When the Akatsuki's Byakuya was mentioned, Madara Uchiha became somewhat intrigued.
He still remembered that, before his slumber, he had paid attention to this young member of the Akatsuki. Byakuya's personality and methods had left a deep impression on him. If Byakuya had possessed the Uchiha bloodline, Madara might have even given up on Obito and focused on cultivating Byakuya instead.
Thinking of this, Madara said with interest, "Of course I remember. During my slumber, did that kid Byakuya accomplish something earth-shattering?"
Obito's face changed slightly, as if something precious had been taken from him, and he replied, "Byakuya led the Akatsuki to defeat Hanzo of the Salamander. You should know about that, right, Madara?"
Madara nodded slightly, acknowledging that he was aware. Before his slumber, he had sent Black Zetsu many times to gather intel on Nagato, so he was well aware of the Akatsuki's victory over Hanzo. Furthermore, Madara was not surprised. After all, Nagato was the container Madara had chosen, and despite his weak personality, he possessed the Rinnegan, which could change everything.
But what did this have to do with his current resurrection?
Black Zetsu noticed the doubt in Madara's eyes and began explaining what had happened since then, from Byakuya's invitation to join the Eye of the Moon Plan to the recent Konoha Collapse Plan.
Listening to these events, Madara narrowed his eyes and then turned his gaze toward Obito.
Obito's face was already darkened with anger. Every time Byakuya stood out, he often used him as a stepping stone. Therefore, he did not want to bring up these past events voluntarily.
Madara sensed something was off. The relationship between Byakuya and Obito seemed somewhat similar to the one he had with Hashirama. Every time he had a plan or idea, Hashirama would always get ahead of him.
When he heard Byakuya boast about being the successor of the Senju, determined to stop the Uchiha from destroying the ninja world, the sense of déjà vu peaked.
Looking at Obito, who seemed somewhat wronged, and Black Zetsu, who had a smirk on his face, Madara spoke up.
"So, you're saying you revived me like this because Byakuya stopped you from carrying out the Eye of the Moon Plan, and you want me to handle him personally?"
Before Obito could speak, Black Zetsu shook his head and began explaining the relationship between them and Byakuya.
"Madara-sama, Byakuya is not our enemy. Not long after you fell into your slumber, we found Byakuya and persuaded him to join the Eye of the Moon Plan. We deceived him into believing that collecting the tailed beasts to revive the Ten-Tails would bring peace to the world through national destruction and deterrence.
Over the years, Byakuya has done quite well. He's gathered quite a few tailed beasts for the organization."
Hearing this, Madara became even more confused. If Byakuya was an ally and not an enemy, then there would be no need for Obito and Black Zetsu to use the Edo Tensei technique to resurrect him. Wouldn't it be better to use the Reincarnation of the Six Paths technique instead?
What Madara did not know was that Obito's concerns were exactly that.
After a brief pause, Obito spoke awkwardly, "Old man, Byakuya has collected the tailed beasts for us, but his power has been growing too fast, and he possesses truly extraordinary strength. If he were to hunt down all the tailed beasts, we might not be able to carry out the Eye of the Moon Plan. After all, Byakuya seems to have no interest in the Infinite Tsukuyomi."
"No interest in the Infinite Tsukuyomi? Are you scared of him?"
Madara fell into a brief contemplation. He could understand the first part. Not everyone could grasp the greatness of the Infinite Tsukuyomi. The Infinite Tsukuyomi was the will of fire, transcended.
By using the moon as a projection, Madara's genjutsu could control all intelligent beings in the ninja world, making them live in a beautiful dream, thus achieving everlasting peace. However, the fear Obito had towards Byakuya was something Madara couldn't quite comprehend.
Before his slumber, he had designed Obito's awakening of the Mangekyō Sharingan and left behind many Uchiha legacies and clan artifacts. In theory, Obito should be invincible in the ninja world as long as he has mastered these legacies and the ability to use Kamui. How could he fear someone like Byakuya, who was of the same age?
But Madara could still sense Obito's fear and sighed lightly in his heart.
Obito had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan and had been active in the ninja world for so many years with his status, yet he was still as timid as ever.
After taking a deep breath, Madara turned his gaze toward Obito and Black Zetsu, saying coldly, "I'll handle the matter with Byakuya. But let's first discuss the progress on collecting the tailed beasts."
Black Zetsu and Obito nodded, then began discussing the situation of the tailed beasts.
At present, apart from the Four-Tails and Five-Tails from Iwa and the Eight-Tails from Kumo, the rest of the tailed beasts and their Jinchūriki were under the watch of the Akatsuki.
Most of the tailed beasts were monitored because of Byakuya's involvement. Obito had only successfully captured the Six-Tails' Jinchūriki, while all other attempts had failed.
Madara eyed Obito with suspicion, and his expression gradually became strange.
Most of the tasks within the Akatsuki were carried out by Byakuya. Obito had begun to doubt Byakuya's loyalty to the Eye of the Moon Plan, which was quite difficult to explain.
Even if Madara were to head out and search for Byakuya now, it seemed he wouldn't have many reasons to do so.
And compared to Obito, it seems that Byakuya is a better collaborator. Did Madara really misjudge the situation back then, which led me to give up on Byakuya?
After understanding the circumstances of most of the Jinchūriki, Madara Uchiha slowly spoke up, saying, "Since most of the Tailed Beasts are under Byakuya's control, we don't need to rush into dealing with the Tailed Beasts under his control.
In the coming months, we should temporarily focus on the Tailed Beasts of Iwagakure and Kumogakure, getting ahead of Byakuya and controlling them first, allowing us to better seize the initiative."
After hearing Madara's words, Black Zetsu nodded repeatedly.
As the mastermind behind the Eye of the Moon Plan, Black Zetsu certainly didn't want internal strife within the organization. If such a conflict broke out, weakening their power, it would delay the time it would take to rescue his mother by decades or even centuries.
This is something Black Zetsu could not allow.
Compared to Black Zetsu, Obito had a lot of dissatisfaction boiling in his heart. He had used Edo Tensei to resurrect Madara Uchiha, hoping that Madara would stand by his side, especially since he and Madara shared a close bond.
But after Madara was revived this time, his attitude towards Obito had become quite indifferent.
This greatly bothered Obito. After all, the Madara of the past had treated him very well, but the Madara now seemed to regard him like a stranger.
Could it be that his actions over the years had disappointed Madara?
If he had done things better, perhaps this situation could have been avoided. No, everything he had done was perfect. If Byakuya hadn't interfered recklessly, he would have been able to instigate a much larger Nine-Tails riot. His control over Kirigakure would have lasted much longer, and he wouldn't have had to flee in such a disgraceful manner.
It was all Byakuya's fault. If Byakuya could just disappear, everything could be fixed, and he could still carry out the Eye of the Moon Plan.
What Obito didn't know was that Madara's attitude had changed due to two factors.
On the one hand, Madara had always regarded Obito as a mere tool from the very beginning. On the other hand, Madara had learned of the events of the Night of the Uchiha Massacre.
Though Madara claimed not to care about Konohagakure, in reality, he was quite concerned.
Whenever he thought about Obito helping the descendants of Tobirama's student to deal with the Uchiha clan, Madara's teeth would clench in hatred. If it weren't for his current restriction due to Obito and his need to proceed with the Eye of the Moon Plan, he would have taught Obito a lesson.
For now, Madara would head north toward the Land of Earth, hunting the Four-Tails and Five-Tails, and perhaps meeting that little brat Onoki again, he hadn't encountered a worthy opponent for a long time.
---
While Madara and the others were heading north to Iwagakure, Danzo was not idle.
Even though his perceptions had been altered by Shisui Uchiha, Danzo remained an excellent strategist. After deciding to become the Fifth Hokage, he began to take a series of actions.
Danzo's greatest opponents on the path to Hokage were Jiraiya and Tsunade.
Jiraiya enjoyed the support of Konohagakure's elite ninja class and was highly recommended by both Tsunade and Mito Gateki. If Jiraiya was willing, he could easily become Hokage.
However, Jiraiya didn't want to become Hokage, which was good news for Danzo. As for Tsunade, who had run away from home, she too could easily become Hokage. But Tsunade, who had developed hemophobia in her early years, had lost the qualifications to be a ninja.
Yet, no one knew whether hemophobia was a real condition or if Tsunade was simply using it as an excuse to avoid village duties. It was unclear whether her fear was genuine or just a means of evading responsibilities.
If Tsunade didn't want to return to become Hokage and continued wandering, the position of Fifth Hokage would be his without any competition.
But there was always the possibility that Tsunade might return. With her massive reputation accumulated over the years in the ninja world and her status as the granddaughter of the First Hokage, Danzo could never compete with her.
Unless he could make the first move, creating a time difference by becoming Hokage ahead of her.
However, for this to happen, he would need the help of many forces. On one hand, he would have to delay Tsunade's return to the village, and on the other hand, he would need to form an alliance with the Daimyō to quickly confirm the Hokage candidate.
The first task was not difficult; he just needed to send someone to bribe Tsunade, and she wouldn't be able to resist the temptation of gambling.
The real headache, however, was working with the Daimyō. Over the years, Danzo had cooperated with the Daimyō many times and established various private connections. They had been using each other for their mutual benefit.
The Daimyō needed Danzo to keep the Hokage and the ninja villages' growing power in check.
Danzo, on the other hand, needed the Daimyō's help to counteract the pressure from the Third Hokage and to gain greater benefits for the Root organization.
But that was before. Now that the Third Hokage was "dead," many things would change.
Danzo had a good relationship with the Daimyō, but Tsunade and the Daimyō shared a blood relationship. Would the Daimyō really abandon supporting Tsunade and instead support Danzo's ascension to Hokage?
Danzo had his doubts. There were too many unstable factors in this matter.
Although the Daimyō might really support him and help him take the position of Hokage, he could also secretly contact other elite ninjas from Konohagakure to balance his power once he became Hokage.
But what if the Daimyō of the Land of Fire does not support him? Is there any way to ensure that the Daimyō will be obedient enough?
Danzo recalled the incident that had occurred in the Land of Wind a few years ago, which had been reported to him by Shisui. It was about the Fourth Kazekage, who had become a rogue ninja and attacked the Daimyō of the Land of Wind.
After that attack, the Daimyō, who had originally leaned toward Konohagakure, became much more cautious and gradually resumed financial support for Sunagakure's military efforts, refraining from interfering too much with Sunagakure's affairs.
It was rather laughable, actually.
When the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, was still the Kazekage, he would often face suppression and even humiliation from the Daimyō of the Land of Wind whenever he met him.
But after Rasa became a rogue ninja, the Daimyō of the Land of Wind dared not speak loudly to him.
This incident undoubtedly gave Danzo a lot of insight. As someone who sought to become Hokage, Danzo naturally could not openly take action against the Daimyō of the Land of Fire. However, he could still use a few schemes.
As long as he could make the Daimyō of the Land of Fire feel threatened, and solve the problem himself, Danzo was sure to gain the Daimyō's favor and support. He could even directly control the Daimyō and the entire Land of Fire.
Following the example of the hidden village of Amegakure, Danzo's ultimate goal was to have Konohagakure annex the Land of Fire in the future.
The system of one country, one village, was originally proposed by the First Hokage. At that time, the number of ninjas was limited, so the one country, one village system didn't cause much of a problem.
The ninja villages were originally formed as a way for the ninja clans to band together for protection. The purpose was to safeguard the various clans' ninjas.
During the time when the First Hokage established the village, Konohagakure only had one or two thousand ninjas, all members of the ninja clans. Despite this, even though the village had the most powerful military force in the Land of Fire, it still could not control the entire country.
The reason was simple.
In the Warring States Period, being a ninja was a profession that required children to go to the battlefield. Due to their age, it was extremely difficult for ninjas to learn the techniques of killing, and they had no ability to study other knowledge.
But with the establishment of ninja villages, the average life expectancy of ninjas increased significantly.
To prepare for the upcoming ninja world war, the Second Hokage even established ninja schools, transforming ninjas from simple fighters into well-rounded individuals.
It was around this time that the relationship between the ninja villages and the Daimyōs began to shift.
Now, ninja villages had absolute superiority over the Daimyōs, yet the Daimyōs still held control over the finances, and their position in name was even higher than that of the ninja villages.
Originally, due to longstanding traditions, everyone had accepted the system of one country, one village.
But ironically, Amegakure was the first to break this unspoken rule and led the way to greatness, reaching heights that Amegakure should not have been able to achieve.
Therefore, in order to make Konohagakure even greater, Danzo knew that he would have to take action against the Daimyōs.