Mobilizing and Preparing for War
Three days after the appearance of "Uchiha Madara", news of the Fourth Ninja World War spread like wildfire throughout the major shinobi villages, making the already tense Shinobi World even more turbulent.
After all, the enemy is a legendary combination of the Shinobi World, the five Kage throughout history, and a berserk tailed beast. Even the most arrogant person would be shaken and unable to control themselves upon hearing this scene.
In this turbulent time, the Five Kage did not choose to return to the village to stabilize the people's hearts. Instead, they took advantage of the Five Kage Summit to continue exchanging intelligence in the Land of Iron, sharing information about the past Five Kage and those powerful ninjas who had died, in order to gain an advantage in the Fourth Ninja World War.
At the same time, it also establishes a more solid alliance, drawing the samurai forces of the Land of Iron into the war.
"Everyone, according to the latest intelligence, a large number of White Zetsu have appeared in the Shinobi World, numbering in the tens of thousands. They may be weapons of war developed by Akatsuki based on the person who disrupted the last meeting!" Gaara said.
"Lord Kazekage is right. Although those White Zetsu are not as strong as the one who disrupted the talks last time, their overall strength has reached the level of Genin. Even if we combine the strength of the five great ninja villages, we cannot muster that many combatants. We are at a disadvantage in terms of the lower ranks!" Mei Terumi nodded.
"Moreover, according to the latest intelligence, those White Zetsu possess extremely advanced transformation techniques, allowing them to transform into friendly forces at will to launch surprise attacks. If we cannot find a way to counter them, we will soon find ourselves in a predicament, with our hands tied and caught in the middle, once war breaks out," Tsunade said with a grave expression.
The Raikage, standing to the side, stared wide-eyed, looking utterly bewildered, and asked, "It's only been three days, where did you get so much latest intelligence? Or have you all already infiltrated the Akatsuki?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the other four Kage looked at him with strange eyes. Finally, Ōnoki said sarcastically, "I say, Raikage-sama, since you want to be the supreme commander of the alliance, you should at least pay attention to the changes in the Shinobi World. Don't tell me you know nothing about those small countries that joined the alliance yesterday!"
"Ahem... A few days ago I received information about Bi and was preparing to capture him and bring him back to the village, but at the last moment he still managed to escape. I was in a bad mood and didn't pay much attention to the situation of the alliance."
Knowing he was in the wrong, Raikage blushed and quickly changed the subject, saying, "However, what do you mean by bringing up those small countries? Most of them don't even have complete ninja villages. Do you think they can surpass the Alliance's sensory units in intelligence gathering?"
"Don't underestimate them. With the strong support of the Dream God Sect, a new batch of ninjas has quickly emerged in those small countries. Although their strength is not too great yet, their so-called Dream Technique are indeed very effective for intelligence gathering!" Ōnoki said, a glint of light shining in his cloudy eyes. He was quite curious about the technique of drawing power from dreams.
"Indeed, after capturing several White Zetsu who attempted to infiltrate the Alliance, we tried to force them to reveal their secrets, but unfortunately, we were helpless against them. On the contrary, after those new ninjas arrived, we used Dream Technique to invade their minds and discovered that they seemed to be in an extremely chaotic and insane dream world themselves," Mei Terumi said.
"If it can invade the enemy's dreams, doesn't that mean they can steal any information if they want to?!" Lei Ying's expression changed drastically. He knew how terrifying this technique could be during wartime, and immediately made up his mind to quickly introduce this power, even if it meant resorting to deception and trickery.
"Let alone stealing information, even killing someone in a dream or controlling their will is not impossible!" Gaara said with great fear.
"This incredible power must be controlled by strong individuals with unwavering resolve. Otherwise, if dreams are abused without restraint, it will not be a good thing for this world!" Mei Terumi said.
"Since Lord Roy has chosen to distribute the power of dreams to everyone, he must have his reasons!" Tsunade said.
"Roy ... what kind of man is he that the Hokage speaks of so highly?" Ōnoki asked.
"Wait, what do you mean by saying that all those White Zetsu are in a chaotic and absurd dream?" Raikage suddenly realized something was wrong and asked, focusing on the key point.
"It's just a guess. Perhaps... the so-called Infinite Tsukuyomi isn't the first time it's appeared in this world!" Gaara said in a deep voice.
"You mean, those White Zetsu active on the battlefield... were actually victims who were trapped in the dream world!" The Raikage's expression changed unpredictably as he said decisively, "That's impossible. Even if Uchiha Madara lived for a long time, there was never a large-scale disappearance of people in the past hundred years. Even the only time all the Tailed Beasts were collected together was when the First Hokage was the only one."
"Have you forgotten? If Uchiha Madara wasn't lying, there was a Ten-Tails Jinchuriki in that ancient era!" Ōnoki said.
"The Sage of Six Paths!" Raikage uttered a name with a serious expression.
"Furthermore, from another perspective, if the Infinite Tsukuyomi technique had never been used, how could Uchiha Madara be so certain?"
Gaara continued, "However, there's something strange. Uchiha Madara seemed convinced that he had found a path to peace, but if he knew the inside story of the White Zetsu, there's no reason for him to do something so self-deceptive!"
"I have a vague guess in my mind. Perhaps, just like how Uchiha Madara deceived Nagato, he himself was also deceived by someone who was even more deeply hidden!" Tsunade said a guess that even she herself found unbelievable.
Who is Uchiha Madara? He was a legendary ninja who once single-handedly overwhelmed the entire Shinobi World and was known as a legendary ninja alongside the First Hokage. If such a person is just a pawn being manipulated, then who could be the real person hiding behind the scenes trying to launch the Infinite Tsukuyomi? Could it be a mythical figure like the Sage of Six Paths?
The atmosphere in the meeting hall was somewhat somber. Everyone was taken aback by Tsunade's bold conjecture and wanted to refute her, but didn't know where to begin.
After a long pause, Raikage broke the tense atmosphere and said seriously, "If you ask me, you're all overthinking things. How can a White Zetsu cause so much trouble? Anyway, we'll deal with whatever comes our way. Even if the enemy is a creator like the Sage of Six Paths, they'll have to get past my fist before they can destroy this world!"
"Lord Raikage is right. No matter who the enemy is, we have no way out! However, those speculations about Uchiha Madara are not entirely useless. Intelligence is a weapon, and only by mastering more information can we gain the initiative in the upcoming war," Mei Terumi said.
"So, you mean..." Ōnoki asked, looking at the Mizukage.
"The Pope of the Dream God Sect is rumored to be someone resurrected from ancient times, and he also controls the vast and boundless power of dreams. Perhaps... he knows something. Why don't I go and meet him?" Mei Terumi said with a charming smile.