A Day Without a Great Stone Pressing on the Chest

Hahaha! Interesting!!

Hashirama!!!

Is this the Konoha you built?!

Is this the Konoha you were willing to kill me to protect?

It is filled with so much filth and corruption.

How truly ugly.

Attacking one's own comrades in the village to vie for the title of Hokage—is this the Will of Fire of Konoha? Burning others to illuminate oneself.

Madara had spent decades alone underground, and his daily amusement was sending White Zetsu out to gather intelligence and feast on the gossip of the ninja world.

The last time he laughed like this was when Tobirama died in Kumogakure.

This time, he laughed to mock the absurdity of Hashirama.

What was even funnier was that the infighting was all among Tobirama's faction; well, Madara believed it ran in the family, as he himself had been pushed out by Tobirama back in the day.

"Do it, why wouldn't we?"

"Cooperate with him."

Madara commanded.

Today is truly lively; the little fool meant to execute the Eye of the Moon Plan is about to be sent down.

And now, there is this juicy gossip about the upper echelons of Konoha.

He didn't even know which one to watch first.

Better to attend to the Eye of the Moon Plan first.

Hashirama! Do you see? Only my Eye of the Moon Plan can bring peace to the ninja world.

Your philosophy? It won't work.

"Lord Madara, it's bad!!"

The White Zetsu channel was exceptionally noisy today, and Madara, confused, connected to the White Zetsu speaking.

He saw through the White Zetsu's perspective that Obito and Kakashi were unconscious on the ground, while Rin had already been kidnapped just as the plan dictated and tossed onto the cave where Madara resided.

Madara: "?!"

If they don't come, then who am I putting on this show for?

On Obito's side, the intense conviction to save Rin caused his hand to twitch slightly.

It was only a slight movement, however.

This colorless and odorless anesthetic created by Tsunade—let alone a human, she claimed it could knock out an elephant.

Beside him, Kakashi was sleeping as soundly as Pakkun; he wouldn't even know if someone sold him off.

As for Orochimaru's side, Zhengyi was already thinking about restarting his life.

What is his teacher doing?!

He watched as Orochimaru took Minato from Zhengyi's hands and tossed him toward the White Zetsu and the Iwagakure ninja.

Under Madara's orders, the White Zetsu and the Iwagakure ninja agreed to cooperate with Orochimaru.

Orochimaru leaned into the White Zetsu's ear, whispering, "Do this... and do that..."

"Uh." The White Zetsu and the Iwagakure ninja looked at Orochimaru in surprise. Wow, you Konoha folks really know how to play; come to think of it, Lord Madara seems to be from Konoha too.

Are all of you in Konoha such geniuses?

The next second, Zhengyi doubted if he had gone blind, because the Iwagakure jonin who had just been talking to his teacher was now holding Orochimaru by the throat with one hand and Minato by the throat with the other, lifting them both into the air.

Minato was unconscious, his head lolling to the side, while Orochimaru remained expressionless, allowing himself to be slaughtered.

Two Kage-level powerhouses were just lifted up like that by some nameless small fry from the plot?

Was his teacher drugged too? Otherwise, there was no logical explanation.

This is the early-stage big boss of Naruto, Orochimaru, for heaven's sake.

"Teacher!" Zhengyi didn't have time to think; he pulled a kunai from his ninja pouch, ready to save Orochimaru.

The student's first reaction was to save him, which touched Orochimaru, but he didn't need it.

"Go back and seek reinforcements from the Third Hokage!" Orochimaru commanded.

"Teacher, I..."

"Go!!"

Zhengyi's brain was about to fry, yet he still couldn't comprehend Orochimaru's train of thought.

But then, he thought of one thing.

If Minato were knocked out and kidnapped, then who would go to save Kakashi and Rin?

Calculating the time, Obito should also be about to have his face pressed against the rocks.

He decided to head toward the location where Kakashi and the others were carrying out their mission first.

No matter what, his teacher was a Kage-level powerhouse, and in this current time period, Orochimaru was at the pinnacle of combat strength in the ninja world.

He wouldn't die.

You have picked up a wild Uchiha Obito x1 by the roadside.

You have picked up a wild Hatake Kakashi x1 by the roadside.

You have picked up a wild Rin Nohara x1 inside a cave.

Zhengyi: "..."

Release!

Release!

He was struggling to use his chakra to impact his own body.

He suspected whether he had fallen under a genjutsu.

Otherwise, how could it be that first Teacher Orochimaru was captured alive, and then Team 7 was picked up by him?

Was it because of the Green Banana? Were these two people really that gluttonous?!

"Release." Seeing that Rin was under a genjutsu, Zhengyi hurriedly dispelled it for her.

"Zhengyi?" The moment Rin's consciousness returned, tears suddenly fell uncontrollably; this sense of salvation upon seeing an acquaintance after surviving a disaster made her feel as if she had just been on the verge of death.

Zhengyi had truly arrived just in time.

If it weren't for the fact that Zhengyi was already carrying one person in each hand, he really would have gone up to hug and comfort her; this was his little Rin, after all.

The angel who, back at the Ninja Academy when there wasn't enough lunch, had given half of her bento to him!

Angel.

Damn it!

Was it you who did this?!

Madara!!

Kakashi! Obito! Hold me back, otherwise, I'm afraid I'll really go and kill Madara.

Damn it!

The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

"Rin, turn your head away."

"Oh, okay."

As soon as Rin turned her head away, Zhengyi dropped Kakashi and Obito, and then... he unzipped his pants and took a leak right there in the cave.

Listening to the sound behind him.

Rin: "?"

Listening to the sound from the ceiling of the cave.

Madara: "?"

He swore that if Obito could still move after being brainwashed by him, he would definitely go up and hang that bastard up to beat him to death.

What kind of person is this?

Ptooey.

"What a nuisance." Madara rested his hand on his face to contemplate a strategy; it was a habit he had developed over decades, doing this whenever he was thinking through a problem.

He had calculated everything.

He had completely failed to account for Konoha's internal strife dragging his plan into the mess.

Who could have known that Orochimaru and Zhengyi were so devious as to use poison?

"Ashi, Lord Madara, why don't you just disguise yourself as an Iwagakure ninja and go up there to beat them up?" a White Zetsu with a flighty personality suggested.

Madara glanced at him; he was just as brainless as Hashirama.

If Obito isn't injured, won't he be clamoring to go back every single day? What reason would I have to stop him then?

If Obito doesn't have a heart-wrenching farewell, how will he spend countless times down here in the underground looking forward to returning? And if there isn't enough anticipation, how could he reach the brink of collapse upon seeing his beloved die before his eyes?

The ideal is beautiful, but reality is harsh.

Obito hasn't even woken up yet.

After pondering for two or three seconds, Madara had another idea.