Shigure began the fusion of the tailed beasts in the underground space.
After the Great Sage activated, it temporarily controlled Shigure's body. With Shigure consciously cooperating, the two began the process of merging the Two-Tails and the Ten-Tails.
At the same time, a powerful barrier formed in the outside world.
Using the Great Sage's assistance together with advanced sealing techniques, Shigure created a massive field similar to ROOM, forming an extremely powerful barrier.
The outside world could neither perceive what was happening inside nor break through the barrier.
Even space–time ninjutsu could not enter.
At this moment, Shigure was absolutely safe.
After completing all preparations, Shigure and the Great Sage officially began the fusion of the tailed beasts.
And at that very moment—
The Two-Tails and the Ten-Tails began to merge.
Elsewhere.
Inside an underground base where Uchiha Madara and Obito were hiding, a report arrived from the White Zetsu.
"Something terrible has happened. The Outer Path: Demonic Statue has disappeared!"
Madara immediately stood up.
"What did you say?"
White Zetsu looked at him nervously.
"The Outer Path: Demonic Statue has been summoned away!"
Obito, who had been resting nearby, instantly opened his eyes and stood up.
"The Rinnegan… wasn't destroyed?"
Madara slowly nodded.
"That must be the case. Otherwise, the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path couldn't have been summoned."
"But Black Zetsu clearly told me the Rinnegan had been destroyed by Shigure."
Madara frowned.
Could Black Zetsu have lied?
The possibility seemed extremely low. There was no reason for Black Zetsu to deceive them.
Why would he?
Madara couldn't figure it out either.
Perhaps Black Zetsu had misjudged the situation. Or perhaps Shigure deliberately put on an act for them, while secretly hiding the real Rinnegan somewhere else.
"No matter what the reason is," Madara said slowly, "the fact that the Rinnegan still exists is good news."
However, his expression soon darkened again.
"But if the Rinnegan truly still exists… what exactly is Shigure planning to do with it?"
Obito thought for a moment.
"He might have transplanted it into himself."
Madara shook his head.
"But when the Five Kage met, his eyes weren't my Rinnegan."
Obito narrowed his eyes.
"Then maybe after returning to Kirigakure, he finally chose to transplant them—so he could confront the other three great ninja villages."
Madara considered the idea and nodded slightly.
It was indeed possible.
But if that were the case…
Then things had become very interesting.
If Shigure had transplanted the Rinnegan and summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, then—if Madara remembered correctly—Shigure currently possessed eight tailed beasts.
Would he try to seal all eight into the Demonic Statue?
If so…
Shigure would have unintentionally done them an enormous favor.
A faint smile appeared on Madara's face.
"Obito… perhaps Nagato dying at the hands of that Mizukage wasn't entirely a bad thing."
From the current situation, the overall plan had not changed much.
The only real difference was that the Rinnegan had fallen into someone else's hands. Because of that, Madara currently had no way to resurrect himself and become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki.
The real problem was resurrection.
After reviving, he would simply need to reclaim the Rinnegan.
Whether it was his own eyes—or someone else's—didn't matter.
As long as he obtained a pair of Rinnegan, he could control the Ten-Tails and become its jinchūriki, reshaping the world according to his will.
Madara turned toward Obito.
"Everything depends on you now, Obito."
If Obito could successfully awaken the Rinnegan by combining enough Uchiha bloodline power, Madara could be resurrected and take control of the Ten-Tails.
Obito froze for a moment.
"To awaken the Rinnegan, we still need Uchiha bloodline…"
"But the remaining Uchiha are currently settling in Kirigakure."
"At a time like this, they probably won't leave the village easily."
"Then we wait."
Madara slowly sat down again and turned to look at Orochimaru, who was standing nearby.
"Continue monitoring Kirigakure with your people. The moment any Uchiha leaves the village, inform us immediately."
"As long as we remain patient, someone from the Uchiha clan will eventually step outside."
For now, that was the only option.
Orochimaru nodded calmly.
"Don't worry. My agents have been watching Kirigakure closely."
"However… there's another interesting piece of news."
Madara and Obito both looked toward him.
Orochimaru continued:
"Shigure appears to have revived the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze."
"My people observed that the Fourth Hokage recently left Kirigakure."
Orochimaru frowned slightly.
"I can't quite understand what that Mizukage is trying to do."
"Why would he resurrect the Fourth Hokage at such a time?"
"What exactly is he planning?"
Obito chuckled softly.
"The Fourth Hokage?"
"That's probably because of Naruto Uzumaki."
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes.
Naruto Uzumaki…
Shigure and Naruto were indeed close friends.
But Orochimaru had the strong feeling that Shigure's decision to resurrect Minato Namikaze was not that simple.
There must have been other motives behind it, but no one could guess what Shigure was truly planning.
Right now, hardly anyone dared to enter Kirigakure.
Everyone in the ninja world had already heard about one of Shigure's strange abilities—he could summon cloud pigeons to spy across the entire world.
After investigation, countless identical pigeons had been discovered scattered throughout the ninja world. There were thousands of them.
They were essentially Shigure's eyes everywhere.
Because of this, Orochimaru and the others rarely left their hideouts.
The moment someone stepped outside, there was a high chance they would be spotted by one of those wandering pigeons.
And once discovered…
Shigure's pursuit would soon follow.
By now, this information had spread throughout the ninja world. People had even given the technique a name:
The Mizukage's Eye.
No matter how large or small the place, nothing in the ninja world could escape the Mizukage's gaze.
As a result, the major ninja villages had begun taking extreme measures.
They started driving away birds.
Whether pigeons or any other species, birds were absolutely forbidden near confidential locations.
Konoha's Perimeter
Several Konoha patrol ninjas stood guard outside the village.
Kunai flew through the air one after another as they shot down birds attempting to pass overhead.
One of the ninjas muttered with determination,
"From now on, no birds will ever be seen flying over Konoha again."
His companion shrugged casually.
"So what? That's still better than being watched by the Mizukage."
He looked up at the sky and added,
"Still… this technique of his. He's been maintaining it for so long. Doesn't he ever get tired?"
The other ninja snorted.
"Who knows."
While the two were chatting—
A figure suddenly appeared in front of them.
The man looked around at the surroundings and let out a quiet sigh.
"So this is Konoha… I've finally arrived."
The two Konoha ninjas froze.
Then, in the next second, they collapsed onto the ground in shock.
"W-Who are you?!"
But as soon as they saw the man's face clearly, their expressions froze.
Because the face in front of them looked incredibly familiar.
The man spoke calmly.
"I am Minato Namikaze."
The moment the words fell—
A powerful gust of wind suddenly surged through the area.
A figure shot out from within Konoha at incredible speed, leaping high into the air before landing directly nearby.
It was Gekkō Hayate.
He had sensed something unusual and rushed over immediately.
However, the moment he landed, Hayate couldn't help but hesitate.
The man standing before him wasn't doing anything threatening.
Instead, he stood quietly, looking toward the Hokage Rock in the distance.
More specifically—
He was staring at the first statue beside him.
The resemblance was unmistakable.
Hayate narrowed his eyes and spoke cautiously.
"…Who are you?"
At that moment, the two Konoha ninjas sitting on the ground finally regained their senses.
They stared at the man in front of them with wide eyes.
He was wearing the Hokage cloak…
And he had just claimed to be Minato Namikaze.
Could it be...was the man standing before them truly the Fourth Hokage?
(End of Chapter)
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