Deep in the dark and damp cave, Madara Uchiha felt like a piece of rotten wood that was drying.
Every breath brought with him the burning pain of his heart being torn apart. The consequences of drawing more life force from Demonic Statue of the Outer Path were more serious than he imagined. The power was like hot magma, rushing through his meridians. While forcibly extending his life, it was also accelerating the collapse of his body.
He could even smell the smell of decay and decay emanating from his own body.
"Lord Madara."
Black Zetsu emerged from his shadow quietly, the sound was like two slippery stones rubbing against each other.
"Obito is ready to leave."
"..."
Madara Uchiha did not open his eyes, and his dry eyelids seemed to be stuck together.
Coming.
That stupid plan.
A plan that he didn't agree with from the beginning but was powerless to stop.
Go to Konoha, capture Nine-Tails when Jinchūriki is weak during childbirth, and then destroy the village.
What a simple, crude, and... stupid plan.
Madara Uchiha sneered in his heart.
This was completely Obito's own idea, full of young people's unique impulse and naivety. He thought that this was revenge on the world and the first step to prove his determination to the "dead" Rin Nohara.
Idiot.
Apart from completely exposing yourself to everyone's eyes, what else can you gain by doing this?
Eye of the Moon Plan, what is needed is to accumulate strength in secret, complete the layout when no one is aware, and finally descend like a god on the top of the world. Instead of like a street gangster, holding a knife and rushing into other people's homes to chop them up.
That would only make this fool a target of public criticism and an S-class traitor wanted by the entire Shinobi World.
How to implement the follow-up plan?
But he didn't say these words to Obito.
First, with the way he looks now, it's hard for him to even speak loudly, let alone use the "Madara Uchiha" momentum to reprimand a kid who is in the rebellious stage of middle school. Maybe if he talks harshly, the kid will quit, so where can he find such a useful chess piece?
Second... and most important.
He can't stop it.
He could feel how deep that kid Obito was about this action. It was not for Eye of the Moon, but for Rin Nohara in his heart, and for the revenge fantasy he had constructed for himself.
I think I am so dignified, Madara Uchiha, Asura of the Ninja World, that I can't even control one of my own chess pieces.
What a big joke.
Madara Uchiha's mouth curved in an ugly way, as if he was laughing or twitching.
"Lord Madara, do you need to stop him?" Black Zetsu seemed to be aware of his emotions and asked tentatively.
Madara Uchiha shook his head slightly.
Block?
Why block it.
This is what he suddenly figured out later.
Before, he had been worried that Rin Nohara was not dead, which would become a huge variable in the plan. Once Obito knew the truth, all his efforts would be in vain.
But now it seems... maybe, not necessarily.
Let Obito make trouble.
Let him destroy Konoha, let him be the enemy of his teacher Minato Namikaze, and let his hands be stained with the blood of Konoha Ninja.
Once he does this, he can never look back.
Even if in the future, he knows that Rin Nohara is still alive, so what?
Does he still have the nerve to see her?
Even how to use Sharingan to control "Tailed Beast" was personally taught by Madara Uchiha to Obito.
What qualifications does a sinner who destroyed his home and killed his companions have to talk about love and happiness openly?
When the time comes, he will be nailed to Konoha's pillar of shame and become a traitor despised by everyone.
This despair of being isolated and abandoned by the entire world will become a shackle stronger than any lie, locking him firmly on the path of "Eye of the Moon Plan".
Even how to use Sharingan to control "Tailed Beast" was personally told by Madara Uchiha to Obito
In fact, either Rin Nohara or Obito can die.
After all, social death... is also death.
Thinking about it this way, Obito's reckless move turned out to be a clever move.
A dead move that will eliminate all your retreat options.
"Black Zetsu."
"Here."
"Follow me personally. Keep an eye on Obito." Madara Uchiha's tone regained its former coldness.
"Understood."
"Watch him making trouble, the bigger the trouble, the better." Madara Uchiha added, with a hint of weird expectation in his voice.
Black Zetsu was silent for a moment, as if digesting the meaning behind this order, and then responded respectfully, "Yes."
The figure slowly sank into the shadows and disappeared.
Dead silence returned to the cave.
Only the weak and heavy breathing of Madara Uchiha and the low humming like a heartbeat coming from Demonic Statue of the Outer Path's body were left.
He leaned on the stone seat and tried his best to calm down the raging blood in his body.
Although he had figured out the pros and cons, the feeling that the plan was out of control still made him extremely unhappy.
His whole life, he has been pursuing absolute power and absolute control.
But in the end, he had to rely on the impulse of a young boy to put a crucial patch on his plan.
How ironic.
"Hashirama ah..."
Once again, he pronounced the name uncontrollably.
"If you knew that in order to realize our common ideal, I made myself look like a human being and a ghost, and was led by a little ghost... would you crawl out of Pure Land laughing?"
He thought mockingly.
But, it doesn't matter anymore.
The process is not important, as long as the result is correct.
Obito...
Go ahead.
Go become Konoha's nightmare, go become Shinobi World's public enemy.
Then, with the hatred that the whole world cannot tolerate you, come back and inherit my will.
Madara Uchiha tried hard to open his eyes. The two Sharingan brought back by White Zetsu reflected the faint water light seeping from the top of the cave, like a cold star.
"Don't... don't let me down."
Konoha's night came a little dull.
There was no moon, and the thick clouds were like water-soaked cotton wool, weighing heavily over the village, making the air thick and oppressive. The lights in ordinary people's homes had long been turned off, and only a few izakayas still shone with sporadic light. Occasionally, the figures of ninjas returning late passed by and disappeared deeper into the alleyways.
Uchiha mansion, study room.
Senju Chen sat alone by the window without lighting. His figure almost blended into the darkness outside the window, and only his eyes were astonishingly bright in the dimness.
He has been sitting here in meditation for two hours.
Fugaku did not come to disturb him, but sent someone to bring tea and snacks, and then left quietly. The entire Uchiha Clan Compound was filled with a strange silence tonight, and the footsteps of the patrolling Konoha Military Police Force members were much softer, as if they were holding their breath and waiting for something.
Senju Chen picked up the already cool tea cup and took a sip.
The bitter tea slid down his throat, making his thoughts clearer.
Kushina Uzumaki's delivery is tonight.
Over at Uchiha Fugaku, the most elite and calm tribesmen have been blended quietly into the night of Konoha like drops of ink. They have no emblems and no extra equipment. They look like ordinary villagers, lurking in every key node marked by Senju Chen, waiting for the only signal.
And over there Shimura Danzō...
Senju Chen's fingertips tapped lightly on the window lattice. That old fox will definitely move tonight. Root's ninja is like a poisonous snake hiding in the gutter. It is usually missing. It will only show its deadly fangs in the most chaotic and bloody times.
He is going to be an oriole today.
A oriole staring at the "mantis" and the "cicada" at the same time.