Senju Hashirama: "Madara? Isn't he dead?"
Senju Tobirama: "Elder brother, it's obvious someone is impersonating him. Likely another one of those schemes or deceits."
At the same time, in the Hidden Rain Village, Nagato watched the Sky Screen in silence. For him, whether Uchiha Madara was real or fake didn't matter; what mattered was whether he could be used for his goals.
Meanwhile, Obito, who was in the middle of capturing a Jinchuriki, saw his expression shift slightly.
"Although it was expected, I didn't think you would be exposed so quickly."
"Hmph~ It doesn't matter now. The Sky Screen? No matter who is on the other side, they are no match for the Ten-Tails!"
Black Zetsu did not respond, as he thought the same. However, what he relied on was not the Ten-Tails, but his mother, Otsutsuki Kaguya. As long as his mother could be resurrected, whatever happened in the Ninja World was irrelevant—at worst, they could just leave this place. But the premise was that he had to successfully resurrect his mother!
Onoki: "Uchiha Madara?"
Uchiha Izuna: "To dare impersonate my brother... do you have the guts to show your true face!"
[At the same time, Uchiha Obito moved through Senju Tobirama's laboratory as if entering an uninhabited land. Relying on the ability of his Mangekyo Sharingan, Obito packed up and took all the data within the laboratory; all this happened before Senju Tobirama and the others could even react.
"A Barrier?"
Inside the lab, Obito let out a disdainful smile.
"Calculating the time, though, they should be making their move soon."
Having obtained what he wanted, Obito prepared to leave. However, before departing, he thought of the other experimental subjects imprisoned in the lab.
"Heh~ Let me give you all some freedom."
The imprisoned Experimental Subjects only felt their shoulders being grabbed. By the time they regained their senses, they had already left the laboratory. Looking at the unfamiliar surroundings, these subjects in prison uniforms—though not knowing what had happened—immediately fled. Their ninja training allowed them to instantly hide in the shadows, intending to find a couple of people to ask where they were.
Because these subjects had been imprisoned for too long, they had no idea what was happening outside, nor did they know they were currently at the former site of Kusagakure.
"What's happening outside?"
Uzumaki Karin held Sanhua and pushed open the window to look out. The next second, a masked man appeared on the roof opposite her, looking down at her from above.
"Uzumaki Karin, the village is currently under invasion. For your safety, you had better stay inside."
"Invasion? Okay, I understand."
Karin watched the ninjas moving frequently across the rooftops and instinctively hugged Sanhua tighter in her arms. Once the Anbu left, Karin immediately closed the window and sat kneeling on the floor against the wall.
"Mama, do you think Mr. Crow, who sneaked in last night, was discovered?"
"I don't know, but it likely wasn't him. He wasn't found when he visited you yesterday; he shouldn't be exposed so easily."
If anyone heard their conversation, they would be beyond shocked. Karin was actually calling a calico kitten "Mama," and the cat didn't deny it. The longing in Karin's eyes was unmistakable; it was the look one gave to their closest kin.
In fact, Karin was overjoyed. Her mother had truly returned. It wasn't a fake; she had confirmed it—this was her mother. Although her appearance had changed, that didn't matter. No matter what form her mother took, as long as she could return, Karin was satisfied. At this moment, Karin felt like the happiest person in the world.]
Tsunade: "Resurrection, huh..."
Senju Nawaki: "Sister, don't worry. Second Grandpa and the others will definitely resurrect me too, along with Mom and Dad."
Sasori: "To resurrect a person... it's never that easy!"
[Meanwhile, high in the sky, a crow looked down over the entire village. With its pair of Byakugan—which should never have appeared on a crow—it took in everything happening in the village.
"Having learned my lesson once, I have naturally made progress."
"Since an individual humanoid Avatar triggers too much attention, why not just change it to something else?"
Deep beneath Old Konoha, in Uchiha Hoshi's laboratory. Guided by the eyes of the crow she had modified, she watched everything unfolding in New Konoha.
"Speaking of which, will a Third Great Honkai Impact really occur in New Konoha?" Mr. Crow asked curiously from the side.
"I don't know." Uchiha Hoshi shook her head. "The birth of Honkai follows certain patterns, but sometimes it ignores them entirely. Most importantly, the Honkai Energy concentration in New Konoha is currently far from reaching the level required for a Herrscher to be born."
"In other words, as long as a Herrscher isn't born, what happens in New Konoha is just a regular, small-scale Collapse."
"But even so, for New Konoha, even without a Herrscher, wouldn't it likely destroy the village they worked so hard to build?"
At Uchiha Hoshi's feet, a white cat sat on the ground, looking curiously at the massive Culture Dish before them.
"By the way, will this allow the true bloodline of the Sage of Six Paths to be recreated?" A look of curiosity appeared in the White Cat's eyes.
"Perhaps." Uchiha Hoshi didn't know either; after all, this was just one of her many experiments, conducted purely out of interest. Success or failure made no difference to her.
"Let them fuse on their own. Compared to recreating the bloodline of the Sage of Six Paths, whether it's 'Project Chimera,' 'Stigmata,' or 'Wings of Truth,' they are all more important than this!"
Uchiha Hoshi turned to leave, and the doors to this laboratory closed behind her. Barring any accidents, they would not be opened again for a very long time.]
Senju Tobirama: "Project Chimera? Stigmata? Wings of Truth? What on earth is the Herrscher of Reason up to now?"
Orochimaru: "That... you'll have to ask her yourself."
Unknown Ninja: "As a piece of cannon fodder, I am trembling."
["Did you get it?"
"I got it."
In a hidden laboratory, accompanied by a swirl, Uchiha Obito appeared. As soon as he arrived, a fellow with a venus flytrap on his head stepped forward to ask.
"Excellent. With the data from New Konoha, your research on Honkai Beasts will surely progress. Who knows, you might actually succeed in integrating a Honkai Beast into your own body."
"Forget it. Honkai Beasts are naturally incompatible with the human body. If it were that easy, I wouldn't have gone to New Konoha to steal the data."
Watching Obito pull out the data, Black Zetsu smiled silently. Then, he very naturally stepped forward to help him organize the cluttered files. Obito didn't think much of it; after all, over the last few years in the lab, Black Zetsu had always acted as his assistant. Besides, there was nothing in this data that required secrecy.]