Begin the Operation

At 3:15 a.m. on July 4.

On the double bed, Hikari was already fast asleep.

Chen pulled out the towel, folded it, covered the small map on it, and tucked it into the inner compartment of the bag he carried with him.

After all, he was away from home. He could not be too careless. It would not do to stain the hotel sheets.

Wearing a bathrobe and wooden sandals, he held a glass of red wine as he stepped onto the hotel's small balcony, enjoying the cool summer night breeze and savoring a post-event drink.

The moment he looked down, he saw a pale white head poking up from beside the cornflowers planted in the flowerbed below. Its light brown glowing eyes gazed eagerly up at Chen.

Chen set his wineglass on the small wooden table on the balcony, shut the sliding door, and beckoned to the person below.

The white head rose from the flowerbed, then leaped onto the balcony railing. It respectfully said, "Lord Chen!"

Who else could it have been but White Zetsu?

During the Fourth Great Ninja War, excluding Tobi, Chen had saved a total of two hundred White Zetsu.

That number was insignificant among a hundred thousand White Zetsu, but it was the limit of what Chen could do without compromising himself or affecting his other operations.

After the Shadow Hidden Ninja Village was established, Chen thawed out one hundred and eight of them.

After placing Mizuha no Kotoamatsukami on every one of them to ensure their absolute loyalty to him, he divided the one hundred and eight White Zetsu into two columns: the inner array and the outer array, fifty-four in each.

Why divide the White Zetsu into two columns?

Because Taoyuan was isolated from the outside world. Even the White Zetsu's ability to sense one another through their minds would fail there.

This was to ensure Taoyuan's absolute privacy as the rear base.

Only two people could open the door to Taoyuan.

Chen, the true master of Shadow Hidden.

And Konan, whom Chen had granted proxy authorization.

No matter how grave the matter, Konan would never leave Taoyuan even half a step. That was her resolve.

There was no one left outside for her to worry about anyway.

The ones responsible for exchanging supplies and information between inside and outside, gathering intelligence, and serving as the "legs" were the White Zetsu.

But they could not open the door to Taoyuan every time a White Zetsu needed to relay information. That was why there were two columns.

The inner and outer arrays were modeled after Kara's organization.

Furthermore, one inner array member and one outer array member formed a two-person team as partners.

One hundred and eight members made fifty-four teams, each assigned the same "number," with one-to-one communication between teammates.

When the door to Taoyuan was closed, only partners could maintain a direct line of communication through the door to relay intelligence.

Chen had achieved this through a "special method" that only he could use, and it could only function one-on-one. This special method had an irreversible limitation.

If a White Zetsu serving in the outer array died outside, the inner array White Zetsu partnered with it in Taoyuan would die as well.

Death was also a means of transmitting intelligence.

But so far, no White Zetsu had died.

As for the remaining White Zetsu, they were kept in the Otsutsuki Time Zone as living sacrifices required for Impure World Reincarnation. They had been used up gradually over the years, and after Impure World Madara was completed, the remainder had dwindled to nearly single digits.

The White Zetsu before Chen was Inner Array No. 18.

Its partner, Outer Array No. 18, was specifically responsible for monitoring every movement around Chen's residence in the Land of Lightning.

It respectfully reported, "Lord Chen! Outer Array No. 18 has sent word! Uzumaki Naruto and Uchiha Sasuke are currently lying in wait outside your home! From the looks of it, they have been there for a long time!"

"Also, Uchiha Sasuke suspects a connection between you and Kumogakure. He has already gone to investigate, but he should return soon!"

Chen nodded. "Understood. Tell Outer Array No. 18 to watch its own safety and withdraw from the area for now."

Inner Array No. 18 asked, "Should we not continue monitoring them?"

Chen said, "There's no point. They will not leave before I return. All right, you've worked hard. Go get some rest too."

"Yes, Lord Chen!"

Chen picked up his wineglass and swirled it in his hand.

"It should be Orochimaru's hidden line. Aside from making him hand over Impure World Reincarnation and cellular technology, I also planted another suggestion through my Kotoamatsukami. If any sudden situation involving me arose, he was to judge for himself and steer events toward the outcome I wished to see..."

Chen tipped back his head and drained the wine.

The outcome I wished to see was one beneficial to the overall situation in the shinobi world.

"So, do you believe Naruto and Sasuke coming to find me at this time benefits the overall situation in the shinobi world?"

"Fine. I'll trust your judgment."

Back in the room, Chen left a note explaining the situation on the bedside table, weighing it down with a wineglass. Then he bent down, looked at Hikari's peaceful sleeping face, and gently took a sip from her plump lips.

"Mmm... Chen, I'm already an oyster~." Hikari let out a sweet moan in her sleep and rolled over, exposing her long, fair legs from beneath the bathrobe and outside the blanket.

Chen smiled indulgently, took off his bathrobe, and covered her legs with it. He took the black God Robe from the clothes rack and put it on.

He looked down at his watch. It was 4:15.

"It's been a long time since I went out at night..."

The back mountain of Taoyuan.

Boom! As Obito was suppressed beneath the Gate of the Great God, the two Flower forms Chen had summoned back were finally divided into victor and loser!

Watching the man approach from before the wreckage of the True Thousand-Armed Buddha, Obito sighed. "To use the True Thousand-Armed Buddha's fists to keep suppressing me until I reached the limit of intangibility... you truly live up to your name. Even Senju Hashirama could not have done something like that, could he...?"

Madara said thoughtfully, "Taoyuan's Natural Energy is far more abundant than outside, which is why I could make the regeneration of Enlightenment of the Summit keep up with its consumption. In other words, I could not do this outside either. So, Obito, you lost because you cannot use Senjutsu!"

Obito was deeply surprised. He had not expected Madara, the victor, to abandon his usual arrogance and instead take the initiative to give him a way out.

"Madara, you've really changed."

"Who hasn't? The only thing that never changes in this world is that everything changes."

Madara sat down before Obito.

"Naruto and Sasuke have changed. The winds of the shinobi world have changed. Even you and I, for the same goal, were willing to use and be used by one another. I saved your life, and you returned that debt with mine. We should have grown old and died without ever seeing each other again, yet now we have gathered once more because of Chen."

"Heh!" Obito found it amusing as well. With feeling, he said, "So this is what they mean by enemies being destined to meet!"

"We were enemies in the past. From now on, we are comrades."

Madara formed Hand Seals to open the Gate of the Great God, rose to his feet, and extended a hand toward Obito.

"..."

Only at that moment did Obito truly let go of his prejudice against Madara.

Madara, a proud man like you was willing to lower yourself and help your junior. Wasn't that the same resolve I had made?

We had both once despaired deeply over this world. After all our rises and falls, we eventually found ourselves again.

But... we had merely let go of the past. We were never truly redeemed, because only we ourselves could truly redeem us.

Chen chose us, and we chose Chen together.

Because Chen was different from us back then. Through experience and tempering, he had washed away the same obsession and stubbornness that we once carried, becoming a truly mature powerhouse.

Obito said, "To be honest, I still feel like I can't really get along with you, but..."

Madara smiled. "But what?"

Obito said, "At least we still have a choice. So many people lost their lives because of the willful decisions we made on our own. They never had the chance to choose their own lives."

Madara's hand remained extended in midair. After a silence, he said in a deep voice, "So whether it is to atone for the sins of the past or to realize our own value, we cannot slack off in the slightest anymore!"

His hand extended another inch forward.

"Obito, help Chen with me!"

Obito grasped the hand held out before him.

Their two hands, both covered in cracks, clasped together. As they looked face-to-face, the bond they forged was more whole and steadfast than ever before!

"Fine. From now on, we're partners!"

"Looks like I arrived at just the right time."

Chen descended before them with a smile.

Madara and Obito turned their heads at the same time and released each other's hands.

Madara folded his arms, while Obito put his hands on his hips.

"This is the first time I've seen you go out at this hour."

"Something happened?"

"Yes. Something urgent came up, so I need to head back."

Something urgent... There probably were not many things in the shinobi world that Chen would call urgent enough to disrupt his routine.

Madara's gaze narrowed. "Naruto and Sasuke came looking for you?"

Chen smiled. "Yes, but they did not come to Taoyuan. They went to my home. Apparently, they've been squatting there for nearly a day."

This conflict came much sooner than expected.

Obito asked, "Chen, do you need us to come forward and explain things?"

"No. Until the opportunity arrives, nothing we say will matter. That is the conclusion I reached after hitting walls hundreds of times over the past decade or so."

Madara's expression darkened. "Then... you intend to fight."

Chen smiled. "Mm. I can handle it myself. You two only need to watch from the side."

Are you serious... Chen?

Before coming to Shadow Hidden, I still did not quite believe you truly had that kind of ability. But now, it was hard to say.

Amusement returned to Madara's eyes. "You're taking us there just to be your audience?"

"No, I'm not that bored..." Chen smiled faintly and looked down at his watch.

It was 4:30.

"Since my rest time has already been disrupted, let's make the most of it. Once I send those two home, we'll head to the Outer World, undo the seal on the Demonic Statue, and officially put our plan into action!"