"En Oyashiro, what do you mean by this?"
A stood up from the ground and revealed the identity of the newcomer.
"En Oyashiro…?"
Minato's eyes sharpened. This name had never once appeared in their intel.
"Alright, alright, listen to me. Everyone can stop fighting now. Oh, right—where's your Fifth Hokage? I have something to tell him. Remember, hurry. Otherwise that kid Amado might be in danger."
En Oyashiro wanted to meet Shimura Takeshi.
But he did not get his wish.
When his request reached Konoha's upper management at the fastest speed, Hatake Sakumo appeared before him.
Seeing A and En Oyashiro voluntarily restrained inside the interrogation room, Sakumo wasn't sure how to start.
"The Fourth Hokage? Forget it, it doesn't make a difference."
Oyashiro's tone did not show disappointment just because the person in front of him wasn't Takeshi. After seeing Sakumo, he gestured to the ANBU behind him—the ones responsible for the Hokage's safety—to take out a certain device from his clothes.
With Sakumo's approval, the ANBU carefully reached into Oyashiro's inner coat and quickly pulled out a square device.
"Press the red button. Remember—red. If you press the green one, something really terrible will happen~"
Oyashiro's playful tone made the ANBU break into a cold sweat.
He wanted Sakumo to leave the room before he pressed the button, but Sakumo wasn't worried and signaled him to go ahead.
Under immense psychological pressure, the ANBU pressed the button.
A holographic map was projected into the room.
On the map, a red dot stood out clearly.
"The guy at the red dot is Sanzu Amado—my boss."
Seeing Sakumo's confused gaze, Oyashiro explained: "Right now, he should have just escaped the Inner Circle base and is bringing you important intel."
Sanzu Amado?
Hearing the name, Sakumo looked puzzled.
Then he turned his gaze toward A.
"Sanzu Amado. Scientist of the Akatsuki Organization. He's the one who developed the artificial humans."
A explained coldly.
"I see. Why would someone like that flee your organization?" Sakumo asked.
"I'm just the messenger. And I'm here to keep a certain Raikage alive. The rest is outside my job description." Oyashiro tilted his head with a smile.
A only snorted at that.
"Fourth Raikage-sama, your brother…" Seeing Oyashiro unwilling to say more, Sakumo had no choice but to turn back to A.
But before he finished his sentence, A cut him off harshly: "Spare me the pointless courtesy. Say what you need to say."
Knowing A's temper, Sakumo didn't get angry. He simply smiled and replied,
"There's no need for hostility. The shinobi have already united; the daimyōs' rule is about to become history. Based on your actions, I already understand your true intentions."
A's mental state was easy to read.
Even betrayed by his village, he never harmed his own people.
During the confrontations after joining the Akatsuki Organization, it was also clear this former Raikage wasn't acting wholeheartedly for them.
Of course, the beating and severe injury he gave Naruto was definitely not a good look.
Minato could tolerate it, but Kushina blew up over it, saying more than once she'd string A up with her chains and whip him.
Kurama deeply sympathized.
"Where exactly is the Akatsuki Organization's Inner Circle base located?"
That was the question Sakumo most wanted answered.
"Outside Hoshigakure. You need a special device to open a space-time passage to enter."
A did have such a device—unfortunately, after Minato's relentless assault, it was completely destroyed.
"I have one too, of course. But Jigen is the ruler of that area. If he senses my betrayal, that device becomes nothing more than scrap metal."
Before Sakumo could ask, Oyashiro voluntarily explained.
"Of course, you could also use someone's Mangekyō Sharingan to force open that region."
"How do you know…"
Sakumo was stunned.
Had Obito's ocular ability been exposed to this extent?
"The answer is all with Sanzu Amado. So what you need to do now is find him as soon as possible."
Oyashiro's smile was eerie.
But Sakumo had no choice.
...
"Space-time ninjutsu? Who?!"
Inside the Inner Circle base, Jigen sensed the intrusion into space and snapped his eyes open.
"Hey, you three, the enemy ahead is strong. Deal with it properly. After this battle, I still have to return to Konoha and get married."
Not far from Jigen, the swirling distortion of space slowly closed. Obito clutched his eye and collapsed onto the ground, a trail of blood-tears running down his face.
Forcibly opening a foreign dimension consumed too much power. If not for the Hashirama cells he transplanted, he would've earned himself the Blindness Combo.
"Hmph. Not bad."
Uchiha Madara stood with his hands behind his back, which for him counted as praise.
"Madara, he's still your junior. No wonder the children in the village didn't like you back then."
Hashirama walked to Madara's side and naturally slung an arm around his shoulder.
"Still, I never thought that after fighting each other to the death while alive, we'd actually fight side by side like this after dying."
"Stop it, big brother. This is all because they are incompetent. Otherwise, why would they need us dead people to come help?"
Tobirama clearly wasn't happy about Sakumo and the others using the dead in battle.
"Oh? Says the man who invented the jutsu. Yet now the mastermind is acting all innocent in front of his big brother?"
Madara sneered, exposing Tobirama's act.
"Madara!"
"Tobirama!"
Just as they were about to fight, Madara and Hashirama saw a blur before their eyes—Tobirama vanished, replaced by a man with a ponytail.
Madara was about to ask who he was when he finally heard Tobirama crash into the distance.
Such force—he actually kicked Tobirama that far.
Glancing at the cloud of dust rising, Madara lowered his hands, ready to fight at any moment.
Hashirama also grew tense.
He didn't know if Tobirama had let himself be hit to test the opponent's strength—or if he simply didn't have time to react.
Judging by his brother's miserable state, the latter was far more likely.