The group talked for nearly two hours before going their separate ways. Only Fujimoto stayed behind; Fugaku still had something to tell him.
"Fugaku, what's so important?"
"Remember the unidentified white creatures you found in the Land of Rain?"
Fujimoto paused. He had long since put that matter out of his mind and hadn't expected Fugaku to bring it up today.
"I remember. Do you have solid intelligence on them now?"
"I have a theory. Remember Madara Uchiha, who once held the Shinobi World in his grip? I suspect he didn't die in the battle at the Valley of the End decades ago.
"Those white creatures are his creations. He uses them to watch the Shinobi World and plot things he can't bring into the open."
Disbelief crossed Fujimoto's face. If anyone other than Fugaku had said it, he would have taken the man for a lunatic.
"Madara Uchiha is still alive? No one in the Shinobi World has seen him in decades. With his personality, there's no way he'd hide in one place for that long," Fujimoto said.
"The First Hokage died not long after the battle at the Valley of the End. Do you think Madara came through it unscathed? He must have been badly weakened.
"Of course, that's only my theory. But I do have reliable intelligence about the white creatures' origins.
"Remember Akatsuki, the organization you went to investigate in the Land of Rain? Akatsuki itself was nothing special. Hanzō destroyed it recently, and Yahiko died.
"The one who matters is a young man named Nagato, who was always at Yahiko's side. He possesses the legendary Rinnegan."
"The Rinnegan? The eyes of the Sage of Six Paths? Those legendary eyes actually exist?"
Fugaku nodded. "Legends grow out of facts. How could a legend arise if nothing