Uchiha Madara!

When the news reached Cloud Village, Jiraiya and the others were already on their way back to Konoha with the captives.

"What? The ninja sent to the Land of Fire were all captured, and B was taken alive?"

Hearing the news, Fourth Raikage A slammed his palm onto the desk. Lightning flashed, and the desk instantly shattered into four pieces.

If it were only a problem on the front lines, it would not matter much. Those sent to harass the Land of Fire this time were not Cloud Village's backbone, but mere cannon fodder.

To put it up, all of those people combined were not as important as Killer B alone.

Killer B actually disobeyed his orders, sneaked out of Cloud Lightning Gorge, and was captured alive by Konoha ninja!

The reporting ninja was also covered in cold sweat. Once he learned of this, he became terrified.

The Raikage of Cloud Village always had to have a partner, and the Raikage's moniker "A" was also passed down from generation to generation. "B" was the golden partner of each generation's "A".

Only through the cooperation of A and B could the secret technique Absolute Bull Lightning Plow Hot Knife be used, and B was also A's best support and guard.

This generation's A was the son of the previous Raikage, and he had shown powerful talent since childhood. His speed was even comparable to Minato Namikaze, though Minato Namikaze's space-time ninjutsu was certainly superior.

This generation's B was none other than the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki. A and B were regarded as the hope for Cloud Village's rise. Now B had been captured by Konoha? How could this be allowed?

"Prepare the delegation. I will visit Konoha personally!"

"No! This matter must be discussed with the elders first!"

Mabui, the Raikage's secretary standing nearby, immediately spoke out in objection.

This was a major issue. If A went to Konoha and was also captured, Cloud Village would be finished.

Cloud Village had already lost the Third Shinobi World War. If they lost A and B on top of that, Cloud Village would be completely done for.

"No, we must bring B back!"

A's temper was naturally volatile, and he was completely unable to calm down right now.

"Konoha won't go to war with us right now. Sending a delegation should be enough to bring B back."

Mabui pushed up her glasses. Most of the men in Cloud Village had fiery tempers, while the women were universally calm.

Fourth Raikage took a deep breath and spoke.

"Go call Darui and Shi. Have them take my personal letter and set off for Konoha immediately!"

"Lord Third, this is a letter from Lord Jiraiya."

A toad suddenly appeared in the Hokage's office, drawing the attention of Orochimaru and Shikaku Nara.

The toad was small. Jiraiya had left a summoning formula here a few days ago and infused it with chakra, allowing it to rapidly transmit intelligence when necessary.

The relationship between Mount Myoboku and Konoha had always been very good. Perhaps because the Great Toad Sage had once dreamed that Konoha would always be the protagonist of the shinobi world, they chose to maintain a favorable relationship with Konoha.

Seeing that someone had taken the letter, with another poof, the toad vanished.

Orochimaru took the letter, read through it, and let out a chuckle.

"You two take a look."

Orochimaru glanced over it briefly with a smile at the corner of his mouth, then handed the letter to Shikaku Nara. Shikaku took it, and after looking at it for just two seconds, his eyes widened.

"What?!"

The Nara Clan's personality was to detest troublesome things, but trouble always loved to find them. Ever since he became the Hokage's assistant, Shikaku's rest time had drastically decreased.

Yet the news on this letter was simply too astonishing. Orochimaru could maintain a poker face, but Shikaku could not.

Lord Jiraiya and the others had actually captured the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki alive? And Fugaku Uchiha actually possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan?

Upon seeing this letter, Shikaku's thoughts immediately went to the Nine-Tails Uprising.

The rampage of the Nine-Tails was precisely caused by a ninja possessing the Mangekyo.

For Fugaku Uchiha to use the Mangekyo at this juncture and achieve the feat of capturing the Eight-Tails alive would inevitably arouse suspicion.

"Let's go. Come with me to see Danzo and the old man, and then we'll announce this news."

Orochimaru stood up and led Shikaku Nara toward the Forest of Death.

Orochimaru knew that Danzo had connections with people outside the village. During the Nine-Tails Uprising, neither Danzo nor the Root made a move, and Orochimaru himself had been restricted by Danzo.

Orochimaru suspected that Danzo was undoubtedly colluding with the ninja who had caused the Nine-Tails Uprising.

It was precisely because of this that Fugaku was unlikely to be the person who controlled the Nine-Tails.

Ever since their last meeting, Danzo would come to find Hiruzen Sarutobi whenever he had free time.

The village had no place for him, and the Root had long since been disbanded. With nothing to occupy his time, Danzo had no choice but to pester Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Unfortunately, Hiruzen Sarutobi's routine consisted of either going out to catch wild beasts for a barbecue or sitting on a round mat with his eyes closed.

Clearly lacking chakra, Danzo could not figure out what Hiruzen Sarutobi was doing with his eyes closed.

A ninja who had not practiced senjutsu could not sense the spiritual energy within Hiruzen Sarutobi's body. If Jiraiya were to observe Hiruzen Sarutobi's cultivation, he would likely be shocked by the astonishing natural energy inside Hiruzen Sarutobi's body.

"Hiruzen, what on earth are you trying to do?"

Danzo was grilling meat for Hiruzen Sarutobi as he spoke to himself.

Orochimaru and Shikaku Nara also arrived at the small wooden cabin.

Seeing Orochimaru, Danzo narrowed his slitted eyes even further. The sight of Orochimaru made his blood boil with irritation.

"Lord Danzo, I have something to ask you."

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep breath and ended his cultivation.

Orochimaru had come at the right time. He needed to head out for a period to see if there were any medicinal herbs in the shinobi world he could use.

After entering the Qi Refining Sixth Layer, his cultivation speed had slowed down considerably.

Refining medicine was not a matter of forcing seedlings to grow; rather, consuming medicinal pills helped build a much better foundation.

"If you have something to say, just spit it out."

Upon seeing the Third Hokage, Shikaku Nara's eyes widened once again.

Why had the Third Hokage grown younger? This artistic style was not right at all!

Hiruzen Sarutobi was cultivating the Yin-Yang Body Refinement Formula. Before Core Formation, the physical traits of a body cultivator were very obvious, but after Core Formation, they would become restrained.

"Danzo, that Uchiha who caused the Nine-Tails Uprising—do you know who he is?"

"..."

Danzo did not speak.

"If you also want the village to become better, you'd better answer quickly!"

Shikaku Nara could not help but speak up, no longer caring about the Third Hokage's transformation. This matter had a massive impact and an answer had to be obtained immediately.

"Danzo, I am the Hokage! Orochimaru is now an elder of Konoha, and you must listen to him."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's words made Danzo's expression turn quite ugly. He fell silent for a moment before finally speaking.

"That was a ninja who claimed to be Uchiha Madara. He has approached me more than once, wanting to cooperate with me."

"Uchiha Madara?"

The faint smile at the corner of Orochimaru's mouth faded, and the atmosphere instantly grew heavy.

The few people present all knew what that name signified.