Meanwhile.
With the academy on break, Madara had finally calmed down for once.
During this time...
Those resounding reading voices had kept looping in his ears. Especially those rhythmic yet strange poems and lyrics—they still popped into his mind even when he closed his eyes.
Now that he could not hear them... honestly, it felt rather unfamiliar!
He could not even fall asleep!
At the beginning of life, human nature is good...
"Hmph!"
Madara dispelled the chaotic thoughts in his head.
He was the Asura of the Ninja World!
What human nature is good?!
Turning to Spiral White Zetsu before him, he said flatly, "What have those Grass Ninja been doing lately?"
Since the other White Zetsu body was not here, only this guy was by his side. Though he was an idiot, he could at least answer a few questions.
"Eh~" Spiral White Zetsu scratched his head and hesitated before saying, "Because of the heavy snow, the Land of Grass has stopped work and school! But a few days ago..." He paused slightly. "That Grass Ninja Leader brought back another group of Uzumaki Clan members wandering the ninja world, and even brought back the Chinoike Clan... who had been exiled by the Land of Lightning!"
After he finished speaking.
Madara froze slightly, then frowned. "Kusagakure has taken in Rogue Ninja again?"
After all, Rogue Ninja were Rogue Ninja. The major ninja villages would not take them in so casually.
This Grass Ninja...
"I may have underestimated the breadth of his heart."
After saying that indifferently, he stopped paying attention.
After all, none of this mattered. Even if the Uzumaki Clan had once been a powerful clan in the ninja world, and the Chinoike Clan had once shared a blood feud with the Uchiha Clan, neither mattered to him now.
As for the insignificant little country known as the Land of Grass... compared to peace in the ninja world, it was nothing more than a speck of dust.
If it were not because it happened to be the Land of Grass above them, he, the Asura of the Ninja World, would not have bothered with it at all!
Madara, his face covered in wrinkles and his hair gray-white, closed his eyes and asked expressionlessly, "Anything else?"
Honestly... without those boring, noisy voices, he truly felt a little uncomfortable!
"If there is nothing important, do not disturb me. I am about to enter slumber."
Just as he finished speaking.
"There is also..." Spiral White Zetsu scratched his head and hesitated before adding, "Something happened, but I do not know whether I should say it."
"Speak!"
"It is... I think we may have been discovered!"
"???"
Madara froze, staring at Spiral White Zetsu before him as though he understood something. He said flatly, "Was it you who got discovered again?"
However.
The moment he said that.
Spiral White Zetsu immediately became like a cat whose tiny tail had been stepped on. Stiffening his neck, he jumped up and said, "Lord Madara, how can you slander my innocence for no reason?"
"Hmph~, did you sneak out again?"
"Sneak out? Going out to gather inspiration does not count as sneaking out! Can an artist's business be called sneaking out?"
Then came a string of incomprehensible words, things like "line thickness" and "color distinction," all utterly baffling.
Spiral White Zetsu stiffened his neck and argued, but when he saw Lord Madara's displeased expression, he quickly grinned and said, "How should I put it? It cannot really be considered discovered! But it cannot be said that we were not discovered at all either. It is just... we seem to have been targeted by an organization!"
"?"
An organization?!
Had things already become this serious?
And he still claimed they had not been completely discovered?!
This idiot! He must have gone out to draw poop again.
Madara's gaze sharpened, and his tone turned icy. "What organization? Kusagakure?" A cold smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. "Though I am old, I can still eat three large bowls of rice... ptui!"
Those strange stories had appeared in his mind again.
"It is merely Kusagakure. Even though I am old now and can only rely on the God Tree to sustain my life, I still have nothing to fear!"
"Eh, Lord Madara, it is not Kusagakure... though I cannot say it is not Kusagakure either!"
"..."
Madara's eyelid twitched. "Explain clearly!"
These tools truly were all idiots!
It seemed that before leaving... he would still need to leave behind a will of his own to guide these fellows!
Seeing that Madara seemed impatient, Spiral White Zetsu hurriedly said, "The Akatsuki Organization! That organization is the Akatsuki Organization!"
"The Akatsuki Organization?" Madara frowned. "Why have I never heard of it? A new organization?"
"That is right! It was established recently! A new organization! It was founded to reveal the truth! It is made up of a group of..."
Before Spiral White Zetsu could finish.
"Reveal the truth?" Madara snorted. "Interesting! But the truth is in my hands."
Still, it caught his attention.
After all, it was because he understood the truth that he had prepared to bring true peace to this ninja world!
"How strong are they? How many people do they have? Can they be used by me? Controlled by me? Let them understand the true truth!"
"Eh~, that may be a little difficult." Spiral White Zetsu thought for a moment. "After all, they are merely a group of children still attending school. They are not even genin!"
"???" Madara froze, followed by a long silence. Then he looked at the White Zetsu before him. "A group of children?"
"Yes! A group of children! They are going to school up above! Madara, do you want to recruit them?"
"...Get lost! Cough, cough, cough!"
A group of little brats?!
Why did he make it sound so serious?
Sure enough.
They were all useless trash!
"Get the hell out!"
"I already said I did not know whether I should tell you! Lord Madara, do not get angry. If anger kills you, there will be no peace in the ninja world!"
"Get the hell out already!"
"I am leaving! I will leave right away! Lord Madara, do not make yourself sick with anger."
Black Zetsu was still in hiding, while the main body was outside working, so the task of caring for Madara had fallen to him.
If he angered Lord Madara to death, he would probably be hung from a tree afterward!
However.
Seeing Madara close his eyes again, Spiral White Zetsu shamelessly crept closer, squirming as he said, "Lord Madara, I still have something else to say."
"..." Lord Madara seemed much calmer. Hearing White Zetsu's words, he fell silent for a moment before slowly opening his eyes. Looking at that ingratiating spiral face, he said flatly, "Speak!"
"It is just that in a few days... I want to ask for some leave!"
"???"
"The Land of Grass is preparing for a temple fair, a New Year's temple fair. I heard it is the first one held since the country was rebuilt, and it will be very lively! So I want to go take a look!"
"Get lost!"
"Do not worry, Lord Madara, I will bring you something tasty! Do not be angry~"
"Fire Style..."
"Oh my! Oh my! I am leaving! Is that not enough?"
Watching Spiral White Zetsu finally run out, Madara clutched his chest again, and those strange words surfaced in his mind once more.
"When one grows old, do not be troubled... ptui!" After feeling his chest relax considerably, Madara slowly closed his eyes again and muttered, "Back then... why did I put that idiot Hashirama's cells into myself?"
It was truly infuriating!
Very soon.
Year 37 of Konoha... was also coming to an end.
The Land of Grass welcomed its first New Year since reconstruction.
At this moment.
Elsewhere.
At the border of the Land of Grass.
A certain white-haired, spiky-haired fellow looked around curiously and muttered, "So this is the Land of Grass? It is quite pretty, is it not? It is not as terrible as I heard! Whatever, why worry about so much?"
As he spoke, he took out a book from his clothes.
"OOOO Customs OOOO"
Author: Teacher Ooki.
A pilgrim-like expression immediately appeared on his face. "Teacher Ooki, I... the Toad Sage! I will definitely find you!"
The Toad Sage Jiraiya.
He always kept his word!
Before you continue