Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

Kirito felt a headache coming on and sighed inwardly that the Hyuga main family members were indeed all stubborn old men who wouldn't try to be flexible unless they were properly taught a lesson.

There was no other way; if verbal persuasion didn't work, then we had to resort to force.

As soon as Hyuga Kazuma finished speaking, a massive surge of chakra erupted from Kirito's body and flowed into the ground.

A complex sealing barrier suddenly appeared on the ground.

In order to successfully capture Hyuga Kazuma, he had long ago used the Hyuga main family elder, to whom he had planted a soul seed, to set up a sealing barrier and hide it. Now he was just using chakra to fully activate it.

Sealing Technique: Seven-Layer Lamp Array!

As soon as the sealing technique was activated, Hyuga Kazuma found himself unable to move.

"I'm sorry, we could have sat down and talked calmly. You could have even put forward your own conditions, but unfortunately you refused."

Kirito instantly appeared in front of Hinata Kazuma and said regretfully.

"who are you?"

Hinata Kazuma fought back with all his might, gritting his teeth as he spoke.

His sealing techniques were terrible, but even if he hadn't eaten pork, he had seen pigs run, and his clan had a collection of various powerful sealing techniques.

So he used his glare to get a full view of the sealing formation beneath him and discovered some clues from it.

Kirito remained silent and directly used acupressure to seal all of Hyuga Kazuma's chakra points.

Hinata and Ma reluctantly closed their eyes and completely lost consciousness.

Kirito then placed his hand on Hyuga Kazuma's head and used the Spirit Transformation Technique: Soul Search to quickly locate the place where Hyuga Kazuma was hiding the Byakugan of the previous generations of the main family.

"The soul search was indeed correct. This clan chief Kazuma is quite cautious. The sealing scroll on his body only contains a small part of the Byakugan. He actually divided the rest of the Byakugan into five parts and hid them in other parts of the ninja world."

Kirito finished the soul search, then took a black scroll from Hyuga Kazuma and sighed softly.

Then, his appearance began to change rapidly, transforming into the likeness of Hyuga Kazuma. Wearing the appearance of Hyuga Kazuma, he swaggered out.

About half a day later, the real Hyuga Kazuma was finally discovered by the Hyuga clan.

However, the Hyuga clan did not publicize the fact that Hyuga Kazuma had been ambushed, but instead strictly forbade any ninjas who knew about it to speak of it.

Meanwhile, on the northeastern border of the Land of Rain, in a military fortress where a large number of Cloud Village ninjas had gathered.

As more and more Cloud Village ninjas arrive here, the atmosphere of war becomes increasingly intense.

After more than a month of fighting with the Leaf Village ninjas and suffering casualties, the Cloud Village ninjas' fighting spirit and bloodlust have been completely stirred up by hatred. If they fought against the Rain Village for profit before, then they are now fighting against the Leaf Village for revenge and honor.

At the local command headquarters, a fierce argument is unfolding.

"Lord Raikage, that person's origins are unknown, he is completely untrustworthy, and extremely dangerous. You must not listen to him. It would be very unwise to fight Konoha to the death right now."

Ailu said with a livid face.

When the Third Raikage heard his secretary say this, his face immediately showed displeasure, and he retorted, "Eluyi, you know that's impossible. We've already signed a secret agreement with Iwagakure, and now is not the time to go back on our word."

Chapter 279: Fusion of the Byakugan

"However, that person is really too dangerous. According to the information sent back from Konoha, Uchiha Madara is indeed not dead. If that person is Uchiha Madara, he must be preparing some kind of conspiracy. Otherwise, if he hadn't died back then, he should have destroyed Konoha long ago after Senju Hashirama died, and there would be no need to wait until now."

Ailu continued to try to persuade her.

The Third Raikage frowned deeply when he heard what Erui said.

He was able to listen to his secretary's advice and was seriously considering the pros and cons.

But after weighing the options in his mind for a while, he still believed that this was a good opportunity to destroy Konoha, and it was absolutely not to be missed.

Compared to Madara Uchiha, who was all alone, Konoha was the greatest enemy of Kumogakure. Moreover, if Madara Uchiha were still alive, he would be an old man with only a few years left to live, and he would have no future at all.

"Alright, Elui, my mind is made up. Go and prepare."

The Third Raikage took a deep breath, hardened his heart, gave his final answer, and gave Erui an unquestionable look.

Seeing this, Ailu knew she could no longer persuade the Third Raikage, and sighed, "Yes, Raikage-sama."

After saying that, she left looking dejected.

At this moment, she could no longer see the future of Yunyin. In her eyes, the future of Yunyin was originally clear and bright, but since the war with Yuyin began, the bright future has gradually disappeared until it is now shrouded in gloom.

The Third Raikage was too eager for quick success and instant benefits. Cooperating with someone whose friend or foe was unclear was tantamount to asking a tiger for its skin. Moreover, the cooperation between Kumogakure and Iwagakure was entirely facilitated by Madara Uchiha, and the specific distribution of benefits was never explained.

In this case, it remains to be seen whether Iwagakure is truly an ally.

"I'm sorry, Ailu, you're not the leader, so you won't understand my situation. I can't back down now. If I lose this time, dying a glorious death on the battlefield would be the best outcome for me."

After Ai Lu left the room, the Third Raikage sighed deeply, a pained expression on his face.

Then, his face was filled with hatred and anger, and he muttered, "Hattori Masanari, this time I will definitely kill you and completely annihilate your Amegakure."

The battle at Amegakure was the Third Raikage's greatest humiliation in history, which also put his position in Kumogakure in jeopardy.

To wash away this shame and solidify his position in Kumogakure, eliminating Amegakure and killing Hattori Masanari were his only options. However, Konoha interfered, making him drift further and further away from this goal.

During this month, the Hidden Cloud Village and the Hidden Leaf Village clashed multiple times, with each side winning and losing. However, because the Hidden Leaf Village had the hateful woman Tsunade in charge, and its battlefield medical system was far more advanced than that of the Hidden Cloud Village, the Hidden Cloud Village suffered a much higher casualty rate than the Hidden Leaf Village.

It was precisely because they had strong support and didn't have to worry about getting hurt that the morale of the Konoha ninjas remained very high, which led to their amazing fighting power and forced the ferocious Cloud Village ninjas into a series of defeats.

When the Third Raikage learned of this situation, he considered withdrawing his troops.

He was not an irresponsible leader, but also someone who cared about his companions.

Just that night, when he was planning to withdraw his troops, a guy claiming to be Uchiha Madara suddenly appeared in his room late at night. He didn't care who the guy was at all, and directly activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode, successfully taking off the guy's head.

It turned out that the other party was not a real person, but an unkillable dead puppet.

Moreover, this puppet was not weaker than others, possessing Kage-level strength, which made him very wary of this guy who claimed to be Uchiha Madara.

So, having no other choice, he had to listen to what the other party had to say for the time being. He then learned that the other party wanted to take revenge on Konoha and was willing to act as a persuader to get Kumogakure and Iwagakure to join forces against Konoha.

At first, he thought the other party was just talking nonsense, but he didn't expect to receive a handwritten letter from Onoki from Iwagakure the next day.

That stubborn guy, Onoki, who's as obstinate as a stinking rock in a latrine, actually agreed to cooperate with Kumogakure and promised to help them launch an attack on Konoha.

Then, the guy claiming to be Uchiha Madara reappeared, this time with a terrifying army of undead, all of whom were dead Konoha ninja. He said this was his gift to help Kumogakure deal with Konoha.

Ohnoki suddenly agreed to cooperate.

Madara Uchiha's undead army.

Both of these things greatly shocked the Third Raikage, and his fear of Madara Uchiha reached its peak, causing him to hesitate to cooperate with Iwagakure and Madara Uchiha.

But Madara Uchiha's next words forced him to change his mind: "If you don't cooperate with us, then I will join forces with Iwagakure to wipe out Kumogakure."

Faced with such a blatant threat, the Third Raikage was naturally furious, but he had to consider the consequences of refusing Madara Uchiha's proposed cooperation. He didn't want Kumogakure to be targeted by that madman, Madara Uchiha.

Finally, after much deliberation, he concluded that cooperating with Madara Uchiha would be more beneficial to the current Kumogakure, and thus decided to cooperate with Madara Uchiha.

When Ai Lui's persuasion failed, in a room in the Cloud Village camp, Black Zetsu, resembling a black and white pitcher plant, slowly emerged from the ground and smiled as he said to the strong Cloud Village Jonin in the room, "Lord Madara, just as you predicted, that woman failed."

“That’s only natural. That black barbarian is obsessed with revenge and maintaining his position. How could he possibly listen to the advice of a weak woman? Besides, the fighting spirit of these Kumogakure black barbarians has been completely aroused. If he chooses to retreat now, his men will surely mutini. After returning, he will have even less chance of retaining his position as Raikage. Defeating Konoha and wiping away his shame is his only way out.”

The next moment, the appearance of the Cloud Village Jonin changed rapidly, and he said in a cold voice.

As they spoke, the Cloud Village Jonin had transformed into the appearance of Uchiha Madara. At this moment, Uchiha Madara looked even younger than a month ago. Most of his originally gray hair had turned white again, and many of the wrinkles on his face had disappeared.

Madara Uchiha is no longer the same as he used to be, looking much older than he is now. He looks like a middle-aged man in his fifties.

Clearly, the Sage Mode Wood Release chakra stolen from Hashirama Senju has been subtly altering Madara Uchiha's body, greatly extending his lifespan.

The increased lifespan, restored bodily functions, and the increased number of the Undead Army have all contributed to Madara Uchiha's current strength, giving him greater confidence in achieving the Eye of the Moon Plan.

He's no longer in a hurry to retrieve the Rinnegan from Kirito. He plans to manipulate the war, constantly weakening the strength of the major ninja villages, and thereby continuously increasing the quantity and quality of his undead army.

Of course, one reason he wasn't in a hurry was because he was wary of Kirito and Chizuru's strength.

Kirito's ability to use Sage Mode further increased his apprehension towards him. Chizuru's Mangekyou Sharingan eye technique posed a deadly threat to him. If the two of them joined forces, he was not confident that he could defeat them and reclaim the Rinnegan.

Therefore, he had to try to recruit some cannon fodder to weaken the two men's strength. Even if these cannon fodder died, he could still use the Impure World Reincarnation technique to make use of them.

Get more in one fell swoop.

"Lord Madara, I think it would be better to get the Rinnegan back as soon as possible. Without the Rinnegan, we can't seal the Tailed Beasts into the Gedo Mazo. Besides, I'm afraid that kid might find a way to use the Rinnegan."

Black Zetsu cautiously offered a reminder.

Upon hearing this, Madara Uchiha frowned slightly and said, "That's true. After weakening the major ninja villages through the war, the plan to seize the tailed beasts should be put on the agenda. The Rinnegan does need to be retrieved as soon as possible. How are the preparations for the things I asked you to do going?"

"Everything is ready, and we await your command, sir."

Seeing that Madara Uchiha had heeded his advice, Black Zetsu sneered.

Madara Uchiha tasked him with infiltrating the Konoha army to cause sabotage. Although the number of White Zetsu who successfully infiltrated was small, they were still enough to cause enormous damage to Konoha's rear base.

"Very good. As long as we arrest those two, we won't have to worry about that kid not obediently returning the Rinnegan."

Madara Uchiha sneered.

Black Zetsu seized the opportunity to flatter him: "Lord Madara is wise."

At the same time, it thought to itself with delight, "Mom, the time for you to be resurrected is not far off."

……

Meanwhile, in the Land of Rain, in an underground research lab.

A series of white eyes, soaked in green nutrient solution, lined up haphazardly in front of Kirito.

Two hundred and thirty pairs of white eyes—that's what Kirito got from the storage-style sealing scroll on Hinata Kazuma.

If so many Byakugan were left outside, they would absolutely drive countless ninjas crazy.

"What should we do next? Should we let the Byakugan on the White Zetsu clone absorb the power of these Byakugan, or should we find a pair of Byakugan to act as guinea pigs and see the effect before making a decision?"

Kirito, controlling his White Zetsu clone, looked at the white eyes before him and pondered.

Through the movie, he understood how the Tenseigan was created: by fusing a large number of Byakugan, which is essentially devouring one's own kind.

Like the Sharingan, it is a very cruel way of evolution, which is very characteristic of the Otsutsuki clan.

The ancestors of the Hyuga clan may have developed the terrifying Caged Bird Seal technique because they discovered the dangers of the Byakugan's mutual devouring and evolution, fearing it would lead to the extinction of the clan. That's why they developed the Caged Bird Seal to protect ordinary clan members.

After much deliberation, Kirito decided to find a good pair of white eyes to act as a guinea pig and test the waters first.

Although the Byakugan on his White Zetsu clone has not devoured any other Byakugan, it is clearly on the path of evolution. If it were to rashly devour other Byakugan, it might interrupt this unique evolutionary process.

Furthermore, Kirito has no idea what might happen during the mutual devouring of Byakugan, so it would be unwise for him to rashly try out his Byakugan, which he has cultivated for many years.