**Inside Konohagakure**
Watching the content on the Skyscreen, the Third Hokage took a puff of his pipe and said with melancholy: "At this point, the Allied Shinobi Forces have deployed their full strength, yet their chance of victory remains unknown."
Hearing this, others nodded one after another. Even the Tailed Beasts, the ultimate weapons, had stepped onto the battlefield. This indicated that the Allied Shinobi Forces had truly given their all and would spare no cost to achieve victory.
But the Third Hokage still had doubts in his heart.
Why did none of the people present in the office—himself, Minato, Fugaku, Orochimaru, and even Kushina—appear on the Skyscreen?
With the intensity of the war shown on the Skyscreen, it shouldn't be possible for them to be absent.
Could it be that none of the people present here survived until the time depicted on the Skyscreen?
As soon as this thought appeared, the Third Hokage immediately shook his head to deny it.
Leaving aside an old man like him, the rest of the people present were all young and possessed remarkable strength. They couldn't have all died in one go.
The survival rate of Konoha's strong fighters couldn't be that low.
"Kushina... is she alright?"
Minato looked worried. Eight other Tailed Beasts had already appeared on the Skyscreen, but the Nine-Tails was missing. This made him extremely worried about Kushina's safety.
Everyone present had their own worries.
Although Fugaku's face remained impassive, he was also thinking in his heart: Why did only one Uchiha, Sasuke, appear from their Uchiha clan? Where did the other Uchiha go?
In a war of such scale, a decisive battle utilizing the full foundation of the entire Ninja World! Only one person from their Uchiha clan stepped onto the battlefield. Was this normal?
All three were worried, but Orochimaru was much more open-minded than them.
"It seems that idiot Jiraiya is already dead."
Orochimaru's expression was calm. He knew himself and Jiraiya very well. If he didn't appear on the Skyscreen, he might be late doing research underground. But if Jiraiya didn't appear, then Jiraiya must be dead.
"Order the Intelligence Division to record everything that has appeared on the Skyscreen, without missing anything!" The Third Hokage ordered in a deep voice.
The Anbu ninjas waiting nearby took the order and left.
...
**Akatsuki Base**
"Did I not manage to collect even a single Tailed Beast?" Nagato felt very surprised and puzzled. With his current strength, even if he acted alone, he could snatch one or two Tailed Beasts from the Five Great Nations. How could he accomplish nothing in the future?
"It seems I didn't leave anything for that child."
Originally, Nagato thought the Tailed Beast Weapon wasn't enough to deter the Ninja World, hence the need for the Sage of Six Paths' secret treasure. Now it seemed the Tailed Beast Weapon plan had failed completely.
"Nagato, maybe your future self gave up on that plan," Konan hurriedly said. She had never approved of the plan proposed by Madara, always feeling there was a big conspiracy behind him. Now seeing Nagato showing signs of relenting, she hurriedly tried to persuade him to abandon the plan again.
"No! Even if the Tailed Beast Weapon plan cannot succeed, we must snatch the Tailed Beasts!"
Nagato looked at the Skyscreen with deep eyes.
"At least for every Tailed Beast we snatch, the pressure that child faces will be reduced by a fraction."
"This..." Konan had nothing to say. She looked at the Skyscreen, at the scene of over ten giant beasts confronting each other, and felt Nagato's words made sense.
"After the Six Paths of Pain are completed, we will immediately go to Sunagakure to snatch the One-Tail. I have a premonition that with the exposure of the Skyscreen, the various Ninja Villages will guard their Jinchūriki more strictly. If we don't take advantage of this time to quickly snatch back one or two Tailed Beasts, I'm afraid there won't be a chance in the future."
Nagato said with an ugly expression.
Konan felt Nagato's words were reasonable, so she nodded and agreed.
"Alright, I'll accompany you when the time comes."
...
**Somewhere Underground**
"Is this kid the new tool I scouted for the future? *Kekeke*."
Hiding deep underground, Black Zetsu looked at Naruto's Rinnegan on the Skyscreen and let out a strange laugh.
"Really good talent. To be able to utilize Madara's eyes to that extent, even that brat Nagato couldn't do it, right? I really want to find him immediately and fool him into becoming my tool."
Black Zetsu sighed. Unfortunately, according to the intelligence collected by White Zetsu, there was no trace of the brat named Naruto in the Ninja World at this time, meaning he likely hadn't been born yet.
"What a pity... But what went wrong with the plan to collect Tailed Beasts? Why hasn't there been any progress by the time depicted on the Skyscreen?"
"However, since that brat named Naruto is so strong, collecting nine Tailed Beasts should be a piece of cake... No, still not right! That brat's goal seems to be destroying the Ninja World?! This... where did this go wrong?"
Black Zetsu paced back and forth in the dark underground space, his mind racing through various possibilities.
Black Zetsu had full confidence in his deception skills. Whether it was someone who wanted to save the Ninja World or someone who lost their loved one, under his deception, they would eventually be guided onto the broad path of Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Naruto on the Skyscreen wanted to destroy the Ninja World and was so full of hostility; something must have happened to make him despair of or even hate the Ninja World. Such a person would be a sure catch for his deception skills!
How could it fail?
No, no, think positively. Perhaps his way of destroying the Ninja World was to use Infinite Tsukuyomi to drain everyone's chakra until they died.
But that wasn't right either. He didn't collect the Tailed Beasts, which meant his goal wasn't Infinite Tsukuyomi. This completely contradicted his own philosophy.
Black Zetsu racked his brains but couldn't find a reasonable explanation.
But in the next moment, Black Zetsu thought of something, and his face suddenly became even uglier.
"No, now is not the time to worry about these things! If this Skyscreen exposes my entire plan to save Mother, won't my plan never succeed?!"
Black Zetsu shuddered all over, and a nameless anger surged in his heart.
He had already seen the hope of saving Mother in this era. In at most a few decades, he would succeed.
But if the Skyscreen exposed all his plans, he would have to wait another 1000 years!
In the meantime, he would have to continuously erase the history of this period, making the Ninja World completely forget this memory, before he could restart the plan to save Mother.
No, having already seen hope, he could no longer endure such a long time.
"I must find a way to completely destroy the Skyscreen! I wonder if Obito's Sharingan can pack the entire Skyscreen into the Kamui dimension? Maybe I should find a time to fool him into trying it."
Thinking this, Black Zetsu's hostility towards the Skyscreen reached its peak.
"After I save Mother, I must have Mother tear this Skyscreen and the person behind it to shreds!"