure and sincerely restored relations between the two nations.
No matter how you looked at it, Konoha had no reason to stand by and do nothing.
"Forget it, Izuna. Let's not worry about those things. As long as it doesn't affect our plan, nothing else matters."
Uchiha Madara slowly reminded Izuna.
A trace of reluctance appeared on Uchiha Izuna's face. Although he was now operating behind the scenes, he had once been Hokage. Seeing the village make the wrong decision still made him worried.
"I understand, brother.", Uchiha Izuna sighed softly.
———
[Meanwhile, In Konoha Village]
Jiraiya arrived at the Hokage's office.
"Old man, I want to ask you something.", The moment Jiraiya entered, he immediately spoke.
Sarutobi Hiruzen slowly set down his pipe. "What's wrong, Jiraiya? I was just about to call for you all."
"Old man, I want to ask about that Arisu guy."
Jiraiya took a deep breath and asked.
Sarutobi Hiruzen raised his brows and spoke with a smile. "Arisu? That child is an inheritor of the Will of Fire. Like me, he's one of the only two people in the village proficient in all five chakra natures. A Konoha genius!"
Jiraiya frowned tightly. Seeing that even his teacher said this, then it probably wasn't some kind of genjutsu.
After all, Jiraiya couldn't imagine what level of genjutsu could affect his teacher.
That meant the only possibility was that there was something wrong with his memory.
Jiraiya rubbed his head. "Old man, for some reason, I don't have any memories at all about that Arisu."
"It's like that Arisu just appeared out of thin air...", Jiraiya said helplessly.
He had already asked around on the way here, and everyone remembered Arisu.
Then there was only one possibility.
There really was a problem with his memory.
"Hehehe... Jiraiya, could it be a side effect from your Sage training?", Sarutobi Hiruzen said with a laugh.
Clearly, he didn't take it seriously.
Jiraiya smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Maybe the problem really is with me. I'm even starting to wonder if I fell into a parallel world."
"Alright, Jiraiya, read fewer dirty books. There just happens to be a mission here that needs handling. I plan to organize a five-man squad and send you to support the Land of Whirlpools!", Sarutobi Hiruzen said.
Jiraiya's expression immediately turned serious when he heard this. He had also been reading the newspapers recently.
He knew that Konoha people's old friends, the Uzumaki Clan, were currently in deep trouble.
Naturally, Konoha needed to act.
"Who are the members of the five-man squad?", Jiraiya asked.
Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled as he took out a list he had already prepared.
"Arisu, Hatake Sakumo, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade will form a five-man squad to support the Land of Whirlpools!"
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