Madara Uchiha's conviction wavered slightly in that moment.
The "Eye of the Moon Plan" he had dedicated his entire life to actually had so many flaws!
For the first time, that unyielding belief began to shake.
Black Zetsu, who had been lurking in the shadows, could no longer sit still as he watched the situation take a drastic turn for the worse.
"Even if you don't carry out the Eye of the Moon Plan, as long as you collect the Ten-Tails, you can obtain even greater power!"
Black Zetsu used a bewitching tone, attempting to tempt Ian with a more direct form of power.
"That is the ultimate power that stands above all else!"
"Hahahaha!"
However, the response he received was an undisguised chuckle from Ian.
The laughter sounded as if he had just heard the funniest joke in the world.
In the next instant.
An indescribably powerful aura erupted with Ian at the center, sweeping through the entire room.
A pure white Six Paths Cloak materialized on his body out of thin air, its hem fluttering without any wind. Behind him, nine pitch-black Truth-Seeking Orbs floated silently, exuding an aura capable of annihilating everything.
A Six Paths Shakujo, formed from the power of Yin-Yang Release, slowly materialized in his hand.
His entire presence underwent an earth-shattering transformation in this moment.
He was no longer a ninja, but a god.
Ian's feet slowly left the ground, floating in mid-air. With a posture akin to looking down upon ants, he calmly gazed at Madara Uchiha and Black Zetsu, who were already dumbstruck on the ground.
He asked softly, using a tone so flat it bordered on indifference.
"Are you referring to... this kind of power?"
Before his words even faded.
His figure instantly vanished from where he stood.
When he reappeared, he was already beside Black Zetsu, casually patting him on the shoulder.
Ian tilted his head slightly, whispering softly into his ear in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"Don't be in such a rush."
"In a couple of days, I'll help you free your mother from the moon."
Boom—!
This light, airy sentence caused Black Zetsu's entire body to stiffen.
Then, his pitch-black body began to tremble violently. It was an uncontrollable shudder originating from the very depths of his soul.
Boundless terror overwhelmed him.
'How is this possible! How could he possibly know this secret!'
'This deepest truth of the Eye of the Moon Plan, something not even Madara Uchiha knows.'
'There shouldn't be a second person in this world who knows about it besides me!'
The others in the room were already shocked by Ian's sudden Six Paths Sage Mode.
Hashirama Senju stared blankly at the figure in mid-air.
He felt an aura from that power that was both familiar and foreign.
It was somewhat similar to his Sage Mode, but it was a higher-dimensional power far above it.
He finally recovered from the world-shattering shock. With deep sorrow and confusion on his face, the First Hokage looked up and questioned Ian.
"You possess such immense power, so why do you still want to start a war?"
"Hasn't the one village, one country system I established already brought peace to the ninja world?"
Hearing this question, Ian slowly descended to the ground and deactivated his Six Paths Sage Mode.
He looked at Hashirama Senju as if he were looking at a complete idiot.
"Do you really not know just how much of a load of crap this system you built is?"
This merciless mockery left Hashirama Senju momentarily speechless.
Ian could not even be bothered to explain it to him. He simply turned to look at Jiraiya nearby and said in an annoyed tone.
"Jiraiya."
"Did you not tell this old fossil that after his death, the ninja world has already fought three world wars, and ninjas have nearly beaten each other's brains out?"
Hashirama Senju turned his gaze toward his granddaughter in disbelief.
Looking at her grandfather's innocent eyes, Tsunade felt a pang of pain in her heart, but she still nodded agonizingly, personally shattering his final illusion.
"Yes, Grandfather."
"The Third Great Ninja War only ended not too long ago."
Hashirama Senju felt as if he was about to collapse.
His body seemed to lose all its color, turning completely ashen. He squatted in the corner, and a gust of wind blew past, bringing with it a few fallen leaves.
The peace plan he had racked his brains for, even going so far as to turn against his best friend to conceive.
In the end, it was actually this pathetic.
Ian looked at the devastated Hashirama Senju and said to him in a cold tone.
"Madara Uchiha was right about one thing."
"This world must be made to know pain!"
"Otherwise, these ignorant people will never learn to cherish peace."
"They will never understand that so-called peace is never a given, but rather something bestowed by the absolute strong!"
He glanced around at the crowd. His voice was not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears.
"Furthermore, your so-called Great Ninja Wars, with a bunch of ninjas fighting back and forth, are nothing more than children playing house."
"There is an even greater threat lurking in this world."
"The origin of chakra is due to the 'Otsutsuki' clan."
"In the face of beings of that caliber, the infighting among the Five Great Villages is completely meaningless."
These words contained a massive amount of information, shocking all the ninjas present.
They fell into a long period of deep thought.
Ian found this place boring and prepared to leave.
Before leaving, he glanced at Madara Uchiha and Izuna Uchiha, who were also deep in thought, and casually invited them.
"Hey, you two old seniors, do you want to go see the current Uchiha clan compound?"
Madara Uchiha and Izuna nodded immediately with almost no hesitation.
They were desperate to know what the Uchiha clan had become today.
On the other side, Hashirama Senju, who had just climbed back up, also wanted to go along.
He wanted to see with his own eyes exactly what the Uchiha clan, who had now defected from the Hidden Leaf, looked like.
"Whatever, then let's go together."
Ian shrugged indifferently.
The Mangekyo pattern in his eyes spun slightly, and a spatial vortex instantly enveloped the few people present.
In the next second.
Everyone vanished from Hiruzen Sarutobi's residence.
When the crowd opened their eyes again, they were all stunned by the sight before them.
This was a massive wooden city.
A gigantic treehouse constructed entirely from Wood Release, with half of it piercing into the clouds.
Countless massive vines and trees intertwined to form magnificent buildings and wide streets, brimming with an incredibly rich aura of life.
Nowadays, most of the villagers of the Land of Hot Water had been absorbed by the Uchiha clan, becoming members of the new village.
"This... this Wood Release..."
Feeling that pure and majestic Wood Release chakra, Hashirama Senju was shocked beyond measure.
For this Wood Release to be able to exist permanently, just how much chakra did Ian Uchiha have?
What shocked them even more was...
Following their arrival, figures shot up into the sky from within the city, flying toward them.
In the end, a full hundred people gathered before them.
Every single person exuded a terrifying aura that far surpassed the Kage level.
However, this was not the most terrifying part.
When Hashirama Senju, Madara Uchiha, and the others got a clear look at the eyes of the welcoming Uchiha clan members...
Everyone petrified.
These over one hundred pairs of eyes were actually all Rinnegan!