Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 324 Contents of the Uchiha Stone Tablet

Before the Sage of Six Paths manifested, ninjas competed based on their true abilities.

There is absolutely no fool among those who have fought their way out of the fierce competition to become the highest-ranking Hokage in Konoha.

Including Danzo Shimura, the 5.5th Hokage who will never appear again.

The seemingly naive and brainless Hashirama Senju instantly understood everything after seeing Xia Zuo's eye between his eyebrows, and connected the Rinnegan with Madara Uchiha.

He murmured blankly, "Madara—"

Having received a reminder from the First Hokage, Tobirama Senju, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Minato Namikaze, who were unaware of the details of the battle at the Valley of the End, all understood.

Minato Namikaze exclaimed in amazement, "Fifth Hokage, you are truly a genius! You were able to develop the Sharingan with the bloodline of the Senju clan, and even upgrade it to the Rinnegan."

Xia Zuo said smugly and boastfully, "It's alright, it's alright, it's all thanks to my own efforts."

The Second Hokage scoffed, then sighed softly, "The Fourth Hokage was right. Fifth Hokage, you are truly a genius. At such a young age, you have reached a level that I can't even comprehend. I have to admire you."

"Moreover, you saw through Madara Uchiha's plot long ago, which is why you deliberately let Nagato go, in order to lure out Madara who was hiding in the shadows and completely eliminate this threat."

"No, that's not it." Xia Zuo shook his head and said, "Uchiha Madara is not the big fish I want to catch. What I want to catch is the monster hiding behind him, controlling him like a puppet."

Hashirama Senju was shocked: "How is it possible that Madara Uchiha is a puppet being manipulated?"

Even the First Hokage, who trusted Madara Uchiha the most and even regretted killing Madara with his own hands just now, didn't believe it, so it was even more unbelievable to the others.

That's Uchiha Madara. Even though Senju Tobirama disliked his arrogance, he still greatly acknowledged Madara's strength and unyielding spirit.

How could Madara Uchiha, who was willing to abandon his happy life in Konoha and his family's legacy for his own ideals, possibly be manipulated like a puppet?

Xia Zuo laughed and said, "What's impossible about that?"

"First of all, Madara Uchiha was the same age as the First Hokage, so it's impossible for him to be alive today."

"Secondly, I have top-secret information provided by Kabuto Yakushi: Madara Uchiha was resurrected yesterday using the Impure World Reincarnation technique. Now, like the other Hokage, he is a resurrected dead man."

"In other words, Madara Uchiha was already dead."

"I believe Madara Uchiha died before the Nine-Tails' night, otherwise Obito Uchiha wouldn't have dared to use Madara's name to harm people."

All four Hokage stared wide-eyed at Xia Zuo in disbelief.

Xia Zuo's deduction was impeccable, and there was solid evidence that no one could refute.

Moreover, if you think about it carefully, you'll realize that Madara Uchiha was just a ninja. He couldn't possibly have lived to this day; he must have died long ago.

Xia Zuo asked with a smile, "So, is Uchiha Madara, who died on the way, the mastermind behind everything, the one who manipulated everything?"

Tobirama Senju shook his head without hesitation and said, "Impossible. Once a person dies, the tea cools. No arrangement can withstand the test of death."

""

Hashirama Senju's expression was incredibly firm as he resolutely stated, "Someone deceived Madara Uchiha, making him believe that he could be successfully resurrected and that the plan he left behind could be executed smoothly."

Minato Namikaze was so surprised he almost laughed: "Nagato's Rinnegan belonged to Madara Uchiha, and Madara Uchiha was deceived to death. What kind of plan would be so complicated?"

Xia Zuo chuckled: "Minato, you forgot about Obito. To be precise, it should be Obito controlling Nagato from behind, Madara Uchiha controlling Obito from behind, and some monster manipulating Madara Uchiha from behind. It's a conspiracy of nested dolls."

Minato Namikaze thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed: "That's really true. This makes things even more complicated. With so many layers of nesting, any plan would go awry, wouldn't it?"

The mastermind Tobirama Senju said thoughtfully, "Unless this guy hiding behind Madara Uchiha, although controlling his puppets through three layers, can directly monitor Nagato, Obito Uchiha, and Madara Uchiha, and influence any of them at any time through the transmission of information."

Xia Zuo clapped his hands in approval and said, "As expected of the Second Hokage, you've almost locked onto that monster so quickly."

Driven by curiosity and anger, the First Hokage asked, "Fifth Hokage, who exactly is that guy?"

Xia Zuo didn't hide anything: "A core member of the Akatsuki organization, the holder of the 'Xuan' ring—Jue."

"He was the chief intelligence officer of the Akatsuki organization, and the only one who could control what information Obito and Nagato had access to."

"It can only be him."

Hashirama Senju muttered, "Zetsu, he was mentioned in the intelligence, but he's very weak."

Xia Zuo said, "The most skillful hunters often appear as the prey. Similarly, the most cunning schemers often disguise themselves as insignificant figures."

Tobirama Senju agreed, "Being able to grasp all the information and simultaneously contact Nagato, Obito, and Madara is no coincidence."

"The Fifth Hokage's deduction was correct; Zetsu was definitely the one who orchestrated the conspiracy."

Hearing his younger brother say the same thing, Hashirama, who trusted Tobirama implicitly, no longer doubted him. He sighed, "I never imagined that such a powerful ninja as Madara Uchiha would be toyed with by such a weakling."

Tobirama Senju steered the conversation back on track: "Fifth Hokage, I deeply admire your wisdom, but I still cannot understand your actions."

"You clearly knew that Zetsu was the mastermind, yet your actions consistently allowed the Akatsuki to grow stronger, condoning Zetsu's machinations in the shadows and even paving the way for Madara Uchiha's resurrection."

"I know that your strength has surpassed that of my elder brother, and there is absolutely no one in the ninja world who can rival you."

"If we can just kill Zetsu, take down Nagato, and stop Madara Uchiha from being resurrected, the ninja world can immediately return to peace, and the Fourth Shinobi World War will not break out."

Tobirama Senju raised his voice, questioning, "I think you're determined to fight the Fourth Shinobi World War, aren't you?"

The Second Hokage's words caused the other three Hokage to look at Xia Zuo with questioning expressions in their eyes.

Xia Zuo calmly sent out a signal, and soon Uchiha Shisui appeared on the towering tree, carrying a rather large cardboard box.

Upon seeing Shisui's appearance, the tension on the Hokage's faces eased, and they all greatly admired this perfect successor to the Will of Fire.

Especially the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, looked at that face that resembled Kagami Uchiha's, his eyes were filled with admiration and doting, without the slightest prejudice against him as an "evil Uchiha brat".

Xia Zuo explained, "Zheng Shui is my most trusted ninja. He knows all the information I'm discussing today, and he even investigated and confirmed a lot of it for me. So you can speak freely later without worrying about leaks."

Then he commanded Shisui, "Open it."

Uchiha Shisui immediately tore open the cardboard box, revealing the Uchiha stone tablet wrapped inside.

However, in the eyes of the four Hokage, it was just an ordinary stone tablet. The inscriptions were about the origins of the Uchiha clan, information they already knew.

Xia Zuo opened his third eye again and activated the Nine-Tomoe Wheel Eye, then slowly formed hand seals to perform a secret technique.

Forbidden Technique: Rinnegan Reflection

As Xia Zuo placed his hand on the right eyes of the four Hokage and Uchiha Shisui, their eyes transformed into red Rinnegan, just like the Six Paths Puppet, except that they lacked the nine tomoe.

Xia Zuo said, "Nagato was able to share his Rinnegan with six puppets, and I also developed a similar forbidden technique, but this technique is very damaging to the body. Only Uchiha ninjas who have awakened the Mangekyou Sharingan, and Kage-level ninjas resurrected through Edo Tensei, can withstand it."

"Shisui already knew that after awakening the Sharingan, he would be able to see more text on this stone tablet. Let's all take a look."

"Hmm, let's start by looking at the strength of the Sharingan's eye power."

As Xia Zuo adjusted the intensity of the shared ocular power of the Rinnegan, many more words appeared on the stone tablet in the eyes of the four Hokage, telling the story of how the ancestor of the Uchiha clan was Indra, the son of the Sage of Six Paths.

The Hokage were slightly surprised; it turned out that the Uchiha clan was actually a direct descendant of the Sage of Six Paths—that was quite a high status.

No wonder Uchiha who awaken the Sharingan become even more arrogant.

Xia Zuo said, "Next is the strength of the Mangekyou Sharingan's ocular power, and the content is quite exciting."

As their eye power increased, the four Hokage saw that there were many more words on the stone tablet, which told the story of Kaguya Otsutsuki, the mother of the Sage of Six Paths.

It turns out that Kaguya Otsutsuki came from another world. She was the guardian of the Divine Tree. After eating the fruit, she gained chakra and used the power of chakra to quell the wars in the world. She was revered as the Goddess of the Rabbit.

Years later, Kaguya merged with the Divine Tree and transformed into the mindless Ten-Tails. The Sage of Six Paths and his brother joined forces to seal Kaguya Otsutsuki, one of the Ten-Tails.

The Sage of Six Paths then sealed the remaining Ten-Tails chakra within himself, becoming the first true Jinchuriki in the ninja world.

The four Hokage are like reading a fantasy novel, with a story that has no logic and no credible evidence.

But since it's engraved on the Uchiha stone tablet, at least some of the content must be true.

Xia Zuo laughed and said, "Don't rush to conclusions, there's still the content about the Eternal Kaleidoscope to come."

The intensity of their eye power continued to rise, and all four Hokage and Shisui saw new text on the stone tablet, which was actually written by the Sage of Six Paths himself.

The Sage of Six Paths described in detail the evolution of the Sharingan, including the method for the Mangekyou Sharingan to evolve into the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan.

It even tells the story of how by combining the power of the Uchiha and the Senju of the Forest to form the power of "Senra Bansho" (All Things in the Forest), one can give birth to the Rinnegan.

Upon seeing this, Hashirama Senju exclaimed, "Ah? So Madara bit off my flesh to fuse with the power of 'All Things in the Universe'?"

Tobirama Senju exclaimed in surprise, "Brother, your flesh has been bitten off? That makes sense, now that the Rinnegan has appeared, these words are certainly real."

"Damn it, why is the evolution of the Sharingan so cruel? The Uchiha clan really is—well, this is too evil!"

'

Seemingly because Uchiha Shisui was present, Senju Tobirama forcibly stopped talking, retracting his catchphrase, "Born evil 19."

He swallowed it back.

Xia Zuo glanced at him, deciding to refute him later.

Everyone quieted down and continued looking down.

The following text is the Sage of Six Paths' expectation: he hopes that those who awaken the Rinnegan will make good use of the power of their eyes, summon the Gedo Mazo and seal the nine tailed beasts, restore them to the Ten-Tails, and seal the Ten-Tails into their bodies to become Jinchūriki.

In this way, one will have the ability to use the divine art of [God's Infinite Tsukuyomi] to bring the world into eternal peace and an absolutely beautiful paradise.

Everyone gasped. What was happening in the ninja world was clearly proceeding step by step according to the plan left by the Sage of Six Paths.

Hashirama Senju sighed, "I never imagined we'd be fighting the Sage of Six Paths. Should we continue?"

Tobirama Senju snorted coldly, and Minato Namikaze frowned deeply, but neither of them had the confidence to directly object.

The Third Hokage opened his mouth as if to say something, but Xia Zuo reached out and sealed his mouth, forcing him to shut up.

Xia Zuo even mocked him: "Third Generation, you'd better not say anything. I already guessed what you were going to say. The only idea your dull brain can come up with is to do nothing and wait for the result, right?"

The Third Hokage couldn't open his mouth, but his wide eyes and constricted pupils proved that the Fifth Hokage's guess was correct.

The other three Hokage all frowned. The Second Hokage even angrily shouted, "Hiruzen Sarutobi, what have you learned after following me for so many years? How could you come up with such a stupid idea?"

"Fifth Hokage, let go of me and let him answer my question!"

"Oh, okay." Xia Zuo withdrew his hand.

Tobirama Senju asked, "Hiruzen, tell me, when you encounter enemy ninjas and a battle breaks out, what is the most foolish choice you can make?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi answered without hesitation: "The most foolish choice is to hesitate in place and do nothing. Even the wrong action is better than hesitation."

Tobirama Senju: "—Then why did you decide to do nothing and wait for the enemy's actions to unfold when considering the village's plans?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi was speechless. After comparing his own fighting principles, he realized that his decision was indeed terribly wrong.

Sakumo Hatake's suicide was due to his hesitation, waiting for the rumors to explode, which led to an irreversible outcome.

The sealing of the Nine-Tailed Night was also something he hesitated to do until Minato Namikaze began to use the [Reaper Death Seal], and only then was it completely irreversible.

The Uchiha clan incident was also caused by his hesitation and inability to make a decision, which allowed the situation to continue to develop until there was no room for easing and the massacre of the clan occurred.

As a result, Xia Zuo, who was only a Chunin at the time, acted decisively and stopped the massacre of the Uchiha clan, saving thousands of Uchiha clan members.

If Hiruzen Sarutobi could make a decision, would his influence as Hokage for 30 years really be less than that of Mokudsuki's Kekkei Genkai?

Hiruzen Sarutobi slumped to the ground, dejected: "Teacher, I was wrong."