"You really do take everything you can get, don't you, kid..."
Kinkaku cast Obito a sympathetic look.
Even a brutal man like him couldn't help but sigh when he thought about what Tobirama intended to do to this Uchiha. Sometimes, having the body of an Impure World Reincarnation puppet really was a little better than having a living body...
"Death? Death isn't frightening. Death is a cool summer night, where one may sleep without a care..."
Ginkaku racked his brains for a slightly cultured metaphor. "This place lies in the gap between life and death."
Spending his days around these Kage meant that if he spoke too crudely, Hi-kun would mock him!
That was all he had?
All brawn and no brains. No wonder the Third Raikage had swooped in and reaped the benefits back then!
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Obito instinctively tried to rub his eyes, only to realize that he'd been wrapped up like a giant rice dumpling. His left arm and left leg were gone, and even his torso had been stitched back together.
"Where are my arm and leg?!"
Obito felt like crying, but a moment later he consoled himself.
"It's not that bad. Once I'm back in the village, they should be able to fit me with prosthetics. En-ojisan gets around pretty well with his..."
Konoha's prosthetics had already reached a decent level of compatibility. Although they couldn't provide chakra the way one's original limbs could, they were still far better than having nothing at all.
"Prosthetics? Konoha has technology like that?"
The Second Raikage's interest was piqued. "But they must be expensive, right? For a brat like you, even if you're from the Uchiha Clan, it'd probably be hard to afford them unless your family has substantial savings..."
"They're free if you were injured in the war. Konoha shinobi also get subsidies in peacetime, and there are interest-free loans..." Obito answered almost reflexively.
He knew all this so well because many elderly people in the village didn't fully understand some of the welfare policies, and sometimes someone had to break everything down and explain it to them piece by piece.
Obito often took on the role of an "explainer," teaching the elderly about the village's various benefits.
And while he was at it, he'd pull them into the ranks of Sarutobi Hiruzen's die-hard supporters...
"Free? And subsidies too..."
The Second Raikage frowned and nodded thoughtfully.
After the Third Shinobi World War began, with everyone away from Konoha, it once again became much easier for the White Zetsu to gather plentiful intelligence. After all, neither the Nine-Tails nor Mito was on the battlefield.
The Six Paths puppets, equipped with the Rinnegan, could choose to share the White Zetsu's vision and watch live feeds from the various battlefields.
As a result, these Kage often gathered together to critique the various hidden villages as though they were watching a livestream.
Even Gengetsu and Mū, who were far away in Kirigakure hunting down the former Third Mizukage, would occasionally join the call...
The distance hardly mattered. White Zetsu were essentially natural telepathic relay stations.
It only took a few relays, so there wasn't much latency to speak of.
Obito's words made the Second Raikage understand why Konoha's shinobi remained so fiercely determined and utterly fearless despite their obvious disadvantage in manpower...
Fighting and killing might be a shinobi's duty, but objectively speaking, once an ordinary shinobi lost a limb, their standard of living and future prospects would instantly plummet several levels...
There was no security in this profession.
So whenever a great war broke out, shinobi would fight the enemy courageously on the one hand, while on the other doing everything they could to avoid injury. If they had to die, then death was still preferable to being crippled...
But Konoha was clearly different.
"It's not just free prosthetics. Konoha also has compensation payments, medical scrolls..." As though muscle memory had kicked in, Obito began rattling off one village benefit after another.
The corner of the Second Raikage's mouth twitched as he listened.
Kinkaku and Ginkaku exchanged a glance and shrugged.
The two of them might have been rough men, but they still understood the basic principle that men would die for wealth just as birds would die for food.
Once the material foundation and logistics were properly taken care of, many things became much simpler—morale naturally included.
And when it came to the ideological side of things, the Will of Fire was famous throughout the shinobi world...
"Kumogakure's defeat wasn't undeserved. Relying solely on raw courage and brotherhood to maintain a hidden village's morale might work in the short term, but it's obviously unsustainable. Those militant fools are far too shortsighted..."
"All they ever think about is taking things by force. They don't understand the first thing about mutually beneficial exchange. They've completely ruined Kumogakure's reputation!"
The Second Raikage sighed.
He was one of the rare intellectuals to come out of Kumogakure, and he'd wanted to pursue a diplomatic path.
Unfortunately, the two brainless idiots beside him had ambushed him...
More importantly, if that ambush had only gotten him killed, that would have been one thing.
Instead, they'd also driven Senju Tobirama—who had finally gotten cooperation onto the right track—straight to the dark side. After spending all those years faking his death and quietly stewing, Tobirama had come up with the ultimate piece of insanity...
He'd resurrected every last one of them in one go!
The Second Raikage was already considering how to find an opportunity to apologize to Tobirama and get a chance to speak privately with the Third Raikage, to convince him to stop crossing blades with Konoha...
Hadn't he seen what happened when neighboring Ōnoki targeted the Uchiha? The result was another pair of Mangekyō Sharingan!
In the Second Raikage's eyes, Konoha was practically a walking set of cursed rules!
If no one picked a fight with Konoha, it would steadily develop at a terrifying pace...
But if they did fight and failed to achieve anything, the situation would rapidly turn into "what doesn't kill it only makes it stronger."
Konoha was absorbing the spoils of war at a frightening rate...
The Second Raikage had keenly noticed this.
Iwagakure's Explosion Release and Lava Release, Kumogakure's Magnet Release, even Kirigakure itself had been swallowed whole by Konoha, while Sunagakure was visibly on the verge of being broken through as well...
Their sand-manipulation techniques and puppetry would also become resources for Konoha's growth.
In the Second Raikage's view, compared to Kumogakure and Iwagakure, which would probably have to pay massive reparations and sign treaties of defeat, Sunagakure's situation would likely end up closer to Kirigakure's.
Whether the entire village would be annexed was another matter. Sunagakure's territory was simply too terrible; swallowing all of it would basically mean taking on a poverty-relief project.
Assimilation required manpower and resources. There was no need to swallow everything in one bite, especially when Konoha would then have to spend additional effort maintaining stability...
But Rōran, which bordered the Land of Rain, remained independent of Sunagakure, and possessed its own unique puppet technology—the Second Raikage figured Sarutobi Hiruzen would most likely take that.
It would be legally justifiable and would also allow Konoha's influence to extend throughout Sunagakure...
Ashina glanced at the Second Raikage. Seeing the calculating look in his eyes, he shook his head ruefully.
No wonder he himself wasn't suited to leading a major hidden village.
Having to weigh the benefits every time something happened was a damn nuisance...
"Kid, tell me something first. Is Konoha's current Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, particularly skilled in Fūinjutsu?"
Ashina asked with a smile.
The village and his clansmen were certainly important, but not as important as the lifelong pursuit to which he had devoted himself...
If the techniques he created could rival the bloodline powers attained by the Uchiha and Senju at their very peaks, then the name Ashina would be worthy of being passed down to future generations as a "Little Sage of Six Paths"...
"Why are you asking?"
Obito's expression instantly grew tense. Even though he was at an absolute disadvantage, he still replied warily, "Don't even think about getting anything out of me!"
"Oh? You've got a pretty good sense of secrecy..."
"Judging by your reaction, you probably know who the four of us are..."
Amused, Ashina pinched Obito's ear and gave it a tug, making it hurt slightly. "I won't fault you for keeping secrets from these three Kumogakure shinobi, but take a good look at me. Do you know who I am?"
Obito blinked.
For someone as hopeless at humanities as he was, being able to recognize Kage from other villages was already a testament to the Ninja Academy's education...
He had actually studied obscure exam material like the Warring States Period seriously, but once he'd graduated, he'd started forgetting it...
Yet Ashina's vivid red hair was practically a cheat sheet, helping Obito dredge his forgotten textbook knowledge back up.
"I'm Senju Butsuma's sworn brother, Senju Hashirama's father-in-law, and Uzumaki Mito's father..."
"One of the earliest architects of Konoha's Fūinjutsu system, the strongest Fūinjutsu shinobi of the Warring States Period, founder of the Land of Whirlpools and Uzushiogakure, and a friend acknowledged by Sarutobi Sasuke..."
With every name Ashina listed, Obito's mouth fell open a little wider.
Holy crap...
This was the ultimate old-timer!
He wasn't even merely from the village-founding era...
He was the kind of man even the First Hokage would have to call "Father"!
The Second Raikage, Kinkaku, and Ginkaku shrugged.
In front of Ashina, even they were just juniors.
"Kid, if I really wanted those little scraps of information in your memories, I've got plenty of ways to get them..."
Ashina smiled. "Besides, I'm an important ally of Konoha. Is there really anything wrong with me asking how the Hokage has been doing lately?"
"Just whisper it to me. I won't tell anyone else. If the Hokage blames you for it later, I'll take responsibility. I'll explain it to him personally!"
Obito hesitated for a moment. After thinking it over, he could only relent.
After all, this man was undeniably a powerful shinobi who had killed large numbers of Iwa shinobi, and for now, his position could still be considered aligned with Konoha.
And Uzumaki Ashina's name itself served as a guarantee...
As long as Obito only mentioned some innocuous details about the Hokage's everyday training and information that had most likely already been exposed on the Kirigakure battlefield, he should be able to muddle through.
Obito decided he needed to infiltrate this mysterious organization and uncover the truth!
And if he was going to infiltrate them, naturally he had to put on a convincing show.
Even so, Obito still felt that once he returned to the village, he absolutely had to find the Hokage and report everything...
If his judgment turned out to have been wrong, then he deserved to be punished!
Obito motioned for Ashina to bring his ear closer.
Ashina obligingly leaned over and considerately said, "I already know how Sarutobi Hiruzen performed on the Kirigakure battlefield. Immunity to genjutsu, Water Release chakra—just stick to those two and tell me whatever details you know..."
Obito froze.
That only strengthened his determination to infiltrate this organization as deeply as possible...
Just how terrifyingly well-informed were these people?
In that instant, Obito remembered a mysterious organization mentioned in his favorite novel, Shinobi Battle Through the Heavens...
The "Hall of Souls"!
But it wasn't quite the same. Although Ashina's appearance was extraordinarily bizarre, his identity was special, and both his attitude and his actions were relatively friendly...
There was even a certain sense that they were all lining up to take turns teaching him...
Could it be that his own "Ancient Senju Master" had just dropped out of the sky?
Obito's two halves of his brain were practically fighting each other.
"My clansmen and I have served as sparring partners for Hokage-sama before. At first, three-tomoe ocular genjutsu could still affect him..."
"But it stopped working pretty quickly. It only took a few months or so. Whenever ocular power was directed at Hokage-sama, it was like it simply got broken down..."
Ashina was ecstatic!
It matched...
Everything matched!
"One more question, kid..."
"What's Sarutobi Hiruzen's relationship with Uzumaki Mito like?" Ashina asked, stroking his long beard.
"Naturally, they're very close! Mito-sama is Hokage-sama's mentor's wife..."
Obito looked thoroughly puzzled. "Mito-sama often says that Hokage-sama is the inheritor of Hashirama-sama's will. Don't you know that?"
Ashina's expression turned peculiar, and for once, he couldn't resist making a sarcastic remark.
"Back in our day, people generally believed that Senju Tobirama was Sarutobi Hiruzen's sensei..."
But this also gave Ashina a huge boost of confidence, allowing him to vaguely understand what had happened.
No wonder Tobirama had gone dark...
Even the shinobi of his own village thought Hiruzen had nothing to do with him and was instead Hashirama's successor...
A disciple as good as Sarutobi Hiruzen was basically the equivalent of his precious Ten Thousand Seals Body Integration Seal...
If someone else's name got attached to it, how could he possibly stand that?
Ashina felt that Tobirama still loved Konoha. He'd just reached the point where he'd stopped caring about the consequences...
He'd hidden himself away in the shadows and completely let himself go, with his behavior now perfectly matching everyone's stereotypical image of him...
Basically, he'd stopped pretending!
At the mention of Senju Tobirama, Obito put on an awkward but polite smile and said stiffly, "I don't think so. I heard that Lord Second had nothing to do with Lord Hokage..."
"That's what the elders in my clan all say..."
For a moment, the cave was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
Everyone was holding back their laughter, but none of them dared laugh out loud for fear that a certain someone might hear.
Even Madara's lips curled slightly upward as he listened...
This brat wasn't bad...
He might be a little stupid, but at least his eyes worked properly...
Maybe he could treat him just a tiny bit better...
Ashina nodded thoughtfully. "Now that you put it that way, I understand something else!"
Back then, Senju Tobirama had harshly criticized his technique as "wishful thinking," "lacking practical validation," and "a recipe for endless future trouble." Yet Tobirama himself had never stopped researching his own Kinjutsu, which had infuriated Ashina to no end.
The fact that Hiruzen could master the Ten Thousand Seals Body Integration Seal probably had quite a bit to do with his subtle distancing from Tobirama...
After all, Hashirama had believed back then that the technique could work—he simply thought there was no need for it...
'Sensei and disciple, with conflicting Nindō? Tsk. This shinobi world...'
Ashina shook his head ruefully in his heart.
Just then,
Hi-kun walked in with a smile, pushing a wheelchair. "Looks like everyone's having a nice chat?"
"Very nice! This young man isn't bad..." Ashina said cheerfully.
He wasn't in any hurry now...
The little details he'd learned from Obito, combined with Hiruzen's performance on the Kirigakure battlefield, had convinced Ashina that the Ten Thousand Seals Body Integration Seal had already been successfully mastered!
Now he could rest easy...
Tobirama could mess around however he liked. As long as Hiruzen was fine, that was all that mattered...
As for the advanced configuration of the Ten Thousand Seals Body Integration Seal, Ashina had also engraved it into Kakashi and Rin. Once Hiruzen saw it, he would surely understand...
After all, he was the genius who had mastered Ashina's ultimate Kinjutsu!
Surely he had at least that much insight...
"Come on. Someone wants to see you!" Hi-kun carefully picked Obito up and placed him in the wheelchair.
He needed to treat this brat a little better...
After all, Obito was the first connection he'd developed openly in Konoha!
"Who wants to see me?" Obito asked tentatively.
"You can tell us now, can't you, Hi-kun...?" Ginkaku asked mischievously.
"Give it a try. If you can say it out loud, then obviously you're allowed to say it..." Hi-kun shrugged indifferently.
He knew Madara-sama had been watching them all along...
Hi-kun and Madara had already discussed everything. They would bring Obito over and make the brat settle down and train properly, first raising his basic physical capabilities so that when he awakened his eyes in the future, his body would actually be strong enough to handle them.
Their plan to set things up for him had also more or less been finalized.
Through the White Zetsu's observations and analysis, Hi-kun and Madara had recently noticed that something about Danzō seemed off...
Danzō kept proposing that they take the initiative, and in a complete departure from his usual behavior, he repeatedly demanded that Konoha launch the main offensive. He even proposed breaking the shinobi world's unspoken rules and dragging both the Third Raikage and Ōnoki onto the battlefield themselves!
That obviously didn't fit Konoha's position as the defending side...
Konoha had no need to escalate the intensity of the war any further. Fighting defensively and counterattacking, gaining the greatest possible spoils at the cost of the fewest casualties—that was the most cost-effective approach.
When others questioned him, Danzō dogmatically insisted that he had a way to deal with the Kage and tried to force the proposal through.
But someone suggested reporting the matter to the Hokage and letting him make the decision, so in the end, the whole thing came to nothing.
Danzō had shown obvious resistance to that idea, as though he didn't want Hiruzen to know.
And after Hi-kun provided him with this intelligence, Madara easily recognized Danzō's self-destructive state of mind from the increasingly reinforced Reverse Four Symbols Sealing on his body and the supposedly discreet inquiries he'd been making about the Tsuchigumo Clan's Kinjutsu, Fury...
Madara had seen far too many classic cases just like this among the Uchiha Clan!
Another old-school shinobi looking to "transcend through death." It was nothing new to Madara...
And given the unique bond between Danzō and Hiruzen, Madara decided that when the time came, he would have Iwagakure and Kumogakure deliberately expose an opening, giving Danzō the impression that he had a chance to "take down two Kage in a single battle" and lure him into advancing deep behind enemy lines alone...
Given Hiruzen's personality, he would most likely find some way to save his old friend...
Then Madara would set up another trap, making the returning Obito believe that Hiruzen was dead, before having him witness Kakashi and Rin falling into mortal danger. With all those emotions piling up at once, it would be perfect!
And during this time, Madara would also instill his own beliefs into Obito...
The hatred of the shinobi world could never be severed!
He needed to make Obito open his eyes and take a good look at the ugliness of this shinobi world. He couldn't let himself be blinded by the Will of Fire simply because it happened to be flourishing right now...
"It's..." Ginkaku tried to say it. "It's Senju Tobirama who wants to see you!"
Once he'd said it, Kinkaku froze for a moment before immediately understanding.
They were already at their headquarters. There was no longer any need to keep hiding their identities...
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