"Let's leave it at that."
A sinister smile appeared on Orochimaru's face as he spoke aningfully,
"No one knows who'll be the one left standing in the end. Madara believes he stands above everyone else… yet he has no idea… "
He left the sentence unfinished.
But Kabuto instantly understood.
As expected—
even when facing the legendary Uchiha Madara, Lord Orochimaru still had his own sches and calculations.
At that mont, Kabuto's admiration for Orochimaru surged once again.
"One day… I'll beco soone like Lord Orochimaru."
Kabuto slowly climbed back to his feet, excitent flickering in his eyes.
"Bring out White Zetsu's corpse," Orochimaru ordered calmly. "We'll continue the research."
"Madara's plan is about to begin. We need to make use of the little ti we have left."
"Yes!"
Kabuto nodded imdiately and returned to his focused research state.
There was nothing more to say.
If he lived, he belonged to Orochimaru.
If he died, he would still follow Orochimaru.
He was willing to go insane alongside Orochimaru one more ti.
So what if the opponent was Uchiha Madara?
They would just keep going.
—
At the sa ti—
Iwagakure.
Inside the Tsuchikage's office in the village's central district.
"Sigh…"
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, floated above his desk and let out a heavy sigh.
What else could he even say?
The Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren, had clearly grown stronger yet again. Even the owners of those two terrifying invading auras had been killed without resistance.
It was too difficult.
This shinobi world had beco far too difficult.
Because of that, Ōnoki felt more miserable by the second.
He admitted it.
He regretted everything.
He had boarded Uchiha Madara's ship, and now there was no way forward and no way back. Even Iwagakure itself had been dragged into an unstable and crumbling situation.
"Lord Third Tsuchikage, what do we do now?"
"The Fifth Hokage has beco more terrifying than ever. Where exactly is Iwagakure supposed to go from here?"
"What is Madara's plan? Is he really just going to sit there and let Uchiha Ren continue displaying his strength unchecked?"
Looking at Ōnoki's constantly changing expression, Kurotsuchi, Kitsuchi, Daine, and the other Iwa higher-ups exchanged glances before speaking in weary voices.
Their aning was simple.
What path remained for Iwagakure?
Where were they supposed to go?
Hearing those questions, Ōnoki opened his mouth—
yet nothing ca out.
At this stage, he was no fool.
Of course he understood that Uchiha Ren had already beco an unstoppable force.
At the very least, Ren's status within the shinobi world had already surpassed both Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara.
Without exaggeration—
the current Fifth Hokage could already rival, or perhaps even surpass, the Sage of Six Paths himself.
Yes.
That was the reality.
Uchiha Ren had already reached a level comparable to the Sage of Six Paths.
The thought alone made Ōnoki feel even more exhausted.
"…Forget it."
After a long silence, Ōnoki finally recovered and drew a deep breath.
"Since we've already chosen to stand beside Lord Madara, then we'll follow this road to the very end."
Then he added quietly,
"Iwagakure no longer has any other choice."
"...Understood."
"We'll follow your decision, Lord Tsuchikage."
"There's no other way now…"
Kurotsuchi, Kitsuchi, Daine, and the other higher-ups nodded one after another, clearly agreeing with Ōnoki's conclusion.
"Excellent."
Suddenly—
space distorted.
Under the stunned gazes of everyone in the office, Madara, Obito, Black Zetsu, and White Zetsu appeared inside the room.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The entire office froze.
Even Ōnoki was startled badly, staring blankly at Madara and the others for several seconds without speaking.
"…What the hell?"
Only after a few monts did Ōnoki finally recover, suppressing the tremor in his chest as he let out an involuntary curse.
He truly had not expected Madara himself to descend into his office alongside his subordinates.
This was enough to scare soone to death.
Then, after thinking about it more carefully, cold sweat imdiately drenched his back.
If he had dared say even a single word about abandoning Madara and siding with Uchiha Ren instead—
then both his fate and Iwagakure's fate would have already been decided.
"Very good. A wise decision."
Madara's lips curled upward slightly.
"Ōnoki, at least you know how to read the situation."
"Otherwise, after today… Iwagakure would've vanished from the shinobi world."
"Ah…"
Ōnoki's face stiffened awkwardly, and he could only force out an embarrassed smile.
As for Kurotsuchi, Kitsuchi, Daine, and the other Iwa elites—
they didn't even dare breathe too loudly.
All of them lowered their heads, their hearts shaking violently.
They had just been talking about Madara—
and now the legendary Uchiha Madara himself had appeared in front of them.
It was enough to terrify anyone.
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