"What!? You already captured Isshiki!? In such a short time!?"
After returning to the satellite fortress suspended above the Land of Rain, Sasuke Uchiha—who had just finished accepting the transplant surgery for his prosthetic arm and was still adapting to the amplification brought by the new arm jointly adjusted by Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi—widened his eyes and asked almost the exact same question Naruto Uzumaki had asked earlier.
"Do not look so shocked, Sasuke-kun."
While observing through the Tenseigan's perspective the rapid transformation and improvement of Sasuke Uchiha's chakra after he obtained a prosthetic arm made from the cells of Hashirama Senju and Kushina Uzumaki, Rei teased him.
"Compared to Naruto Uzumaki, that dead-last, you were a top student at the Ninja Academy and an honor student personally trained by Orochimaru. You should understand very well how great an influence intelligence has on the outcome of battles between shinobi…"
"No matter how important intelligence is, it can only be effective when the strength of both sides is not too far apart…"
Sasuke Uchiha still wore an incredulously grave expression.
"The Isshiki of this era should have fewer problems with his body and lifespan than the one from our era, and he should have fewer misgivings about going all out…"
"No matter how small his problems were, it does not change the fact that he was someone defeated by two people like you, whose strength had stopped advancing and who could no longer even use Six Paths power."
Rei interrupted Sasuke Uchiha's completely unoptimistic speech and asked back coldly,
"Do you actually think that Naruto Uzumaki's damned Baryon Mode, something he could only activate by burning his life, was stronger than the Six Paths Mode the old man of the Six Paths granted him back then?
"He could not use Truth-Seeking Balls. He could not use the power of the other eight Tailed Beasts. Just because he burned his lifespan, it became stronger than Six Paths Mode, which comprehensively and drastically strengthened all abilities?"
"Um, in terms of short-term explosive power, maybe it really was a bit stronger than Six Paths Mode?" Naruto Uzumaki awkwardly pressed his fingers together, hoping Rei would not speak quite so sharply.
"Then why didn't you simply learn from Might Duy and Might Guy and open all Eight Gates directly?"
Rei glared at Naruto, who choked on the words, then continued irritably,
"Might Guy had no chance whatsoever of defeating the Nine-Tails one-on-one in the Seventh Gate state, yet after opening all Eight Gates, he nearly inflicted fatal damage on Madara Uchiha, who had already become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki. Isn't that increase more exaggerated and ridiculous than your so-called Baryon Mode?
"Since you are burning your life either way, the Eight Gates do not even require the participation of Tailed Beast chakra. As the inheritor of the Sage Body and the Seventh Hokage, there is no threshold you could not cross when cultivating the Eight Gates."
"Sorry…"
Naruto Uzumaki, who had been criticized until he was covered in wounds from head to toe, shrank to the side with a dejected expression and fell into gloom.
Sasuke Uchiha, meanwhile, took a deep breath with a complicated expression and asked in a low voice,
"So, you chose to let Orochimaru and Kabuto Yakushi act freely?"
"I merely gave them the necessary research freedom."
Rei glanced meaningfully at Sasuke Uchiha, then flipped his hand and tossed a blood collection vial containing Isshiki Otsutsuki's remaining blood toward Orochimaru, who had been listening at the side.
"The enemies of the shinobi world now are terrifying foreign foes from beyond the stars. Every individual who can help improve the overall strength of the shinobi world possesses extremely precious value."
"Even if they are madmen who are fundamentally different from ordinary people?"
"If you place a madman in the right position, he can also become a genius whose value surpasses imagination."
Rei waved his hand and turned to leave the satellite fortress, which provided Orochimaru's research with convenience and secrecy. At the same time, he left these words behind.
"If you think what I said is wrong, then look more at the world I have created. Meet more of those old acquaintances who are very different from the ones in your memories, Sasuke Uchiha…
"Eyes that can reflect the heart do not exist only to make it easier for you Uchiha to lose your minds."
Watching Rei leave, Orochimaru first solemnly placed the blood collection vial containing Isshiki Otsutsuki's blood into the mouth of a summoned giant snake for safekeeping.
Then, with malicious amusement, he gave Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha a sinister smile.
"Just as Rei-kun said, even madmen who appear obsessive and incomprehensible in the eyes of others have characteristics that allow them to shine in the fields they are good at…
"Perfect timing. Rei-kun has already had Nagato send notice of the Dawn Conference to the entire shinobi world. Given the strength and primary territories of those two fellows, you should be able to see them tomorrow after Rei-kun transformed them."
"Who are you talking about, Orochimaru?" Sasuke Uchiha asked with an unfriendly expression.
"Two old acquaintances who may not be very familiar to Sasuke-kun, but perhaps left a very deep impression on Naruto-kun…
"Or perhaps they should be called enemies? Heheheheh. I truly look forward to your expressions at that time…"
Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha looked at each other.
At the same time, they saw worry and confusion in each other's eyes.
…
The next day.
A caravan dressed in a very desert-like style arrived at the capital of the Land of Rain, the City of Akatsuki, which had been remodeled from the former Amegakure.
"Uwaaah, the Land of Rain really is a country where rain falls all year round… No wonder someone once said this was a country that was always crying. If the sky is always this gloomy, it really does make people feel as if it is crying."
Queen Sara, tall and healthy-looking, jumped down from a semi-automatic vehicle controlled with puppet technique. Then she looked up at the sky overhead, where almost no sunlight could be seen, and sighed in this manner.
"I do not think the puppet technique courses I arranged for you were so harsh that your eyesight would deteriorate to this degree, Sara."
Sasori of the Red Sand, who had recovered his youthful appearance, directed the vehicle beneath him to transform. As it combined at astonishing speed into a giant combat puppet, he spoke flatly.
"Could you not tell that the reason the sky above the City of Akatsuki looks this gloomy is mainly because something is floating above it?"
"You are saying something is floating above the City of Akatsuki and blocking the sunlight?"
Sara narrowed her eyes and observed for a while before shaking her head in complete disbelief.
"Impossible. Something that could cover the entire City of Akatsuki's range—how large would that have to be? A mountain range floating in the sky? Or a massive floating city? Something like that is a bit too unrealistic, isn't it?"
"For that man Rei Kaguya, whether a city in the sky can exist only depends on whether he has such an idea."
Sasori of the Red Sand shook his head and walked toward the Akatsuki representative who had come to welcome Loulan's delegation.