Nagato was momentarily taken aback, not immediately grasping Deidara's meaning at first. After a short pause, he indignantly shouted, "Idiot, that was my clone. This is my real body—Nagato!"
"Ohh, so it was a clone!" Deidara nodded thoughtfully. "No wonder those clones kept stabbing themselves with pins. I thought Leader was some kind of masochist!"
Nagato's mouth twitched. Why hadn't he realized before just how wild Deidara's imagination was?
Deidara casually slung an arm over his shoulder. "Leader, tell me how you died."
A shadow of wariness passed through Nagato's eyes. "I was forced into 'suicide' by someone!"
The four of them were greatly shocked. Given Leader's power, for him to be forced into 'suicide'—who could possibly possess such strength?
Just as they were about to continue questioning him, the lid of the final coffin suddenly fell.
Crash!
A man with a stylish, flowing hairstyle stepped out.
"It's the Impure World Reincarnation... Looks like the plan ran into some complications..." Madara muttered.
Deidara eyed him curiously. "So who exactly are you—the real body of Konan? Zetsu? Or maybe Kisame or Sasori?"
Nagato's temple throbbed with anger. "How could it possibly be Konan? Can't you at least make a plausible guess?"
Deidara waved it off nonchalantly. "The bigger the difference from the real person, the better the disguise. Like you, with that pale, sickly face—how would anyone know you're Leader? By the same logic, Konan, all delicate and ethereal, might actually be a muscular brute in disguise..."
Nagato finally lost his patience and fired off a Shinra Tensei, sending Deidara flying.
Madara watched coldly, thinking to himself, "Nagato is dead after all. The plan has definitely deviated!"
At this moment, Itachi suddenly spoke. "Are you Madara?"
The name immediately captured the attention of the other four.
Nagato, in particular, felt immense surprise.
If this man truly was Madara, then who had been manipulating everything behind the scenes all along?
Madara neither confirmed nor denied the claim, simply fixing Itachi with a cold stare. "Not bad… those eyes."
This condescending tone slightly annoyed Deidara. "Why is an outsider crashing our Akatsuki reunion?"
"My apologies," Kabuto grinned. "I brought you all out simply to prove my abilities to someone."
Sasori turned toward his former subordinate. "Kabuto? How did you end up in this form?"
Kabuto chuckled with a creepy voice. "Isn't it great? After merging with Lord Orochimaru, I've finally found my true purpose in existence!"
Sasori's lips twitched slightly, secretly relieved. Good thing Kabuto had betrayed them—otherwise, if he had dug up his corpse and stuck it onto his own body, the thought alone was sickening!
Suddenly, a Spatial Vortex formed, and Obito emerged from it, stepping before the group.
Seeing "Tobi" alive, Deidara felt genuinely happy.
After all, of all the people he felt guilty toward, killing Uchiha Sasuke with his self-destructive technique had hurt Tobi the most!
"Haha, Tobi! You really do have nine lives!"
"Yeah, thanks to you, Deidara-senpai! Oh right, Sasuke didn't die either!"
Deidara blew up instantly. "What?! My ultimate art failed to kill him?! Where's my praise? Where's the unprecedented admiration for my art?!"
Obito sighed. "Failure earns no praise. Mockery might come your way, though!"
Deidara nearly lost his mind. "Ahh! My art!"
"Don't provoke him too much," Kabuto chuckled. "What should we call you then? Tobi? Madara? Or perhaps Obito Uchiha?"
Madara slightly frowned. Had that fool Obito's identity truly been completely exposed?
"Obito Uchiha?" The five Akatsuki members showed some surprise. So he was actually part of the Uchiha clan too!
"Names are just labels. You can call me whatever you want," Obito said casually. Looking at everyone, he continued, "I've officially declared war against the shinobi world. This is precisely the time when I need you most!"
Deidara recovered from his frenzy, somewhat moved. "Never thought the one to carry Akatsuki's will forward in the end would be you, a newcomer!"
Kabuto gave a sinister chuckle. "He's no newcomer. To be precise, he's the true leader of Akatsuki!"
"Tobi, leader?" Deidara burst into laughter, recalling Tobi's previous clowning around. "Haha! How could such an idiot be our leader?"
Obito's lips twitched slightly. It was praise for his performance, but it still felt like an insult somehow.
Nagato finally spoke. "He truly is the one operating from the shadows!"
He didn't call him a leader, though. To him, the only true leader of Akatsuki would always be Yahiko!
"Back then during the Nine-Tails disaster, there were traces of Sharingan manipulation. That's why the leadership suspected my father. Now it seems likely he was the true mastermind behind all of that!" Itachi analyzed silently.
"Never thought that after my death, the person succeeding my position would actually be the true leader of Akatsuki!" Sasori also showed some surprise.
Just as the group was feeling shocked and preparing to dig deeper, Madara impatiently said from one side, "Enough of this boring nonsense! Obito, how are the Bijuu collection going?"
Upon hearing Madara's question, everyone was startled again. Why did Madara know about their Bijuu collection?
And the relationship between Madara and Obito was also very intriguing.
Obito replied, "We've gathered Bijuu One through Seven. As for the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails, we've already obtained backup chakra. It's barely enough to implement the plan!"
"Even you encountered obstacles collecting Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails. It seems this era is more interesting than I imagined!" Madara raised his eyebrows, then laughed arrogantly. "But since I've been revived, I'll just crush everything directly!"
Obito kindly reminded him, "Hashirama Senju might have already been reincarnated by Konoha's side!"
Madara's eyes lit up. "Excellent! Time to change the world's impression of the Valley of the End battle!"
"Not only him, but..."
As the situation seemed about to spiral beyond his control, Kabuto coughed twice. "I must remind you both, I'm the one leading the Impure World Reincarnation! It's better not to proceed with your plans without me, the leader!"
However, Obito Uchiha just calmly looked at him.
Madara let out a loud laugh. "Kid, didn't anyone ever warn you about the downsides of the Impure World Reincarnation?"
"Downsides?" Kabuto smirked. "You mean the risk of being too well-known and becoming a target?"
"As long as the summoned knows the hand seals, they can break the binding seal of the Impure World Reincarnation themselves. Just like this!" Madara said, already forming hand seals.
Kabuto's heart jolted. He quickly tried to control Madara's body.
However, Madara's consciousness proved far stronger than he'd imagined. Even though Kabuto had absorbed Orochimaru's chakra from Anko's cursed seal, which strengthened his control over the Impure World Reincarnation bodies, he still couldn't fully dominate Madara's body in such a short time!
And that brief moment was more than enough for Madara to finish his seals.
[Impure World Reincarnation Release!]
Immediately, an overwhelming presence erupted from Madara's body!
Seeing Madara suddenly exude such immense authority that it even cracked the ground beneath him, the Akatsuki members felt shocked in their hearts. No wonder he was considered a legendary ninja!
"Now I can finally feel my own power again!" Madara stretched his body after releasing the Impure World Reincarnation, then turned his gaze toward Kabuto.
One single glance from Madara made Kabuto shiver as if he had been plunged into icy water!
However, Madara didn't actually harm him — he just shot back coldly, "Kinjutsu shouldn't be abused!"
Then he and Obito walked side by side toward the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path whose presence they had sensed earlier.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
Want to read the subsequent content in advance?
Please follow my Patreon:patreon/Tansnovel
Tans Novel - The Fastest-Updating Naruto Fanfiction Account
Read 100+ chapters in advance, with at least 3 new chapters updated every day! More free chapters! 20+ Naruto fanfictions!
Just three steps:
1. Download and open the "Patreon" app
2. Search for "Tans Novel"
3. Click on the collection and enjoy to your heart's content
<><><><><><><><>