- I'm glad to hear that," he nodded, "especially since Oonoki won't be able to keep the hotheads at bay any longer and try to sit on the sidelines while Leaf and Cloud destroy each other - I've made sure of that.
- He's always been careful, unlike his teacher," Madara snorted derisively, slipping into reminiscence for a few moments, but then woke up, "what about Uzumaki?
- No sign of them - I'm beginning to think that those sly ones just slipped away to another world with their island and won't show up again," the creature waved its hand.
It was probably the only clan other than the Uchiha capable of thwarting the plan - the Uzumaki were too serious an opponent with a huge combat potential, on whom even the mangyoko sharingan could hardly apply genjutsu, which came off almost immediately, thanks to sophisticated protective fuin, and longevity and chakra power allowed them to develop much longer than other ninja.
Even now that Madara was well over a hundred years old, the Scarlet Clan had men twice as old and in far more combat-ready condition.
By directing an attack on Uzushiogakure by the forces of two great villages that didn't even need much pushing, the ancient shinobi had hoped to get rid of such a dangerous and destabilizing factor in one fell swoop, but the Uzumaki had once again proven that fuinjutsu was the answer to any question.
And not even Black Zetsu proved capable of finding where the seal masters were hiding, though there were very few places inaccessible to him. However, he couldn't sneak onto their island either, so it was foolish to expect a positive result.
- Let's hope so," the Uchiha nodded.
- If it were otherwise, the Uzumaki would have come back after the last war, just to hit the already weakened enemies, - shrugged the guest.
- How is the situation in Kirigakure going?
- Civil war, not out in the open yet, but it's not far off, and I've got some very promising pawns to recruit as soon as the frustration with the village reaches a fever pitch," Zetsu grinned.
- Great, look for similar ones in the other villages," the ancient shinobi ordered, "gathering all the tailed beasts won't be easy - the jinchuriki have very impressive power and our organization will need S-class fighters to be able to win without killing the host or breaking the biju's seal.
- I don't pay attention to weaklings, - the black man nodded in agreement and added, - but in any case, the organization will need to be assembled only when your "successor" capable of becoming the nominal leader is found.
- Then look for him! - Madara grumbled a little irritably.
- As you command," the black figure collapsed into a blot, and then quickly disappeared, leaving only one living creature in the cave.
That is the end Volume 5. Wait for Volume 6.
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