IW: Chapter 136 - Edo Tensei First Hokage, Uchiha Madara, Peace Has Not Yet Arrived!
"Nagato, make a decision. If we keep watching, once he unifies the Ninja World, it won't be so easy to capture the Tailed Beasts later on!"
There was no longer any need to stay on that battlefield.
Since the other party had surrendered and they were in the final stages, he took Zetsu back to the Akatsuki Organization and informed Nagato about the battle.
While he said he was discussing it with Nagato, Obito was also prepared to force the issue. If Nagato refused, he would take necessary measures. Obito couldn't wait any longer.
"He's actually going to unify the Ninja World..."
After hearing the news Obito brought back, Nagato's eyes were somewhat unfocused, and he murmured in his heart.
Is this the peace he sought?
It seemed so.
He had once wanted to use the Rinnegan to collect the Nine Tailed Beasts and then combine them into the Ten-Tails, ultimately making the world experience Pain, and also turning all Ninja Villages into one. But what he had always wanted to do was now being done by Bai Ye. He felt as if there was no need for him to do anything anymore.
"Nagato, if you don't act now, our plan will fail, and our long-term planning will be completely in vain!"
Zetsu's eyes were fixed on Nagato. Although he knew Nagato had ulterior motives, he was at least easier to deceive than Obito.
Now that the situation was beyond his control, Zetsu didn't want Nagato to give up directly.
"I understand. You go ahead and inform them. Then you and Konan continue to carry out the previous mission: infiltrate Konoha and find the location of the Jinchuriki. If they win this time, it's highly likely that all Jinchuriki will be in the Village, and we also need intelligence on other Jinchuriki not captured by Konoha."
Nagato nodded. After he agreed, Konan, who was beside him, looked at him with a hint of surprise but quickly regained her composure.
Although she didn't understand why Nagato said that, Konan didn't question it at this moment.
And after getting Nagato's consent, Obito and Zetsu also breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, Zetsu didn't think much and directly agreed to the suggestion of investigating with Konan.
They were supposed to go last time, but Konoha directly started the war, which led to a change in plans. Now that Konoha had eliminated all Ninja Villages, it was definitely necessary to go.
However, before that, Zetsu had another thing he needed to do.
"Me and Zetsu?"
Although Konan didn't want to go with Zetsu, in the current situation, it seemed she had no choice but to go herself.
After all, the other members of the Akatsuki Organization were either brainless or infamous rogue Ninja. Going to Konoha would definitely lead to them being discovered. Only she and Zetsu could go.
Zetsu could only hide in the Hokage's, while she could move freely in Konoha. She wasn't on the rogue Ninja list, and Konan wasn't very famous either. The only thing she needed to worry about was not encountering Jiraiya.
"Yes, you two go together and investigate the intelligence there thoroughly."
"Okay, but I have something to do right now, which might cause a slight delay."
Zetsu had one more thing to do, which he had to resolve before anything else.
"Alright!"
Nagato nodded and said nothing more. Then, the two left directly.
After they left, Konan couldn't help but ask the questions in her heart: "Nagato, isn't this what we wanted?"
Weren't they striving for this so-called peace from the beginning?
Now, since Konoha could bring peace to the Ninja World, why should they still launch the Tailed Beast capture plan?
This would only plunge the already peaceful Ninja World back into war.
"Yes, so before that, you should first go and observe the situation in Konoha. Not just about the Jinchuriki, but also some other matters in Konoha. See if Konoha can truly lead the Ninja World to peace."
Although Nagato still harbored some hatred towards Konoha in his heart—his family had died at the hands of Konoha Ninja, and Yahiko had died because of Danzo—Nagato would not completely rewrite this hard-won peace because of it.
If this was truly peace, then he was willing to abandon his plan.
But before that, he needed to understand clearly whether the other party could truly bring peace to the Ninja World.
Perhaps he wasn't a god after all?
For the first time, Nagato's faith in himself wavered. His body was deteriorating, no longer what it once was, and the Rinnegan was constantly devouring him. He knew very well that his life force would eventually be swallowed by those eyes.
Perhaps this was the price.
But before that, he still had a weakness in his heart, and that was Konan.
What would Konan do after he died? She had been protected by him since childhood. Once she lost his protection, even though she had Kage-level strength, the Akatsuki Organization's actions had offended the entire Ninja World.
He didn't want Konan to die with him. If he could live, that would naturally be fine.
But he would die. Konan couldn't possibly die with him. If Bai Ye truly brought peace to the Ninja World, then there would be no need to do anything else.
"What about Madara and the others? They definitely won't just stand by and watch."
From the other party's attitude just now, Konan was also convinced that they would not stop.
Therefore, their choice at this time seemed to have no other effect at all.
"They have their plans, we don't need to complete them. We were aiming for peace from the very beginning!"
Nagato said, his Rinnegan eyes widening as he looked into the distance: "I won't let them control me. If they want to make a move, I will act!"
He had always been for peace, and his relationship with the other party was merely a collaboration.
"Then should we contact their Hokage?"
"Go with your own ideas. Just generally understand life in Konoha now, and the lives of others in the Land of Fire without the Daimyo, as well as the lives of ordinary people. As for those guys, it doesn't matter if you don't understand them!"
The arrogance possessed by those great nations and great Ninja Villages, and their enjoyment of the strongest resources, in Nagato's view, made it irrelevant whether one understood them or not.
Konan understood this. Since that was the case, she knew what to do next.
It was just a bit unexpected that her first trip to Konoha was for this reason. Back when they were the three little ones, they had thought about going to Konoha with Jiraiya, but later gave up due to some circumstances.
Now, going there, they seemed to be enemies, right?
Konan mumbled to herself, then looked at Nagato and asked, "Don't you need me to protect your body?"
Nagato's main body was somewhat weak in combat due to his disability, so he needed someone to protect him. Otherwise, if he was caught in close combat, he could very likely die.
"No need. If you go, I will recall the Pain."
With the Pain by his side, there would be no problem. Konan didn't say anything more about this.
Although she usually stayed by Nagato's side, since Nagato had the Pain, she didn't need to stay there all the time.
"Tobi, then let's cooperate with Orochimaru?"
They could only cooperate with Orochimaru now, otherwise, it would be impossible to defeat that Konoha.
Even with Nagato.
Zetsu had always known Orochimaru's location, but he didn't bother with him. After all, Orochimaru was not within his scope of attention. No matter what, a normal person without Kekkei Genkai, no matter how talented, was still just that.
Moreover, he didn't possess any of the Six Paths Sage's bloodline, so he couldn't reach the peak.
However, at this point, it seemed they could only seek help from Orochimaru.
Because Orochimaru was indeed a genius in scientific research, and he had also researched Edo Tensei in Konoha before, which was what they needed most at the moment.
"Let's go, that guy should know what to do."
A cold smile flashed across Obito's face. He was actually a bit unwilling to revive Uchiha Madara.
But the current situation was that if you didn't revive him, you couldn't win, and using Edo Tensei was clearly a pretty good card.
It was well known that one could not become a Jinchuriki in the Edo Tensei state, and this was his only trump card. As long as Uchiha Madara was not truly revived and appeared in this form, he would pose no threat to him.
Orochimaru had only recently defected from the Akatsuki Organization and established Otogakure in the Land of Rice. After leaving the Allied Shinobi Forces, Orochimaru rushed back.
He needed to confirm something.
Inside the laboratory, Orochimaru turned his head as if sensing something behind him and said coldly, "Come out, you've been here for quite a while, haven't you?"
Had enemies come knocking?
A hint of gloom flashed in Orochimaru's eyes. He had just defected from the Akatsuki Organization.
If those lunatics from the Akatsuki Organization found him, he would be in danger.
The more he worried about something, the more it happened. When Orochimaru turned his head to look at the person behind him, his face immediately fell. Those black robes with red clouds—wasn't that the Akatsuki Organization?
He had run to several locations, yet he was still found by members of the Akatsuki Organization?
Orochimaru felt a pang of discomfort at the yin-yang face. Zetsu's reconnaissance ability was indeed formidable.
"Orochimaru, you really made me search for a while."
"Zetsu, just the two of you?"
Orochimaru's eyes flickered, but in his heart, he was calculating. If it was just Zetsu and a Masked Man he had never seen before, then he seemed capable of making a move and directly eliminating them.
Zetsu was publicly recognized as having no strength, and this Masked Man didn't seem to be a famous person. He could try. If he couldn't beat Itachi, could he still not beat these two of you?!
"Oh my, is Orochimaru-senpai planning to kill us? How scary!"
This guy...
Under Obito's exaggerated cry, it was hard for Orochimaru not to feel that the other party was being sarcastic.
"Indeed, if it's just the two of you, I can't imagine how that guy Pain would dare."
Since his thoughts had been seen through, Orochimaru naturally didn't hide them anymore. Of course, he wanted to eliminate these two people in front of him.
Once Zetsu was killed, his whereabouts would not be so easily discovered by the Akatsuki Organization members in the future.
After all, Zetsu was the only one in the entire Akatsuki Organization who could find him.
"Orochimaru, we're here to talk terms."
Zetsu had no intention of fighting Orochimaru. He wasn't afraid, as Obito could easily defeat Orochimaru.
However, the purpose of coming here was not just to fight Orochimaru.
"Talk terms? Heh, speaking of which, your organization doesn't seem to want to see the Ninja World unified by Konoha, do you?"
Given Zetsu's intelligence gathering abilities, what situation in the Ninja World didn't they know?
So, the other party's purpose in finding him was for this?
"But unfortunately, I won't be returning to the Akatsuki Organization, unless you let me research Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyo."
Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with excitement. If Uchiha Itachi was exchanged for him, he could still consider returning.
However, within the Akatsuki Organization, he would most likely be looked down upon for being defeated by Uchiha Itachi. But Orochimaru didn't care much about that. His obsession with the Mangekyo had already reached its limit.
Especially after seeing Bai Ye's Mangekyo wreak havoc on the battlefield, he felt even more that he absolutely had to research it.
"Sorry, Uchiha Itachi is impossible to give you, but we can give you something you wouldn't expect."
Zetsu's eyes flickered. At this point, since they needed to use Orochimaru, they naturally had to give something in return.
Although Orochimaru was somewhat disappointed, he was also curious about Zetsu's purpose in finding him: "So, you're not looking for me to return to the Akatsuki Organization, are you?"
This definitely wasn't Pain sending them. These guys came on their own?
Orochimaru wasn't a fool.
He had noticed since joining the Akatsuki Organization that there seemed to be two factions within it. This seemingly not-so-strong Zetsu seemed to have ulterior motives.
"We hope you can use Edo Tensei to revive a few people, and in the future, we can provide you with some things you're interested in!"
Zetsu directly stated his purpose: he needed to revive a few people.
No, that's not right...
Not just a few people, but many people. To deal with Bai Ye's Ninja Alliance now, they absolutely had to revive all the dead guys from before.
"Who?"
Revive?
Orochimaru's research on this wasn't much of a secret, but generally, few people would ask him to use it. Even though he had almost completed his own research, the effect of Edo Tensei was not satisfactory, so he had been constantly improving this Ninjutsu.
But no matter how much he improved it, Orochimaru found that it seemed impossible to change. It seemed not to be his own reason, but that the sacrifice was not good enough?
But no matter what, this was not the result Orochimaru wanted.
"Senju Hashirama, Senju Tobirama, and Hiruzen Sarutobi—these Hokage."
Currently, they lacked high-level combat power. As for Uchiha Madara, Zetsu hadn't prepared to tell Orochimaru yet; he would see later, as Obito's identity being exposed or not exposed were two different plans.
"Interesting, then what do I get?"
Although Orochimaru felt that the other party would definitely request these few people, he also knew very well that if he didn't get anything, he wouldn't act.
If something went wrong with these guys, he could suffer a backlash!
So he had to get something.
Over the next period, the excitement on Orochimaru's face grew. He felt as if he had touched the truth of the world, and he also wanted to see who would be more powerful: the strongest of the past or the strongest of the present.
Ultimately, both parties concluded the conversation with satisfactory answers for themselves.