Konoha: Starting with Sage Mode

There are still quite a few people in this world who inherit the bloodline of the Uzumaki clan, but there are not many outstanding individuals like Nagato anymore, and it is extremely difficult to find one again.

"As expected of Lord Madara, that's a great idea. I will do as you instruct."

Upon hearing this, Black Zetsu promptly flattered him.

"Enough with the nonsense, how's the situation in Konoha?"

Madara Uchiha didn't like flattery, especially from a non-human being he had created, and said coldly.

"Konoha's situation has improved recently. During the Nine-Tails' inheritance, for some unknown reason, the Third Hokage agreed to let the Uchiha clan participate, sending a large number of Uchiha people to the front lines and various borders to provide support. This has greatly reduced the pressure that Iwagakure and Kumogakure are putting on Konoha at the border. Now that the Nine-Tails has been resealed, Iwagakure and Kumogakure will probably withdraw their troops soon."

The only good news is that, Lord Madara, you killed Mito Uzumaki, and now the people of Konoha are preparing a grand funeral for her.

Black Zetsu organized his thoughts briefly before replying.

The news that Mito was still alive was undoubtedly top secret. As soon as the Third Hokage learned of it, he immediately implemented a news blackout. In order to completely block the news, he even used a sealing technique to seal the memories of some ordinary people who knew the news.

Therefore, very few people know that Mito is not dead.

After all, the fact that a Jinchuriki will die if they lose their Tailed Beast has never been broken. Now that the second Nine-Tails Jinchuriki has been born, it naturally means that Mito, the first Jinchuriki, has passed away. This is a consensus among countless people in Konoha.

If Kirito hadn't received the system notification and hadn't had Tsunade provide accurate information, he might have been kept in the dark as well.

Therefore, Black Zetsu was naturally unaware that Mito was still alive.

As it turned out, Madara Uchiha was very confident in his ability to kill Mito. He did not believe that he had made a mistake and was convinced that Mito was dead.

"Hmph, that woman is already dead, so there's nothing more to say. Just tell me why Konoha has been doing so well lately. It's quite unexpected that the Uchiha clan was allowed to join the Nine-Tails inheritance operation. There must be some special reason behind this."

When Black Zetsu mentioned that Mito had been given a grand funeral by the people of Konoha, Madara Uchiha immediately said with some displeasure.

This despicable woman is still respected by the people of Konoha even after her death; at least she didn't live in vain.

It was a mistake for him not to kill her before leaving Konoha.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to keep hiding it after Hashirama's death.

This woman's sealing technique is quite troublesome, especially after she obtained the Nine-Tails, her strength increased significantly. Even at his peak, he might have a hard time defeating her.

However, his strength has decreased somewhat after losing the Nine-Tails.

It must be said that the Nine-Tailed Fox is indeed a very good pet, which greatly helps to improve his strength.

"The reason why the situation in Konoha has improved may be related to Danzo, the leader of Root, being imprisoned. He is an extremely dangerous guy who is both an enemy and a friend. He will stop at nothing to achieve his goals, and he will even turn against his own people. Moreover, he is a very selfish guy. He says he is doing it for Konoha, but in reality, he is only doing it to satisfy his own selfish desires."

In short, he's a guy who loves to use the guise of Konoha to do all sorts of things that benefit himself. He was previously discovered to have instructed his subordinates to destroy the sealing barrier of the Senju clan's territory, and has since been stripped of all his posts and imprisoned. He hasn't been seen causing trouble for some time now.

Black Absolute knew Danzo quite well. When Madara Uchiha asked about the reason why Konoha had improved recently, it immediately thought of Danzo and gave its opinion.

"I see. It seems to be a very good piece."

Upon hearing the explanation, Madara Uchiha seemed to be deep in thought.

He knew about Danzo before. Although he was just a bug, he was very effective at disgusting Konoha and causing damage to the inner workings of the great tree that is Konoha.

Danzo's Root, with its inhuman ninjas, is a group of people who harm both themselves and others. If the person who controls these dangerous ninjas is a selfish individual, then Konoha will definitely suffer greatly.

It's a pity that this bedbug can't jump around for the time being.

"That's right. If Danzo could be brought back into the game, many good things would definitely happen in Konoha. Unfortunately, he's been suppressed and it's unlikely he'll ever be able to turn things around. However, he's very resilient. He has a large number of loyal Root ninjas under his command, as well as a lot of spies planted in other ninja villages, which is why the Third Hokage can't touch him for the time being."

Black Zetsu exclaimed in admiration, giving Danzo high praise.

After gathering a great deal of intelligence about Konoha, it concluded that whether Konoha was in chaos or not depended on this Dark Lord of Konoha.

It has high hopes for Danzo's ability to cause trouble. As long as Danzo doesn't bring down Konoha, the village will be in chaos, making it difficult to unite its people and pull together all its forces.

Moreover, Danzo's destructive influence on Konoha was unparalleled. He inherited the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju's ideology of suppressing ninja clans, especially his hostility towards the Uchiha clan. With him around, the Uchiha clan would never be able to rise again in Konoha.

Unfortunately, this useful guy can no longer cause trouble in Konoha, which makes it less fun to collect and organize information about Konoha.

"Is there any way to get him to start causing trouble again?"

"Uchiha Madara asked."

Black Zetsu is a non-human creature that inherited his will. It is usually responsible for organizing and summarizing various intelligences and is very knowledgeable. The fact that it so highly regards Danzo shows how outstanding Danzo's ability to cause trouble is.

It's a real shame to let such a talented troublemaker continue to fade into obscurity.

"Danzo made huge mistakes before. If he wants to make a comeback, he must make a huge contribution, such as making Konoha defeat Sunagakure. Otherwise, it is almost impossible for him to make a comeback. This is after Mito died. If Mito had not died, it would have been almost impossible for him to make a comeback."

"It's a pity," Black Zetsu said regretfully.

In his view, Danzo was practically a useless pawn.

Danzo wanted Konoha to defeat Sunagakure with his own power and the power of Root, which was probably no less difficult than climbing to the heavens.

After all, even at its worst, Sunagakure is still one of the five great ninja villages. Not to mention Danzo and his Root, even Konoha would have to pay a huge price to defeat it.

Moreover, Danzo is currently a prisoner and cannot even get out. He doesn't even have the chance to go to the battlefield to kill the enemy and make meritorious contributions.

"Defeat Sunagakure, Black Zetsu. How many White Zetsu did you plant in Sunagakure?"

Upon hearing about the solution, Madara Uchiha immediately asked.

It might be difficult for Danzo and his Root forces to defeat Sunagakure on their own, but if Danzo had Madara Uchiha's support behind him, it wouldn't be such a difficult task.

In his eyes, the war between Konoha and Sunagakure was nothing more than children playing house.

If he's willing to intervene, he can tip the scales of victory to one side at any time.

Wars are not only about the hard power of the two sides, but also about intelligence capabilities.

In fact, sometimes intelligence is far more important than hard power.

If one side obtains crucial intelligence that could destroy the opponent, even if they are the weaker party, they still have a chance to turn the tide.

This is why intelligence is so important.

"Lord Madara, are you planning to help Danzo overcome this crisis?"

Black Zetsu instantly understood Madara Uchiha's intention and said with some surprise.

Madara Uchiha's personality is clear: he is stubborn and self-willed. All the typical flaws of the Uchiha clan can be found in him. However, his strength is so great that these weaknesses are no longer weaknesses.

It never expected that Madara Uchiha, someone so confident in his own power, would be willing to help Danzo, that scoundrel.

"Hmph, it's just a casual move. Since this person still has some use, it won't hurt to give him a hand. You should arrange for some White Zetsu to go to the battlefield as soon as possible to find important intelligence from Sunagakure and then deliver it to Danzo in a reasonable way."

"By the way, we can't release too much useful information at once. This bug is known as the Dark Side of Konoha; he's quite capable at gathering intelligence. We can't let him see any flaws; everything must be plausible and reasonable."

Madara Uchiha snorted coldly and said with a cold face.

"Lord Madara, please rest assured, I know what to do. I'm very skilled at this kind of thing. I will handle everything cleanly and won't let Danzo see any flaws."

Black Zetsu, seeing that Madara Uchiha was serious and genuinely intended to help Danzo overcome his difficulties, exclaimed excitedly.

Danzo is indeed a pawn that it currently likes very much. It had previously intended to help him overcome his difficulties, but without Madara Uchiha's orders, it dared not easily mobilize White Zetsu to do so.

While it may not be subject to Madara Uchiha's will, all the White Zetsu are loyal to Madara Uchiha. If Madara Uchiha were to learn of its unauthorized actions from the other White Zetsu, he might question its identity.

Black Zetsu would never do something so self-destructive as to help Danzo make Madara Uchiha doubt him.

In its heart, reviving its mother was the most important thing.

Therefore, it must act cautiously and absolutely not allow Uchiha Madara to have even the slightest suspicion of its possibility, otherwise the possibility of it ambushing Uchiha Madara at the last moment will decrease.

"That's for the best. Is there anything else important? If not, I'll continue to sleep."

Uchiha Madara nodded.

His health is deteriorating, and it's unclear how much longer he can hold on. Yesterday, he went to Konoha, but just spending a little too long reminiscing made him feel extremely tired, and the Wood Release power within him was also somewhat out of control.

Since he removed his Rinnegan and replaced it with a pair of ordinary Sharingan, the power within his body has become somewhat unbalanced.

Hashirama's power is indeed formidable.

After the power of Wood Release took root in his body, his previous Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan could only barely suppress it. Later, when the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan unexpectedly evolved into the Rinnegan, he finally mastered the power of Wood Release.

Now that he has lost the power of the Rinnegan, the power of Wood Release is starting to stir again.

Now it has started again.

"There's nothing else important, Lord Madara. Please rest assured, I will take care of everything you asked me to do."

Black Zetsu also noticed that Madara Uchiha's physical condition was not right and immediately spoke up.

"Hmm, that's good. I hope I'll hear good news when I wake up next time."

Madara Uchiha slowly closed his eyes and spoke.

After saying that, he fell back into a deep sleep, and the Wood Release power that had been stirring within him subsided.

Upon seeing this, Black Zetsu's pitcher plant-like body tissues quickly closed up, and then he burrowed into the ground and disappeared.

Madara Uchiha is asleep, and now it's time for Black Zetsu to cause trouble all over the ninja world again.

……

One day later, in a small town in the Land of Rain.

A man completely shrouded in a black raincoat strolled slowly down a somewhat desolate street. His lifeless eyes, peering through small sunglasses on the bridge of his nose, seemed to look around listlessly. He appeared uninterested in anything around him, simply walking silently through the small town.

His presence was very low, and almost no one noticed him along the way.

The man is a member of the Root's Skull Squad. As for his name, he has long since abandoned it, along with his past and future. He is now merely a tool codenamed Taotie to protect Konoha, obeying Danzo's orders to eliminate any targets that threaten Konoha.

Now, Taotie has a new target to eliminate.

Hattori Masanari, that's the target he needs to eliminate now.

However, this mission target is not easy to deal with. It's not that killing them is difficult, but finding them is very difficult.

Three days have passed since the Skull Squad received orders to arrive in the Land of Rain, and a large number of Root members have been scattered throughout the Land of Rain. However, this guy named Hattori Masanari seems to have vanished into thin air and has not shown any trace of himself.

Perhaps their goal is no longer the Land of Rain.

This is what Taotie is thinking right now. Otherwise, with the abilities of those special parasitic insects in his body that have an extremely strong sense of smell, he would have already found Hattori Masashige.

Could it be that the constant rain falling from above has completely washed away the target's scent?

What a country with terrible weather.

Taotie walked around the entire town twice, but still found nothing. He came to an inconspicuous shelter from the rain, took out a scroll and a pen from his body, opened the scroll, and crossed out a name on the scroll with the pen.

Let's go to the next place.

Taotie put away the scroll and thought to himself.