After giving Sakumo his instructions, Hiruzen headed for the Valley of the End alone.
He had intended to groom Orochimaru as his successor, making him the Fourth Hokage. But events had taken him by surprise, and in Hiruzen's eyes, Orochimaru was still too immature. For now, he could only entrust the responsibility to Sakumo.
Compared with Danzo's cold ruthlessness, Sakumo's rational yet decisive approach seemed better suited to the position of Hokage in Hiruzen's eyes.
After the battle between Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha all those years ago, Madara Uchiha's body had been buried near the Valley of the End. Hiruzen knew just how powerful the man called the Asura of the Ninja World had been. He knew even better how that man felt about Konoha.
Powerful Fire Release, genjutsu, Shura, advanced age, and traces that might have been left by Susanoo...
Almost all the information Minato had gathered pointed to Madara Uchiha. Although Hiruzen knew Madara Uchiha had been dead for many years, he was beginning to suspect that the death might have been faked.
On either side of the waterfall in the Valley of the End, the statues of Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju stood facing each other, staring straight into each other's eyes.
Following the map in his hand, Hiruzen reached a secluded corner of the deep forest flanking the great lake near the Valley of the End. He bit his thumb and pressed it to the ground, summoning Enma.
"Hiruzen, what are you..."
Enma, who had been expecting a good fight, looked around. Finding no one else in sight, he turned to Hiruzen in confusion.
"Help me check the area. Take a look around, and alert me immediately if you find anyone," Hiruzen said, his expression grim.
Enma nodded and leaped away.
With those instructions given, Hiruzen looked at the stretch of level ground overgrown with weeds before him and silently offered an apology for the disturbance. Then he summoned a shovel and began digging up the grave.
More than ten minutes later, he finally unearthed a coffin.
"They buried it awfully deep..." Hiruzen muttered. He cleared away the soil covering the coffin, revealing its aged, partially rotted wood. The coffin was dark red, though the passing years had faded it toward brown.
A yellow sealing strip lay across the coffin, almost blending into its surface. It did not look as though it had ever been removed.
He lifted the coffin out, tore off the sealing strip, and offered another apology before slowly pushing back the lid.
Creak, creak, creak... Hiruzen's expression grew increasingly tense.
After opening a narrow gap, he took a deep breath and carefully leaned forward to peer inside.
Hiruzen's heart rose into his throat. He dreaded finding nothing but an empty coffin.
The dim light of dawn spilled into the coffin, its beams taking shape in the haze of dust.
A moss-covered skeleton lay quietly inside, still clad in the Worn Dark Red Armor. A considerable amount of long hair lay beneath the bones as well, matching Madara Uchiha's appearance.
"...Whew..." Only after seeing the contents did Hiruzen breathe a sigh of relief. "...Thank goodness. Thank goodness."
Hiruzen pressed a hand to his forehead and wiped away the sweat, finally feeling a little more at ease.
The sealing strip showed no signs of tampering, the soil over the coffin looked entirely natural, and there was no indication that the coffin had been opened. The bones and burial goods were all still inside...
So I was just being overly suspicious... wasn't I?
Still unable to put his mind at rest, Hiruzen carefully drew a kunai and scraped a little bone material from the surface of the remains. He stored it away, intending to take it back and compare its DNA with that of members of the Uchiha Clan.
After offering the remains another apology, Hiruzen closed the coffin, affixed a fresh sealing strip, and buried it again.
Once he returned, he planned to station additional personnel near the Valley of the End, lest someone actually carry off Madara's remains in the future.
Calling Enma back, Hiruzen hurried toward Konoha to arrange the various checks and assignments.
A little over half an hour after Hiruzen left, a pitch-black figure poked his head out of the soil.
Looking at the freshly disturbed grave, Zetsu took a deep breath as well.
Black Zetsu had altered the stone tablet Hagoromo left behind to say that Infinite Tsukuyomi was the only path to saving the Uchiha. Ever since, Zetsu had approached the reincarnations of Indra and Asura in the two clans countless times, attempting to awaken the Rinnegan. Yet he had failed again and again.
A thousand years later, with Madara's birth, Zetsu became certain that Madara had what it took to obtain the Rinnegan. He had been watching him ever since.
Although he had yet to meet Madara, he had already hinted at his future path many times from the shadows.
After Madara let Minato go, Zetsu sensed trouble. Overnight, he dug up the remains of a member of the Uchiha Clan, opened a hole in the bottom of the coffin, and placed them inside. Then he sealed it with Wood Release.
Fortunately, Hiruzen had not examined the bottom of the coffin. Otherwise, he would probably have noticed something wrong.
"Madara..." Zetsu shook his head. Madara could do as he pleased, but Zetsu had to clean up after him for the sake of his own plan.
The seal on the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path hasn't loosened yet. I still can't appear before Madara. Once I'm working at his side, I'll have to remind him to kill witnesses...
As for that Xue Ge brat...
At first, Zetsu had been somewhat uncertain about how to deal with Xue Ge, an uninvolved outsider whom Madara had mistaken for the Child of Prophecy.
His initial reaction had been to eliminate this unexpected figure who might cause further complications. But after thinking it over, Zetsu felt that helping the child develop might be better than killing Xue Ge to clear up the misunderstanding.
Since Madara believed the child was the Child of Prophecy, he might as well let the child display extraordinary talent. That might make Madara even more committed to being fooled by him... no, inspired by him.
That was why Xue Ge had not died when he fell off the cliff. The tree growing from the cliff face had looked like a coincidence, but Zetsu had secretly used Wood Release to grow it at precisely the right time and place.
Zetsu rubbed his chin in thought. From the current situation, the brat named Xue Ge seemed to have decent natural talent. For now, there was no need for him to intervene.
Should I stay with Madara or follow Xue Ge from now on?
After careful consideration, Zetsu decided to keep his focus on Madara, though he would also pay more attention to Xue Ge whenever he had time.
One problem occurred to him: reviving Kaguya Ōtsutsuki required more than just the Rinnegan. Besides the Rinnegan, he needed the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, and the nine tailed beasts had to be collected. As things stood, Madara did not seem likely to live long enough to carry out the future tailed beast collection plan.
In that case, planting a seed in advance to carry on Madara's plan later was not a bad idea. With all the bitterness and hatred weighing on him, Xue Ge was clearly a suitable choice.
Zetsu's figure gradually vanished into the soil, as though he had never appeared at all. Meanwhile, Hiruzen was hurrying back to Konoha, pondering how to track down the killer he suspected was Madara
Uchiha.
He had no idea that Zetsu, lurking in the shadows, had discovered his investigation. Nor did he know that Zetsu had already begun making arrangements in secret and had deceived him right under his nose.