Half an hour later in the Land of Grass, two Hagoromo ships descended one after another.
Orochimaru, his eyes glowing with eerie light, rushed forward the moment he stepped off the ship, heading straight toward his temporary lab.
His expression still carried a hint of satisfaction.
Next came Shen, completely drained, staggering out of the cabin unsteadily.
On the other ship, Nayou's face instantly turned pale.
Was she misunderstanding something?
"Man, Orochimaru really has a thing for that kid Shen," Jiraiya muttered before stepping off the ship.
Nayou, who had just been slightly doubting herself, immediately decided not to let those two be alone together.
"Uh, why did it suddenly get so cold?" Tsunade felt a strange chill and hurriedly quickened her pace to step off the ship.
Nawaki, sensing something off too, glanced back, got scared instantly, and stumbled after his sister in panic.
That eerie smile he had just seen would definitely give him nightmares later.
Thick as a brick, Nawaki probably wouldn't figure out what just happened—ever.
The explosion site in the Land of Earth.
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, landed inside the crater, his face heavy with seriousness as he stared at the epicenter.
"Footprints from four or five different people… several large dragging marks… Could it be Leaf ninja?" His expression darkened immediately.
From what he knew, only someone with aircraft and a large group of experts—like the Hidden Leaf—could have taken down the rampaging Roshi and escaped so quickly.
"This doesn't look like Lava Release… more like a Tailed Beast Ball."
The scene truly looked exactly like the aftermath of a Tailed Beast Ball.
Whether viewed from afar or examined up close, there was no other possible conclusion.
"Hmph! I won't forget this!" Old man Onoki sneered coldly as he slowly lifted into the sky.
Before leaving, he gave one last deep look at the massive crater nearly a kilometer wide.
In his mind, either the Hidden Leaf or the Hidden Sand must have sent a Jinchuriki, resulting in this destruction.
And the missing Roshi had either fled toward Amegakure or been taken to the Land of Grass.
That same night, White Zetsu fully explained everything to Madara.
"Capable of using ninjutsu without hand seals, and with strange markings on his face?"
For the first time in a long while, Madara actually looked surprised. "That's Hashirama's ability. Could this child already possess the Senju's power?"
"Hahahaha! He must've cracked the secrets of the Stone Tablet!" Sitting in his chair, Madara laughed heartily.
"Lord Madara, isn't it only possible to see the lower text with Mangekyō or Rinnegan?" Confused, White Zetsu couldn't figure out how the boy had deciphered it.
If Konoha hadn't updated their barriers so frequently, he might've known the answer already and wouldn't need to ask his creator.
Madara smiled but gave no verbal reply.
In his mind, the result mattered far more than the process itself.
"Did the kid spot you?"
White Zetsu frowned in deep thought. After a long pause, he shook his head and replied, "Would I even still be standing here if I'd been discovered?"
"Was it because of total chakra reserves?" Madara mused, believing Shen must have accessed the Senju power—second only to Hashirama's cells.
That's why, although he could now use the Sage Transformation, he lacked the ability to regenerate chakra or heal wounds naturally.
Ironically, without the precious Hashirama cells, Madara felt even more certain about "convincing" Shen to join his cause.
Would that kind of childish manipulation really be something the legendary and mighty Madara Uchiha would pull off?
With plenty of patience left, Madara believed someone as sharp as Shen Uchiha wouldn't need much convincing—lay out the facts, and he'd surely come aboard.
"Only the Infinite Tsukuyomi can bring true peace," Madara murmured softly, gradually breaking into a smile.
He felt a deep bond already existed between himself and the successor he was about to meet.
Both were young yet exceptionally gifted.
Both combined the powers of Uchiha and Senju after deciphering the stone tablet at Naka Shrine.
And both began seeking out the Tailed Beasts, aiming for the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
"He's even as hotheaded as I was in my youth," Madara chuckled bitterly, clearly in a good mood.
He believed it wiser for Shen to first awaken the Rinnegan before beginning the hunt for the Tailed Beasts.
Even capturing all nine Tailed Beasts using nothing but a Three-tomoe Sharingan wouldn't generate enough chakra to summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path for sealing.
Of course, according to Madara's imagined plan, given time, Shen would definitely awaken the Rinnegan before death, ultimately achieving the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
"It's taking too long… Besides, the Infinite Tsukuyomi should be initiated by me." Suddenly, Madara felt the pressure of younger generations surpassing the old.
He refused to let the new generation overtake him like a wave on the shore, but he still wanted to complete the Moon's Eye Plan as soon as possible.
Thinking of Nagato, who was five years younger than Shen, Madara conceived a backup plan.
Behind the chair where Madara sat, within the shadow of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path that sustained his life, a strange black creature stood hesitating.
The sheer amount of new information left Black Zetsu almost frozen.
"How could that brat possess the Sage Transformation when he clearly never inherited Asura's power?" This question plagued Black Zetsu.
"Could Asura actually reincarnate into Indra's bloodline?" Black Zetsu immediately dismissed the unlikely possibility.
Wasn't the Sage of Six Paths intelligent enough to allow someone capable of naturally awakening the Rinnegan to exist? Even if that person was his favorite son's many-generations-removed reincarnation.
If he wasn't foolish, then how else could one explain Shen's possession of Sage Chakra?
Black Zetsu, already featureless, surprisingly displayed a very humanlike moment of complete confusion.
His exaggerated face-pulling combined with his pitch-black tiny body looked exactly like some random PA in black fresh off filming—who still hadn't gotten chicken added to his lunchbox.
"That's impossible! Hagoromo couldn't have discovered my existence!" Black Zetsu had a terrible suspicion.
The only known direct descendants of the Otsutsuki Clan were Hamura Otsutsuki, who watched over his mother on the moon, aside from the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki.
Yet secretly, he—Black Zetsu—also existed.
He'd been incredibly careful for millennia, not letting a single clue slip. He just couldn't believe those two brothers had found him.
Unless...the stone tablet at Naka Shrine Pass Technique had been tampered with!
Then the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo Otsutsuki, who established the Pure Land, would have reason to reincarnate Asura within the bloodline of Indra, to oppose Madara Uchiha, who had awakened the Rinnegan.
It would be a destined clash between two reincarnations who wielded each other's power.
At the same time, it would be a deadly showdown between two hidden puppeteers—though one clearly held the upper hand.
If Black Zetsu had sweat glands, he probably would have already broken out in cold sweat by now.
"I need to go back and check that shrine," he muttered warily and slipped silently out of the underground cavern.
If the stone tablet at Naka Shrine Pass Technique hadn't been the one messed with after all, Black Zetsu would have only two choices left.
One: completely abandon the plan to resurrect their mother.
As for the second option—it was something he had only dared to think about for millennia, never daring to actually do it.
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