Uchiha Madara never expected to meet the legendary Sage of Six Paths after death. It surprised him slightly, but after hearing the secrets of the Ten-Tails from the Sage, he realized that the so-called Eye of the Moon Plan was likely not left behind by the Sage at all.
The stone tablet at the Uchiha clan grounds had been tampered with, and Black Zetsu—whom he himself created—was a being passed down since the Sage's era.
It was probably connected to the legendary Rabbit Goddess, Otsutsuki Kaguya.
"This is getting more and more interesting. If the old Eye of the Moon Plan can't be realized, then I'll replace it with a new one. Otsutsuki."
Thinking this, Madara felt a surge of excitement, but his Edo Tensei body prevented him from feeling true passion.
"I need to be revived as soon as possible…"
After Madara left, Obito Uchiha clenched his fist in anger.
He never expected Edo Tensei to fail so badly. Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara both broke free of the technique, and the sacrifices he prepared were the best White Zetsu clones. Now both could wield power close to their peak in life.
"And that so-called 'Six Paths' Hashirama mentioned—what is it? Six Paths techniques, or the Sage of Six Paths himself?"
Obito thought for a while, but with too little information, he couldn't draw conclusions.
Worse still, after Madara's revival, White Zetsu and Tobi would no longer obey him. He failed to eliminate all hidden dangers beforehand, and now it was too late.
"Fortunately, I still have some Edo bodies."
Edo Tensei and Kamui were likely his final trump cards, and he had to expand them. Obito didn't want to be Madara's pawn or subordinate. He had his own goals and didn't trust Madara.
"Kakashi, you've borrowed my Sharingan for long enough. It's time to give it back."
With that, Obito used Kamui and left. The underground cavern had already been destroyed by Hashirama, and nothing of value remained.
The Sand Federation was now in a period of intense transformation. The merger with Konoha was ordered by both sides' Kage, so high-level exchanges were frequent.
Iwagakure and Kumogakure had suffered severe losses, and their Kage had been captured. No matter how much the daimyo of the Land of Earth and Land of Lightning urged them, neither village intended to deploy troops.
They had intelligence from Konoha. The Hokage who possessed Wood Release was still there, and Konoha was the traitor within the Four-Nation Alliance. Unlike Iwagakure and Kumogakure, Konoha hadn't suffered such losses. Starting a war rashly would only hurt themselves.
The newly appointed acting Kage of both villages weren't that foolish. They drove away the daimyo's envoys and jointly threatened that if funding was cut, they couldn't guarantee what extremist ninja might do.
Kumogakure's aggressiveness was tradition. This time they had lost nearly three thousand ninja. Without massive funding, recovery was impossible.
The new acting Raikage was a veteran jonin. He knew funding was crucial, so he openly threatened the daimyo's envoys. Even heavily weakened, Kumogakure still had over four thousand ninja. As the village famous for military buildup, even mostly Genin were enough to make the Land of Lightning wary.
Iwagakure was similar. The acting Tsuchikage was Ōnoki's granddaughter, Kurotsuchi. Though weaker, she still had jonin-level strength, and her temper was far worse than Ōnoki's. During negotiations, she nearly killed the daimyo's envoy with a punch.
She declared outright that if funding wasn't provided, Iwagakure wouldn't let the daimyo's government off easily.
The Four-Nation Allied Army had been orchestrated by the daimyo. With such heavy losses, Iwagakure and Kumogakure were furious. Yet the daimyo still demanded immediate deployment. Kurotsuchi not storming the Land of Earth's capital with Earth Style: Detachment of the Primitive World was only because the elders stopped her.
"Kurotsuchi, someone wants to see you," an Iwagakure elder said as he entered.
Her face fell. "Another daimyo envoy? They really—"
"It's not from the daimyo. It's Akatsuki, from the Land of Rain."
Before he finished, Kurotsuchi stood up angrily. "What did you say? Akatsuki!?"
Hearing Akatsuki made her think of Kitsuchi, who stayed behind on the Rain battlefield. She had two enemies in her heart: Konoha and Akatsuki.
"Kurotsuchi, Akatsuki is here to propose an alliance. They also feel pressure from Konoha and the Sand Federation, so—"
"I refuse! The Land of Rain and Iwagakure have irreconcilable hatred. If we ally with them, what will the villagers who lost family in the Fourth Shinobi World War think? What will our ninja think?"
The elder frowned. "Then can you handle Konoha and the Sand Federation? If no one can stop a Hokage with Wood Release, how will Iwagakure resist their expansion?"
This left Kurotsuchi speechless. Iwagakure was at rock bottom. Even unlimited funding would take ten years to recover. Her grandfather Ōnoki had been captured, and the village had lost its Kekkei Tōta legacy.
If the Sand Federation and Konoha moved against them after merging, Iwagakure would truly face destruction.
Seeing her silent, the elder continued, "To stop them, we must rely on Akatsuki. Not just us—they've contacted Kusagakure, Takigakure, Otogakure, and Kumogakure. Only by uniting all villages, plus the power of Akatsuki's leader's Rinnegan, can we protect Iwagakure from being swallowed."
After a long silence, Kurotsuchi finally sighed. "I understand. For Iwagakure's sake, I'll suppress my hatred. Let them in to discuss the alliance."
She saw no other way to save the village. Even with deep hatred toward Akatsuki, she had to endure it.
Konoha and the Sand Federation loomed like a mountain over Iwagakure. Konoha was clearing Fire Country nobles and consolidating territory. Once that was done, their next targets would likely be Iwagakure or Kumogakure.
Alliance with Akatsuki was inevitable for both villages. They had no other choice. Faced with an organization that had once confronted and even injured the Fifth Hokage head-on, neither village would refuse.
The movements of Iwagakure and Kumogakure couldn't escape the Sand Federation's notice. After discussions, the federation leadership reported the situation to Pakura, but she sent it back, instructing them to consult Hyuga Mirai.
That signal was almost equivalent to declaring Hyuga Mirai the next Kazekage. The leadership went directly to the Federation Academy office. Many figures whose status rivaled the Minister of Education and the academy principal came personally to report.
After hearing this, Hyuga Mirai chuckled. Pakura's methods were still too crude. The Kazekage position wasn't hers to hand over.
Still, he issued instructions: ignore Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and the Land of Rain for now.
The Federation's focus was on merging with Konoha and occupying the Land of Water. These two tasks consumed most of its energy. Only after Pakura returned from the Land of Water could they deploy a Kazekage-led army against Iwagakure or Kumogakure.
As the leaders prepared to leave, one added, "By the way, Mirai-sama, Konoha reported that they're close to finishing the 'cleanup' of two districts near Kikyo Castle. They need the Federation to dispatch some civil officials."
"Doesn't the Administration Department have a plan?" Mirai asked.
"There's no one left to send. Even the recently graduated reserve officials have all been deployed."
"Then reassign deputy officials from other districts. Also send people to Konoha. If there are ninja there who have memorized Federation administrative codes and laws, promote them on the spot."
Personnel shortages were a real issue. For now, they could only build the administrative framework and replace noble governance with the Federation system.
After the meeting, Mirai's clone retrieved the original plans from the Federation Ninja Academy's founding, revised them, and sent them to Konoha.
His clones worked nonstop, but the real body rested comfortably at home. Aside from occasionally checking on Ayaka, he studied the ninja world planetary map constructed by Unit 18.
The satellites he launched orbited the planet several times, collecting all surface data and partial data down to about fifty meters underground and underwater. Using this, Unit 18 created a holographic projection for Mirai to observe and analyze.
(End of Chapter)