After hearing Shin Uchiha's words, Ōnoki fell silent.
He naturally knew who Madara Uchiha had once been. He had only made that request of Shin Uchiha in the hope that the two would fight and leave each other badly wounded.
Now, because of Madara Uchiha, Iwagakure's overall strength had fallen to less than half of what it had once been.
That was why Ōnoki wanted Shin Uchiha, who stood before him, to clash with the former Asura of the Ninja World.
Only then could the Land of Earth and Iwagakure avoid being placed in a precarious position by their diminished strength.
Shin Uchiha had no idea that the old and cunning Ōnoki harbored such thoughts.
After looking Ōnoki over, Shin Uchiha shook his head with a hint of regret.
Although Ōnoki had been lucky enough to survive the battle, his excessive use of chakra had left his body severely weakened, and there was no telling how long it would take him to recover.
More importantly, Ōnoki had not emerged unscathed. His left lower leg had been lost on the battlefield, leaving his trouser leg hanging empty.
At that thought, Shin Uchiha raised his left eyebrow slightly and continued:
"As it happens, I caught a young fellow a few days ago. He seems to be from your Iwagakure, and he's fairly strong.
Your village could probably use a few more people to do the heavy lifting right now, so I'll hand him over to you."
Having said that, Shin Uchiha raised his right hand and lightly snapped his fingers under Ōnoki's and Kurotsuchi's puzzled gazes.
Snap!
With that crisp sound, a bedraggled figure wearing an Akatsuki uniform suddenly appeared in midair before them.
Thud!
Just as the figure landed in an undignified heap on the ground, the sharp-eyed Kurotsuchi cried out: