Two hours of sprinting through the relentless Amegakure downpour brought the convoy to their destination. But the "Main Camp" no longer existed.
Hiruzen, Danzo, and Sakumo stood at the edge of what looked like a butcher's shop. The rain turned the earth into a crimson slurry. Tents were shredded ribbons of canvas; weapons were snapped like twigs. Worst of all were the remains. Not a single body was intact. Limbs were severed with brutal, precision.
On the far outskirts, the group found the centerpiece of the destruction: a 50-meter oval crater.
"Search for survivors," Hiruzen commanded, though his voice lacked conviction. He knew the answer before the Anbu even moved.
Hiruzen closed his eyes, letting the freezing rain wash over his face. The words Ren had spoken in the carriage echoed in his mind like a death knell. He did exactly what he promised.
"This is your doing," Hiruzen said softly, his voice trembling with a mixture of grief and rage.
He turned to face Danzo. The atmosphere became heavy as the Hokage's chakra flared, momentarily pushing the falling rain away from his body.
"Hiruzen," Danzo started, his grip tightening on his cane. "We needed to secure the asset. The boy was unstable—"
"Is this the stability you sought, Danzo?!" Hiruzen roared, pointing at a pile of torn Konoha flak jackets. "Two hundred loyal shinobi dead! And a prodigy with the Mangekyo Sharingan has been transformed into a demon who hates us with every fiber of his being!"
Danzo's jaw tightened, his single eye cold. "He is a threat. Look at this power. He would have turned on the village eventually. This only proves I was right to fear him."
"He is gone," Hiruzen said, suddenly sounding very old. He looked toward the horizon where the storm was thickest.
"Issue the Bingo Book entry immediately," Danzo pressed. "Uchiha Ren. Rank: S. Kill on sight."
Hiruzen didn't answer. He stood in silence for a long time, staring at the oval crater. Finally, he spoke. "Collect the remains. We return to the village immediately. Inform Suna that the final negotiations will be held in Konoha."
Somewhere in a deep underground Cave
At the center sat an old man, his skin like parched parchment, connected by thick, white tubes to a gargantuan, wooden statue. The statue possessed nine closed eyes.
The ground rippled. A pitcher-plant-like entity rose from the floor, peeling back its leaves to reveal a face split perfectly between black and white.
"Madara-sama," the Black Zetsu rasped. "We have found your perfect successor."
Madara Uchiha did not open his eyes, but the air in the cave shifted. "Speak."
"His name is Uchiha Ren," Black Zetsu continued. "Until two months ago, he was a mediocre ninja. Now, he is a genius. He invented the Healing Tags that shifted the war. Danzo tried to take his parents as leverage; in the struggle, the mother became a vegetable. In his rage, Ren massacred the entire Konoha camp of 200 ninja."
The white side of the creature added, "He's scary! He could even sense our clones underground and destroyed them. He has definitely awakened the Mangekyo."
Madara remained silent for a moment, the tubes of the Gedo Mazo pulsing behind him.
"He is a medical genius," Madara finally spoke, his voice a dry whisper. "As long as his loved ones are alive, he will seek a way to heal them. He will cling to hope. That hope is a shackle that prevents him from seeing the truth of this world."
Madara's eyes- three tomoe spining flickered open in the dark.
"Make sure his father and mother die. Only when he experiences the absolute void of loss will he realize that this world is a hell not worth saving. Only then will he accept the Eye of the Moon plan."
"Understood," Zetsu hissed, sinking back into the shadows.