"Capture the Nine Tailed Beasts to resurrect the Ten-Tails? Become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki to cast the ultimate genjutsu on the entire world?!"
Everyone inside the Hokage Building was scared witless.
Even Fukasaku and Shima were somewhat shocked.
Because this was simply too crazy; they had originally thought the worst Madara would do was destroy the world.
But instead, he wanted to create a dream world without conflict where everyone could have their wishes fulfilled.
Who would have thought that Madara... had such extreme pursuits!
This completely overturned everyone's impression of him!
Fukasaku thought about it carefully and returned to normal.
The era Madara lived in was the Warring States Period. Back then, children had to go to the battlefield at the age of five or six, and the average lifespan of people in the Warring States Period was thirty years.
It was all because too many children were used as cannon fodder and died on the battlefield.
Madara's younger brother and relatives all died due to the chaos of war; how could he not hate the conflicts of the Ninja World?
Jiraiya frowned and said, "Such a world is a wrong world. Can an illusory peace still be called peace?"
"This is equivalent to killing everyone to sever the shackles of the Ninja World."
Everyone nodded.
Madara's world was just his own wishful thinking. In this world, there are those who live poorly, but there are also those who live well.
Even a tiny person can cast a giant shadow.
Only those who have nothing would look forward to such a world! Only those who cannot face reality would look forward to living in a dream.
One by one, everyone rejected Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan. They couldn't possibly live in a genjutsu world that was only fantasy and beauty.
What difference would that be from being on drugs for a lifetime?
There is only one true heroism in this world, and that is to still love life after recognizing its truth.
Humans are contradictions of both pain and beauty; who could have sweetness for a whole lifetime?
The white cat lay on the Hokage's desk and gave a yawn: "It's useless for you to deny it. Madara has already retrieved the Rinnegan; he is now the second Sage of Six Paths."
"Just obediently accept the Eye of the Moon Plan and hand over the Nine-Tails!"
The Nine-Tails?!
The Third Hokage and Minato subconsciously looked at Kushina.
Jiraiya was still a bit dazed: "The Nine-Tails? Isn't that a legendary natural disaster?"
Everyone knew that the Valley of the End was the place where Madara and Hashirama fought.
But the records of their battle weren't detailed enough to mention that Hashirama captured Madara's Nine-Tails and sealed it within Uzumaki Mito's body.
In a battle that could destroy heaven and earth, who would dare to go and watch?
The Nine-Tails's appearance rate in the Ninja World was simply too low.
The last recorded instance was the Gold and Silver Brothers attempting to capture the Nine-Tails, only to be swallowed into its stomach and gain the Nine-Tails's power.
Before Naruto, the Ninja World always considered the Nine-Tails to be a natural disaster.
The opening of the Naruto manga already stated it.
"Once, there was a demon fox causing trouble! This demon fox had nine tails! When the fox moved its tails, mountains crumbled and tsunamis rose! The people were tormented beyond endurance..."
Fukasaku and Shima subconsciously looked at Kushina.
As Sages of Mount Myōboku, they had their own independent intelligence system; it was impossible for them not to know that the Nine-Tails was sealed within Konoha.
It was also easy to guess whose belly it was sealed in.
A Tailed Beast's Jinchuriki needs to possess massive Chakra and tenacious vitality. The Uzumaki Clan has always been considered by the high-level officials of various countries to be the most suitable candidates for a Tailed Beast's Jinchuriki.
How many people in Konoha were named Uzumaki?
Moreover, Kushina's Chakra was startlingly massive, essentially being the Ninja with the largest Chakra in this room.
Such a person wasn't sent out to cut people down but was instead kept in the Village as a housewife?
It was already very obvious.
Fukasaku and Shima did not expose it; after all, this was Konoha's own secret.
Just as Fukasaku was about to say something, an Anbu member came to report.
"Hokage-sama, Shikaku-sama and the others have returned!"
"Quickly, invite them in!"
The Third Hokage urgently needed to know the situation in the Land of Rain.
Because in Kakashi's team's mission log, it mentioned a divine punishment that descended upon the Land of Rain.
Even a person like the Third Hokage, who didn't believe in gods, had started to offer prayers, hoping the Sage of Six Paths would manifest and that the divine punishment could wipe out that evil Uchiha, Madara.
The Third Hokage shooed away the white cat on the desk: "Get aside, is this a place for you to lie down?"
The white cat annoyed the Third Hokage: "Monkey! Don't get your hopes up. Madara isn't dead; he's still alive and well."
The Third Hokage was furious and was about to burn the white cat with his pipe... Shikaku spoke out the news they had investigated in the Land of Rain.
The Land of Rain was suspected to have been struck by a giant meteorite, creating a lake dozens of miles wide, suspected to be divine punishment!
The Hidden Rain Village had also changed hands; it was now called the Hidden U Village, and the Land of Rain had changed its name to the Land of Ryou.
The leader is Uchiha Ryou, who calls himself General Ryou. He is currently carrying out a massive purge of dissidents and plundering wealth within the Hidden Rain Village.
Anyone who was a die-hard loyalist of Hanzo was captured by him for extortion.
Don't even think about getting out until half of your family property has been extorted.
It is said that even the Daimyo of the Land of Rain was captured for extortion.
The entire Hidden Rain Village is controlled by the Uchiha Clan's Ninja Cat. Even a stray cat guarding the gate in Sora-ku was arranged by Uchiha Ryou to be a Jonin, eating off the public grain.
The people of the Hidden Rain Village are now living in dire straits.
If the villagers of the Hidden Rain see Uchiha Ryou and don't jump up and weep with gratitude, they will be greeted by the Ninja Cat tribe's 'six strikes per second'.
"..."
Everyone was speechless, beyond speechless.
Is this still something a human can do?
They even felt that Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan was at least serving peace, carrying a sense of extreme hatred for the chaos of war.
At least Madara wasn't the rumored ultimate mass murderer; he was using his own way to solve the curse of the Ninja World, even if the method was a bit extreme.
But Ryou's Land of Ryou?
This was hell on earth.
This Uchiha Ryou was ten times more evil than Madara.
Mikoto covered her face, somewhat unable to face anyone.
Itachi used the Transformation Jutsu to turn into someone from the Aburame Clan.
Because... it was simply too embarrassing!
Searching through all the historical records of the Uchiha Clan, one couldn't find such a scoundrel of an uncle!
The Uchiha were a clan as proud as cats, disdainful of doing such things as oppressing civilians.
Itachi even felt that his father was absolutely right to expel his uncle from the family and strip him of his surname!
The Third Hokage pointed at Ryou's clone, the white cat, and cursed: "Where has your Will of Fire gone? You're simply a disgrace to Konoha, a disgrace to the Uchiha."
The white cat hissed: "If the main body had learned the Will of Fire well, would he have defected?"
"..."
Everyone was stunned; that made sense!
The Third Hokage didn't care about the dire straits of the Hidden Rain Village; the worse the Hidden Rain lived, the more it showed the legitimacy of their crusade.
He now only wanted to know about Madara's situation, so he asked Shikaku.
"Shikaku, have you heard any news about Uchiha Madara?"
Shikaku shook his head: "No. The area around Hidden Rain Village is filled with a kind of white weirdo; their sensory abilities are very strong, and they can easily discover intruders."
"The news we could get about the internal affairs of the Hidden Rain was obtained by directly bribing the Ninja Cat guarding the Village entrance with a lot of money."
"..."
Everyone was speechless again.
The white cat said angrily: "Zehaha, they dare to sell intelligence?"
Shikaku added: "Uchiha Ryou built a statue of Uchiha Madara in the Hidden Rain Village. Looking at that posture, Uchiha Madara doesn't seem to be dead."
The Third Hokage sighed. Even though he had an answer in his heart, he was still somewhat unwilling. Why didn't god strike Madara dead?
The Third Hokage glanced at the white cat, wanting to smash Ryou's clone with a punch, but this clone wished it would hurry up and disappear!
Jiraiya asked a question he was very concerned about: "What about Tsunade? What's the situation with Tsunade?"
A Jonin from the Senju Clan said: "Lady Tsunade is right by Uchiha Ryou's side and can move freely."
Jiraiya felt a pang in his heart.
The Third Hokage's expression was somewhat gloomy because Kakashi's team's mission log showed that Tsunade had passed her Monster Strength on to Uchiha Ryou.
To a certain extent, Tsunade has already defected from the Village!