Chapter 147: The Curtain Rises
Time flew.
Before they knew it, October 1 had arrived—the day the movie was finally released.
Before production on The Giant of Light was completed, the director had added a few extra scenes for the Hyuga clan, mainly to satisfy some of Hanaka's wild ideas.
The animated movie was nothing short of a masterpiece.
Uzumaki Zetsu was perched in the branches of a large tree on the Ninja Academy playground, a bag of popcorn in his hands. As he munched away, he gazed at the promotional poster in the distance and muttered under his breath.
"A grand and magnificent light show for everyone to enjoy for free."
"Shut up!"
Hearing the reprimand from below, Zetsu lowered his gaze slightly and looked at the White Zetsu standing on his shoulder. He grinned.
"You've been coming to Konoha quite frequently lately."
Black Zetsu's expression darkened even further. He looked up at the Uzumaki Zetsu standing on his shoulder and gritted his teeth.
"Idiot. Why do you have to come every time?"
"Oh!"
Uzumaki Zetsu pointed toward Madara, who was sitting in a chair.
"Today is the first day of The Giant of Light's rebirth. Lord Madara wanted to come and see his little brother, so I came along. I didn't expect to sense your presence the moment I arrived at the amusement park."
Following his finger, Black Zetsu looked toward the old man sitting in the chair. His expression immediately darkened.
Only after sensing the gradual decline of the old man's life force did he relax slightly.
"If anything goes wrong this time, you're dead."
"I know, I know."
Uzumaki Zetsu stuffed another couple of pieces of popcorn into his mouth. He looked around at the adults who had brought their children to watch the movie, his gaze sweeping through the crowd as though searching for someone.
"Obito didn't come, right? If he discovers Lord Madara, that would be troublesome."
"He didn't."
White Zetsu shook his head.
"He's working on his plan."
Uzumaki Zetsu looked at the two of them in confusion. Then he bent down and stuffed a piece of popcorn into each of their mouths.
"What plan?"
"Ptui!"
White Zetsu immediately spat the popcorn out and cursed angrily.
"You're getting stupider by the day."
"Ptui!"
He spat again before looking up at Uzumaki Zetsu and continuing.
"Basically, Obito wants to do something about the Nine-Tails. That's also why we're here in Konoha this time—to gather information about the Nine-Tails."
"Oh?"
Thinking of the powerful red-haired Uzumaki woman, then remembering Uchiha Obito, who had awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan only a few months ago, Uzumaki Zetsu's eyes widened in surprise.
"Has Obito really become that strong already?"
White Zetsu spread his hands and sighed.
"That's right.
"He can now enter almost anywhere without any protection, and his Mangekyō Sharingan ability has developed to an extremely terrifying degree. There isn't anyone in the shinobi world who can defeat him within five minutes. That's where his confidence in his plan against the Nine-Tails comes from.
"Besides, the shinobi of Konoha don't realize that what they consider the highest level of protection surrounding the Hokage practically doesn't exist in Obito's eyes."
"That's amazing!"
Uzumaki Zetsu sighed as well.
Not long ago, while gathering intelligence underground, he had been astonished by the number of ANBU surrounding Kushina and the sheer tightness of her security. The protection was so thorough that it seemed to cut off every possible connection with the outside world.
But now...
It seemed Obito's plan really might succeed.
Dong~ Dong~ Dong~
Loud background music poured from the speakers, followed by Uchiha Asuka's voice.
"Just as sunlight pierces the darkness, dawn quietly crosses the horizon."
Uzumaki Zetsu covered his ears and looked toward the screen, where the names of the principal cast were appearing.
Director: Uchiha Asuka
Starring: Black Cat (Ninja Cat)
Puppet: Sponsored by Kankurō
After reading the credits, he shouted down at the two below.
"I'm going to watch the movie with Lord Madara!"
The moment he finished speaking, both of them felt their shoulders suddenly lighten.
Before they could stop him or explain anything, the idiot had already appeared beside Uchiha Madara and sat down with a sly grin.
Smack!
Black Zetsu slapped a large hand against his forehead in frustration.
"One day, I'll return every last bit of his nutrients to the Divine Tree."
"Agreed!"
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Hearing the crunch of popcorn beside him, Uchiha Madara stared at the images gradually appearing on the white screen and frowned slightly.
He hadn't wanted to come today.
But Asuka had insisted that the finished footage was completely different from what Madara had seen at the filming site. He had repeatedly guaranteed that the movie would be extremely entertaining.
So Madara had come.
The narration began.
"Only powerful shinobi can protect the world from the destruction brought by the Tailed Beasts.
"And among the countless powerful shinobi, none are more outstanding than the Uchiha clan's Giant of Light."
Smack!
The moment those words reached their ears, Madara, Ryoichi, and the surrounding young Uchiha all slapped their foreheads at the same time.
They stared speechlessly at Asuka.
Those lines were unbearably embarrassing. They made their skin crawl.
"Cough. There aren't many lines like that. Just a few. They'll be over soon."
Asuka pulled Madara back down just as the old man was about to stand.
"Really. It'll be over soon."
As the strongest jonin in the clan, he still possessed considerable influence.
One-fifth of the people who had come to the amusement park today were Uchiha clan members. The remaining four-fifths were Konoha families who had brought their children.
Asuka had even set up a fried-chicken stall here and sold enough fried chicken to recover his costs.
"Hmph."
Madara snorted heavily before sitting back down and continuing to watch.
The story began in the shinobi world, focusing primarily on the history of the Warring States period.
However, the script had clearly undergone extensive modification.
The conflict between shinobi had been downplayed, while their greed for overwhelming power had been exaggerated.
As the embodiment of overwhelming power in the shinobi world, the Tailed Beasts frequently appeared throughout the story.
As natives of this world, the Tailed Beasts had initially regarded shinobi with neither hostility nor goodwill.
But as the greed of shinobi grew, their attitude toward the Tailed Beasts changed drastically.
And the Tailed Beasts gradually grew hostile toward humanity.
Roar!
A tremendous roar came from the speakers.
Uchiha Madara raised an eyebrow as he stared at the enormous Two-Tails on the screen.
When he had visited the filming site, the fake Two-Tails had been less than half his height.
Yet on the screen, it towered above the surrounding mountains.
The difference between watching the filming and watching the finished product was truly enormous.
As the Two-Tails repeatedly smashed buildings apart with its claws, gasps of amazement erupted from the crowd.
"Whoa!"
"Is that a Tailed Beast?"
"Mom, look! The Two-Tails can even breathe fire! The houses explode when the flames hit them!"
"That's incredible destructive power."
"I probably couldn't even withstand one of its claws."
Listening to the excited voices around him, Madara's cheek twitched.
Perhaps because he had personally witnessed firecrackers blowing up those plastic houses during filming, he couldn't feel even the slightest bit of immersion.
Too fake.
It was so fake that even this old man didn't want to watch anymore.
But...
Thinking about the appearance of Izuna that was coming later, Madara gritted his teeth and sat back down.
He endured it.
At least he had to admit that the Two-Tails looked convincing after transforming.
As the story progressed, a group of Hyuga clan members saw an unknown member of their clan fighting fiercely against the Two-Tails.
They couldn't help exclaiming in admiration.
"Did our Hyuga clan really have someone this powerful back then?"
"Idiot. It's a movie. A movie. It's not real."
"Did you notice? The clan member fighting the Two-Tails looks a lot like Hyuga Hanaka."
"Now that you mention it... he really does."
Hearing the voices of the Hyuga members nearby, Asuka's cheek twitched slightly.
Hanaka had once said that the solution to the "Hyuga clan problem" was simple.
All he had to do was portray her as a master capable of fighting a Tailed Beast, albeit while being slightly weaker than it.
Hmm.
Seeing that the Hyuga members had indeed calmed down, Asuka glanced toward Uchiha Madara.
Ever since that black-haired man had appeared on the screen, the old man's eyes hadn't left it.
The next moment—
When Madara saw Susanoo suddenly manifest around Izuna, radiating an eerie blue light, his face instantly turned livid.
His hand clamped down on the armrest of the chair.
Crack!
The wooden armrest shattered beneath his fingers, frightening the surrounding Uchiha into trembling.
The old man was far too old...
Yet he was still this terrifying?
"Old man, don't get angry. The blue light is a little dazzling, but our conditions were limited."
After hearing Asuka's explanation, Madara didn't stand.
He simply raised his head and stared at the enormous screen.
No matter how he looked at it, the strange blue light surrounding Susanoo was painfully glaring.
He still remembered perfectly what Izuna's Susanoo had looked like.
It was blue.
But it wasn't completely blue.
Madara had spent his entire life fighting.
This was the first time he had ever seen a Susanoo that could double as a light bulb at night.
It was far too bright.
That brat must have stuffed a hundred-watt light bulb inside the puppet.