Naruto: By lying low and hiding, he eventually became the leader of the Legendary Sannin.

"Since I've already returned the gift, I won't be coming to see you tonight~~~"

Seeing Tsunade's mischievous grin, Kagura knew that the girl was teasing him.

Looking at the two children beside him, he cleared his throat and said with righteous indignation:

"Um, didn't you want to try my cooking?"

I will grant your request tonight.

Unexpectedly, Minato Namikaze, who had overheard this, raised his right hand, which was full of bags, and shouted:

"Brother Kagura, I want to go too!"

"Get the hell out of my way!"

"Oh..."

............

Chapter 23 The Mysterious New Member

In the pitch-black space below, a person is suspended in mid-air.

Judging from the man's appearance and clothing, he was none other than the abducted One-Tailed Jinchuriki—Shota Ono.

At this moment, his eyes were closed, and he was floating in the air, seemingly unconscious.

A blue energy circle enveloped him, the other end transforming into a thin rope that disappeared into the mouth of the tall and mysterious demonic statue.

Blue energy continuously emerged and surged on his body, then flowed into another section of the Gedo Mazo like water.

As the blue light suddenly shone brightly, it seemed that the One-Tailed Beast inside Ono Shouta's body had finally been completely extracted.

A massive surge of blue energy was drawn from Ono Shota's body, detaching from him and transforming into a ball of light that flew towards the Gedo Mazo.

Within the ball of light, a faint phantom resembling a tail could be seen. Although it seemed to be struggling, it was unable to resist the suction force and was swallowed whole by the Outer Path Demon Statue.

Having lost his one tail, Ono Shota also completely stopped breathing, falling vertically to the ground like a stiff corpse.

At that moment, a figure dressed entirely in black walked up to the corpse and looked up at the enormous demonic statue.

This figure was none other than Black Zetsu.

Its gaze traveled down from the head of the Outer Path Golem all the way to its feet.

There, within a thick tree trunk, the silhouette of a human figure with a vibrant right arm is slowly growing.

After the Gedo Mazo absorbed the One-Tailed Beast, a stream of blue chakra slowly flowed from the Gedo Mazo into the humanoid silhouette.

It was obvious that the rough, tree-bark-like skin on the humanoid figure had become much smoother.

After carefully examining the area, Black Zetsu nodded in satisfaction.

It turned back to report to the spotted figure behind it:

"Given the current energy support from the tailed beast within the Gedo Mazo, this body should be fully developed in no more than ten years."

"Ten years...?"

Madara Uchiha muttered to himself, but nodded slightly.

At this moment, Madara Uchiha was no different from eight years ago; he still looked like a young man.

But only he knew that if he pulled out the branch that supplied him with energy, he would quickly turn into an old man within a year or two at most.

However, as long as he relies on the energy supplied by the Outer Path Statue, sustaining himself for another ten years is a simple matter.

"If I wait another ten years, I will get a brand new body!"

Looking at the humanoid silhouette being cultivated before him, a rare hint of excitement flashed in his eyes.

Before he could even begin to imagine the future, someone suddenly walked up to him and knelt down on the ground.

The person's right cheek was wrapped in thick bandages, but faint traces of red blood could still be seen around the eyeball.

This is Uchiha Setsuna, whose Mangekyou Sharingan was taken by Kagura.

Although he had completed his mission and successfully brought the One-Tailed Jinchuriki back from Sunagakure.

However, since the precious Mangekyou Sharingan was lost, it's hard to say whether the mission was a success or a failure.

In fact, if you really think about it carefully, the main credit for successfully capturing the Jinchuriki should go to those two ninja duo.

His role as the leader didn't seem to be very significant in the whole incident.

Uchiha Setsuna, kneeling before Uchiha Madara, was trembling uncontrollably.

He lowered his head but remained silent, offering no explanation for his failure.

Looking at his clansmen, a hint of disappointment flashed in Madara Uchiha's eyes.

He knew very well that Uchiha Setsuna had no talent whatsoever.

Although he agrees with his own beliefs, he is a very loyal follower.

But in this world of ninjas, strength represents everything.

For this reason, he even went so far as to transplant a Mangekyou Sharingan into him.

But it would be fine if Uchiha Setsuna died during a mission.

But after he returned unscathed, he was told that his eye had been taken from him.

Kagura...

It's that brat from our own clan again.

It seems as if fate is at work, and this person's figure appears in every action I take.

Returning to the present, looking at Uchiha Setsuna kneeling before him, Madara couldn't help but sigh softly.

However, the next second, a resolute glint flashed in his eyes.

Addressing his people, he spoke in an authoritative tone that commanded respect:

"Lift your head and look at me."

Upon hearing this, Uchiha Setsuna's heart tightened, but he still obediently raised his head as instructed.

As soon as he raised his head, a pair of Sharingan eyes with concentric circles of patterns came into view.

Those eyes seemed to have a strange attraction, making it impossible for him to look away.

Just seconds later, the pupil of Uchiha Setsuna's only remaining eye began to dilate, and he looked as if he had completely lost himself.

Seeing this, Madara Uchiha nodded to Black Zetsu beside him and said in a deep voice:

"This person is yours."

The black-faced figure, composed entirely of shadows, had a slight upturn at the corners of its mouth.

Without further ado, it transformed into a black shadow and climbed onto Uchiha Setsuna's body.

Uchiha Setsuna's body trembled, and then the right half of his body was occupied by Black Zetsu.

The bandages that had been wrapped around the right side of his face loosened and fell off one by one, replacing Black Zetsu's pitch-black face.

As Black Zetsu possessed him, Uchiha Setsuna's previously bewildered left eye gradually regained its light.

He looked down at his body, but the voice that came out of his mouth was that of Black Zetsu.

"Indeed, having a physical body is much more convenient."

At this moment, Madara Uchiha no longer paid attention to Black Zetsu in front of him, but turned his gaze to the other side.

In his line of sight stood a mysterious figure who concealed himself entirely within a black trench coat embroidered with red clouds, with even his head shrouded in a hood.

Noticing Madara Uchiha's gaze, the mysterious man chuckled fearlessly and said mockingly:

"Is this what happens to those who follow you?"

Madara didn't pay attention to his tone, and calmly said:

"I'm just helping him to do what he wants to do more effectively."

Having said that, he didn't dwell on the topic any further, but instead asked in a deep voice:

"Have all the planned arrangements been completed?"

Various countries had already begun to pay attention to our 'Xiao' and started investigating.

Now, thanks to this incident involving a single tail, they will probably be even more wary of us.

To buy time, I need to throw the ninja world into chaos.

The mysterious man pondered for a moment before speaking:

"Yes, everything that needed to be done has been done."

After all, we have infiltrated quite a few people over the years and have escalated the conflicts to a considerable extent.

Alright, I need to do my final work now.

Perhaps for a while, I won't be able to come here.

I hope you can keep all your final promises!

and......"

Finally, he looked up as if glancing at Madara before continuing:

"If that opportunity really comes, I wouldn't mind burying the elites of the Three Kingdoms together."

After saying that, he didn't wait for Ban's response and turned to leave.

Watching the person's departing figure from afar, Ban looked up at the sky.

His gaze seemed to pierce through the top of the sky, reaching the distant Hidden Leaf Village, and he murmured:

"The Second Shinobi World War is about to begin..."

Chapter 24: The Second Shinobi World War Begins

Konoha 34 years.