"You know, back when you and I were at odds, Jigen would show up every now and then. But now, he hasn't made any moves at all."
During dinner, Uchiha Madara casually spoke to Uchiha Raijin.
"That makes sense. When we were fighting, Jigen still had opportunities. But now? What can he even do?"
Raijin chuckled and replied to Madara.
Jigen was strong, sure, but who could he actually defeat? Madara? Or him?
"I've never fought Jigen before. But you've clashed with him a few times, right? What do you think of his strength?"
Madara asked, now that Jigen had been confirmed as an enemy.
Getting more intel on him would obviously be useful.
"Yeah, he's pretty strong. But I feel like he's holding something back."
Raijin thought for a moment before speaking to Uchiha Madara.
When it came to information about Jigen, Raijin was more than willing to share it with Madara.
"Concerned about something?"
Madara was briefly stunned and looked at Raijin with confusion.
That could mean a lot of things.
"From what I can tell, he probably has injuries that haven't fully healed yet, so he doesn't dare to fight with everything he has."
Raijin nodded and explained further to Madara.
"Injuries that haven't healed..."
Madara nodded, making a mental note of this information.
That was quite an important detail.
If used well, it could have unexpected benefits.
"Still, it's been a long time since I really sat down and trained like this."
Madara chuckled lightly.
Even though Jigen had practically vanished from the ninja world, Madara didn't find it boring.
Ever since becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki and awakening the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan, his understanding of chakra had once again deepened.
Just like how Raijin hadn't fully grasped the power of the Tenseigan, Madara still hadn't fully mastered his own Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan.
Especially when there was someone beside him who disagreed with his views but was nearly equal in strength and was also training hard.
That sense of urgency naturally rose within Madara.
"Yeah, I've trained so hard for so many years. I thought I could finally retire, relax, and enjoy life."
Raijin glanced at Madara and spoke with a hint of complaint.
"But thanks to you, even at my age, I still have to keep training."
"Kid, how old are you?"
Madara immediately asked.
"Definitely younger than you. I mean, look at you—at your age, you even crawled back from the underworld just to make life hard for a kid like me. That must've been tough on you."
Raijin snorted, speaking to Madara in a sarcastic tone.
"That King of the Underworld must be slacking. He couldn't even keep you locked up."
After saying that, Raijin added another comment.
"Does he always talk like this?"
Madara narrowed his eyes slightly and let out a deep breath before turning to Tsunade and asking.
This guy really had a way with words—an annoying way.
"Don't ask Tsunade. My attitude depends on who I'm talking to."
Raijin replied to Madara.
"I figured. If you talked like this to everyone, it's honestly a miracle you're still alive."
Madara nodded in agreement.
Raijin pursed his lips and didn't respond to Madara. Instead, he shifted his focus to Namikaze Minato.
"I remember you've been married to Kushina for quite a while now. Haven't thought about having kids yet? I heard Mikoto is already pregnant."
"Uh… this…"
Minato, who was quietly eating, paused for a moment, surprised as he looked up at Raijin.
He didn't quite understand why the conversation had suddenly shifted to him.
That… was a pretty abrupt change, wasn't it?
"Well, that depends on when you'll actually give Minato a break."
Kushina immediately turned to Raijin.
"He's busy with official duties during the day, and at night, he's training in Senjutsu. Where would he even find the time for anything else?"
After a brief pause, Kushina continued complaining to Raijin.
"Tsk, looks like your ability to manage the village isn't that great. How can you keep making one person work so intensely without a break?"
Before Raijin could respond, Uchiha Madara sighed and spoke.
At the same time, he took on the usual demeanor of an elder.
"If I were the one running Konohagakure, I'd never let my people be so busy that they don't even have time to start a family."
Raijin turned to look at Uchiha Madara.
This guy… he really is something…
"Too bad, you're not the one managing Konohagakure."
Raijin casually threw that line at Madara before turning to Kushina.
"I'm planning to have Minato train a few reliable people to share the workload. He won't be as busy for much longer."
"Mm."
Kushina nodded and didn't say anything else.
Raijin's presence was one thing, but with Uchiha Madara here, she couldn't help but feel a little restrained.
After all, not everyone could just casually throw words at Uchiha Madara without feeling some pressure.
If Raijin said something, Madara might get annoyed and try to retaliate with words.
After all, they had fought more than once.
And in the heat of battle, the things they said to each other were probably far worse than this.
But if the same words came from someone else, Madara would still get angry—but instead of using words, he'd likely resort to violence.
"Honestly, I never thought I'd see the day when a member of the Senju clan would be living in the Uchiha district as an Uchiha's wife."
Madara pursed his lips but didn't take Raijin's words to heart.
Was it offensive? Of course.
But compared to the time Raijin ran him through with the Kusanagi Sword, this level of offense was nothing.
"I never thought that two clans living in the same Land of Fire wouldn't choose to unite and take over the entire country together. Instead, they chose to be enemies for so long."
Raijin raised an eyebrow and shot back without hesitation.
"From my perspective, back then, if Senju and Uchiha had worked together, they wouldn't have just split up the Land of Fire—they could have divided the entire shinobi world between them."
After a brief pause, Raijin continued.
Madara pressed his lips together, blinked, and after a moment, said to Raijin,
"When you're living in the Land of Fire, how could you tolerate another clan just as powerful as your own?"
Raijin laughed.
Madara's reasoning was as dry as ever.
"So, in the end, you guys joined forces and built Konohagakure."
Raijin chuckled as he stated the fact.
A fact that left Madara silent.
"How's your latest training going?"
After a long pause, Madara put down his chopsticks and asked Raijin in a soft voice.
"It's going pretty well."
Raijin raised an eyebrow at Madara.
He's getting anxious! He's getting anxious!
"I think, to improve better for your sake, I should have regular sparring sessions to find my weaknesses. What do you think?"
Madara looked at Raijin and asked.
"I don't think that's necessary."
Raijin answered without hesitation.
Sparring? Seriously?
With Kamui, Uchiha Madara was basically a god in his own world.
Meanwhile, Raijin, standing in that world, was like a random rock that had appeared in a god's domain.
Solid as hell.
Neither could do anything to the other, so what was the point of sparring?
Besides, the only reason Raijin was even willing to fight Madara in Kamui was because of Konohagakure.
~~
If Raijin had nothing tying him down, Uchiha Madara would never be able to catch him in this lifetime.
"If one day, while you're away, I destroy Konohagakure, what would you do?"
Madara suddenly thought of something and asked Raijin.
"You better sleep with one eye open."
Raijin shrugged casually and replied to Uchiha Madara.
"I figured as much. That's why I won't touch Konohagakure—at least, not before you die."
Madara raised an eyebrow and spoke softly.
Madara wasn't an idiot. Konohagakure was Raijin's weakness.
It restricted his movements and forced him to do things he wouldn't normally do.
If Konohagakure was destroyed, then that restraint would be gone completely.
At that point, every corner of the ninja world, every flash of lightning in the sky—any of them could be Raijin.
That version of Uchiha Raijin would be the scariest.
Because he would have nothing holding him back, only hatred in his heart.
"You hear that? So don't be scared. I actually like this version of Raijin. Because he has a weakness. I wouldn't be stupid enough to take it away myself."
Madara glanced at Namikaze Minato and spoke lightly.
Namikaze Minato pursed his lips at those words.
Wait a minute—so Uchiha Madara actually holds grudges this much?
"So, stop wasting your time trying to go against me. You guys don't even exist in my eyes."
Before Namikaze Minato could speak, Uchiha Madara continued.
"Talking about this is pointless."
Raijin spoke to Uchiha Madara, and as his words fell, Namikaze Minato cast him a grateful look.
To be honest, having Madara remember you was a lot of pressure.
"If Jigen isn't making a move, then just focus on your training."
Raijin raised his cup and spoke to Uchiha Madara.
"Train well."
Madara smiled, nodded, and clinked his cup with Raijin's before downing his drink in one go.
...
Inside Konohagakure, a delicate balance was always maintained.
Outside the village, however, the struggle between Konohagakure and the surviving members of Kumogakure and Kirigakure had begun.
At first, the survivors of Kumogakure and Kirigakure took advantage of Konohagakure's lack of preparation and managed to achieve some victories.
But as more Konoha shinobi arrived, things became increasingly difficult for them.
Konohagakure was spread out because it had many trade connections across the ninja world.
It was impossible to concentrate all its forces in one place.
But at the same time, the surviving members of Kirigakure and Kumogakure were also scattered.
If they gathered in large numbers, Konohagakure would quickly track them down and wipe them out in one strike.
With both sides spread thin, the survivors of Kirigakure and Kumogakure lost their initial advantage.
Aside from the early successes, they struggled to gain anything in the following battles.
Both sides suffered losses, trading blows back and forth.
But this was where Konohagakure's sheer size gave it the upper hand.
Konoha could afford a prolonged fight. Kirigakure and Kumogakure's survivors could not.
Konohagakure had the best medical system, abundant resources, and a well-organized intelligence network.
Most importantly, Konoha simply had more people.
According to Anbu reports, Konoha was able to track the movement patterns of the Kumogakure and Kirigakure survivors and adjust its forces accordingly.
By doing so, they gradually pushed the survivors into a smaller and smaller area.
At this point, Konohagakure had already forced them into the eastern part of the ninja world.
And they continued to sweep through the area, tightening the noose.
In the process, it wasn't just the survivors of Kirigakure and Kumogakure who were targeted.
Bandits, thieves, and even rogue shinobi were eliminated along the way.
Konohagakure—or rather, Nara Shikaku's approach—was simple.
Better to kill the wrong person than let a threat slip away.
Anyone who could use chakra to fight, even shinobi from smaller villages on missions, would be detained by Konoha.
They would then be escorted back to their village, where the leader would personally confirm their identity.
It was ruthless.
But no one dared to object.
Because all the leaders of the small villages knew one thing.
For Konohagakure, finding a group of wandering rogue shinobi was a difficult task.
But wiping out the village… for Konohagakure, that would be way too easy.
Maybe…
Just three seconds? And one of those seconds would even be spent enjoying the view…
While Konohagakure was using all its strength to launch a large-scale purge across the ninja world, Black Zetsu also began to move.
To be honest, Black Zetsu still didn't have a clear plan.
For Uchiha Ryuri to become the new Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, at the very least, he had to want it himself.
But right now, Uchiha Ryuri had no such desire.
So Black Zetsu could only try to stir up chaos.
If possible, maybe a major defeat would change Uchiha Ryuri's mindset.
Even Black Zetsu couldn't be sure this would work.
But at this point, he had no better options.
He could only take it one step at a time—there was nothing to lose by trying.
If this plan failed, then he would simply go into hiding again and wait for the right moment.
For now, Black Zetsu could only hope that their fight would end with Uchiha Ryuri's defeat.
Before Uchiha Raijin arrived.
If they could put Uchiha Ryuri's life in danger, that would be even better.
Meanwhile, the Seventh Squad, led by Nawaki, was searching for any surviving members of Kirigakure and Kumogakure.
"If we find survivors from Kumogakure and Kirigakure, what should we do?"
On the road, Kakashi turned to Nawaki and asked.
After all these years, the number of survivors from Kumogakure and Kirigakure was bound to be quite large.
With just five people, there wasn't much they could do.
(End of chapter)
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