Chapter 308: Laying the Cards on the Table
After a round of lighthearted laughter, the somewhat unfamiliar and stagnant atmosphere in the secret room eased considerably. Kakashi sat down in the empty seat beside Minato Namikaze. As he took his seat, this supreme meeting, which spanned life, death, and eras, bringing together Konoha's first four Hokage and the current Fifth, finally and formally began.
Uchiha Douhuan, seated in the main seat, slowly began to speak: "By common logic, after the end of the Fourth Great Ninja War, I should have released the Impure World Reincarnation and allowed the souls of the predecessors to return to the Pure Land to rest in peace. However, circumstances are unpredictable. Although the ninja world has been initially unified on the surface and the flames of war are temporarily extinguished, the true threat we face does not seem to originate from within the ninja world."
His gaze finally rested on Senju Hashirama: "Regarding this point, Lord First Hokage has previously fought him head-on on the Land of Earth battlefront and should have the most direct feeling about it."
"Ah, yes." When that terrifying enemy was mentioned, the hearty smile on Senju Hashirama's face instantly disappeared, replaced by a rare and extremely serious expression, even carrying a trace of lingering fear. "That fellow... is very strong. Strong to an absurd degree. He's completely unlike an existence that could have grown up on this land of the ninja world. The current strength of those two children, Nagato and Neji, just in terms of chakra volume and the use of certain traits, is already not much worse than my own peak."
He paused, his tone becoming heavier: "And I, although restricted by this Impure World Reincarnation body and unable to exert my full strength from when I was alive, even with the three of us joining forces at that time and fighting with all our might, we could only barely manage to repel him, and couldn't even cause him any effective damage. What's even more terrifying is that I could clearly feel that that fellow's condition at that time was very wrong, as if he was suffering from some unhealed hidden injury. His strength was far from reaching his proper peak state."
Senju Hashirama raised his head, his gaze sweeping over everyone present, and said word by word, each word as heavy as a lead block: "If he could fight in his peak state... frankly speaking, I believe that even I, at my peak, would be no match for him."
"In this world, there is still someone stronger than you were at your peak, big brother?" Senju Tobirama, who had not personally experienced the Land of Earth battlefront, showed an incredulous expression of astonishment on his face for the first time upon hearing this. In his deeply ingrained cognition, his big brother Senju Hashirama was the ceiling of ninja strength, the veritable "God of Shinobi." How could there possibly exist an individual stronger than his big brother at his peak?
"Tobirama, you don't understand," Senju Hashirama shook his head, trying to describe the indescribable feeling. "That isn't just a gap in chakra volume or the power of a jutsu. What I felt from that fellow was... an absolute pressure from a higher level of life. It was an instinctual fear, just like a herbivore seeing a predator. A kind of irresistible shudder from the depths of the bloodline."
"Pressure from a higher level of life? Is it that exaggerated?" Senju Tobirama still found it hard to believe, his brows tightly furrowed. His whole life, he had believed in data, logic, and analyzable ninjutsu principles. This kind of mysterious talk made him instinctively feel doubtful.
"Lord Second Hokage, what the First experienced was not an exaggeration, but a fact," Uchiha Douhuan spoke up at the right time, providing solid corroboration for Senju Hashirama's feeling, and revealed the truth. "That enemy is named Ōtsutsuki Isshiki. He is not a person of the ninja world, but from a race called 'Ōtsutsuki' from far beyond the heavens."
"The Ōtsutsuki clan?" Sarutobi Hiruzen, smoking his pipe, frowned tightly, catching this somewhat familiar term. "I remember, before, the one who infiltrated Konoha and attempted to kidnap the Hyuga main family's two little girls, Hinata and Hanabi, was claimed to be from this clan? From the moon?"
"That Ōtsutsuki Toneri on the moon is just a ninja world descendant who fortunately continued this surname. His bloodline is already impure," Uchiha Douhuan shook his head gently and explained. "The power and will he inherited are both incomplete. Strictly speaking, he cannot be considered a truly pure-blooded Ōtsutsuki clansman."
"Continued the Ōtsutsuki bloodline?" Senju Tobirama keenly grasped the key point and pressed on, "Who is the source of their bloodline? And what is the connection to the Hyuga clan?"
"Ōtsutsuki Toneri on the moon, his bloodline, like that of Konoha's Hyuga clan, both originate from an ancestor named Ōtsutsuki Hamura," Uchiha Douhuan began to recount the sealed-away secret history. "And in contrast, our Uchiha clan, and your Senju clan, the common source of the power of our two clans, comes from Ōtsutsuki Hamura's elder brother—Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo."
"You mean, our Senju clan and your Uchiha clan actually come from the same origin ancestrally? How is this possible!" Senju Tobirama subconsciously snorted coldly and retorted. Although his personal abilities and achievements as Hokage had changed his view of Uchiha Douhuan, his stereotype of the Uchiha clan being "naturally evil" and the long-standing hostility were not something that could be eliminated overnight. At this moment, hearing Uchiha Douhuan say that the two clans were born from the same root, the absurdity of this, for him, was no less than having eaten shit. It was extremely disgusting.
"This is the fact, whether we are willing to accept it or not," Uchiha Douhuan's tone was calm but left no room for doubt. "And that common ancestor of our two bloodlines, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, the name he left in the ancient history of the ninja world, I believe you all have heard of it—"
He paused slightly, his gaze sweeping over the instantly silent meeting room, and slowly spat out that shocking name:
"The Sage of Six Paths."
"The Sage of Six Paths!?" Sarutobi Hiruzen cried out in astonishment, the pipe in his hand almost falling. For any ninja, this name was like a myth, an existence who had founded Ninshū and was close to a god!
"That is to say, the Senju and the Uchiha are actually... descendants of the Sage of Six Paths?" Minato Namikaze digested this astonishing information. In comparison, his shock was actually smaller. In those long and boring years in the Shinigami's stomach, he and Kurama, having nothing to do, had communicated a lot. From the Nine-Tails, he had already known that the nine Tailed Beasts were all creations of the Sage of Six Paths. Therefore, his acceptance of the fact that these two top ninja clans were both descendants of the Sage of Six Paths was actually higher—after all, besides being direct descendants of the Sage, it was indeed difficult to find other reasons to explain the terrifying strength and Kekkei Genkai of these two clans that far surpassed ordinary people.
"That's right," Uchiha Douhuan affirmed, and continued to dig deeper into the roots. "And the bloodline of the Sage of Six Paths, Ōtsutsuki Hagoromo, comes from an even higher-level existence—the one who truly descended to this world from beyond the stars, known as the Progenitor of Chakra, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya."
His words led everyone's thoughts to an even more vast and unknown realm.
"The Ōtsutsuki clan is a race with a highly developed civilization and powerful strength. They have the ability to travel freely through the sea of stars. And their ultimate goal in continuously searching for and descending upon one living planet after another is to plant a seed," Uchiha Douhuan's voice became cold. "They will plant a terrifying plant called the 'God Tree' on their chosen planet. The God Tree will take root in the core of the planet, madly absorb the energy of all life on the entire planet, and finally condense it into a crystal called the 'Chakra Fruit,' which becomes the ultimate nourishment for their clan's evolution and life extension."
"A thousand years ago, Ōtsutsuki Kaguya, as a 'guardian,' descended upon our planet together with another clansman, 'Ōtsutsuki Isshiki.' She planted the God Tree here, but ultimately betrayed her mission and her clansman, swallowed the Chakra Fruit that should have been turned over, obtained invincible power, and left her bloodline on this land—that is, the later Sage of Six Paths brothers."
"And that Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, who is now our enemy, was the partner who descended with Ōtsutsuki Kaguya back then. He almost lost his life in Kaguya's betrayal and only managed to survive by relying on a special secret technique. He has been lurking in the shadows of the ninja world, painstakingly waiting and planning, just to one day replant the God Tree, complete their clan's original mission, and harvest all the life in this world."
The secret room was deathly silent. Only Uchiha Douhuan's calm narrative echoed. The vastness and cruelty of this secret history, spanning thousands of years, far exceeded the imagination of most people present. All the wars and grudges they had experienced in the past seemed to have become insignificant internal friction in the face of this cosmic-scale plunder plan.
"So... is that how it is?" Senju Hashirama muttered to himself. He recalled the fear originating from the instinct of life when he fought Ōtsutsuki Isshiki. At this moment, he finally found the answer. He nodded forcefully, his eyes becoming incomparably firm, "That is to say, that fellow named Isshiki is an enemy we must defeat no matter what, right? In order to protect all life in this world."
"Yes, this is a war for survival. There is no room for compromise," Uchiha Douhuan confirmed solemnly.
"However, Douhuan," Senju Tobirama spoke again. He was always the calmest and the one most adept at finding doubtful points. "This intelligence... especially the core purpose of the Ōtsutsuki clan from beyond the heavens and the ancient secrets, where did you get it from? It's so detailed, as if you saw it with your own eyes."
Uchiha Douhuan seemed to have expected this question. He did not answer directly, but gently waved his hand.
In an instant, the shadow in the corner of the meeting room began to writhe. A mass of viscous liquid, as if composed of pure darkness, silently emerged from the floor, slowly rose, and finally combined into a blurry human-shaped black shadow. It had no clear facial features, only a human silhouette, and its body exuded an ancient, cold, and mysterious aura.
"Who is this?" Except for Uchiha Douhuan, all the Hokage present showed expressions of shock and uncertainty. Their gazes instantly focused on this strange black shadow. Senju Tobirama even instantly entered a state of alert, his fingers twitching slightly, as if he was about to form a seal in the next second.
"No need to be nervous, everyone," Uchiha Douhuan calmly introduced. "This is the original bloodline source of our Uchiha clan, the eldest son of the Sage of Six Paths—Indra, a wisp of will incarnate left behind before his death to protect the future possibilities of the ninja world. All the history and intelligence about the Ōtsutsuki clan that I just recounted were told to me by him."
Regarding Black Zetsu's true identity, Uchiha Douhuan, after careful consideration, did not intend to tell the others present the truth.
After all, the ideals of all the Hokage present were, without exception, to protect the real ninja world. They would absolutely not be able to accept, nor would they ever allow, a world-destroying plan like "Infinite Tsukuyomi" to be implemented.
The Black Zetsu, perfectly disguised by Tobi, nodded slightly towards the successive Hokage present. His movements were slightly stiff, yet carried a slowness and mystery that matched his "ancient will" identity.
"The ancestor of the Uchiha clan... the will left behind by Indra?" Senju Tobirama's gaze instantly became extremely sharp, like a scalpel, staring deadly at the Black Zetsu disguised by Tobi, filled with scrutiny and distrust.
"Direct descendant of Asura, you need not hold such great hostility towards me," Tobi's acting skills, after Uchiha Douhuan's strict guidance and years of lurking, had already reached perfection. At this moment, he perfectly played the image of an elder who had parted ways with his younger brother's descendants due to different ideals, but had to put aside his prejudices and silently watch over them for thousands of years in the face of the survival of the ninja world. His voice was hoarse and old, with the sediment of time. "Although to this day, I still cannot approve of my younger brother Asura's, and the path and ideals you have inherited from him. However, in the face of an enemy from beyond the heavens who is attempting to destroy our common world, our positions and goals are consistent. Protecting this land is the inescapable responsibility of our bloodline born here."
"Tobirama, if what Douhuan said is correct, then this... uh, this senior can also be considered our granduncle, right?" Senju Hashirama looked at the black shadow and tried to smooth things over. He scratched his head and tried to show a friendly smile, "Um... what should we call you?"
"According to seniority, just call me great-uncle-ancestor," the Black Zetsu played by Tobi responded in a low voice, his tone flat and without ripples, even carrying a trace of imperceptible alienation belonging to an elder. "Your personality is indeed... very similar to that naive younger brother of mine, Asura." This sentence was said meaningfully, both clarifying the relationship and implying past ideological differences.
"Ah, is that so? Hahaha..." Senju Hashirama scratched his head and laughed awkwardly, seeming a bit strange and embarrassed at being told he was like his "ancestor."
"Douhuan," at this time, Minato Namikaze, who had been listening quietly, spoke again, bringing the topic back on track. His thinking was always very clear. "According to what you said before, the enemies we need to deal with should not only be Ōtsutsuki Isshiki from beyond the heavens, right? You also mentioned 'a revenger returned from the grave' before..."
"That's right, Fourth," Uchiha Douhuan nodded, a trace of gravity appearing on his face, and even a fleeting... regret? He sighed lightly and said the name that made at least two people present instantly change their expressions: "The other enemy is someone you all also know—Uchiha Madara."
"Madara!?"
Hearing this name, Senju Hashirama's reaction was the most intense. He almost instantly stood up from his seat, his face filled with shock, complexity, and a trace of indescribable expectation? "He... he also came back?"
"Yes, he has been revived and possesses a real, living body of flesh and blood," Uchiha Douhuan let out a long sigh, his tone carrying obvious self-blame. "Speaking of which, the responsibility for this matter lies with me. I originally thought that in the matter of fighting against the Ōtsutsuki clan, which concerns the survival of the ninja world, Ancestor Madara should be on the same side as us. Therefore, when gathering combat power, I also reincarnated him with the Impure World Reincarnation."
His expression became heavy with pain, "However, I misjudged his obsession and his true goal. What he wanted was not cooperation, but exploitation. After he was reincarnated, he took the opportunity to suddenly attack me, forcibly snatched the Rinnegan I had taken from Nagato, and used the forbidden technique, Rinne Rebirth, to successfully revive himself and restore his full strength."
"Douhuan, you really were thoughtless on this matter! Too reckless!" Senju Tobirama immediately criticized in a low voice, his face looking very bad. "I told you long ago, Uchiha Madara, this person, is naturally evil and extremely paranoid. In his world, there are only his own ideals and ambitions. It's impossible for him to stand on the same side as us, with Konoha! Cooperating with him is no different from asking a tiger for its skin!"
"Lord Second Hokage's lesson is right," Uchiha Douhuan frankly accepted the criticism, his tone sincere. "In handling this matter, it was indeed my major mistake and misjudgment. I am willing to bear all responsibility. However, the good thing is that I was not completely without a backup plan. Currently, I have successfully trapped him in a special alternate dimension. He is temporarily unable to perceive the real situation outside and cannot break free to pose a direct threat to us."
"Where is Madara now? Is that alternate dimension safe?" Senju Hashirama hurriedly asked, his tone urgent, his eyes flashing with complex and hard-to-read light.
"Big brother!" Senju Tobirama, seeing his big brother's state of obviously starting to worry again and even faintly "obsessing over that pretty Uchiha," couldn't help but raise his voice to remind him. "Wake up! The current Uchiha Madara is an undeniable enemy!"
Senju Hashirama opened his mouth, but in the end did not refute. He just slowly sat back down, his brows tightly furrowed, and fell into silence, obviously undergoing an intense internal struggle. The atmosphere in the secret room became incomparably heavy again because of Uchiha Madara's name.
(End of chapter)