White Zetsu paused, then spoke in a hoarse voice.
"Lord Madara... I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I feel like... that guy noticed my presence."
Madara Uchiha's lips curled slightly. Unconcerned, he said, "Even I have never heard of such a special constitution. There's nothing strange about him being able to detect you."
Years ago, after the battle at the Valley of the End, Madara Uchiha took Hashirama Senju's flesh and blood, according to the records on the Six Paths Stone Tablet.
By combining the powers of the two clans and spending decades touching upon the power of All Things in Nature, he finally awakened the Rinnegan.
But he was too old. This aged body, which would die the moment it left the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, could not support him in fulfilling his long-cherished wish.
To grant peace to the world—a beautiful world without losers.
First, he needed someone capable of housing the Rinnegan and using the Samsara of Heavenly Life Technique to revive him in the future.
He also needed someone to guide the Rinnegan's bearer, while serving as a supervisor.
For that candidate, Madara Uchiha had decided to choose someone from the clan.
Although they were a hopeless bunch of fools, they were still the clan members Izuna cared about most. Madara was willing to give them a chance.
He understood the Uchiha. The more innocent they were, the more they believed in beautiful things; when they lost someone they loved, the more clearly they would understand the cruelty of the world and devote themselves completely to the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Easy to control and sufficiently talented—those were the two absolute requirements.
By those standards, Kamizuki was absolutely unsuitable. After more than a year of observation, even Madara felt...
That brat was too cold, too ruthless, and far too radical in his methods.
It was difficult to shatter the worldview of someone who was completely self-centered and had no willingness to sacrifice for others.
Yet finding an Uchiha who was innocent, highly talented, and easy to control at the same time... was simply too difficult.
He could only settle for what he had and temporarily designate Uchiha Kamizuki as the candidate for successor.
As he thought, Madara Uchiha's mouth twitched faintly.
"Not only that..."
"Perhaps he has even noticed my existence."
--
--
--
The sky above Amegakure always resembled a heavy block of lead.
Rain streamed down from steel spires that pierced the clouds, from dense networks of pipes and cables.
Its highly industrialized architectural style was not solely due to the rainy climate. Decades ago, this land had experienced an era of extraordinary prosperity.
When the great nations had harmonious relations, the smaller countries caught between them lived well and developed quickly.
During the early days of the Five Great Nations, under Hashirama Senju's leadership, the Five Great Nations provided extensive support to these smaller countries.
Kusagakure possessed the largest prison in the Shinobi World, where it held major criminals from the five great shinobi villages, while the Five Great Nations provided financial aid.
The Land of Hot Water had been developed into the Shinobi World's most renowned hot spring resort. The Land of Rain, which connected three great nations and served as a transportation hub, received the most support of all.
The high-rises covering the land and its electrical system had been built with the help of Iwagakure and Konoha.
The rain-soaked Land of Rain had originally been a marshland. Hashirama Senju and the First Tsuchikage had joined forces to lay the foundations of Amegakure.
Many of its mechanical creations came from Sunagakure. The underground pipelines had also been connected through Sunagakure's manpower and resources, all for the Land of Rain's water supply.
Ninjutsu used to improve life... it seemed the vision of the Ninjutsu Sect from a thousand years ago had truly been realized.
The beginning of all change—
The death of Hashirama Senju.
One person's death affecting the entire world was not an exaggerated metaphor.
The god who had suppressed the desires in people's hearts was dead. Everyone wanted to become the next god!
Ninjutsu was no longer used to create. It became a weapon for killing once more!
Hanzo's power reminded the common people of Amegakure, who had not forgotten those days, of the god who had given the Shinobi World a brief peace.
Some even called him "half a God of Shinobi," but not even Hanzo dared accept that title. He continued to use the name Hanzo of the Ibuse.
What he wanted...
Was to truly raise Amegakure to the level of the five great shinobi villages, gain the title of "Kage," and only then inherit that title!
--
Now, this "god" had welcomed his first challenger.
On the main street.
There was no tactical disguise or deception. He simply walked forward, as though strolling through his own backyard, step by step toward the heart of Amegakure.
Kamizuki was not wearing Konoha's jonin vest. His forehead protector was tied around his left arm, rain sliding down the clan crest on his back. One hand rested on the hilt of Crimson Blade at his waist.
His two-tomoe Sharingan glimmered crimson through the rain, like two burning candles beneath the dreary gray sky.
On the roofs along both sides of the street, beneath the pipes, and within the towers.
Every Amegakure shinobi's hand trembled around their kunai, while the fingers attempting to form hand seals twitched uncontrollably.
For two years,
Everyone had known this name, this face.
Sunagakure shinobi, Iwagakure shinobi, Amegakure shinobi—countless people had died at his hands.
The few who survived were nearly driven mad. They no longer dared pick up weapons and abandoned their identities as shinobi forever.
His accomplishments became more terrifying with every retelling.
Some said that he had massacred Sunagakure's elite puppet corps alone, even shattering Chiyo's ultimate technique, the Chikamatsu Ten Puppets, in its entirety.
Some said his body was impervious to blades and spears, untouched by water or fire, and immune to every poison—certainly no human body.
Some said his Sharingan could see the future, and no attack could escape the perception of those eyes.
Some said he was a devil who could manipulate blood, and the battlefield was merely a dining table where he fed.
The crimson moon that descended upon the mortal world, the embodiment of death and terror.
Uchiha Kamizuki...
No one knew whether the rumors were true, but there was one thing the Amegakure shinobi knew for certain.
This was Amegakure territory, the place they had sworn to protect with their lives...
Yet when those eyes swept over them so casually, none of them had the courage to step forward!
It was not killing intent. It was not hostility.
What surged from that body and those eyes was an absolute pressure, as irresistible as gravity!
Finally...
"Stop!!"
A young Amegakure shinobi rushed out. He looked thirteen or fourteen years old, his hand clutching the kunai trembling without stop, as were his lips.
Yet he still rushed out and stood in front of Kamizuki.
"This is Amegakure! Konoha's—"
He stopped himself.
He was brave. He had done what no one else had managed to do and dared face Kamizuki directly.
But that was all.
He finally understood why the seniors who had gone mad said that what they saw was not human at all.
His loose clothing could not conceal the explosive strength of his body, which overflowed with a predator's savage ferocity.
A cold, desolate, utterly pure suppression at the level of life itself!
Bang—
His knees gave out, and he dropped to the rain-soaked street, bracing himself with both hands as he gasped violently.
Every breath felt like the last of his life. Tears ran down his face, mixing with the rain.
I... I can't do it!!
Kamizuki did not even glance at the Amegakure shinobi and continued toward Amegakure's Central Tower.
The rain grew heavier, gathering into rushing streams along the streets.
Splat—
Amid the splashing water beneath his footsteps...
Hanzo appeared.
He did not leap down from the Central Tower. There were no shouts from bystanders, no warning, no sound, not even the slightest fluctuation of Chakra.
The blade of a scythe carved a silver-white arc through the rain, slashing straight for Kamizuki's neck!
Before you continue