Black Zetsu's watchful gaze

Madara Uchiha was the person Black Zetsu watched most closely. Until Black Zetsu chose to reveal himself, Madara could not possibly detect his or White Zetsu's movements.

As the reincarnation of Indra's chakra, Madara was his primary focus. But Uchiha Mu and Madara had used a barrier for their conversation, so he could not get too close. Exposing himself prematurely would be a problem.

Still, he had confirmed one thing: after speaking with Uchiha Mu, Madara was no longer so resolute and had even begun to doubt the Eye of the Moon Plan. That would never do. He had to find out exactly what the two had discussed.

At first, he had thought little of Uchiha Mu, considering him merely an unusual case. Now he thought otherwise. Uchiha Mu was extremely dangerous and had to be eliminated.

There were plenty of ways to do it. Once he confirmed Madara's condition, he could coax him into killing Uchiha Mu. He could also have White Zetsu stir up the Five Great Nations' hatred toward the Hundred-Clan Shinobi Village. That would be child's play for White Zetsu. Even the Byakugan could not see through that thing's disguise, let alone the other shinobi villages.

Uchiha Mu's actions infuriated him. He was the shinobi world's most devoted son, and he would not allow anything to go wrong with rescuing his mother. He immediately split off a portion of himself to establish a foothold in the Hundred-Clan Shinobi Village, solely to uncover everything he could about Uchiha Mu.

As for Black Zetsu, Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's third son, Uchiha Mu knew he had probably drawn his attention. After all, if he wanted to change Madara, the first step was to deal with Black Zetsu. Otherwise, with his talent for stirring up trouble, Madara's descent into darkness would be inevitable.

Madara had never been particularly sharp to begin with. A little manipulation from that thousand-year-old schemer would leave him completely lost. That was why he had to lure Black Zetsu out first.

He had an idea. Black Zetsu was extremely cautious and would never reveal himself prematurely unless he was completely certain. But there was one exception: Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. As the shinobi world's most devoted son, he could hardly remain unmoved upon hearing his mother's name.

Unfortunately, Uchiha Mu had no idea whether Black Zetsu was watching, so he could only mutter about her when he was alone. He believed that if Black Zetsu was keeping an eye on him, he would definitely notice.

For several days in a row, Uchiha Mu talked about Kaguya Ōtsutsuki, but Black Zetsu never appeared. Eventually, Uchiha Mu gave up. He did not have that much time to spare; there was still plenty to do in the village.

Behind the scenes, however, Black Zetsu was already too shocked for words. He had never imagined that Uchiha Mu was secretly considering rescuing Kaguya Ōtsutsuki. The moon? How did he know about Mother?

Black Zetsu was stunned, but he was also terrified of the unknown. He did not know whether Uchiha Mu was an enemy or an ally. He dared not act rashly, much less reveal himself and confront Uchiha Mu.

He had survived a thousand years in hiding in the shinobi world precisely because he was cautious enough, even if Uchiha Mu's mention of his mother had thrown him off balance.

"Uchiha Mu, who exactly are you?" Black Zetsu muttered underground. At the same time, he assigned several White Zetsu to watch Uchiha Mu day and night without missing a single detail, while he himself headed to Madara.

He had to confirm Madara's condition. Events were already slipping out of his control, and he needed to bring his target back on track. As long as Madara still wanted to revive the Ten-Tails, he had a chance. This was his most promising opportunity in a thousand years, and he absolutely could not give up.

Whatever Uchiha Mu's intentions were, he would simply treat him as an enemy. If an opportunity arose, he had to kill him.

In the Hundred-Clan Shinobi Village, Uchiha Mu stared blankly at the documents on his desk. He had muttered about her for days, yet Black Zetsu had not come to him. To think the shinobi world's most devoted son would still refuse to show himself after hearing about his own mother. He truly was the king of lying low for a thousand years.

With that thought, Uchiha Mu considered what else he could do. He was not considering entertainment for the time being. After all, people here got married and had children when they had nothing else to do. If he introduced a whole range of entertainment, the losses would outweigh the gains. He still needed a large population to level up.

Keiko Uzumaki had no idea what Uchiha Mu was thinking. She was simply getting a headache from all the departments requesting funding. Their village had yet to balance its income and expenditure. Of course, if they slowed development a little, their income would clearly exceed their expenses.

However, Uchiha Mu's policies meant that money was spent almost as soon as it came in. Although the villagers had become wealthier, the treasury was running a deficit. Without the influx of gold coins Uchiha Mu had provided, it would have been very difficult to manage.

Thinking of this, she asked, "Mu, should we slow things down a little?"

"We can." Uchiha Mu responded after some thought. In his view, the first Great Ninja War was probably still a long way off. After all, with the butterfly effect he had set in motion, the Great Ninja War might not happen on schedule.

"Good." Keiko Uzumaki quietly breathed a sigh of relief. Barring any surprises, the village would be able to keep going indefinitely this way. The factories were already developing inexpensive products aimed at ordinary people rather than nobles and daimyo.

Kakuzu had spent more than a year away and had developed a keen sense of how sensitive each social class was to prices. This was also a suggestion he had sent back with his reports: before the other villages could copy their products, they needed to capture the low-, mid-, and high-end markets alike.

"Relax. I'm not that stubborn. Population growth has slowed now. Even if we kept developing at our previous pace, we wouldn't have enough people." Uchiha Mu rolled his eyes. It was not as though he did not understand.

"As long as you understand, Mu. I thought you were so caught up in your ideals that you couldn't see past them," Keiko Uzumaki said gently.

"Why do I feel like you're insulting me?" Uchiha Mu rolled his eyes.

"Haha, of course not." Keiko Uzumaki then began revising the upcoming budget approvals according to Uchiha Mu's instructions. Fortunately, there were few objections. It could hardly be otherwise: only a little over a year had passed, and the newcomers had yet to come into their own. Uchiha Mu's clones still had a hand in every department.

Overall, Uchiha Mu still had the final say in everything. However, he was not attached to power and was willing to listen to other people's suggestions. Keiko Uzumaki was a good example; many of her proposals had been adopted.

"By the way, what were you muttering about earlier?" Keiko Uzumaki asked curiously.

"A future teammate. Or possibly an enemy," Uchiha Mu said after some thought. He was not particularly anxious about the Ōtsutsuki Clan's invasion.

After all, he did not know whether the system would grant him eternal life. If it did not, he would probably be long dead by the time the Otsutsuki invaded. In that case, there was no need to worry.

"An enemy and a teammate? What are you even talking about?" Keiko Uzumaki did not dwell on it and got up to leave.

"The shinobi world is too peaceful right now. It's making the village less attractive." Uchiha Mu fretted over the population's slowing growth. During this period, they had taken in only some people from small countries.

The reason was simple: Kumogakure's activities. To keep its funds sufficient, when it could not get money from the daimyo, it plundered small countries instead, leaving virtually no evidence behind. Those small countries did not dare seek help from Konoha, either. After all, Konoha could drive Kumogakure away once, but it could not shield them from Kumogakure's subsequent retaliation.

In one of the worst-ravaged small countries, the daimyo now held his title in name only. He, too, wanted to sell his territory to Uchiha Mu, which would at least earn him a large sum of money.

He had heard that the former daimyo of the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Frost had made their fortunes again in the Hundred-Clan Shinobi Nation. Although they had to pay considerable taxes, those were small compared with their income. If he kept holding on here, his country would probably vanish into history, and he would disappear along with it.