"Old man, why take in these two orphans? I don't see anything special about them.", Kakuzu spoke with confusion.
Looking at the sleeping little Jiraiya and little Orochimaru on the bed, puzzlement showed on his face.
He had stared at them for quite a while and still couldn't see what was so remarkable about the two of them that his old man would take a liking to them.
Arisu slowly walked over with his hands behind his back.
"Don't underestimate them. How would you know whether today's unknown nobody might one day shake the world with their name...", Arisu spoke slowly.
Kakuzu gave a helpless smile.
"Old man, with your strength, anyone who gets your support could become famous across the world, couldn't they?"
Arisu smiled faintly after hearing that, "Kakuzu, that's actually very well said. Exactly, exactly~"
———
[The Iwagakure Battlefield]
Mu had fought Uchiha Madara and Senju Tobirama through the entire night.
Madara and Tobirama had suppressed Mu.
But relying on Sage Jutsu and split bodies, Mu stubbornly refused to die.
And neither Madara nor Tobirama had any effective countermeasure against it.
"Tobirama, if this keeps up, I'll have to use Susanoo.", Madara said in a deep voice.
Tobirama breathed slightly heavily, his brows tightly furrowed, "Madara, your eyes can't hold out much longer, can they?"
"I really didn't expect this bandaged man to be this hard to deal with. Completely beyond expectations. Looks like besides the four of us, there are other experts in the ninja world too..."
Madara wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth as he spoke.
At this point in time, Madara was far weaker than in the original story.
The first reason was the Mangekyo Sharingan. Izuna hadn't died, so Madara naturally never obtained the Eternal Mangekyo.
Second, Madara's combat experience was much lower.
In the original story, Madara fought constantly.
But because of Arisu's policy of keeping a low profile and biding time, Madara had seen very little real combat now.
His life experience was also far less harsh.
One version of him fought every day, lost both parents, and had his younger brother killed.
The other had a happy family, protection from his grandfather, both brothers and friends by his side, and even became Hokage.
Mu panted heavily, his hands clenched tightly.
"I can fight you all day long...", Mu said in a deep voice between breaths.
His condition wasn't good either. Even with Black Zetsu constantly helping him condense chakra, facing both Madara and Tobirama at once was still overwhelming.
"Tobirama, how much chakra do you have left?", Madara asked in a low voice.
"I need to reserve part of it in case the Iwa jonin surround us..."
"To be honest, this attack has already failed. We can't stay outside too long. If we remain out of contact for too long, chaos will break out internally...", Tobirama said with a frown.
At that moment, he was more worried about the outside situation. Had the other three great nations already mobilized against Konoha by now?
If this operation couldn't end in a quick victory, then it was already a failure.
Even if they won later, it would still count as failure because it had taken too long.
For Mu alone to pin down two of Konoha's commanders was already more than worth it.
"Damn it, this eye is putting too much strain on me!", Madara gritted his teeth and covered his Sharingan as he spoke darkly.
"Let's go!", Madara finally said.
Tobirama immediately placed a hand on Madara, and the two vanished instantly.
"The enemy has retreated..."
Black Zetsu warned through his sensory perception.
Mu immediately felt a huge weight lift from him as he collapsed weakly to the ground.
"If the fight had continued, I probably would've died... but luckily, they withdrew."
Supporting himself with both hands against the ground, Mu lay there weakly as he spoke.
Just as Mu thought everything was over...
Suddenly...
Two gigantic figures descended from the sky behind him.
Son Goku and Kokuo landed heavily on the ground, instantly kicking up massive clouds of dust and shattered stone.
"Hello there, Tsuchikage!"
Son Goku and Kokuo grinned.
———
"Kumogakure declares war on Konoha!"
"Sunagakure declares war on Konoha!"
"Kirigakure declares war on Konoha!"
"Amegakure declares war on Konoha!"
"Takigakure declares war on Konoha!"
"The Land of Iron condemns Konoha's violent actions!"
"Various nations have jointly cut off trade with the Land of Fire..."
"Uzushiogakure announces the severing of diplomatic ties with Konoha!"
"The assault on Kannabi remains stalled. Sarutobi Sasuke was grazed by Dust Release and had no choice but to retreat back to Konoha, replaced by Uchiha Hokaku."
The moment Madara and Tobirama returned to the village, both immediately felt their vision darken.
Declarations of war flew in like snowflakes.
The Nine-Tails attacking the village...
More than half the ninja world declaring war on Konoha...
Trade embargoes...
Uzushio Village took one look and saw over half the ninja world declaring war on Konoha. How could they still dare stay tied to Konoha? Terrified, they immediately severed relations.
Madara's expression turned ugly. He had expected most of this already.
But he hadn't expected every nation to unite with such shared hatred.
Tobirama's brows were tightly knitted as well.
They had failed...
Kannabi Bridge hadn't been captured, and the assassination operation carried out by him and Madara had also failed. A Tailed Beast that hadn't appeared in centuries had suddenly emerged at this exact moment...
"Could it be Konoha..."
Tobirama had never trusted fate, but at this moment, the entire ninja world seemed as though it was being manipulated by some giant invisible hand.
As if someone were balancing the ninja world from behind the scenes.
"Tobirama, the rise and fall of a ninja village is decided by people, not heaven! As long as our strength is sufficient, everything will turn out fine."
Madara's eyes glowed scarlet.
"Hokage, what do you plan to do?", Hashirama asked heavily.
Madara's face darkened, a trace of extremity flashing through his eyes.
"Face reality. Use any means necessary!"
"War has never been some so-called gentleman's duel."
"It has never cared about fairness, never followed hypocritical rules. From ancient times until now, the essence of war has only ever been one thing, one side survives, the other perishes."
"We must commit every force available to us, tear apart every disguise, shatter every so-called taboo, until every structure, every spirit, every shred of hope in the enemy villages completely collapses, until the entire ninja village destroys itself amid pain and despair.", Madara spoke with an extreme look in his eyes.
After hearing that, a dark glint flashed through Tobirama's eyes as well.
They absolutely could not lose this war.
If they lost, the sky would fall over Konoha itself.
Madara and Tobirama stepping down would be the least of it. If they lost, Konoha itself might split apart.
"Face reality... use any means necessary..."
Tobirama and Madara pondered for a long time before ultimately deciding to abandon all restraint.
"Launch unrestricted warfare!"
———
Just as Konoha entered multi-front warfare... Suddenly, armies of the dead began appearing across the battlefields.
Every single one of them possessed Edo Tensei bodies.
Their eyes were dull and lifeless, all of them deceased.
Attached to their bodies were the tandem explosive tags created by Senju Tobirama.
They charged recklessly toward enemy forces and detonated themselves without hesitation.
Huge stretches of land were blasted into barren wastelands by the Edo Tensei corps.
And the one controlling everything from the shadows was Senju Tobirama.
Tobirama also began frantically using Flying Thunder God to deploy Edo Tensei armies across every battlefield.
The major ninja villages were caught completely off guard. None of them had expected Konoha to become so utterly insane, manipulating the dead and carrying out suicide bomb attacks like this.