For Kizaru, who knew the original course of events, Uchiha Madara was only a small problem.
At most, he could be called a moderate one.
With Kizaru's current strength, even if Uchiha Madara reclaimed his Rinnegan, the most he could do was force Kizaru into a serious fight.
Peak Admiral-level strength. An awakened Devil Fruit ability. On top of that, the powerful techniques Kizaru had learned in the Naruto world: the Eight Gates, chakra-enhanced strength, fūinjutsu, genjutsu, and various high-level ninjutsu.
Having combined the power systems of two worlds, Kizaru could say it with confidence.
As long as someone had not stepped into the realm of the Six Paths, they were not enough to stand on equal grounds with him.
And even that was not the limit of Kizaru's strength. He was still growing.
In order to gain the power to defeat a true Six Paths-level existence, Kizaru was already planning to develop senjutsu.
His cooperation with Orochimaru was one of those attempts. At the same time, he had arranged for Root ninja to search the shinobi world for traces of Ryūchi Cave.
And while doing that, Kizaru had also been influencing Konoha.
Or rather, guiding it.
The ninja village where he had lived for so long was becoming stronger little by little under his hand.
According to Kizaru's own estimation, by the time he ascended to the position of Hokage, the Konoha he had changed would have at least double-digit Kage-level experts.
There might even be an existence above the ordinary Kage level.
With that much strength in reserve, and with Kizaru himself standing at the center of it all, a mere Uchiha Madara would not be able to cause much of an impact.
Just as Kizaru had said before, before true strength, rats hiding in the sewers would always remain rats.
As long as Kizaru was still in Konoha, Uchiha Madara's Eye of the Moon Plan had no chance of succeeding.
After all, three of the nine tailed beasts required for that plan were currently in Konoha, and all of them were under Kizaru's protection.
Uchiha Madara's small movements could not shake Konoha's steadily growing prosperity.
On the contrary, the name "Uchiha Madara" could be used to draw the attention of the other ninja villages away from Konoha.
The current Kizaru, and the current Konoha, were existences feared by every ninja village in the shinobi world.
They were afraid.
They were wary.
They were uneasy.
In order to prevent the other villages from one day uniting against Konoha, Kizaru felt that letting a "dead man," one they were all deeply afraid of, reappear in the shinobi world was actually a very good thing.
Uchiha Madara.
The former Ghost of the Uchiha clan.
His name alone was enough to draw fire away from Konoha and give Kizaru more time to properly build up his own nest.
Kizaru did not want to imagine himself becoming Hokage only to go out every day as Konoha's living deterrent.
That would be far too tiring.
Not physically tiring, but mentally tiring.
And that did not fit Kizaru's plans for his future life at all.
So, Kizaru hoped that Uchiha Madara would continue making trouble.
The bigger, the louder, the better.
It would be best if the other ninja villages discovered his existence and became afraid of him.
A terrifying enemy.
A conspiracy that could affect the entire world.
Something like that would make the shinobi world stop its annoying little schemes for a while and temporarily unite its attention elsewhere.
Maybe he should ask his uncle to arrange for some people to act under Uchiha Madara's name and help that old man regain his fame in the shinobi world.
Uchiha Madara, the Shura of the Shinobi World, really was a convenient target for drawing fire.
Once they found the right candidates, he could simply have his uncle dump every dirty thing Root had done outside the village onto Uchiha Madara's head.
Thinking of this, Kizaru watched Uchiha Madara leave with a smile on his face.
After returning to the village, Kizaru first went to visit Kakuzu, who had already been arranged to stay within the Shimura clan's residence.
Once he confirmed that Kakuzu had been properly settled, Kizaru returned to the room where he had been speaking with Tsunade and Orochimaru.
He did not reveal anything about Uchiha Madara to the two of them. He only briefly chatted with them about Kakuzu's situation before ending the small exchange meeting.
After the meeting ended, Kizaru did not go to look for Danzō.
He knew very well that his uncle would come to him on his own.
Just as Kizaru expected, ten minutes after Tsunade and Orochimaru left, Danzō arrived.
"Uchiha Madara is recruiting missing-nin and bounty hunters everywhere?"
Sitting across from Kizaru, Danzō's expression turned serious after hearing about what had happened between Uchiha Madara and Kakuzu.
For people of Danzō's generation, the name Uchiha Madara carried far too much pressure.
And far too much shadow.
"Mm. Scary, isn't it?" Kizaru said lazily.
Looking at the solemn expression on his uncle's face, Kizaru found it rather interesting.
"That is Uchiha Madara," Danzō said in a low voice. "Do not underestimate him, Kizaru."
Seeing that Kizaru did not look nervous at all, Danzō could not help but remind him.
"You never experienced that era. You do not understand how terrifying Uchiha Madara was at his peak. That man's strength and his thoughts are both extremely dangerous."
"But he is old now," Kizaru said with a smile. "The fact that he is recruiting ninja everywhere only proves one thing. No matter what plan he has hidden behind the scenes, he no longer has the ability to complete it alone."
Danzō nodded solemnly.
He agreed with Kizaru's analysis.
"What do you think we should do?" Danzō asked. "How do we stop him?"
"No." Kizaru smiled. "We should help him become famous."
Danzō's single eye narrowed slightly.
"You mean spread the news that Uchiha Madara is still alive throughout the shinobi world?"
"Just saying it won't be enough," Kizaru replied. "We have to do something. Isn't Uchiha Madara recruiting missing-nin and bounty hunters? Then we can do a few things in his name and let the other ninja villages learn of his existence. Let him help us draw some attention away."
"Yes. That makes sense."
As the darkness of Konoha, Danzō immediately understood what Kizaru meant.
"Let Uchiha Madara attract the attention for us. Let the other ninja villages shift their fear from us to him."
"Ooh… as expected of Uncle," Kizaru said, his tone dragging out with a lazy smile. "We really do think alike."
Hearing Kizaru's praise, Danzō smiled faintly.
"Besides, is Uchiha Madara not recruiting missing-nin? Perhaps we can arrange for a spy to enter his side."
"I'll leave that sort of thing to you, Uncle."
Kizaru did not object to Danzō arranging spies.
That was a very normal way of thinking and responding.
In fact, even Kizaru himself suddenly had a rather wicked thought.
Should he educate and guide Obito and most of the future Akatsuki members in Konoha, then package them all up and send them to Uchiha Madara, letting them play a little game with him and Black Zetsu?
Think about it.
A villain organization carrying a massive conspiracy.
Except for the true mastermind behind the scenes, every member from the leader down was actually a spy.
Everyone would work together to collect the tailed beasts and resurrect the dead Uchiha Madara.
Then, the moment Uchiha Madara opened his eyes again, just as Black Zetsu thought his plan to save his mother was about to succeed, Kizaru would appear onstage and lead everyone in shouting—
Surprise.
That would be rather interesting.
However, Kizaru only thought about this wicked plan for a moment. He had no intention of actually putting it into practice yet.
It was not because it would be too difficult.
Kizaru simply felt that it would be a little troublesome.
"Leave it to me," Danzō said confidently.
As someone who had professionally handled dirty work for thirty years, Danzō had absolute confidence in this field.
"Do you want to tell Hiruzen about this?" Danzō asked. "And Kakuzu. How do you plan to arrange him?"
"I'll leave the report to Sarutobi-sensei to you," Kizaru said. "As for Kakuzu, according to him, he isn't willing to join a ninja village."
Hearing that Kakuzu was unwilling to join Konoha, Danzō could not help but frown.
"Then do you intend to…?"
"However, he did not refuse to join me," Kizaru continued. "I plan to give him some time to think about it."
Danzō's frown relaxed again.
To Danzō, Kakuzu not joining Konoha and only joining Kizaru was not a bad thing.
A Kage-level combatant who did not belong to the village, but belonged only to Kizaru, could play a very important role.
This was something Danzō was happy to see.
"Fine. I will withdraw the Root members monitoring him. Have Keiko receive him properly."
"I have already arranged it," Kizaru replied.
"In addition, regarding Ryūchi Cave, we can increase the number of ninja involved in the search. The senjutsu of the sacred land will help me improve my strength."
Since it involved his nephew's training, Danzō was naturally very concerned.
"I will increase the search effort immediately."
"Then I'll be counting on you, Uncle."
Danzō nodded.
He still had many matters in Root to deal with, so he rose from his seat.
"There are still things waiting for me at Root. I will return first."
"Go do your work."
Kizaru smiled as he watched Danzō leave.
Kakuzu did not make Kizaru wait too long.
Only one day later, he made his decision.
Kakuzu was willing to submit to Kizaru, become his subordinate, and obey his arrangements.
At the same time, Kakuzu also made one request of his own.
Kizaru and Konoha were not to interfere with him using his free time after work to earn money through bounties.
Kizaru agreed to Kakuzu's request.
He even said that he would provide him with intelligence support.
Of course, Kizaru also made one demand of Kakuzu.
He was not allowed to hunt Konoha ninja.
Kakuzu, who needed Kizaru's protection, naturally had no objection and agreed directly.
If nothing unexpected happened, Kizaru's second student—the youngest son of the Third Hokage, the newborn Sarutobi Asuma—would successfully avoid the tragic fate of becoming a walking bounty.
After taking Kakuzu under his command, Kizaru immediately reported Kakuzu's situation to Sarutobi Hiruzen.
The Third Hokage expressed both approval and happiness toward Kizaru recruiting a Kage-level combatant.
What satisfied Sarutobi Hiruzen even more was Kizaru's attitude.
After his student subdued Kakuzu, he had not chosen to hide it. Instead, he had reported it immediately.
That behavior made Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was still sitting in the Hokage's seat, feel very satisfied.
And very relieved.
As the current Hokage, and as Kizaru's teacher, Sarutobi Hiruzen was willing to delegate authority. He was not afraid of Kizaru developing his own power.
What he needed was an attitude.
A sensible attitude.
"What arrangements do you have for Kakuzu?" Sarutobi Hiruzen asked, smoking his pipe as he looked happily at his beloved student.
"I plan to have him take responsibility for supervising the accounts of the nutritional pharmaceutical business project," Kizaru said directly, his legs crossed casually.
"Hahaha! If Koharu and Homura learn about that, they will certainly have opinions," Sarutobi Hiruzen said, pointing out the difficulty.
"So I'll leave that matter to you, sensei," Kizaru said with a smile.
Sarutobi Hiruzen smiled and shook his head.
"Is Kakuzu trustworthy?"
"At least when it comes to money, he can be trusted," Kizaru said in an affirmative tone. "Besides, I plan to have people from the village and Kakuzu manage the accounts together and supervise each other."
"Good."
After hearing that, Sarutobi Hiruzen no longer had any doubts or worries.
"I will have the two advisers agree."
"Then there's no problem."
With the matter settled, Kizaru prepared to leave.
"Kizaru," Sarutobi Hiruzen suddenly said, looking at the student who was about to stand. "Wait a few more years. Once the Ninja Academy reform is complete, I am prepared to step down."
He had suddenly brought up the matter of passing on the Hokage position.
"I haven't had enough fun yet, sensei," Kizaru said jokingly.
"I also want to retire early and go home to take care of myself," Sarutobi Hiruzen said sincerely. "Prepare yourself. In a few years, the village will be handed over to you."
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