This puppeteer is a bit... well...

Chapter 261 Opening the Eight Gates with Talent

Arrogance and self-confidence...

This is actually the same phenomenon, but it manifests differently in different people.

The strong display confidence, while the weak display arrogance.

If you don't know him, it's hard to tell whether he's arrogant or confident.

but.

Madara Uchiha had fought a fierce battle with Ryuji and lost miserably... Although he achieved his goal, he also lost his life, and his original plan was completely disrupted.

Under these circumstances, he still felt that Ryuji's attitude was arrogant rather than confident, which in itself was a form of arrogance.

However, this is Madara Uchiha.

A person who is both arrogant and confident.

In the original story, he faced off against all five Kage simultaneously. Initially, he underestimated them, casually attacking them, only to be outmaneuvered by the Kage several times. If it weren't for his Edo Tensei body, he would have been defeated long ago.

In the end, he had to give it his all to completely end the battle.

There was clearly a power gap between him and the Five Kage, yet they fought like this... If anyone still has the nerve to say he fought well, that's definitely a filter created by the weak worshipping the strong.

Is Ryuji a weakling?

No.

Therefore, he did not think that Ban's attitude was confident, but rather arrogant.

"Confidence?" Ryuji chuckled dismissively, then scoffed, "A loser, a dead man who lived his entire life in Hashirama Senju's shadow, dares to talk about confidence? Do you really think you can be confident you'll fail again?"

The smile gradually froze.

Madara Uchiha coldly stared at Ryuji and said calmly, "It seems that defeating me when I was on the verge of death has given you the illusion that I'm weak! This time, I'll show you my true strength!"

"Ban, business is more important."

Nagato offered a reminder from the side.

Madara looked over at the sound, his scrutinizing gaze lingering on him for a long while before shifting away. He chuckled softly, "It seems you've grown up quite a bit!"

Upon hearing this, Nagato frowned.

But before he could speak, Madara Uchiha interjected, "Shukaku is on him. Only by defeating him can we obtain Shukaku."

"I know, I'm telling you not to let personal feelings make you forget about extracting the Tailed Beast!"

"It's none of your business how I conduct myself!"

After speaking coldly, Madara Uchiha floated down from the Gedo Mazo.

Landing on the ground, Madara glanced at Ryuji, who was standing some distance away waiting for him and Nagato to finish their conversation, and couldn't help but sneer, "Thanks for being so considerate in waiting for us to finish speaking. Although it was completely unnecessary for you to do so, I'll still thank you!"

"You're welcome. I was just doing something else."

"Um?"

Looking at Madara's puzzled expression, Ryuji smiled gently, "I've been waiting for you and Zetsu to appear, and I'm willing to sacrifice my comrades in the village to create a situation where we both suffer heavy losses with the Allied Shinobi Forces."

Upon hearing this, Madara hesitated and said, "...You're saying you're deliberately holding back your strength to wait for me and Zetsu to appear?"

"That's right."

Ryuji spread his arms, took a deep breath, and then laughed, "Jue is an extremely cautious and stealthy guy. He won't show up unless you create an opportunity. As for you... you're just an afterthought."

Although Madara Uchiha's strength was on a completely different level, he was already dead. Killing his pawns left behind in the ninja world would completely eliminate this threat.

If you're still not reassured, you can learn the Impure World Reincarnation technique to summon him and then seal or destroy his soul.

"While you were talking to Nagato, I was also giving orders..." Ryuji looked at Madara Uchiha, but his eyes glanced at Zetsu hiding behind the Gedo Mazo. "I sent the four golden figures that landed on the ground... except for the one that went to Konoha, the other three went to the Land of Frost."

"The Land of Frost!?"

Black Zetsu exclaimed in surprise.

Madara and Nagato both looked over in confusion.

Black Zetsu explained, "The White Zetsu are all underground somewhere in the Land of Frost."

"So it was aimed at the White Zetsu." Madara suddenly realized, then dismissed it, "The White Zetsu were there to prevent the ninja world from uniting against the army I prepared, but in the current situation, they are no longer needed."

"You don't need it, but I really need it!" Ryuji chuckled softly. "Without White Zetsu, we can't create the Divine Tree Seeds. Although I discovered the White Zetsu's hiding place a long time ago, I've been holding back to avoid alerting them. Now, we can finally take action."

Yes, it is the seed of the divine tree.

Ryuji had considered this idea when he was creating the immortal body.

Using the cells of the First Generation and the special bodies of White Zetsu, he cultivated seeds that contained the power of the Divine Tree but could grow strong... Although he didn't study it in depth at the time because he was too busy, he started this research after he had been busy for five years and had nothing else to do.

And then, he succeeded.

This research led to the idea and even a plan to eliminate all Otsutsuki clan members existing in this universe.

The Otsutsuki clan in the universe searched for planets with life, then used the Divine Tree to devour the life of the entire planet, consuming the resulting fruit and evolving to a higher level.

Their behavior is no different from that of locusts; wherever they go, death follows.

Such an existence must be eliminated.

"The seed of the divine tree..."

Upon hearing Ryuji's words, Madara Uchiha and Zetsu's expressions both turned serious.

Although Nagato didn't fully grasp the situation, he understood the gravity of the matter from the changes in their expressions and couldn't help but ask, "You mean, you can mass-produce the Divine Tree?"

"It's just a special kind of creature that converts life force into chakra. It's not as complicated as the dragon vein's conversion process. Creating it is as simple as eating and drinking."

Simple?

Madara Uchiha and Zetsu both fell silent.

They had all studied the heretical statues, but they could not explore their essence or fully understand the mysteries of this life form. They only learned about some of its functions and methods of use through some experiments.

Ryuji, however, said that making such a thing was very simple.

"Bandit, we can't let this guy get away!"

After a moment of silence, Black Zetsu reminded him.

"I know without you reminding me."

Madara looked at Ryuji with a serious expression, feeling pressure for the first time.

It wasn't the pressure from his strength, but the pressure from the premonition that "if he escapes from here, even if the Eye of the Moon plan succeeds, it could still be ruined and turned around by this guy."

"Well, don't be in such a hurry!" Ryuji said with a smile, "Do you know why I only sent three golden figures to the Frost Country, instead of all of them?"

"...Is it because three are enough?"

"Is it because you harbor resentment towards Konoha and want to destroy it completely?"

Upon hearing Zetsu and Madara's answers, Ryuji gently shook his head.

"Neither."

"What is that?"

"It's for Indra and Asura!"

"What!?"

Madara and Zetsu both exclaimed in surprise, staring at Ryuji in disbelief.

Nagato, on the other hand, looked puzzled.

Who are Indra and Asura?

Why do they react so strongly when they hear these two people's names?

But it doesn't matter anymore.

Nagato glanced at the silent Gedo Mazo at his feet, sensed it carefully, and thought to himself: Fifteen more minutes, fifteen more minutes, and the Gedo Mazo will be able to transform into the Ten-Tails.

He had already obtained the Six-Tails, and now he had also obtained the Two-Tails, Three-Tails, Four-Tails, Five-Tails, Six-Tails, Seven-Tails, Eight-Tails, and Nine-Tails.

Except for the One-Tailed Beast, all the Tailed Beasts have been acquired.

As for the One-Tailed Beast... although there is no One-Tailed Beast, Nagato absorbed a lot of Shukaku's chakra from the sand sea during the previous battle.

Although this is insignificant compared to Shukaku, Shukaku's chakra is the least among all the tailed beasts, accounting for a small percentage.

Therefore, even this amount of chakra is enough to turn the Gedo Mazo back into the Ten-Tails.

Although it will take some time to complete.

Once the Gedo Mazo transforms into the Ten-Tails, he will immediately become the Ten-Tails' jinchūriki, erasing the curse mark left by Madara Uchiha within him.

Then, he would use the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki's power to create weapons powerful enough to wipe out any country and distribute them to everyone.

As for the Eye of the Moon Project, let it go to hell!

……

"You're all quite familiar with them, aren't you?" Ryuji teased lightly. "After all, one was the mastermind who stirred up trouble between them during their lifetimes, causing the two brothers to fight to the bitter end even in reincarnation, and the other was the reincarnation of Indra!"

"Um?"

Madara Uchiha looked at Zetsu with a puzzled expression.

Zetsu looked at Madara with a puzzled expression.

Seeing this, Ban frowned.

Ryuji couldn't help but laugh.

Black Zetsu is such a good actor; even after he had already told Madara Uchiha the truth, he still managed to fool him.

However, this is also related to Madara Uchiha's arrogant personality.

He didn't believe anyone could deceive him, let alone the will that had separated from himself.

However, Ryuji did not intend to elaborate further.

Because if you don't believe this, then saying more is useless.

"Madara, you sensed the presence of Indra and Ashura, so after reading the contents of the stone tablet, you merged their powers and finally awakened the Rinnegan..."

At this point, Ryuji seemed to have thought of something, and changed the subject, continuing, "Speaking of which, your unwavering belief in the contents of the stone tablet is probably due to your successful practice and awakening of the Rinnegan, isn't it?"

"Even the stone tablet knows who you are?"

His face was ashen and somber.

Black Zetsu appeared calm on the surface, but was inwardly terrified.

Who exactly is this guy, and why does he know everything?

"I am who I am, Ryuji Ayaki!"

"So what are you trying to achieve by saying all this?"

"For insurance purposes!"

"Insurance?"

"That's right, it's insurance!"

With a crisp sound, a red figure suddenly descended from the sky, landing between the two.

Upon seeing this woman, Zetsu and Madara quickly turned their heads to look at the battlefield... At some point, the battle had already stopped.

Whether it was a battle between ordinary ninjas or a battle between experts, it was all over.

Even the First Hokage was sealed away.

Matt Day, having exhausted his life force, has already died.

"How could it be so fast?"

Ban still couldn't believe it.

He was summoned by Orochimaru using the Impure World Reincarnation technique.

As the First Hokage was besieged and defeated by Kurenai and Ryuji, the Allied Shinobi Forces' situation became increasingly unfavorable.

Even the three legendary Sannin were nearing their breaking point.

Seeing that defeat was inevitable, Orochimaru decided to take a gamble and summoned Madara Uchiha.

He certainly knew about the feud between Madara Uchiha and Konoha, and he also learned from the First Hokage that the Impure World Reincarnation technique could not control powerful individuals of their caliber.

Therefore, the plan is to completely erase the target's will and carry out the control operation as soon as the target is summoned and before his consciousness is fully awake.

While this might prevent Madara Uchiha from unleashing his full power, he would still be a formidable fighting force given the difference in raw strength.

However, Orochimaru overlooked one point: Madara Uchiha's strength had already surpassed that of the First Hokage during his lifetime.

In Konoha's eyes, Madara Uchiha died in his battle against the First Hokage, but his body was stolen by someone unknown.

However, Madara Uchiha died when he was so old that he could no longer stand up.

At that time, he awakened the Rinnegan and possessed power surpassing that of Hashirama Senju.

The Impure World Reincarnation technique was jointly researched and perfected by Black Zetsu and Orochimaru, and the relics were obtained through Black Zetsu's methods.

Orochimaru was unaware of these things, so the person he summoned using the Impure World Reincarnation technique was the same Madara Uchiha who was resurrected during the Fourth Shinobi World War in the original story.

The moment he was summoned, before the coffin could even be opened, his consciousness was fully awake, and he kicked open the coffin lid.

Then, after "killing" Orochimaru, the caster, he went directly to Nagato's side.

With Orochimaru's death, the Impure World Reincarnation was automatically dispelled.

Without the reanimated army, the already weaker Allied Shinobi Forces naturally suffered a faster defeat...

Madara Uchiha had anticipated this.

What he hadn't anticipated was that Hashirama and Might Guy, even when working together, would be defeated so quickly.

Although the reanimated Hashirama did not possess his full strength from his previous life, no one knew better than him, Hashirama's lifelong rival and friend, just how powerful he was.

That is a powerful force that, even with the awakening of the Rinnegan, still doesn't guarantee a 100% chance of winning.

Even with such terrifying strength, coupled with another martial arts master who had opened all eight gates, they were defeated so quickly.

Is this woman really that powerful?

Madara Uchiha stared at Kurenai... He recognized her as the guy who had attacked him with Ryuji in the Land of Rain last time.

He immediately realized this guy was troublesome, so he used a trick to lure her away.

I never expected this... um? What is this?

Suddenly, Madara Uchiha seemed to notice something, his eyes widening in surprise.

"You've also opened the Death Gate of the Eight Inner Gates?"

"The Eight Gates Formation?"

Hong raised her head and said disdainfully, "It's true that I opened the Gate of Death, but what is the Gate of Death in the Eight Gates Formation? It's originally a part of the human body!"

"No, he was just surprised that you opened the Gate of Death." After explaining, Ryuji continued, "I mean, I was surprised too."

"Because this is a talent that humans can possess!" Red explained, "When I saw Might Guy open the Gate of Death, I wondered if there were people in this world who could open doors freely simply by controlling their bodies?"

Then, I tried to open the Eight Gates myself, and I succeeded. There really are people in this world who can open the Eight Gates through sheer talent!

(End of this chapter)