The people of the Land of Fire had just heard the news two days ago that Madara was going to destroy the world, and they had barely finished stockpiling supplies when the war ended.
No one had time to react before the war was over.
What kind of Ninja World War lasts only two days? Even two dogs fighting in the Village would make a racket for three days and three nights.
What else could this be but a scheme by those profiteering from hoarding supplies to fleece everyone?
Yuhi Shinku spent three days reaching Iwagakure, only to find that Ōnoki was nowhere to be seen upon arrival.
Since Konoha and Iwagakure were still on a war footing, Shinku was left waiting for two days before Ōnoki remembered to see him.
Shinku told Ōnoki that Madara had returned.
Ōnoki nearly laughed himself into a fit at that moment, because he thought Konoha was trying to kill him with laughter.
Once he was dead, Iwagakure would have no successor and wouldn't be able to stir up any trouble.
Ōnoki simply didn't believe that Madara could return.
As the days passed, Iwagakure scouts brought back one piece of news after another from the Ninja World related to Madara.
Ōnoki began to feel uneasy.
When Konoha started abandoning all its front-line positions and shifting its forces toward the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain, Ōnoki began to panic.
Impossible! Maybe... No, it can't be! Madara couldn't possibly have returned!
Ōnoki refused to believe it. He started deceiving himself, thinking that as long as he didn't believe it, Madara couldn't possibly have returned.
It wasn't until today that Shinku informed Ōnoki of the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Ōnoki scrutinized the intelligence gathered by Iwagakure scouts—the battlefield in the Land of Grass where Madara fought the Sannin, and the massive lake formed by the battle in the Land of Rain.
All signs indicated that Madara had returned, and this Lunatic was planning to create a new Ninja World, forcing everyone to live in a daydream.
"This can't be, it's impossible! Uchiha Madara absolutely cannot have returned!"
As a Ninja who had survived the Warring States Period, Ōnoki was among those most terrified of Madara.
Others might fear him only because of his terrifying battle record, but Ōnoki and his teacher, the Second Tsuchikage, had truly been taught a lesson by Madara.
At the time, the Second Tsuchikage, Mu, took Ōnoki to Konoha to form an alliance with the First Hokage.
Unexpectedly, they were intercepted by Madara. Madara's mere aura nearly made Ōnoki wet himself.
Madara had always been Ōnoki's nightmare. All these years, Ōnoki hadn't grown any taller because Madara had scared him so badly his bones went soft.
The Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Roshi, mocked, "Ōnoki, did you shrink a bit after hearing about Uchiha Madara?"
Ōnoki roared, "Roshi, do you know what Uchiha Madara means? It means war and slaughter."
"Back when my teacher and I were in Konoha, just one glance from Uchiha Madara made us tremble with fear."
Roshi snorted, "Don't tarnish the reputation of the previous Tsuchikage. It was clearly your own cowardice. You uphold the Will of Stone—unyielding yet not brittle, stable yet not rigid."
"Now, just hearing that Uchiha Madara is still alive, you've lost your composure. You're truly disgracing the title of Tsuchikage."
Ōnoki and Roshi had always been at odds, something well-known throughout the Village.
In the original work, Roshi, angered by Ōnoki's actions, left the Village to become a wandering monk, only to be captured by Kisame and brought back to the Akatsuki.
Seeing the two experts of the Village about to come to blows, the Iwagakure higher-ups quickly stepped in to mediate.
Ōnoki's son, Kitsuchi, hurriedly brought his daughter over. "Father, please stop arguing. Kurotsuchi, quickly talk some sense into your grandfather."
Kurotsuchi babbled as she tried to calm Ōnoki down.
Seeing his infant granddaughter, who was only a few months old, Ōnoki's heart softened, and he calmed down.
Shinku had been awkwardly watching Iwagakure's drama unfold as an outsider.
He hadn't expected such discord in the usually united Iwagakure Village.
Indeed, every family has its own troubles.
Ōnoki began analyzing the intelligence about Madara provided by Shinku, his frown deepening with each passing moment.
Wood Release, Rinnegan, Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, the Eye of the Moon Plan, the world of genjutsu... There was too much information, as if several versions of events had been condensed into a single small file.
Any one of these pieces of information alone could make the Five Great Nations fight tooth and nail.
Such confidential information about the origins of Ninja shouldn't appear so frequently.
It was like opening a book and immediately seeing the ending.
Ōnoki should have been allowed to accept it gradually, not have it all dumped on him at once.
He clutched his head. Even his granddaughter's comfort was useless now.
Ōnoki had no idea what to do next.
The Iwagakure higher-ups around him grew curious and took turns reading the confidential intelligence provided by Shinku.
After reading it, they all fell silent.
How were they supposed to fight this?
Even Roshi stood up straight and began apologizing for his earlier inappropriate remarks.
Because the Four-Tails, Son Goku, inside him had already wet itself.
Shinku glanced at Ōnoki. "Tsuchikage-sama, we don't have much time left. We must immediately form a Shinobi Allied Forces to confront Uchiha Madara."
Ōnoki raised a hand. "Konoha's envoy, could you give me a moment to collect myself?"
"Of course!"
Shinku nodded. He knew that anyone seeing such shocking intelligence for the first time would be at a loss.
When Shinku first received the intelligence from Konoha, he too had frozen in place.
Because his previous version of events was that the eyeless Madara had used Wood Release, resulting in one of the Sannin dead, one captured, and one severely injured.
He hadn't expected the version to update so quickly after just a few days offline.
Now, even the Rinnegan and the Sage of Six Paths were part of the story.
Was this still the Ninja World he remembered?
The entire Ninja power system had collapsed. Now, they could only hope for the Sage of Six Paths to descend from the heavens and save them.
After Shinku left,
Ōnoki chased everyone out of his office, leaving only his granddaughter behind.
He fed little Kurotsuchi with a bottle, occasionally teasing her.
For now, Ōnoki could only hope to escape this chaotic mess by playing with his granddaughter.
Because... this was simply an unwinnable fight!
In a Ninja World without Hashirama, who could stand against Madara? Especially a Madara with the Rinnegan.
A world of genjutsu wasn't so bad. Reality was too cruel—
"No!"
Ōnoki looked into Kurotsuchi's eyes. Their innocent gaze gave him strength.
The world was indeed cruel, but even crueler was a dreamworld that could be arbitrarily altered. He could never let his granddaughter live in a world of nothing but pleasure.
Madara, this time I won't back down.
Ōnoki created a shadow clone, which used the Super Light-Weight Rock Technique to fly toward the Land of Rain and Amegakure.
Ōnoki had to personally confirm the news of Madara's survival.
Land of Lightning, Hidden Cloud Village.
The Fourth Raikage had also received intelligence about the Eye of the Moon Plan from Hiashi.
Like Ōnoki, the Fourth Raikage didn't believe the news that Madara was still alive.
But he didn't deceive himself like Ōnoki did.
Because Konoha had sent the Kekkei Genkai most coveted by the Hidden Cloud Village—the Byakugan—and it was from the Main Branch of the Hyuga clan.
Some of the more brainless higher-ups of the Hidden Cloud Village were grinning from ear to ear.
A member of the Hyuga Main Branch coming to the Hidden Cloud Village? Wasn't that like throwing meat to a dog—never to return?
But it was precisely this that made the Hidden Cloud higher-ups believe the news of Madara's return by 50%.
Despite appearing like a brute, the Fourth Raikage was actually quite sharp.
On the day Hiashi entered the Hidden Cloud Village to inform the higher-ups of Madara's return, the Fourth Raikage dispatched a large number of Hidden Cloud spies to gather intelligence.
Because the Land of Lightning was separated from the Land of Grass and the Land of Rain by the Land of Fire, there was a delay in receiving information.
But thanks to the Hidden Cloud Ninjas' relentless intelligence-gathering efforts, what now lay on the Fourth Raikage's desk were photos of Ryou and Tsunade's wedding.
The Hidden Cloud Village was the second Village to begin preparing for war against Madara.
The moment they confirmed Madara was alive, the entire war machine of the Hidden Cloud Village began to mobilize.
As for the Eye of the Moon Plan passed on by Hiashi, the Fourth Raikage didn't even glance at it.
From the very beginning, they had abandoned all illusions and prepared for war.
The Eye of the Moon Plan was merely a tool to persuade the nobles and Daimyo who supported them!