"How is the plan coming along?"
A cold voice rang through the dark room and reached the man kneeling on one knee.
His body swayed uncontrollably. Luckily, the Puppet beside him caught him in time, keeping him from making a sorry spectacle of himself. "The equipment in the Temple has been integrated into the eyes of every clan member. I can feel its changes unfolding exactly as our ancestors predicted."
"Bang!"
Otsutsuki Takumi, seated on a stone chair, excitedly slapped the armrest. The sharp pain drove away the hollowness in his eye sockets. He sprang to his feet and cried, "Cang Lu, whatever agreement you made with Uchiha Madara, did you really think those of us in the Branch Family would sit idly by?"
"Click."
A nimble Puppet swept aside the heavy curtain and entered the room, handing a note to the man kneeling on one knee.
Takumi stood at the highest point in the room. Though he had lost his sight, he sensed where the sound had come from and felt the chakra-written words on the paper.
He laughed in fury, groped for the stone chair behind him, and slowly sat down. "The Main Family really is something. They actually showed outsiders where the Ten-Tails' husk is sealed!"
"Pass down the order. The war has begun!"
His murderous voice pierced the dark room, passed through the walls, and drifted out into the world.
The place where the Ten-Tails' husk was sealed wasn't very far away. Rikusei and the others once again rode the Flying Bird through the dark night sky. The light of the Artificial Celestial Body had softened, shining like a bright moon.
The Flying Bird landed beneath an unremarkable low mountain. Cang Lu had a Puppet move the towering rocks aside, and dust trickled down from