Hearing the first method Shirozumi described, Hidan started shouting from the side.
The others with at least a little sense began to have their doubts.
Especially Pain and Konan.
One way to revive Kaguya was to gather the Tailed Beasts—the exact same mission "Madara Uchiha" had given them.
Could "Madara Uchiha" have intended to revive Kaguya all along?
"Before I explain the second plan, I should tell you a little-known story.
"Back then, Kaguya Otsutsuki didn't come here alone. She had a companion.
"The Otsutsuki Clan's purpose is to 'plant trees' on countless planets.
"One of the most crucial steps is for a member of the Otsutsuki Clan to sacrifice themselves and be devoured by the Ten-Tails. Only then can the Ten-Tails evolve into a God Tree and bear fruit.
"Kaguya Otsutsuki ambushed her companion, Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, and let the Ten-Tails devour half of Isshiki's body.
"The rest of the story is what I told you before: a battle with the Sage of Six Paths, ending in her being sealed away.
"After being gravely wounded, Isshiki went into hiding in the Shinobi World, hoping to reincarnate and revive himself using the Otsutsuki Clan's unique method.
"He hid for over a thousand years, searching for a body that could withstand his power.
"Once he truly revives, the Shinobi World will be utterly destroyed.
"On the other hand, if we find Isshiki and feed his remaining half-body to the Ten-Tails, we won't need to gather the Nine Tailed Beasts. Kaguya can regain her power and be revived."
After Shirozumi finished explaining the story and the method, silence filled the cave.
Black Zetsu was completely dumbfounded.
How could it not know any of this?
Oh, right. These events had happened before it was born. It made sense that it didn't know.
But how did Shirozumi know?
Was it all thanks to that "archaeology" thing?
If all this was true, what had all its efforts over the past thousand years been for?
It could have avoided making the world its enemy and trying to trick people into activating Infinite Tsukuyomi.
It could even have rallied the entire Shinobi World to find and fight Ōtsutsuki Isshiki, all in the name of protecting the world.
Black Zetsu was stunned, but it still had some doubts about whether Shirozumi's claims were true.
Unlike Black Zetsu, Pain and Konan trusted Shirozumi completely.
"So that's where the Ten-Tails came from..." Pain murmured.
"Are those Otsutsuki people really that strong? Do we really have to go through all this trouble to revive some old woman? Can't we just work harder ourselves?" Deidara asked awkwardly, coming back to his senses.
"Almost every member of the Otsutsuki Clan can absorb ninjutsu.
"Ōtsutsuki Isshiki appeared in the future. The two strongest people in the entire Shinobi World at the time were kicked around like balls by him. In the end, they could only burn through their lives to stall for time, and even then, all they managed was to drag him down with them."
Shirozumi's words left Deidara speechless.
They could all absorb ninjutsu?
Well, that settled it.
If you can absorb ninjutsu, what are we even supposed to do?
"The strongest people in the future Shinobi World? How do they compare to the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju?" Kakuzu asked.
As the second-biggest fan of bringing up Hashirama Senju, it was only natural that Kakuzu would ask.
(The first was Madara Uchiha, of course.)
But at Kakuzu's question, Shirozumi fell silent.
He knew the standard answer to that question.
But he couldn't use it to answer Kakuzu.
Kakuzu had fought Hashirama Senju. It wasn't as ridiculous as the joke about throwing a Shuriken from eight hundred li away, but it hadn't gone much better for him.
Judging by the strength Kakuzu had shown, Hashirama could have summoned a Wood Dragon on the spot and Kakuzu would have been instantly flattened. And that was before even bringing up anything else.
In other words, the Hashirama Senju Kakuzu remembered might have been quite a bit weaker than the real Hashirama.
Hashirama's True Several Thousand Hands was a giant arm strike strengthened by Senjutsu Chakra. It was pure physical damage.
That meant Hashirama Senju, the strongest below the Six Paths Tier, could hurt opponents above that tier, even those who could absorb ninjutsu.
Under those circumstances, even Naruto and Sasuke couldn't face a dozen Hashirama Senjus at once without using their strongest attack, Shinra Tensei.
That kind of leap in strength was hard to imagine.
It was normal for a Jonin to kill ten Chunin. The Third Raikage could even kill three thousand Iwagakure Ninja.
But could he really say that to Kakuzu?
In Kakuzu's eyes, Hashirama's strength was probably only a little greater than Tobirama Senju's.
If Shirozumi put it that way, Kakuzu would surely think the Otsutsuki weren't all that powerful, and that enough people could overwhelm them.
If Kakuzu thought that, the others in the Akatsuki Organization would follow suit, and they'd be doomed.
"...One of them can control all Nine Tailed Beasts in an instant."
After thinking it over, Shirozumi decided that was the easiest way to explain it.
At least everyone had seen the Tailed Beasts' power for themselves.
Kakuzu was from Takigakure, which also had a Seven-Tails.
"Then... we really do have to change the plan."
Pain—and Nagato, who controlled Pain—both frowned deeply.
The original plan had been to gather the Tailed Beasts and use them to deter the Shinobi World in order to achieve peace.
But now they knew the Ten-Tails wasn't even fit to "deter" anyone. It couldn't deal with threats from outside, and it couldn't keep those within the world in check either.
"Boring. Your so-called new plan is to pin all our hopes on a woman from the heavens. What if she can't stop them either?" Sasori suddenly spoke up.
"No. I've never thought that."
Shirozumi shook his head. "I know some of you don't believe what I've said. Those who do believe it must feel helpless and hopeless...
"I've asked myself the same thing before. Suppose there's an iron house with no windows, impossible to tear down, and full of people sleeping inside. They're about to suffocate to death.
"If I start shouting and wake a few of the clearer-headed ones, they'll have to face reality and endure the pain of knowing they're about to die. Is that really a good thing?"
"But then I realized that if those few can wake up, then we can't say there's no hope of breaking out of that iron house."
"Whoa, man, that was pretty philosophical. Are you moonlighting as a poet?" Deidara praised him with a thumbs-up after turning the words over in his mind.
As Konan listened to Shirozumi, she quietly nodded.
His words had indeed given everyone a little encouragement.
And if Kisame hadn't stayed away because of Itachi, he would surely have been deeply moved by them.
After learning the various truths, he might even have "betrayed" the Masked Man and followed Shirozumi, who knew the truth.
"The Otsutsuki aren't invincible, unbeatable, or immortal.
"The final straw that led to Ōtsutsuki Isshiki's death in the future was actually a very simple ninjutsu: the Shadow Clone Technique.
"The Karma the Otsutsuki Clan uses to reincarnate and revive themselves is, for the simple purpose of resurrection, not even as good as Orochimaru's jutsu."
Shirozumi added fuel to the fire.
Before you continue