"So it really did become three eyes?"
Ren kept both of his normal eyes shut, using only the eye on his forehead to observe everything around him.
He quickly realized that the perspective of this Rinnegan was completely different from his usual vision.
It was as if he could see far more—details hidden beneath the surface of the world itself. Almost immediately, he saw Kaguya Otsutsuki sealed within the cracks of space!
The last time, he had only sensed her through perception.
This time, he could see her clearly.
And what Ren saw was strange.
Kaguya seemed to be constantly trying to probe something, yet the seal held her firmly in place, preventing her from seeing the outside world at all.
"Is it because I advanced further?"
Ren wondered to himself. Then he turned slightly and looked toward the Tenseigan in front of him.
And the moment he did, he froze.
The Tenseigan looked even more damaged than before!
Last time, it had merely dimmed, with signs that it was starting to split.
This time, it was covered in cracks. The whole Tenseigan had turned almost completely dark.
Only the core still flickered with a faint golden glow, like the last spark of a candle struggling in the wind.
Most importantly, Ren also noticed that the entire lunar world had changed.
The once-lush vegetation and flowing rivers were now turning barren and withered.
It was total desolation.
Even Ren found it unbelievable. It felt as though all the energy of this land had been drained away!
And more than that, he began to feel a peculiar hunger.
Through the gaze of that eye, he could see everyone on the moon.
But none of them appeared as "people."
Instead, they all looked like chakra-filled, irresistibly delicious sources of nourishment!
"So this is a higher form of Bloodline Expansion?"
Looking at everything before him, Ren felt his understanding of Bloodline Expansion deepen.
Once all attributes fused together and gave birth to the purest form of chakra, perhaps an instinctive hunger would naturally emerge.
Driven by that hunger, one's nature would begin to plunder all energy and all life in the most direct—and cruelest—way possible!
"And the benefits of that kind of plunder are obvious. Growth…"
Growth was probably the one pursuit shared by all Otsutsuki.
It satisfied their hunger while allowing them to evolve further. That was likely why they wandered endlessly through the cosmos.
And once a planet's energy was exhausted, once the life on it had been turned into pills, the planet itself would wither into a dead world.
Strictly speaking, the shinobi world had already suffered that fate once.
Back then, Isshiki Otsutsuki had arrived here with Kaguya and planted the Divine Tree without the slightest restraint!
"It's just that this world is stronger than expected, so even after feeding one Divine Tree, it still managed to preserve a seed of life?"
Ren rubbed his chin.
Under normal circumstances, once the Divine Tree was planted, the fate of a planet was sealed.
Yet the shinobi world had impossibly survived.
Yes, vast dead zones still existed beyond the regions where civilization now thrived.
But within its habitable lands, life had endured, expanded, and continued growing until it became what it was today.
That alone proved the shinobi world was special.
And something this special was very hard not to attract the attention of the Otsutsuki.
Especially since, over the course of a thousand years, the planet had been recovering bit by bit.
Humans might be killing each other left and right in the shinobi world, but from the perspective of the planet itself, that probably barely counted as anything.
In fact…
"The more that die, the more nourishment the planet gets?"
Ren thought with a strange expression.
Still, there was no point dwelling on that now.
He was not one of those Otsutsuki.
He would never indulge that hunger and destroy everything without restraint.
And more importantly, he had absolutely no need to rely on endless plunder and devouring to become stronger!
"After all… I'm a cheat."
Ren murmured softly. Otherwise, the entire inside of the moon could already have become a complete eclipse of ruin.
Suddenly, he raised a hand, and the nine-tomoe Rinne Sharingan on his forehead began to spin.
A special chakra flowed out from it, slowly pouring into the Tenseigan.
Very quickly, the Tenseigan—which had nearly been drained dry and cracked apart—began to recover.
And as it recovered, the dead lunar space was nourished again.
The withered grass sprouted anew.
The dried-up rivers slowly filled once more.
It was as if everything had returned to life.
But soon Ren frowned, because he realized the eye on his forehead seemed to tire very easily.
And as that fatigue grew, the eye began slowly closing.
"Has it not fully matured yet?"
Ren muttered to himself.
Fortunately, although the eye was exhausted, it did not seem to affect his overall condition too much.
As for the eye's actual abilities, Ren honestly still had not fully figured them out.
They were simply too complex.
He could clearly feel that this eye was deeply connected to the moon.
Beyond that, he also sensed that it could directly perceive—and even interfere with—space itself!
"And there seem to be other abilities too… ones I still haven't noticed yet…"
Ren frowned as he thought it over.
In the end, he was not from a dōjutsu clan. He was genuinely not that familiar with this kind of ocular evolution.
How much longer would it continue maturing?
What complete set of abilities did it actually possess?
He truly was not sure.
Still, he could vaguely sense that its first ability seemed somewhat similar to Infinite Tsukuyomi.
It seemed he could use this eye directly to project his power through the moon, even reflect his power through it!
As for the second ability, that one was especially interesting. It could directly see through space and interfere with it—making it a perfect counter to anyone with spatial abilities.
And just so happened, every powerful Otsutsuki was good at space techniques.
"Even Madara Uchiha, and Obito Uchiha after becoming pseudo-Six Paths by borrowing the Ten-Tails."
The Otsutsuki had Amenominaka and Yomotsu Hirasaka.
Madara had Limbo.
Obito had Kamui.
Every single one of those abilities was being directly countered by Ren now.
"As for the rest… I'll probably have to wait until this eye fully matures."
Waiting was irritating, but Ren was willing to wait.
After all, as things stood now, he truly feared no one in the shinobi world.
Even the Otsutsuki coming from beyond—if they lacked accurate information on him, the unlucky ones would only be them!
And honestly, even if they did know exactly what he could do, Ren was not sure he would fear them anyway.
Because now, he really was different.
But just then, Ren turned his head toward the doorway.
He had already sensed a large group of people heading straight toward him.
In the shinobi world, for most people, today was just another peaceful day.
But for the upper echelons of the world—especially the Kage of Kumogakure and Iwagakure—it was far worse than that.
"So they already made their move on Takigakure's Seven-Tails, went into the Land of Fire, and even the Fourth Mizukage got caught up in it?"
In the Land of Iron, on a remote mountain in a hidden region, the Fourth Raikage and Onoki stood side by side.
They stared into the distance for some time before Onoki finally spoke.
"Yeah. I know."
The Fourth Raikage nodded. He was aware of quite a lot of the intelligence too.
"Looks like that group is fully prepared. Which means… certain things are about to begin."
"Do you regret it?"
Suddenly, Onoki turned and looked at the Fourth Raikage.
"Now that things have reached this point, what do you really think?"
"Hmph. What is there for me to regret?"
The Fourth Raikage snorted and shook his head disdainfully.
"The shinobi world has always been kill or be killed. Alliances and betrayals have always been built on利益.
Konoha already stands above the rest, and their ambitions clearly don't stop there!
"You think I'm just going to watch the village my predecessors built with blood and sweat turn into another Sunagakure—a puppet for Konoha?"
The Raikage still had his pride.
Once upon a time, he had always dreamed of surpassing Konoha and making his village the true number one of the shinobi world.
But the way things had developed had forced him step by step into the position he was in now—forced him to ally with the very man responsible for his father's death.
Everything was built on利益.
Compared to the利益 of the village, personal feelings meant nothing.
"Good."
Onoki nodded, his face turning more serious.
"But we still need to be careful of the Akatsuki. Their ambitions are not small either."
"You're worried about raising a tiger only to be devoured by it?"
The Fourth Raikage sneered again, though this time he did not refute the point.
No matter how they cooperated, the Akatsuki was still, at its core, a terrorist organization. That much they would never forget.
And in truth, there was one thing both sides understood without needing to say it.
"In that case, all we need is for that tiger to lose its fangs while fighting the monster, don't we?"
"Great minds think alike."
Onoki laughed sharply, and after that, neither of them spoke again.
They would throw themselves fully into confronting Konoha alongside the Akatsuki—but only to a certain degree.
Otherwise, once Konoha was dealt with, how were they supposed to clean up the Akatsuki afterward?
"Hm? What's that?"
But just as their discussion ended, Onoki's sharp eyes suddenly fixed on the sky.
The Fourth Raikage frowned, then looked up as well.
And in that moment, he saw a sight he knew he would never forget for the rest of his life.
A white pillar of light pierced the heavens, brilliant radiance spilling over the world.
It made no sound at all, yet carried an indescribable holiness.
And that vast chakra, so overwhelming it struck directly at the heart, made fear rise uncontrollably within them.
"What is that?"
Their hearts filled with confusion.
In truth, it was not just them.
At that exact moment, shinobi all across the world saw the same thing!
Everyone had seen something like it before.
But this time, it was even more terrifying than before.
Even more frightening.
Questions flooded into the minds of every shinobi alive.
They all stared blankly upward.
At that moment, it was as if the entire world had been muted.
There was no clamor.
No discussion.
Everyone simply looked at the white pillar in silence, and the entire shinobi world fell into an eerie stillness.
"Hey, what do you think Ren is trying to do?"
Inside the moon, Tsunade, Hikari, and Yugao were sitting together. For now, they had nothing else to do.
Ren had gone off alone toward the Tenseigan again, and none of them knew what exactly he was doing. Tsunade could not help being curious.
"No idea."
Hikari shook her head. She honestly did not care too much what Ren was doing. As long as she cooperated properly, that was enough.
"Maybe he's making some preparations in advance?"
Yugao tilted her head and said casually, which only made Tsunade frown.
"What exactly is he preparing?"
They had already been on the moon for a full day.
Ren had said he wanted to completely perfect their current improvements, but as for how he intended to do that, none of them knew.
For Hikari and Yugao, that was one thing. They were only key members of Root and ANBU, and neither position was truly irreplaceable.
But Tsunade was different.
She was Hokage.
And however long she remained away from Konoha, the village would inevitably be affected.
Especially since Ren had even brought the Fourth Hokage up here, which made her worry even more about what was happening back in the village.
Yet just then, a sudden disturbance erupted.
In the next instant, everyone inside the moon saw a white-gold pillar of light burst skyward, as though it intended to pierce straight through the moon and into the heavens!
"This—"
"That's Ren?"
"Again…"
The three women all reacted differently, but they all immediately realized the source was Ren.
After all, this was not the first time.
"Is this…"
"Don't panic. It's Ren."
Elsewhere, Minato and Kushina also stared in shock, but Jiraiya simply laughed like he did not care.
Looking up at the light in the sky, he could not help muttering,
"Tch. That brat improved again…"
Jiraiya's reaction was not unreasonable.
Ren's rate of growth was simply too absurd.
Even Jiraiya could no longer make sense of it.
"If you all stay here long enough, you'll get used to it. He—huh?"
Jiraiya had just started explaining when his expression abruptly changed!
And not just his.
Everyone on the moon suddenly sensed something was wrong.
Because in that instant, an indescribable pressure spread throughout the entire moon's interior.
Vast waves of energy rippled outward, and then all at once, that energy became an enormous force of attraction!
The ground beneath their feet began to crack, sharp splitting sounds echoing everywhere.
Spiderweb-like fissures spread rapidly in all directions.
At the same moment, the sun in the sky seemed to run out of power, losing all of its former brilliance.
The heavens dimmed.
The sunlight faded.
Leaves fell from the trees around them.
Grass began to wither.
Rivers began to dry up.
All of it—changes that should have taken centuries, perhaps longer—happened right before their eyes in a single instant!
"This…"
Everyone stood frozen.
Especially when they saw the mountains themselves begin to collapse and break apart—
Then crumble into dust and drifting powder at the touch of the wind, as though they had long since rotted away.
The shock and terror left them completely lost.
"What is happening?!"
That grotesque scene filled everyone with dread.
And yet the white-gold pillar in the sky still remained sacred and majestic.
Even so, fear spread uncontrollably.
As if, in that darkening world, they could already see crows circling overhead and smell the approach of death itself.
"Jiraiya-sensei, we—"
Minato finally spoke, unable to hold back any longer. Even as an Edo Tensei, he could sense how disastrous the situation was becoming.
He had truly never experienced anything like this before, which only made him more alert.
"We go to Ren!"
Jiraiya took a deep breath and made his decision at once.
"Bring Tsunade and the others. Move now. Ren's probably the only one who knows what's happening here!"
"I didn't expect you two to find this place as well."
In the endless stars, Urashiki Otsutsuki looked curiously at Momoshiki and Kinshiki.
Ever since running into the two of them, his mood had been terrible.
He had finally detected the aura of a mutated Divine Tree, and he had been extremely curious about it.
No matter what, he had wanted to seize it for himself.
But now that these two had shown up, his mood was naturally foul.
Especially since he was alone.
He did not think much of a guardian in most situations, but if one truly fought desperately at a key moment, things could become complicated.
"We sensed something unusual, so naturally we came to take a look."
Momoshiki glanced at Urashiki and let out a cold laugh.
"Perhaps it's something left behind by Isshiki and Kaguya. Naturally, something like that should be reclaimed. We can't leave it in the hands of lowly creatures, can we?"
"That's true…"
Urashiki lifted a brow.
The words he least wanted to hear had still been spoken.
Clearly, those two had also sensed the same aura and followed it here deliberately. That made the situation rather unpleasant for him.
After a moment of thought, he continued,
"What do you think happened to Isshiki and Kaguya? Could that aura belong to them?"
"Whether it does or doesn't, it makes no real difference."
Momoshiki shook his head indifferently, then looked out into the distant stars and laughed softly.
"Our task is to find them. Even if we don't find the people themselves, recovering what they left behind would still be worthwhile."
"Senior, you're not worried it could be something even more troublesome?"
Urashiki lifted a brow, then gave his usual polite smile.
"The aura we sensed before can basically be confirmed as belonging to a Divine Tree. And not an ordinary Divine Tree, either.
"That kind of pure chakra, that fluctuation from Bloodline Expansion… this is not something trivial.
"So tell me—do you think it's possible Isshiki and Kaguya were killed by their own Ten-Tails, and that Ten-Tails has now fully evolved?"
In essence, the Ten-Tails was not all that different from the other tailed beasts.
It possessed immense power, yet could not fully bring that power to bear.
Most of the time, it could only fight on instinct.
That was why such terrifying creatures ultimately became tools in the hands of others.
Their intelligence simply was not enough for rebellion.
Still, Urashiki's words made Momoshiki frown.
After hunting across countless worlds in the cosmos, Momoshiki already understood one thing very well.
Anything was possible.
Otherwise, the aura they had sensed this time really was difficult to explain.
"So what you're saying is… Isshiki and the others are already dead, and the Ten-Tails fully evolved and gained self-awareness?"
Momoshiki asked after thinking a moment.
But Kinshiki shook his head.
"My lord, no matter how much the Ten-Tails evolves, it should not be able to reach that point. It may instead be a native lifeform from that planet."
Across the universe, there were indeed some "lower lifeforms" capable of extraordinary brilliance in battle.
And for Momoshiki and Kinshiki, this was not a theory.
They had encountered such cases before.
They had still crushed them in the end—and enjoyed them thoroughly—but dealing with them had indeed been troublesome.
"Forget it. We'll find it first. Whether it's the Divine Tree or some creature that obtained what belongs to us…"
After thinking for a moment, Momoshiki let out a cold snort and said indifferently,
"As long as we're here, we can take it back."
Buzz—
Yet the moment Momoshiki finished speaking, a massive beam of light suddenly appeared in the far depths of the cosmos!
Almost instantly, Momoshiki, Kinshiki, and Urashiki all had their eyes drawn to that dazzling white-gold pillar.
Momoshiki and Kinshiki's expressions gradually grew serious, their usual arrogance finally touched with disbelief.
This power…
Seemed even stronger than they had anticipated.
That extreme and pure chakra force made even them feel threatened.
Most importantly, the dense power of Bloodline Expansion was unmistakable.
This was worse than last time.
Far worse.
"What is that power…"
Urashiki frowned slightly as he watched, but slowly, a smile spread across his lips.
He looked toward the pillar and roughly understood where it was coming from, though he still turned toward the other two with a teasing grin.
"So now what do you think it is? A Divine Tree? A native? Or perhaps one of our own clan?"
Momoshiki fell briefly silent.
That power had already reached the upper edge of what they could accept.
Compared to his own, it was no longer far behind at all!
But Momoshiki was proud.
After taking a deep breath, he finally let out a cold laugh.
"That force does indeed belong to the Divine Tree. But even so, it makes no difference."
"No matter what it is, it won't be our match…"
"So you're really sure it's fine?"
Inside the moon, the moonlight was soft and dreamlike.
Under the Tenseigan's control, the moon had its own sun and moon cycle, with only three seasons instead of four.
Everything here resembled the shinobi world, except that winter's bitter cold had been removed.
Jiraiya and Shisui followed beside Ren as they walked toward the transmission passage, but Jiraiya clearly still could not quite keep it together. He lowered his voice and asked Ren quietly.
What had happened earlier had felt like a nightmare.
That image of utter stillness and extinction was truly unsettling.
Although everything had gradually recovered, and although they had found Ren and heard his explanation—
That it was merely because he had drawn too much chakra from the Tenseigan—
Jiraiya still felt the reality was probably not that simple.
"If not, then what else would it be?"
Ren shot him a glance and answered calmly.
"Improvement always requires a price. Unless you expect me to absorb the tailed beasts for power—or treat the entire shinobi world like a pasture and harvest it?"
"Tch. Absorbing tailed beasts is one thing, but treating the shinobi world like a pasture? You really do say the most ridiculous things."
Jiraiya rolled his eyes. Ren's words were getting more and more outrageous.
But Ren merely smiled lightly.
Sometimes the truth really was that ridiculous.
He could say it plainly, and nobody would believe him anyway.
With the abilities he had now, he really could treat the shinobi world like a pasture and drain it of its energy!
Still, that only made Ren more curious.
What exactly was he now?
Was he more like a Divine Tree, or more like an Otsutsuki?
Judging by form and appearance, he was the very definition of Otsutsuki transformation.
But in other ways, he felt different still.
"The Rinnegan on my forehead seems identical to the one Kaguya awakened after eating the Divine Tree fruit, or the one Madara gained after sealing the Divine Tree into himself.
"And the way I absorb energy also feels far more direct than how other Otsutsuki rely on the Divine Tree to condense fruits."
Ren really was puzzled by his own state.
But after shaking his head, he stopped bothering with it.
No matter what he counted as now, he had already truly reached the apex of the shinobi world.
The people he still had to be cautious of were not especially numerous.
A revived Six Paths Madara counted as one.
A fully awakened Sasuke and Naruto with their own destined power-ups also deserved caution.
Though Ren did not believe those two would ever turn against him.
Even with Madara, it was not about trust. It was simply caution.
Because in the shinobi world, one careless mistake could overturn everything.
Even beings as powerful as the Otsutsuki had humiliating black marks in their history—being poisoned by gas, being killed by a Rasengan.
Even Isshiki, the strongest among them, had once burned through his own lifespan because his vessel could not properly bear his power.
And Madara? Hadn't he himself once been literally opened up and betrayed by the words of someone he trusted?
Complacency was simply not allowed in this world.
Ren had no intention of becoming the next unlucky example.
"By the way, how are Tsunade and the others doing?"
As they walked, Jiraiya asked curiously.
"I heard you planned to do some kind of experiment with them. I won't ask about the details, but can you at least tell me how it's going?
"You know how it is. She's the Hokage. Even if I don't want to ask, a bunch of people are going to force me to sooner or later."
"Don't worry. She's fine. And it shouldn't take too long this time."
Ren tilted his head. After a moment, he answered directly.
"Teacher's improvement is progressing faster than you think. And as a member of the Senju clan, her compatibility is naturally higher too.
"She may not need much longer. At the latest, it won't take more than a week."
"A week? That's not too bad."
Jiraiya nodded. But then a teasing grin appeared on his face.
"You say that like you're not part of the Senju clan too."
I really am not.
Ren tilted his head slightly but said nothing, while Jiraiya continued,
"When I saw her using Wood Release before, I was honestly shocked. But considering your existence, I guess everything somehow makes sense.
"You really have created one miracle after another, kid."
As he spoke, Jiraiya glanced toward Shisui, and for a moment he did not know what to say.
Everyone had assumed the Uchiha were all dead.
And yet here they still were, hidden inside Root, with nobody else in the village ever daring to mention them.
How much else was buried beneath that silence?
Even Jiraiya did not want to guess.
He had already learned one thing.
The waters of Konoha ran far deeper than he had ever imagined.
"Don't overthink it. There's no point."
Ren shrugged, then turned toward Shisui.
"Speaking of which, how's your condition? Depending on your response, I'm about to start working on the rest of the Uchiha—and on Sasuke too."
"I'm fine. I can adapt. No problem."
Shisui answered after briefly checking his own condition.
This trip to the moon had always included one major purpose:
Using White Zetsu cells to further enhance the Uchiha.
Ren had already discussed it with Tsunade beforehand. Although she had been reluctant at first, in the end there were only so few Uchiha left anyway.
And every one of them had already sworn themselves fully to Ren.
Not to mention Hikari had already gone through similar treatment before.
After thinking it through, Tsunade had ultimately chosen not to pry.
Ren was here overseeing everything.
And the material being used had been taken from Obito Uchiha anyway, so why let it go to waste?
"As for the others, they probably won't have major problems either. But since their eyes haven't awakened to the Mangekyo yet, their tolerance might be weaker, so…"
"I'll reduce the dosage. Obito could handle it, so I think the others will be fine too."
Ren nodded, directly settling the matter.
"And keep intensifying Sasuke's training. Once Lady Hokage recovers, it'll be time for his eye transplant."
"Yes. Understood."
Shisui nodded. He was absolutely in favor of Sasuke receiving the transplant.
He genuinely wanted to see his "little brother" continue growing stronger.
And beyond that, he also wanted to witness the birth of a brand-new pair of eyes worthy of being called Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan!
"And you too, Jiraiya-senpai."
Ren nodded, then turned to Jiraiya.
"You need to keep an eye on the Fourth and Kushina as well. Make sure they push harder and help Naruto adapt to the Nine-Tails as soon as possible.
"You're their teacher. With you around, they'll listen."
"Yeah, yeah. I got it."
Jiraiya nodded helplessly, though the look in his eyes was a little strange.
"You really are in a hurry, aren't you? With Nagato on the inside, the Akatsuki's intelligence is practically yours. Or did you get some new information already?"
"Not exactly new information. But the shinobi world is definitely getting more and more restless."
Ren shook his head and looked off into the distance.
"A major war might really break out at any moment. And beyond that, the thing I'm most worried about is still the outsiders.
"Don't forget—the 'last words' the Sage of Six Paths left us mentioned them again and again."
At that, Ren fell silent.
The last time, he had used the Tenseigan to glimpse that there really were visitors approaching the shinobi world.
And this time, he was even more certain those visitors were drawing closer and closer.
It was entirely possible they would collide with him sooner than expected.
There was no harm in preparing ahead of time.
"Alright. Let's move. Your students are probably tired of waiting by now…"
Obito Uchiha was the kind of man who acted the moment he made up his mind.
Since he had decided to throw the whole shinobi world into chaos, he was absolutely going to do it.
But he was not stupid.
He waited until the sealing of the tailed beast chakra was almost complete before deciding to move.
"Now's the perfect time. In that case…"
Outside the underground chamber in the Land of Rice Fields, Obito quietly observed the situation.
Once he confirmed everything, space around him rippled.
In an instant, he vanished—only to reappear in the Land of Iron.
"If I remember correctly, the Fourth Raikage and the Third Tsuchikage met here in secret."
Naturally, the Akatsuki kept close watch on Kumogakure and Iwagakure.
Their Kage, in particular, were under especially careful surveillance.
They were allies, yes—but just how fragile that alliance was, everyone understood perfectly.
"Who's there?"
In the Land of Iron, Onoki and the Fourth Raikage had not yet left. The moment they sensed the disturbance, both became alert.
"No need to worry. It's me."
Space twisted, and Obito stepped out from within it.
"Obito Uchiha?"
His appearance immediately made both men frown.
They knew exactly who he was.
Especially Onoki, who had directly suffered because of him before. Back then, Ren had nearly beaten the life out of him!
Although Onoki had held his tongue because the Akatsuki were supposed to be allies, Obito had still never been permitted to act as a point of contact between them.
So for him to show up here directly now was genuinely irritating.
"What do you want? And if I remember right, you're not the one who's supposed to be handling contact."
"I only came to inform you of something."
Obito remained completely calm.
He looked at the two of them, tilted his head slightly, and asked,
"Don't you wonder what it is we've really been doing all this time?"
His question left both men silent for a moment.
What exactly was this bastard trying to pull?
"What are you getting at? If you have something to say, say it."
The Fourth Raikage had never been known for patience. He snorted coldly, practically one step away from telling Obito to spit it out already.
"It's simple. This is the only path left for dealing with Ren."
Obito lifted one finger and spoke evenly.
"In the Uchiha clan, there is a stone tablet passed down through generations. Even now, it remains hidden deep beneath Konoha.
"Inscribed upon it are the secrets left behind by the Sage of Six Paths. Without sufficient ocular power, it's impossible to read what's written there."
"Secrets?"
Onoki's expression turned odd, and he immediately mocked him.
"What is this, some kind of fairy tale? Isn't your goal simply to use the power of the tailed beasts to create this so-called Ten-Tails and use it against Ren?"
Naturally, the Akatsuki had never told Kumogakure and Iwagakure everything.
At the same time, Kumogakure and Iwagakure had been investigating on their own as well.
Unfortunately, they had uncovered very little.
But just the Akatsuki moving against the tailed beasts had been enough to keep them wary.
"It is the truth. Quite a lot of what people call myth once really did happen."
Obito shrugged and continued calmly.
"Nowadays, people treat the Sage of Six Paths like a legend. But without his Ninshu, where do you think shinobi came from? How do you think chakra came to be used?
"The truth is simple. All of it exists because of the Ninshu he spread.
"And the Ten-Tails was the monster he defeated when he saved the world. That beast far exceeds anything you can imagine. Its power is endless.
"After defeating it, the Sage divided its chakra into nine portions. Those are the nine tailed beasts you all know today."
"The tailed beasts…"
The Fourth Raikage frowned.
The story sounded outrageous.
And yet, somehow, it also made sense.
Onoki, meanwhile, let out a cold laugh.
"If it's really the kind of monster only the Sage of Six Paths could defeat, then what exactly is your goal in releasing it now? Don't tell me you actually think you can control such a thing."
The moment he finished speaking, both his and the Raikage's presences shifted.
If a monster like that really existed, then it was a threat to the whole world.
Sure, they wanted Konoha destroyed.
But they had no intention of dragging themselves down with it!
"That's why we were never using the full tailed beasts to begin with. Mostly just their chakra."
Obito answered with half-truths as naturally as breathing. At this point, lying had become second nature to him.
"Without the complete chakra of the tailed beasts, the Ten-Tails cannot return to its full former power. But even so, it's still the Ten-Tails. Against Ren, that will be enough.
"If the Ten-Tails can pin Ren down, then with the Edo Tensei army advancing at the same time, Konoha and Ren alike will both be finished!"
At this point, Obito paused briefly before continuing.
"In truth, I'm not here to discuss this with you. I'm here to inform you.
"The Ten-Tails is nearly ready, and the war must begin.
"We can't fully control the beast, and once it awakens, it will destroy everything in its path.
"So you two need to move as well.
"Draw Konoha's shinobi out. Scatter them across the battlefields. Once that happens, we can deploy the Ten-Tails into the Land of Fire.
"So, gentlemen… I hereby declare that from this moment, from this instant onward…"
His voice grew clearer, sharper, more piercing than ever.
"The Fourth Great Ninja War has officially begun!"
Obito's words rang out bright and merciless.
And the moment he finished speaking, he stood and prepared to leave. The space around him began to distort again.
Clearly, he had not come here to negotiate.
He had come to notify them.
Nothing more.
That attitude was unbearably arrogant, and both the Fourth Raikage and Onoki's faces darkened immediately.
"The Fourth Great Ninja War?"
Onoki slowly clenched his fist.
The Fourth Raikage let out a cold snort, and after a long pause, said flatly,
"What a self-important bastard. Who the hell does he think he is?"
Onoki nodded, staring at the place where Obito had vanished with obvious disgust.
The Fourth Great Ninja War had always been inevitable.
They had known that much already.
And yes, if the one declaring it had been Madara Uchiha, that would have been one thing.
If it had been Hashirama Senju, that too would have made sense.
Even if it had merely been the leader of the Akatsuki, they might have tolerated it.
But you?
Why you?
Why the hell is it you, Obito Uchiha?
Who do you think you are?
Even so, both men understood one thing very clearly.
From this day onward, the shinobi world would never be the same again.
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