"Let them do what they want." Madara swept his right hand, then clenched his fist tightly. "In the face of absolute power, everything else is just a cloud."
"We just need to reclaim the Rinnegan, capture the Tailed Beasts, and continue the Eye of the Moon Plan."
Collecting the Tailed Beasts was manageable, but the key was the Rinnegan, it had to be taken back.
After speaking, Madara turned to Obito. "Just in case, there's a mission that needs you to carry out. Don't screw it up again this time."
"Black Zetsu, assist him fully."
If he had any other choice, Madara really didn't want to send Obito. He could never get anything right, only mess things up.
But he simply had no one left.
"If needed, you can mobilize the Ten Thousand White Zetsu at any time to serve you."
The former Hidden Leaf Village, now the Land of Whirlpools.
Special envoys from the major nations had traveled thousands of miles to this place. Their meaning was clear: they wanted an alliance to jointly wipe out the Akatsuki.
Nagato's swift defeat of Land of Earth, his subjugation of Lightning and Water, and his forced imposition of world peace had become a nightmare for all the Daimyo and Kage, like a sword hanging over their heads, ready to drop at any moment.
Especially Nagato's method of recruiting members from across the Shinobi World under the banner "Light of the Dawn, Ambassador of Peace", this was poaching their people, shaking their very foundations.
Anything that threatened their wealth could never be allowed.
In their understanding, Konoha and the Land of Whirlpools were the same.
But this time, they were disappointed. Konoha and the Land of Whirlpools rejected their alliance.
"Tell those ignorant fools that anyone who tries to reignite war will face the harshest punishment." Naruto refused without mercy. "If you don't want your own countries to suffer, I suggest you drop this idea right now."
"It's only been a little over a year. Have you already forgotten what Pain said back then? Looks like that lesson wasn't enough."
"Do you want to 'Feel Pain'?"
The Allied Forces Special Envoy's face reddened. He hadn't expected Naruto to refuse so decisively. "So you're saying you're going to side with the 'Akatsuki'?"
His voice rose several decibels. "Do you have any idea what this means? Do you know what Konoha is doing?!"
That was practically the entire Shinobi World's army!
Trying to stand against the whole Ninja Continent alone?
Even if Pain really was a god, he'd only end up dead in the face of such a massive Allied Forces.
He just has the Rinnegan, does he really think he's the Sage of Six Paths?
Konoha and the Land of Whirlpools tying themselves to the Akatsuki...
This was just asking for it.
Naruto shouted loudly. "This is all Lord Danzo's decision. Lord Danzo wants peace, and we firmly stand on the side of justice."
'Bullshit! Everyone knows how Danzo stole the Hokage position. Everyone knows he tried to take control of the Land of Fire and cooked up this Land of Whirlpools. The side of justice?' the Special Envoy ranted internally.
"Have you Konoha people lost your minds? Has Danzo lost his-"
Before the envoy could finish, a tachi blade pressed against his throat.
The masked Root ninja stood beside Naruto.
Naruto continued, "Lord Danzo is not someone a small fry like you can insult. Get out. Go back and tell those arrogant nobles to wash their necks and wait."
If these people wanted war, then war they would get.
He had wanted to deal with those so-called Daimyo and nobles for a while, but he'd been stuck without an excuse. Now, the justification had delivered itself.
Might as well settle everything in one go.
Nagato had been too gentle before. If you're going to fight, you hit hard enough to make it hurt, until the other side has no chance of getting back up.
Let the Shinobi World truly feel pain for once.
'But 'besieged by the Allied Shinobi Forces,' huh.'
Watching the furious envoy storm off, Naruto gazed into the distance. "Makes us sound like the villains. This time, we're the ones on the side of justice."
Sasuke and Neji stood silently beside him, their resolute eyes showing their determination.
"Everyone, how about we go big this time? Take on the entire Shinobi World. Isn't that exciting?"
The moment Naruto finished speaking, Sasuke's eyes transformed into the Mangekyo. "Hn. A worthless mob. I alone am enough."
As Sasuke got older, his physical stats kept rising. He was growing rapidly, and he grew more arrogant by the day. Unfortunately, aside from Naruto, there was almost no one in this world who could take him down a peg.
He rode high, itching for a fight.
Hah. No one could make him limp home.
On the other side, Neji crossed his arms and spoke, "They can never see through their own destiny."
"Hahaha, you think you can leave us out of this?"
A cheerful voice came from outside the door, and several figures appeared in the room.
"So we're going to war with the Great Nations?" Fu said with a grin, rolling up her sleeves. "I've been wanting to put them in their place like forever."
"I'm satisfied with my life now. No one's going to ruin it." Gaara shoved his hands in his pockets. As he finished, Fu grabbed his arm.
Those damn PDA flaunters.
The Uchiha clan members spoke as one. "The Uchiha swear to follow Lord Uzumaki's footsteps to the death."
"Notify Nagato. Let him prepare. Don't let too many ants kill the elephant."
Using White Zetsu's intelligence network, Madara quickly obtained so-called "evidence" of Akatsuki's location. Then a massive army of over a hundred thousand ninjas marched into the Land of Rain, leaving nothing alive in their path and wiping out several small countries along the way.
Yet this enormous army stopped at the border of the Land of Rain. Not a single unit was willing to launch the first attack.
"Is Amegakure in the Land of Rain Akatsuki's headquarters?" An old man with a big red beard and purple robes spoke from among the Allied Shinobi Forces.
"I thought they were dangerous criminals. Turns out it's just the leader of a small country and a small ninja village. And someone like that is worth all this trouble from you people?"
"Now that we've actually reached the enemy's base, no one dares to step forward? A bunch of cowards."
"Since none of you punks dare to go, I'll go first."
With that, he started to head into the Land of Rain alone.
"Roshi, don't be impulsive. You're no match for him." Onoki, floating about a meter off the ground, immediately snapped, "You weren't at that battle. You don't know how terrifying he is. He is absolutely not something a normal human could fight."
"Idiot Old geezer, don't try to order me around. I'm not your subordinate anymore," Roshi shot back without a second thought. "I only joined you because I accepted the Daimyo's request."
As the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Roshi had defected from Iwagakure due to disagreements with Onoki and was wanted by him, formerly an S-Rank Missing-Nin from Iwa.
Still, he mostly operated near Iwagakure. Aside from injuring a few Iwa ninjas when he left, he hadn't done anything too extreme, so Onoki had only issued a missing-nin wanted notice without actually hunting him down.
Because powerful ninjas were needed, Roshi had been conscripted by the Land of Earth's Daimyo and joined the Allied Shinobi Forces.
"You won't let me go? Then I'm definitely going!"
Ignoring Onoki's attempts to stop him, Roshi charged into the Land of Rain alone.
Even knowing that what Onoki said was most likely true, he still chose to go alone. What a stubborn old man. For no other reason than to defy Onoki.
Onoki just looked in anger.
Now, Kumogakure had suffered a steep decline in power due to the sacrifice of the Raikage and a large number of elite Kumogakure ninjas, to the point where it barely had a voice among the major villages. Kirigakure, having lost the Byakugan at the previous Five Kage Summit, saw the temporary Mizukage, Mei Terumi, lose considerable prestige, forcing the Kirigakure elder Genji to take charge. And Sunagakure's Rasa clearly showed no intention of getting involved.
So the position of Supreme Commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces naturally fell to him, Onoki. But now, as the Supreme Commander, he couldn't even command his own village's ninja. How would that look to others?
"Watch yourself, or you might die out there and never come back!" Onoki snarled.
But Roshi was already inside the Land of Rain's borders without looking back.
"None of your business!"
An hour later, the Land of Rain in the distance was eerily silent.
Two hours later, no sounds of fierce battle were heard.
Three hours later, the Allied Shinobi Forces outside still hadn't seen Roshi return.
Logically, a powerful Jinchuriki like Roshi, even if he couldn't win against an enemy, shouldn't just vanish without a trace like that.
Shrouded in thick fog and a drizzling rain, the Land of Rain was like a predator, quietly waiting for prey to walk right in.
No one knew what was hidden in that fog, or what had happened.
Only Madara, disguised as the illegitimate son of Daimyo, knew what was really happening in Amegakure, due to his information network.
"First one... capture successful." Black Zetsu's voice reached his ear.
===============
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