From the constant stream of information provided by his insect spies, Madara learned that a dark and strange presence was rapidly approaching through the earth.
Black Zetsu was arriving.
Are you bringing today's manga?
Madara rested his chin in his hand, his eyes dull with boredom. He had grown tired of this manga recently.
The latest issues were full of nonsense. Aside from the Moon Eye Plan, there hadn't been much to grab his attention or excite him.
If it weren't for monitoring Black Zetsu and Sakuma Akaba's situation, he would've stopped reading long ago.
At this moment, Black Zetsu emerged from the ground before him, placing two manga volumes on the chair. Then he stepped aside in silence without another word.
This was Madara's reading time.
He flipped open the pages and quietly read on. When he saw Danzo's arm reveal a Sharingan eye, his eyelids lifted slightly.
Hashirama Cells, one arm equipped with a Sharingan.
Now that's a luxury!
But...
Another arm, another Sharingan, another Kaleidoscope Sharingan. Do you really deserve to use them, Danzo?
Madara scoffed coldly.
Could someone outside the Uchiha truly grasp their power? Only those born of the Uchiha bloodline can truly control these eyes. And only I, Madara Uchiha, can fully unleash the ultimate potential of the Sharingan.
Still, I didn't expect that Sakuma Akaba would know about Kotoamatsukami.
His eyes narrowed slightly. These traitors within the clan probably shared even the secrets of the Stone Tablet with this outsider.
Of course,
While Madara looked down on the current state of the Uchiha in Konoha, he couldn't deny that Motonami Uchiha had done his duty, successfully continuing the clan's legacy.
Yet in Madara's view, such survival was worse than glorious extinction.
Different ideals meant nothing more needed to be said.
Black Zetsu sensed Madara's emotional fluctuation, detecting the change within him, but unable to discern its nature just yet. He simply kept his questions to himself.
What will this generation's reincarnation of Indra Chakra ultimately decide to do?
This clash between two sinister old masters seemed to hit a temporary pause.
Because at this very moment, Sunagakure had directly launched an offensive against the Land of River. Their original goal had merely been searching for missing Suna ninja, but anyone with clear eyesight could tell—
Sunagakure had officially declared war.
The entire Land of River had become a chaotic mess, and the most headache-inducing problem undoubtedly belonged to Kakuzu. He had just completed half the integration of underground forces within the Land of River, extending both his and Akaba's influence into the most prosperous areas.
And then came war.
Smuggling across Wind Country became impossible, and even illegal trades with Amegakure and Iwagakure suffered significant disruptions. After all, both feared Sunagakure might go nuts again and pull another feint attack like last time.
Alone, Sunagakure probably wouldn't dare provoke all these factions simultaneously.
But Madara dared.
After all, Sunagakure wasn't his. His sole objective remained gathering strength while ensuring the One-Tail Jinchuriki remained firmly under his control.
Onoki worried deeply.
In his hands, he held every newly released manga volume lately published. He felt he needed to catch up on some reading soon.
If I really run into him now, there's no way I can beat Madara as I am.
"Lord, you've been worrying for two whole days. These affairs—"
"What affairs? Handle them yourself."
Onoki replied gruffly.
The page in his hand showed a scene from the Kage Summit, where the Raikage boasted about being the "only one who's ever fought Madara" among all the ninja present.
That statement was ridiculous.
Was that even a fight?
It was a one-sided massacre; the guy didn't even have a chance to resist!
And besides, Madara himself was currently a guest in the Land of Wind. As an ally, was it appropriate to draw such content in this manga? Was he trying to get me, Onoki, roasted alive over a fire?!
He didn't stop spewing curses.
At that moment, a new volume of the manga arrived via an Anbu ninja, and he hurriedly grabbed it to read.
After half a while, Onoki began coughing violently. He needed several gulps of water before calming down—only to launch into another tirade moments later.
Comments like "your entire family died out," "your teacher isn't as good as the Uchiha," and "purposely pretending to be weak—sneaky and deceitful" flew out. Thankfully the office had decent soundproofing; otherwise, Onoki's reputation might have been ruined.
The Tsuchikage's guards weren't surprised.
Ever since his last humiliating defeat at Akaba's hands, Onoki had become obsessed with this manga series called *Naruto Shippuden*. Every time a new chapter came out, he demanded someone buy it for him just so he could criticize it.
Luckily, though, this era had no Internet.
No matter how much Onoki ranted, Akaba would never know. So there were no real consequences—go ahead and vent, after all, we won't see it anyway.
In Konoha,
Akaba was troubled over how tomorrow's update should be handled.
Danzo and Homura Mitokado finishing things up, Naruto and Sasuke reuniting again, Tsunade revived—
and most importantly:
Orochimaru, Kabuto, and [Impure World Reincarnation].
Tomorrow's update would include, in its final chapter, Kabuto mastering the Impure World Reincarnation technique and Summoning many of the Akatsuki members who had previously fallen in battle.
With the reincarnated warriors added to Akatsuki's forces, this would truly represent the enemy side of the Fourth Great Ninja War.
However, doing this meant the Impure World Reincarnation would inevitably receive more attention.
Although Danzo had already arranged for Mito Uzumaki to seal everyone else's memories regarding this technique—except those of Akaba and herself—and had erased all records of Impure World Reincarnation from the Scroll of Seals, eventually the issue would still resurface.
Impure World Reincarnation was, in some ways, akin to grave-walking: digging up corpses from their ancestral graves and using fragments of their remains to Summon the dead back to life.
It really wasn't humane.
Though not particularly strong per se, Kabuto Summoning an army of powerful figures indeed caused considerable trouble. Yet in the end, it seemed to help many deceased individuals fulfill their final wishes more than anything.
As for the past Kage:
They were decent enough for support roles, but if you wanted them to directly challenge someone with Rinnegan like Madara, they'd fall short—unless, perhaps, they could bring back Hashirama Senju, the First Hokage.
Konoha technically had the conditions for that, yet both Sarutobi and Mito Uzumaki strongly opposed using this forbidden technique.
It defied the natural cycle of life and death.
Mito Uzumaki especially held a deep reverence for death itself; she would never agree unless they were truly out of options.
Actually, though, what troubled Akaba most wasn't resistance from within Konoha, but rather outsiders from the fake Allied Forces.
Some people simply didn't care about taboos.
"Forget it. The alliance hasn't even gotten off the ground yet, and the three Kage will probably remain on the sidelines for now. They'll wait until Konoha is sufficiently weakened..."
He thought it through and realized he'd probably gone too far in his worries.
Konoha was their ally now, but that would change once "Obito" and Black Zetsu were eliminated. The more casualties Konoha suffered, the stronger their voice would become.
In this world, there are no eternal allies.
Akaba dismissed the thought. Apart from the addition of Homura's death and Kakashi's later appointment as Hokage with only Koharu Utatane in opposition, nothing much had changed.
A pity though—
Before Kakashi could even hold the title of Hokage for a second, Lady Fifth Hokage awoke.
Tsk.
Who knows what Sakumo would think if he saw this.
After finishing compiling the reports, Akaba sent them to the arms factory, although this time he kept an extra precaution.
Besides sending out the manga volumes, he also dispatched a Multiple Shadow Clone.
This was because Shige and Izumi Yamano mentioned to him earlier that one copy of Hot & Steamy had gone missing mysteriously.
If it were just replacing Naruto Shippuden or One Piece volumes, losing one wouldn't be a big deal — with such huge print runs, who would even notice? But Hot & Steamy was different; its first distribution batches and exact quantities delivered to each location had been fixed.
Thus, the problem had surfaced.
Initially, Akaba didn't dwell on it too much—things got lost sometimes, perhaps stolen. Yet upon second thought, having his clone lie in wait wouldn't hurt either. Perhaps there'd be something useful discovered?
After all, aside from internal theft, the only person in the world capable and bored enough to go through such trouble of stealing books was none other than Black Zetsu.
Nowadays even Danzo buys genuine products—only this bastard has no standards, never using legal channels.
Therefore, Akaba decided tonight he'd enter only shallow sleep, ready to use the Flying Thunder God technique to support his clone the moment Black Zetsu surfaced.
If they could catch him directly, that'd be like chopping off Madara's leg.
As night deepened,
Inside the Factory, a pitch-black figure emerged from underground before swiftly snatching two manga volumes and slipping away back onto ground level.
However, not long after moving forward, he suddenly sensed something wrong.
This feeling seemed...
Genjutsu?
Startled, he quickly began breaking free from the illusion.
Black Zetsu resisted genjutsu exceptionally well. Within moments, he had broken out of it. However, he soon noticed someone standing behind him.
Sakuma Akaba.
Judging from this mark, it must have been a sealing technique. But what baffled Black Zetsu was—he couldn't recall ever receiving the Flying Thunder God mark.
Madara had explained the Flying Thunder God technique to him: it required the use of specific markings to function.
Without those marks, instantaneous movement was impossible.
"Could it have been placed while I was under that genjutsu?"
Zetsu felt confused.
He hadn't noticed a thing at first — partly due to his own carelessness, but mostly because Akaba had concealed himself perfectly. His aura and chakra were completely hidden. Yet when exactly did that Flying Thunder God marking get placed on him?
Even without sweat, right now, Black Zetsu genuinely felt fear—especially watching Akaba staring at him coldly, exuding an aura so chilling it pierced the soul.
This guy might actually kill him!
[Water Prison]
Black Zetsu desperately tried to dive down below, yet in the next instant, the water sphere lifted into the air. From Akaba's hands surged a terrifying electrical force—lightning that contained not only chakra, but also natural energy.
More alarming still, a powerful chakra presence approached rapidly from not far away. Just sensing it told him who it was—Mito Uzumaki.
"I still have to save my mother... I can't let myself get sealed here! I must escape!"
Black Zetsu gritted through the pain. His body emerged directly from the water sphere and vanished into the earth at lightning speed. Although a remnant remained trapped within the Water Prison Jutsu, it was merely a Shadow Clone.
Akaba felt regret.
He had hesitated just now. If he had used Rinnegan and Six Paths Chakra, there might have been a chance to capture Black Zetsu. However, doing so risked exposing his trump card against Madara — that might backfire if it failed.
At the same time, he sensed Mito Uzumaki approaching. He took a gamble — hoping he could stall long enough for her to arrive.
Unfortunately, Black Zetsu cut his losses and fled, leaving behind only a small lump of pitch-black mass in Akaba's Water Prison Jutsu.
Before Mito arrived, Akaba pulled out a sealing scroll and sealed the blob of black mud inside.
This was a creation of Yin-Yang Release; no one could predict whether it might evaporate or vanish once separated. The sooner it was sealed, the more valuable it would be for future research.
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