Three profile pictures appeared on the interface at once.
Zhang Yu looked at the familiar yet absurd interface, unable to suppress his grin.
"Well, would you look at that. We're really working online now."
He tried sending a message.
[Group owner Zhang Yu: Please reply when you receive this.]
In the distance.
Hashirama, who was hurrying across the rooftops, faltered and nearly missed his footing.
"Madara!"
"The boss's words just appeared in my head!"
Madara stopped on another rooftop, frowning.
"It wasn't a voice. It was text."
Hashirama's face was full of wonder.
"It can do that?"
He tried responding in his mind.
[Hashirama Senju: Boss, I can see it! This is really convenient!] [Madara Uchiha: Pointless, but useful.]
Zhang Yu nearly laughed aloud when he saw their replies.
The God of Shinobi himself and Madara Uchiha were using a group chat for the first time, and their reactions were surprisingly true to life.
Hashirama was like a big kid who had discovered a new toy.
Madara complained, but his hands told the truth.
Zhang Yu continued messaging.
[Group owner Zhang Yu: Go to the top of Hokage Rock first. The view is best there. Keep your eyes on Mizuki and wait for the plot to progress.] [Hashirama Senju: Understood.] [Madara Uchiha: Got it.]
Zhang Yu closed the message box and opened the group owner management interface.
The next moment, a long list of permissions popped up.
[Group owner permissions: Change nicknames, mute, kick from group chat, locate members, first-person perspective, third-person observation perspective.]
Zhang Yu's eyes went wide.
Change nicknames.
Mute.
Kick people.
Locate them.
He could even access their perspectives?
This was no group chat.
This was the boss's control panel!
He first opened the member locator.
A map of Konoha appeared on the interface. Two points of light moved rapidly across it before finally stopping near Hokage Rock.
Zhang Yu then selected "Madara Uchiha's first-person perspective."
The view changed instantly.
It was as though he were standing high above Konoha, looking down.
The streets, rooftops, lights, and patrolling shinobi were all clear in his view.
Madara's perception was incredibly sharp.
Even through the system's relayed view, Zhang Yu could feel the pressure of looking down from above.
He switched to "Hashirama Senju's first-person perspective."
The view grew broader and more substantial, and the signs of life all around seemed to be marked out.
Trees, pedestrians, and distant fluctuations of Chakra all seemed to take on distinct layers.
Zhang Yu drew a sharp breath.
"So this is how a top-tier powerhouse sees the world?"
Finally, he opened the third-person observation view.
The view rose.
At the top of Hokage Rock, Hashirama and Madara sat high above the village, one on each side.
Neither of them was releasing any Chakra.
Yet their presence alone made Zhang Yu's heart tighten, even through the screen.
And yet, not a single person in Konoha below had noticed them.
Zhang Yu couldn't help laughing.
"This is unbeatable."
"I can stay in the tavern and still see everything."
"Isn't this just sitting behind the scenes and watching the show?"
At the top of Hokage Rock.
Night gradually descended.
Hashirama sat atop his own stone likeness, looking down at Konoha beneath his feet.
Madara sat beside him, his gaze fixed on a spot in the village.
They had already located Mizuki.
After leaving the tavern, Mizuki had changed his clothes. He looked much more cautious than he had during the day and had taken several detours. He was clearly up to something.
Hashirama looked at the village and sighed.
"I never thought I'd come back after death to find Konoha like this."
Madara said coolly, "The village you founded couldn't follow your wishes forever."
Hashirama didn't argue.
"I know."
"It's just that seeing it with my own eyes still leaves me with mixed feelings."
Madara said coldly, "At least Zhang Yu didn't lie to us."
Hashirama turned to look at him.
"Do you believe the boss now?"
Madara was silent for a moment.
"He can bring you and me back from the Pure Land."
"He can stop me from attacking him."
"He can let us exchange messages over such a great distance."
"And he can make me see an interface like this, something that can't be explained."
He looked up at the night sky.
"There's no jutsu like this in the Shinobi World."
Hashirama nodded seriously.
"True."
"I've never seen power like this either."
Madara continued, "Rather than a shinobi, he's someone who stands outside the rules of the Shinobi World."
Hashirama smiled.
"So you acknowledge the boss too?"
Madara snorted.
"I acknowledge his abilities."
"Not the fact that he makes me serve drinks and wipe tables."
Hashirama couldn't help letting out a laugh.
Madara immediately looked over at him.
Hashirama hurriedly waved his hands.
"I won't laugh."
Madara couldn't be bothered with him.
After a quiet moment, Hashirama spoke again in a low voice. "Madara, whatever else we might say, it's no small thing that we can see this world again."
"Let's do as the boss arranged for now."
Madara didn't answer right away.
After a long while, he said coolly, "I'll be watching."
"I want to see what he can make of this tavern."
Hashirama nodded.
"I want to see too."
Below them lay Konoha, its lights gradually coming on.
Two of the Shinobi World's greatest powerhouses sat atop Hokage Rock, their presence suppressed to the utmost.
No patrolling shinobi noticed them.
No Anbu detected anything amiss.
Like shadows stepping out of history, they looked down over the entire village, quietly waiting for Mizuki to reveal his true purpose.
Meanwhile.
In the Hokage's office in Konoha.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his desk, a pipe in his hand and a mission document spread out before him.
Kakashi stood in front of the desk, his tone unusually serious.
"Lord Third, I have urgent intelligence to report."
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked up at him.
"Kakashi, what has you in such a hurry?"
Kakashi got straight to the point.
"This evening, Guy and I passed a new tavern on a side street in the west of the village."
"It's called the Undead Tavern."
Hiruzen Sarutobi frowned.
"The Undead Tavern?"
"A new establishment?"
Kakashi nodded.
"Yes."
"But the tavern isn't the important part."
He paused, lowering his voice.
"I saw two people there."
Hiruzen Sarutobi put down the document.
"Who?"
Kakashi took a deep breath.
"One of them looked exactly like Lord First Hokage's likeness on Hokage Rock."
The pipe in Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand froze.
Kakashi continued, "The other had long black hair and crimson armor, and his presence was immensely oppressive."
"Judging by the portraits I've seen in the records..."
"It's highly likely he was Madara Uchiha."
Clatter.
The pipe slipped from Hiruzen Sarutobi's hand and struck the desktop.
He shot to his feet, his expression changing on the spot.
"What did you say?"
Kakashi's tone grew graver.
"I saw them with my own eyes."
"Lord First Hokage and Madara Uchiha appeared at the entrance of a small tavern."
"And they seemed to be working there as servers."
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood frozen behind his desk, his face full of shock and disbelief. He said nothing for a long while.
The Hokage's office fell frighteningly quiet.
Kakashi stood before the desk, his visible eye lowered, but there was not a hint of a joke in his tone.
"Lord Third, I know how absurd this sounds."
"But I can say for certain that those two were no ordinary people."