"Sorry, Poison Master, I dragged you down."
Renya carried Salamander Hanzō on his shoulders and broke out of the encirclement, arriving at a hidden cave to rest.
The Allied Shinobi Forces had already been shaken off far behind him, so there was no need to worry about their position being exposed for the time being.
It seemed that the Five Kage were finally getting serious this time, determined to capture him no matter what!
"It's fine."
Renya smiled and waved his hand. How could he possibly blame him?
He didn't even have time to thank him.
Without Salamander Hanzō as this convenient flaw, he wouldn't even know what excuse to use to retreat.
Sure enough, his decision back then had been the right one!
On the surface, he found a helper to assist with the mission, but in reality, it was to make the mission's failure seem more reasonable.
Salamander Hanzō looked at Renya with a surprised expression, seemingly unable to understand why he was so calm.
This was a failed mission to capture a Jinchūriki!
If they failed this time, it would only become even more difficult in the future.
The Allied Shinobi Forces would definitely strengthen their defenses, causing their mission success rate to drop again and again.
When the time came that they couldn't complete the mission as agreed, he didn't dare imagine Madara-sama flying into a rage.
Renya, however, didn't care at all.
In a little while, he planned to tell Madara-sama the truth.
The "Eye of the Moon" plan was a massive conspiracy to begin with—this kind of fake peace was better off discarded!
To put it plainly, Madara-sama was just thinking too far ahead.
It was precisely because of his lofty ambitions that, at such an advanced age, he was still exhausting himself.
Unlike Renya, who had no ambitions at all and lived happily every day, with no worries whatsoever.
His biggest worry over the years was simply deciding what dish to cook.
If Madara-sama hadn't been thoroughly fooled by Black Zetsu, he would have already been sunbathing in the village with Hashirama-san.
Instead of hiding like a rat in some dark underground space.
Barely saying a few words each day, always just resting with his eyes closed, his whole being lifeless and stagnant.
Telling him the truth, guiding him back from the wrong path, and having him return to the village to retire peacefully—that was the right path!
As for Black Zetsu? Who cares about it!
It had already waited thousands of years; a few more decades wouldn't make a difference.
If it really couldn't wait, it could just go mess with the next reincarnation of Indra instead of targeting the elderly Madara-sama.
After all, Renya would still have to take care of Madara-sama in his old age and see him through the end.
Madara had no children his whole life, and after being abandoned by the Uchiha clan, he had no close relatives upon returning to the village.
So it could only be Renya who took care of Madara-sama.
When the day came that Uchiha Madara suddenly kicked the bucket, the inheritance of those Rinnegan would be his.
Hehehe, the future was bright indeed!
"Renya-sama, we failed again."
At that moment, Tobi poked his head out of the ground, saying regretfully.
He had always felt that Renya was acting, so during this period he had to observe carefully and then report everything in detail to Madara.
It seemed that a traitor had appeared among them...
Not himself, not Madara—then it could only be Renya!
But he wasn't completely sure yet and planned to secretly observe for a while longer.
"Tobi, don't lose heart. Failure is the mother of success!"
With the mission failed, Renya was in an excellent mood and even had the leisure to comfort Tobi.
"Although we've already failed three times in a row, who can guarantee that our next mission will definitely fail?"
Heh, as long as I'm here, don't even think about succeeding!
Others might not be able to guarantee that a mission would always succeed, but Renya dared to guarantee that no matter how many times they tried, the mission would always end in failure.
As an undercover agent, he had already successfully infiltrated the upper ranks.
In a little while longer, he would be able to wipe out the entire organization in one sweep.
"But Renya-sama, there's only one week left until the deadline set by Madara-sama," Tobi said weakly.
Madara-sama had already given them one chance. If they failed again this time...
The consequences are simply unimaginable...
"Only the last week left?"
Renya murmured softly.
"Time really flies!"
In the blink of an eye, another month was about to pass.
He didn't know whether this time he could still get Madara to give him another chance.
If he could, then he would be able to delay things for another month.
If not, then so be it.
Renya didn't know when the Three-Tails would revive, but he didn't want to wait any longer.
Rather than pinning his hopes on the Three-Tails to buy time, he might as well take the initiative himself and directly defeat Madara.
Then let the old man honestly return to the village to retire.
To be honest, after acting for more than ten years, he didn't plan to keep acting anymore.
Uchiha Madara, born with innate evil, I'll personally put an end to your unrealistic plan for ninja world peace right now!
There's only one week left.
It's time to start preparing.
...
"Tobi, you've been following me for several months now. What do you think of how I treat Madara-sama?"
Renya removed his mask, his expression blank as he looked at Tobi, who had only his head exposed above the ground. His voice was calm.
Tobi:
"???"
Why was Renya asking him something like this? Could it be that he had discovered that he had been secretly reporting information to Madara?
Damn it, there was actually a mole within the White Zetsu army!
"Renya-sama, what do you mean by that?"
Tobi subconsciously sank his head further into the ground, leaving only half of his face exposed.
For some reason, he had a feeling that Renya-sama had developed killing intent toward him.
"It doesn't mean anything. I'm just asking."
A smile suddenly appeared on Renya's face, but in Tobi's eyes, that smile was terrifying.
"You... you're extremely loyal to Madara-sama, completely his right-hand man..."
"Do you really think so?"
Renya raised an eyebrow and stared straight into Tobi's eyes.
"Renya-sama, please... please don't scare me!"
Tobi was almost scared out of his wits. Renya-sama was too terrifying.
If this kept up, he really would run back to Madara-sama.
"Alright, alright, I was just asking. Look how scared you are."
Renya shook his head helplessly, then turned to talk with Hanzo the Salamander, no longer paying attention to Tobi, whose face had turned deathly pale from fright.
From Tobi's reaction, it seemed that everything Renya had been doing during this period had already been reported to Madara-san.
If that was the case, Madara probably wouldn't give him another chance.
In other words, seven days from now, Renya would completely fall out with Uchiha Madara.
It seemed he needed to make thorough preparations.
Even though Madara's strength had declined severely at seventy years old, he was still not to be underestimated—especially those Rinnegan!
Shinra Tensei, Banshō Ten'in, absorbing ninjutsu and chakra, Limbo: Border Jail...
None of these abilities were easy to deal with.
But as long as he defeated Madara-san, he could inherit the Rinnegan in the future.
Risk and reward went hand in hand.
And even if he couldn't inherit the Rinnegan, he still had to tell Madara the truth of the matter.
...
During the final seven days, Renya and Hanzo the Salamander infiltrated the camp three times.
But all attempts ended in failure.
Time arrived at the last day of the mission deadline.
"Hanzo, you can go back. Our mission has failed."
Renya sent Hanzo the Salamander away, then headed alone toward Uchiha Madara's hiding place.
Tobi had already disappeared a few days ago and had probably run back to report the situation.
But it didn't matter.
This battle was already unavoidable.