Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 160 is over. Have I become Madara's son?

"He's not dead!"

This was the first thought that flashed through Li Yao's mind after he regained consciousness and opened his eyes. Only then did he shift his attention to his surroundings.

His eyes were immediately drawn to a fleshy, white, swirling face that occupied most of his vision, and a pair of eyes that shone with an intense thirst for knowledge even in the dim light.

Ah Fei leaned close to Li Yao's face, his eyes wide with curiosity, and asked, "Did you feel the urge to poop?"

As he spoke, Afei reached out towards a certain indescribable body, which startled Li Yao so much that he quickly put on his black iron feather robe, covering his naked body.

Tread!

Faced with the black iron feathers that Li Yao suddenly conjured, A Fei and Bai Jue instinctively jumped back, thinking that Li Yao was about to attack them.

The black iron chains were so powerful that even they had to kneel down once they were trapped.

Li Yao naturally wouldn't lay a hand on Bai Jue. He got out of bed, sat on the edge of the bed, and looked around.

This is a secret room with no light source, but you can see everything inside.

Ignoring the surprised looks from Bai Jue and A Fei, and showing no interest in the white-haired old man on the stone throne, Li Yao stood up, stretched, and felt the surging chakra and life force within his body. A satisfied smile appeared on his lips.

"It's good that I'm alive."

Li Yao breathed a sigh of relief; as long as he was alive, he could continue his revenge plan to take down three generations.

"Such a fast adaptation!"

Li Yao's speed of adapting to the body after being assimilated by the White Zetsu cells shocked the White Zetsu. Logically speaking, after lying in bed for a year, and with his body cells being assimilated by the White Zetsu cells, his control over his body should be in a chaotic state, requiring time to adapt.

Just like when a body is suddenly controlled by two consciousnesses, it takes time for the consciousnesses to integrate.

However, Li Yao did not. His consciousness took absolute control, and the integration of the Gedo Mazo's chakra did not cause any instability in Li Yao's chakra.

This only proves one thing: Li Yao's consciousness is very strong, or rather, very special.

Regardless of the type, Li Yao is special.

Bai Jue felt a growing unease and a dull ache in his heart, but at this moment, he couldn't find the reason why Li Yao was able to break free from the control of the Gedo Mazo's chakra.

And... isn't this guy a little too calm?

They seemed to know them very well.

"Hey kid, aren't you being a bit too arrogant?" Afei was annoyed by Li Yao's disregard, or rather, annoyed that Li Yao didn't answer his question about needing to use the restroom, so he directly questioned him.

Li Yao smiled, then looked at Uchiha Madara who had been calmly watching him from a distance. His smile quickly faded.

Li Yao frowned. A trace of someone else's chakra fluctuation appeared in his chakra, just like the Third Hokage's chakra fluctuation in Sarutobi Tensuke's body.

At this moment, Li Yao's chakra also showed the fluctuations of someone else's chakra.

Moreover, this chakra fluctuation belonged to none other than Uchiha Madara, the white-haired old man on the throne not far away.

How can we be sure the white-haired old man is Uchiha Madara?

Who else besides Madara Uchiha was with White Zetsu during this period?

But what's the situation now?

Those who survive a great calamity are destined for good fortune, and this good fortune is rewarding themselves with a "father".

Li Yao mentally complained, but his actions were swift as he tried to clear the chakra fluctuations of Uchiha Madara from his chakra.

But it was no use. Madara Uchiha's chakra fluctuations were emanating from Li Yao's own chakra, not invading chakra. It was like the carbon in carbon steel, which had become one with the steel. It was impossible to separate the carbon from it, at least not for Li Yao at the moment.

"Damn... I'm not clean anymore!"

Li Yao mentally cursed again, but then could only face reality.

Clearly, Madara Uchiha didn't save him without conditions; he's now like Obito, a pawn in a game.

"I never imagined that after all these twists and turns, I still wouldn't be able to achieve true freedom!"

Li Yao shook his head and made a self-deprecating remark, showing no fear that Madara Uchiha would hear his words or that he had already seen through Madara's methods of controlling him.

"Kid, you know who I am now."

Ban's voice came through, seemingly questioning but actually affirmative. This was mainly because Li Yao's reaction was too normal; he showed no surprise or shock at the current situation.

In fact, Li Yao already knew it was White Zetsu when White Zetsu enveloped his body and quickly descended.

After all, it's obvious who else in the entire ninja world, besides Konoha, possesses Wood Release cells. Li Yao has never forgotten Uchiha Madara and White Zetsu, who are still alive at this time.

Knowing who saved him, Li Yao wasn't too surprised when he woke up, and he didn't bother to pretend he didn't know about Uchiha Madara.

When Madara Uchiha asked, Li Yao smiled and said, "The only people in the entire ninja world who could take me away from the Five Kage without a sound are Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju. I don't know anyone else. And you are obviously not Hashirama Senju, even if those two white guys have Wood Release cells."

Seeing Li Yao's words praising his strength while speaking with such confidence, and knowing that he was Uchiha Madara, Madara couldn't help but burst into laughter.

"Hahaha!"

"It's been a long time since anyone has dared to be so confident in front of me."

"I'll spare your life since you were able to get the Five Kage to join forces."

Li Yao shrugged, not refuting, since his life was now truly in Madara Uchiha's hands.

"Tell me, what do you want me to do?" Li Yao asked.

Madara Uchiha couldn't possibly have saved him out of kindness. Li Yao knew that Madara must have some demands of him. He was very curious, since he wasn't a member of the Uchiha clan, what was Madara's purpose in saving him?

What are your thoughts on this ninja world?

Madara's voice came through, and he suddenly wanted to hear what this boy, who had experienced such a painful life and was unprecedentedly besieged by the Five Kage, thought about the current ninja world.

What are Li Yao's thoughts?

From the moment Minato reported... no, from the moment he exposed his identity, his dream of becoming Naruto was long gone.

Moreover, he said at the time that becoming Hokage was just to fit Kimura Yo's character persona.

He never had the leisure to think of creating a peaceful world where everyone is equal after arriving in a world where superhuman abilities and martial prowess reign supreme.

No need.

Li Yao genuinely felt that the current ninja world was fine and didn't need to be changed.

The law of the jungle, where the strong prey on the weak, is the fairest law, bar none.

No opinion.

Li Yao smiled slightly and said, "Whoever kills me, I will kill them; whoever makes me suffer, I will make them suffer. This is my simple way of forbearance."

Heh... Madara Uchiha understood the underlying meaning in Li Yao's words, but he didn't care, and he didn't think Li Yao could grow to the point where he would have a hard time making things difficult for him.

This is a person who has been dominated by hatred.

This was Madara Uchiha's conclusion after Li Yao's response.

"You used to be useful to me, but you're useless now," Madara Uchiha said softly, looking at Li Yao.

Li Yao remained unmoved; the fact that he had woken up proved that he was still useful to Ban.

"However..." Madara Uchiha chuckled, "Your strength has barely earned my approval."

The combined power of the five Kage is absolutely explosive from any angle.

Although the current Five Kage are insignificant in Madara's eyes, the Five Kage are still the Five Kage, including the Hokage of Konoha. Even though Hashirama is gone, the Hokage of Konoha is still different to Madara.

As the first ninja to fight against the combined forces of the Five Kage, Madara acknowledged Li Yao's strength.

If I can't be his backup plan for the Rinnegan, being his henchman is still acceptable. A man who can make the Five Kage join forces won't tarnish Madara Uchiha's reputation.

"I have a plan that will take a long time to implement, and some unexpected things may happen during the process that I don't want to see."

Ban looked at Li Yao and said, "Your task is to resolve these unexpected events before they occur."

He doesn't have much time left, and he doesn't know if he can find an agent to execute the plan and ensure it can be completed on time.

If a suitable agent cannot be found in the end, Li Yao's abilities will be barely sufficient.

Let's keep him as a backup plan.

In the end, Li Yao still couldn't escape the fate of being a backup option.

"No problem." Unaware that he was being used as a backup plan, Li Yao readily agreed. This mission was just to be a henchman, as long as it didn't interfere with his revenge plan against the Third Generation.

(End of this chapter)