Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

The Third Raikage said coldly.

He didn't want Iwagakure to prosper. He needed to cause a conflict between Iwagakure and Konoha, or between Iwagakure and other ninja villages, as soon as possible. Otherwise, his plan to take advantage of the situation to invade the Land of Earth and plunder its mineral resources would be difficult.

……

The following day, news of Casalan being ambushed and controlled spread throughout Kumogakure, enraging countless ninjas who admired Casalan and prompting them to join the ranks of those who plotted against him.

Unfortunately, several days passed, and the people of Kumogakure still couldn't find their target or even a single clue.

The Cloud Village ninjas were naturally unwilling to give up and continued their search for the target, but a sudden and significant event forced them to shift their attention.

That was when the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Brubi, went berserk in his tailed beast form. If the Third Raikage hadn't arrived in time and, with the help of a large number of Cloud Village ninja, had suppressed Brubi, who had grown seven tails, the Eight-Tails would have almost broken free.

In a house in Kumogakure, a White Zetsu clone looked towards the direction of Kumogakure with his Byakugan. Watching Brubi being suppressed again by the Third Raikage, he said with some regret, "It's a pity that the Eight-Tails ultimately failed to break the seal."

Meanwhile, in Konoha, in an underground experiment at the orphanage, Kirito's shadow clone was standing in front of a huge cylindrical glass vessel, inside which a white-haired baby was being immersed in a green solution.

He ultimately obtained the flesh and blood of the Third Raikage.

The white-haired baby before him was a clone of the Third Raikage, created using the flesh and blood of the Third Raikage. He was now casting the sealing technique, Poison Pot Technique, around the cylindrical glass vessel.

This sealing technique is a forbidden technique of the Aburame clan. On the surface, it is meant to cause the poisonous insects in the sealing barrier to multiply rapidly, but in reality, it is a powerful sealing technique that allows the creatures in the sealing barrier to grow rapidly, and it involves time.

This forbidden technique was obtained from the memories of the elite Jonin of the Aburame clan whom Kirito had previously killed in the Skull Squad, and he is now using it to accelerate the process of clone creation.

If all goes as expected, given the current growth rate of clones, Kirito will be able to obtain a fully developed Lightning Release clone in another week.

"I hope my guess is correct."

Kirito's shadow clone looked at the Third Raikage clone in front of him with anticipation.

A month later, a powerful Lightning Release ninja appeared in the ninja world.

This lightning ninja has a mysterious background and works alone, but judging from his skin and hair color, he is a ninja from the Land of Lightning.

He recently accomplished a major feat: single-handedly attacked a force of over a hundred Iwagakure soldiers stationed on the eastern border of the Land of Earth, killing a large number of Iwagakure ninja and managing to retreat safely before other Iwagakure ninja forces could provide support.

For several months afterward, he repeatedly attacked the ninja forces on the border of Iwagakure, causing Iwagakure to lose hundreds of ninjas within a few months.

Because this mysterious Lightning Release ninja clearly came from Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village), he was very likely a rogue ninja from Kumogakure or a Kumogakure conspiracy. Iwagakure was very dissatisfied with Kumogakure, believing that this was a provocation by Kumogakure against Iwagakure. Many martial arts ninjas in Iwagakure expressed their intention to go to war with Kumogakure.

The Hidden Cloud Village, which has always been tough on foreign powers, naturally did not intend to take the blame for the attack on the Hidden Stone Village by a mysterious Lightning Release ninja. The Third Raikage firmly stated that the Hidden Cloud Village did not have such a person and would not apologize to the Hidden Stone Village.

As a result, the conflict between the two ninja villages deepened, but the leaders of both villages exercised considerable restraint and did not directly declare war on each other.

However, while the two major ninja villages have not yet officially engaged in war, frictions between them are increasing, suggesting that a major war between the two villages is imminent.

In an instant, the ninja world, which was already in turmoil due to the war between Konoha and Sunagakure, became even more turbulent.

……

In a huge underground cave, after a six-month slumber, Madara Uchiha was awakened once again by Black Zetsu's call.

Suddenly, a pair of Sharingan eyes with three tomoe glowing with a blood-red light appeared in the darkness.

Any good news lately?

Madara Uchiha looked at Black Zetsu, who was wearing a sinister smile, and asked him a question.

Every time he saw Black Zetsu with that smile, he knew the other person had brought interesting news.

He was looking forward to it.

"Yes, Lord Madara, I recently discovered an interesting ninja and an interesting organization. If we can control them, our Eye of the Moon plan might proceed more smoothly."

Black Zetsu smiled upon hearing this.

"Oh, tell me about it, but before that, tell me about my eyes first."

Madara Uchiha felt a surge of interest, but he quickly remembered Nagato, the host of his Rinnegan, and asked him.

He didn't care much about the current turmoil in the ninja world; he was more concerned about his own eyes.

These eyes are the key to his implementation of the Eye of the Moon plan; other people and things are merely embellishments.

Thinking of Nagato, Madara Uchiha suddenly remembered Hattori Masanari, the Amegakure ninja who had already noticed the Rinnegan, and continued, "Oh, right, also tell me about that interesting Amegakure ninja named Hattori Masanari."

Chapter 156: The Will of Rain and Madara Uchiha's Favoritism

When Black Zetsu heard that Madara Uchiha also wanted to hear information about Masanari Hattori, he felt a pang of bitterness in his heart.

During this period, it had actually been actively collecting information about Hattori Masanari.

However, since this Rain Ninja returned to Amegakure, he has made very few public appearances. Moreover, he seems to have obtained a lot of barrier-type sealing techniques from Konoha and set up sealing barriers in some important places within Amegakure, making it difficult for White Zetsu to obtain information.

Therefore, the amount of information gathered about Hattori Masanari is pitifully small, and most of the information gathered is about some of the more obvious things he did in Amegakure.

"Anyway, I've done my best to gather intelligence. Hattori Masanari's ability to hide is too strong. It's understandable that I can't gather any useful information with the White Zetsu."

Black Zetsu comforted himself.

After a moment of silence, it revealed what it knew about Hattori Masanari:

"Lord Madara, since Hattori Masanari returned to Amegakure, he has begun to reform the village with great force. As soon as he returned, he personally exposed a large number of spies and traitors within the village and used Hanzo to eliminate them all, quickly establishing a foothold in Amegakure."

Next, with Hanzo's support, he became the head of Amegakure's intelligence department, establishing an organization called Fubuki, which possessed great independence, much like Konoha's Root organization. It could raise funds and recruit personnel independently, and even had its own independent base.

"The Abyss Organization, is this the interesting organization you just mentioned?"

Madara Uchiha suddenly interrupted.

"No, Lord Madara, I've discovered that this organization is far superior to the newly established Abyss Organization. It's a mysterious organization that has grown to a considerable size, and it's also a very organized and disciplined one. It's said that the leader is a Kage-level powerhouse, and he's the one who killed the immortal Kakuzu. This organization is called Night."

Black Zetsu denied it.

"The organization is called Night, it sounds like a good organization. Let's continue talking about Persuasion Masanari."

When Madara Uchiha heard the name Night Organization, his eyes lit up and he became interested, but he still let Black Zetsu continue to tell him about Masanari Kobe's information.

He always liked to see things through to the end; if he only heard half of it and didn't hear the other half, he would feel awkward and uncomfortable.

"Yes, Lord Madara. After Hattori Masanari founded the Abyss Organization, he only absorbed a small number of the original Amegakure intelligence personnel. Most of the personnel were newly recruited from Amegakure and outside, and a large part of them were children under the age of twelve with great potential."

Therefore, the Abyss organization is currently very weak, but its internal purity is very high. Moreover, according to White Zetsu's observations over this period of time, the Abyss organization has great development potential, which is mainly related to Hattori Masanari's strong ability to collect funds.

He is now using a large amount of money to establish a training institution similar to a ninja academy in the Abyss organization's stronghold, and it is developing at a very rapid pace.

Furthermore, this organization places great emphasis on brainwashing education. This is a textbook used in the organization's ideological education classes; I've heard it was written by Hattori Masashige himself. Please take a look.”

Black Zetsu continued.

As it spoke, it took a book out of its body and handed it to Uchiha Madara.

The book is called "The Will of Rain".

"The Will of Rain seems to be similar to the Will of Fire created by that idiot Hashirama; both are tools used to bewitch people."

Madara Uchiha took the book, looked at the names on the cover, and said disdainfully.

He said he was dismissive, but he still opened the book and read it.

Since this book was written by Hattori Masanari, it must contain his own thoughts. He can use this book to see what kind of person this person is and what his values ​​are.

"Self-reliant, huh? He's quite a dangerous guy..."

Madara Uchiha looked at the book in his hand, his expression becoming more and more serious as he read, muttering to himself, a look of excitement in his eyes.

The content of "The Will of Rain" is completely different from the Will of Fire he imagined. Although it also emphasizes that companions should trust and love each other and be loyal to the country and village, it emphasizes the importance of power more.

Because the entire book is about the current crisis facing the Land of Rain, the various hardships suffered by the people of the Land of Rain in the war, and why the Land of Rain has become what it is today, it makes every Rain Ninja who reads this book deeply understand how bad the current situation of their homeland is.

The book also offers a solution: perseverance and self-improvement.

The book emphasizes that if Rain Ninjas want to protect the people of the Land of Rain, Amegakure, their families and comrades from war and other great powers, they must constantly strive to improve their strength.

It is evident that the author of this book had no naive thoughts whatsoever. He did not naively hope to achieve peace by making others understand each other, nor did he expect sympathy or help from others. Instead, he relied on his powerful strength to deter others from acting rashly.

In Madara Uchiha's view, the so-called Will of Rain is the spirit of perseverance.

"Yes, this person's ideas are dangerous. If the people of Amegakure accept these ideas, many powerful and dangerous ninjas will surely emerge in the future. However, this is also what we hope to see. The three major ninja villages around us will definitely not sit idly by and watch Amegakure rise with these ideas. It is inevitable that war will reignite in the Land of Rain."

Black Zetsu agreed with Madara Uchiha's assessment of Hattori Masashige, a sinister smile spreading across his face.

It had no interest whatsoever in Hattori Masanari's "Will of Rain," but it was very interested in Hattori Masanari's desire to use it to change the face of Amegakure and the Land of Rain.

As the chief intelligence officer for the White Zetsu, how could he not know the situation in the Land of Rain? It was a buffer zone between major powers, and rising to power was no easy task; the process would inevitably involve countless battles fought with iron and blood.

In this way, the war in the ninja world will never end.

It can then use this to secretly manipulate the war by utilizing various intelligence, thereby continuously weakening the strength of the major ninja villages and creating favorable conditions for the successful implementation of the Eye of the Moon Plan.

The power of the major ninja villages is still too great. With Madara Uchiha's current strength, it is simply not enough to seize the nine tailed beasts and then fight against the five major ninja villages.

The Land of Rain, which seems to be booming right now, is a perfect bait for war, constantly increasing the conflicts between the various ninja villages.

If the Land of Rain can develop smoothly, the situation will be even better.

Because the Land of Rain will definitely face joint suppression from the three major powers surrounding it, in order to resolve this situation, the Land of Rain will inevitably have to engage in numerous conflicts with the three major powers, which will further weaken the power of the various ninja villages.

"Unfortunately, it will be difficult to control such a person and make him completely obey our orders. This person is completely different from Jiraiya. He has already experienced the harsh lessons of reality and has developed his own firm will."

Madara Uchiha closed the book and said with some regret.

"As long as Lord Madara is willing to take action, controlling this person shouldn't be too difficult, hehehe~"

Black Zetsu laughed.

"Hmph, if I control him with genjutsu, then it's meaningless. The only thing I want is for him to accept my will and carry out my plan willingly. But even if he doesn't listen to me, it doesn't matter. Under his influence, Amegakure will inevitably produce a large number of combative ninjas in the long run. In the future, even if he is unwilling to provoke other major countries, as long as we secretly create conflicts between the Land of Rain and other major countries, Amegakure will definitely break out into war with other ninja villages."

"Uchiha Madara said coldly."

Madara Uchiha doesn't need puppets controlled by genjutsu; he will conquer others with power.

Black Zetsu remained silent, offering no opinion, but inwardly he felt disdain for Madara Uchiha's foolish arrogance.

It is utterly foolish of them not to make good use of the better methods they have for controlling the Land of Rain.

He believed that as long as Madara Uchiha was willing to take action, he could definitely control Hattori Masanari with genjutsu and make him their puppet, thereby smoothly controlling Amegakure.

However, it's not the right time for Madara Uchiha to use genjutsu to control Masashige Hattori.

Hattori Masanari is a very capable person, especially in making money. Because of him, the relationship between Iwagakure and Amegakure has eased, trade between the Land of Earth and the Land of Rain has been restored, and many factories in the Land of Rain have been able to resume operations.

As far as he knew, many of these reopened factories had been acquired in advance at low prices by businessmen secretly controlled by Hattori Masashige, turning them all into his money bags.

Moreover, Hattori Masashige controlled many industries in the Rain Country, which was in dire need of reconstruction, in the same way.