Graveyard of the Mountains.
The aged Madara Uchiha sat before the towering Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, wrapped in thick cotton clothes with a brazier burning in front of him.
Not far away, several White Zetsu gathered around, waiting to report their work.
Though Madara had grown so old he couldn't leave the Demonic Statue, he still monitored the entire ninja world through the White Zetsu.
"Lord Madara, over in Konoha, Sakuho Rinjin has been staying there for a long time. We haven't had any opportunity to go in and scout for outstanding candidates!"
One White Zetsu said frantically.
Hearing this, Madara's eyes flickered slightly as he glanced at the White Zetsu and spoke calmly:
"Don't worry about that guy—just go in and look!
Remember, choose an Uchiha clan member, preferably someone kind-hearted who loves the world.
Of course, if this person has someone they truly love, that would be even better!"
They were discussing who would inherit Madara's ideology and continue executing the Eye of the Moon Plan after his death.
As the former leader of the Uchiha clan, though Madara had abandoned the Uchiha, in his eyes the Uchiha clan remained the undisputed strongest clan.
Proud as he was, his chosen pawn had to be exceptionally powerful!
At the same time, his understanding of the Uchiha clan's nature made his selection very targeted.
If other clans had a ten percent chance of turning dark, then an Uchiha who lost their beloved had a 99.99% chance of falling to darkness!
With this guarantee, he could die with peace of mind.
Hearing Madara's words, the White Zetsu still hesitated.
For no other reason than Rinjin had left too deep a psychological shadow on them.
Back when Rinjin's clone attacked the Demonic Statue, it had scared the hell out of these simple and adorable White Zetsu.
Seeing this, Madara frowned and said sternly:
"When I tell you to go, you go! Why all the chatter!"
Seeing Lord Madara angry, the White Zetsu quickly nodded and cowered to one side.
Then Black Zetsu emerged from somewhere, speaking up before anyone else.
"Lord Madara, Sakuho Rinjin should have discovered the Akatsuki organization!"
"What about it?" Madara asked back.
"Recently, White Zetsu from Rain Village have been frantically infiltrating Takigakure. I've eliminated many but they still won't give up.
I suspect they must have gotten some definite intelligence to send out White Zetsu clones regardless of losses!"
Indeed, Rinjin had obtained accurate information.
But not about the Akatsuki organization—about Black Zetsu.
Ever since infiltrating the Akatsuki, he'd discovered Black Zetsu secretly guarding this newborn mercenary squad.
So Rinjin acted decisively, dispatching large numbers of White Zetsu clones to harass Black Zetsu.
Previously, relying solely on the main White Zetsu body's division, Rain Village couldn't produce many White Zetsu clones.
But after acquiring cloning technology, producing White Zetsu clones became a matter of money.
Was Rain Village short on money? Not at all.
Using these cute and charming White Zetsu clones, Rinjin had tightly restricted Black Zetsu's range of activity to Takigakure.
...
By the brazier, Madara Uchiha glanced at Black Zetsu with indifference and spoke slowly.
"Ignore him—that guy's just bored."
Compared to Black Zetsu, Madara actually trusted Rinjin more.
It sounded strange, but Madara genuinely thought this way.
Thanks to Rinjin's reminder, Madara had once had a very sudden thought:
What if Black Zetsu wasn't his own will? Then what was it? What did it want?
What exactly was Black Zetsu?
This question lacked too much intelligence to know.
But what were Black Zetsu's true intentions?
Madara had his own speculation.
Clearly both Nagato and the Rinnegan were handled by it, yet it made no moves.
On the contrary, this guy obediently accepted his orders and dutifully did its work.
Unless...
This guy's purpose overlapped with his own—massively overlapped.
Madara Uchiha wasn't stupid.
Anyone who could lead their clan against the Senju clan during the Warring States period had considerable intelligence.
He was just somewhat stubborn.
Thinking of this, Madara subtly glanced at the obedient Black Zetsu before him, his mind stirring.
If Black Zetsu's goals overlapped with his Infinite Tsukuyomi, would it still need to pretend to be his will's incarnation?
It could do so—after all, personally joining and supervising every step of the plan would benefit its smooth execution.
But there was really no need to do so.
If he stood in Black Zetsu's position, he might just watch from the sidelines.
Unless this guy's desire for the Eye of the Moon Plan's success was even stronger than his own.
Only then could Black Zetsu's strong motivation for impersonating his will's incarnation be well explained.
Most crucially, Black Zetsu might have known about the Rinnegan before he did!
Otherwise, how would it know the Rinnegan could create self-consciousness, and how could it impersonate his will's incarnation!
If it wasn't his incarnation, then its knowledge of the Rinnegan was quite suspicious.
Thinking of this, Madara increasingly felt Black Zetsu was highly suspicious.
He even suspected whether, before his time, the Uchiha clan had produced a brilliant genius who created Black Zetsu and had it seek out future Uchiha geniuses—namely himself—then use him to complete some unspeakable earth-shaking conspiracy.
Like resurrecting that genius.
Previously, before Rinjin's reminder, Madara had always trusted Black Zetsu.
After all, who would think their own will's incarnation was a fake?
However, after Rinjin, his great rival, reminded him, seeds of doubt sprouted in Madara's heart.
As everyone knows, doubt is like weeds—wildfire can't destroy it, spring wind makes it grow again.
When he had no doubts, everything Black Zetsu did seemed satisfactory.
When doubts arose, no matter what Black Zetsu did, Madara felt conspiracy lurked behind it.
After much thought, Madara lifted his aged head, waved away the White Zetsu, then summoned a White Zetsu clone with spiral patterns on its face.
"You—go monitor Sakuho Rinjin."
Hearing this, the spiral-faced White Zetsu was slightly stunned, scratching its nonexistent scalp with an awkward smile.
"Lord Madara, isn't this... isn't this just going to die?
That guy's perception is so strong, and he can use the Mayfly Technique through traitor White Zetsu..."
Watching the chattering White Zetsu, Madara impatiently pursed his lips and said sternly:
"When I tell you to go, you go—this is crucial!
Even if you're discovered, it doesn't matter. I want to openly tell him I'm monitoring him!
Only by making him accustomed to this surveillance will it seem natural when we truly act!"
Hearing this, the spiral-faced White Zetsu was stunned for a moment, then bounced up excitedly, appearing extraordinarily happy.
He didn't reject death—he just rejected dying silently.
If he could make an outstanding contribution to the great Eye of the Moon Plan, he would die without regrets.
Thinking of this, the spiral-faced White Zetsu happily left the Graveyard of the Mountains.
Watching this special White Zetsu sink into the ground and disappear, Madara's eyes became deep again.
Having White Zetsu monitor Rinjin wasn't just about making Rinjin relax his guard.
It was also to make Rinjin notice something different!
That guy was very cunning—once he noticed something different, he'd immediately take action!
And that guy had promised not to interfere with the Eye of the Moon Plan.
So what he could do was nothing more than hypocritically show up with big and small packages to visit me!
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
The story isn't over...
🤔 Want to know what happens next to the characters?
🤫 Eager to explore the untold secrets of this world?
✍️ Ready to read more of my wildest stories?
✨patreon.com/DarkGolds