While Hoshiyomi was marveling at the strange new shinobi world he'd found himself in, the original shinobi world was undergoing its own chain reaction caused by his mysterious disappearance.
In a secret underground base near the border of the Land of Rain, Black Zetsu was eagerly questioning Tobi for the exact details of Gekko Hoshiyomi's "death."
"You can rest easy, Black Zetsu," Tobi said with a grin. "I saw it with my own eyes—Gekko Hoshiyomi was completely swallowed by the Ryūmyaku. You've seen the power of Maboshi yourself.
With its space-distorting power combined with the chaotic temporal vortex from the Ryūmyaku's explosion, there's absolutely no way Hoshiyomi could have survived.
Our Eye of the Moon plan has no more obstacles left in its path."
Hearing this with his own ears, even Black Zetsu couldn't help but nod in satisfaction, a rare smile spreading across his face.
The pressure Hoshiyomi had exerted on him while alive had been suffocating. To have someone not only aware of his existence but also strong enough to pose a threat—Black Zetsu could never act freely under that shadow.
But now, with Gekko Hoshiyomi dead thanks to their schemes, he could finally breathe easy and resume his grand mission—the plan to revive his "mother," Kaguya Ōtsutsuki.
Looking at the map of the shinobi world spread across the table, Black Zetsu pointed first toward Amegakure.
"Amegakure is now fully under Nagato's control, and the Akatsuki organization is developing exactly as planned.
With Sasori and Hidan having joined, Akatsuki has grown even stronger.
If we can recruit a few more S-rank or Kage-level shinobi like Sasori, we'll be ready to start the Tailed Beast Collection Plan in earnest.
For now, Akatsuki's growth is not a concern. The only real issue is maintaining control over Nagato—and that's something I'll handle personally."
After that, Black Zetsu's inky fingers slid across the map toward Konoha.
"Now that we've covered our territory, let's talk about our enemies.
Technically, the entire shinobi world is our enemy—but among the Five Great Villages, the only real threat to us right now is Konoha.
The other four? They're nothing but beaten dogs. Even if they had ten years to rebuild, they'd never regain their former strength.
So, our focus must remain squarely on Konoha.
Even though Gekko Hoshiyomi is dead, Konoha's overall might remains formidable.
From what we know, there are at least five high-level shinobi who proved themselves during the last two great wars.
Such strength poses a serious risk to our plans.
Therefore, even with Hoshiyomi gone, we must remain cautious.
Until Akatsuki grows powerful enough—until we've gathered enough tailed beasts—we must avoid drawing Konoha's attention.
No open conflict, no provocations. Not until the time is right."
When he finished his assessment of Konoha, Black Zetsu turned toward Tobi with a sinister smile.
"Now then… it's time for your reward."
He gestured for Tobi to lean in closer, then tapped a spot on the map—Kumogakure.
"Here. This will be the next village whose Kage's seat will belong to you.
How does that sound? Tempting, isn't it?"
Tobi's interest was immediately piqued. He stared at the spot marking Kumogakure and asked, half-skeptical:
"How am I supposed to pull that off? There's no way I can take over a village like that by myself."
Black Zetsu chuckled darkly, his voice echoing off the cavern walls.
"Speaking of which, we really have Gekkō Hoshiyomi to thank. When Lord Madara was alive, we always planned to use Kirigakure as our secret development core."
"But the appearance of Gekkō Hoshiyomi disrupted our plans. His series of actions completely blocked any possibility of us taking root in Kirigakure. However, while blocking Kirigakure, he unintentionally opened up a new direction for us.
"During the Third Great Ninja War," Black Zetsu explained coldly, "Konoha's Minato Namikaze fought against the new A–B combo from Kumogakure.
In that battle, Minato used a forbidden jutsu that severely injured the man who was soon to become the Fourth Raikage.
The Third Raikage, forced to retreat, later died during a mission in Iwagakure's territory.
Now, many years later, the Fourth Raikage appears healthy—but that old injury still lingers, stunting his strength and leaving him far from his prime.
This is our opportunity. The Fourth Raikage was originally a taijutsu-type shinobi who relied on Lightning Release Chakra Mode to enhance his strength. Now that his meridians are damaged, he can only exert about forty to fifty percent of his power
Controlling him with the power of the Mangekyō shouldn't be a problem. Plus, the Mangekyō's innate ability to control Tailed Beasts, once you control the Fourth Raikage and the Two-Tails Jinchūriki...
Even if the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, who is the Fourth Raikage's brother, notices something wrong, he would be unable to turn the tide alone. If this plan succeeds, the entirety of Kumogakure will effectively fall into your hands."
Hearing Black Zetsu's explanation, Tobi's eyes glinted, a look of satisfaction flashing in his gaze as he replied:
"Heh. All right then I'll take the job."
...
Three days later, the shocking news of Gekko Hoshiyomi's disappearance finally reached Konoha.
When the Fifth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, heard the report, he was so stunned that he nearly fell out of his chair.
"What?! That's impossible—how could the invincible Hoshiyomi-sensei go missing in a small nation like Rōran?"
Still, as Hokage, Minato quickly regained his composure. He immediately classified the information, forbidding it from spreading.
To the public, he simply announced that Hoshiyomi had gone into seclusion for advanced training at White Wolf Ridge, a holy land.
Only Tsunade, Jiraiya, and other top-level figures in Konoha were told the truth.
Upon hearing the real situation, the entire upper echelon of Konoha was in disbelief.
Hoshiyomi's wife, Tsunade, outright refused to accept the news—she immediately resolved to go to Rōran herself and find him.
When Tsunade got serious, even Jiraiya and the others couldn't stop her.
In the end, they gave in and decided to accompany her for safety's sake, forming a special rescue team consisting of the Legendary Sannin themselves:
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru.
Together, the three departed for Rōran, determined to uncover the truth behind Hoshiyomi's disappearance.
But once they arrived, they found nothing.
The people of Rōran confirmed that Hoshiyomi had indeed appeared in the city—but no one knew what happened afterward.
The trio eventually sought out Princess Sara, who remembered Hoshiyomi… but her memories had been tampered with by Tobi's Mangekyō Sharingan before he left.
Sara only recalled Hoshiyomi helping her defeat Anrokuzan, but she had no recollection of what occurred inside the Ryūmyaku's chamber.
According to the false memories implanted by Tobi, Hoshiyomi had been consumed by the Ryūmyaku's chakra after failing to stop its rampage.
And as the saying goes, "the most convincing lies are seven parts truth and three parts fiction."
Since Sara herself didn't realize her memories had been altered, her story completely misled the three Sannin.
They saw no sign of deceit in her account, and thus decided to stay near the Ryūmyaku,
hoping that when its energy recovered, Sara might be able to use its power to locate—or even bring back—Gekko Hoshiyomi.
Even the mighty Konoha, which had seemed untouchable, found itself weakened by this sudden and tragic loss.
...
Drop some POWERSTONES to push the story forward!
PS: Read Advance Chapters at https://www.patreon.com/c/ReadJin