Starting as the mastermind behind Naruto

Chapter 312 How did I get to attend the Five Kage Summit?

Jiraiya's approach is sound.

However, trying to get information about Obito Uchiha and Orochimaru from Black Zetsu is simply wishful thinking; they can't catch Black Zetsu.

Moreover, even if they were captured, Black Zetsu wouldn't be able to fabricate any intelligence.

Black Zetsu really doesn't know!

Although it possessed a great deal of information about the ninja world, it couldn't find the locations of Obito Uchiha and Orochimaru no matter how hard it searched!

This brings us to Uehara Naraku's meticulous maneuvering. Although Uehara didn't have all the information about the ninja world, he controlled the source of that information.

The actions of all the dangerous figures in the ninja world, and even their lives, are in Uehara Naraku's hands. He can only bring them back to life if he wants them to.

Black Zetsu had absolutely no intelligence.

However, Jiraiya's proposed solution is the only way at present, so Konan also agreed to try to control Black Zetsu first and see if they could obtain information from it.

However, Xiao Nan still mentioned a problem in advance.

"Zetsu has always been an intelligence member of Akatsuki."

Konan frowned, her eyes filled with worry. "Its intelligence is always very accurate. If it really is Obito Uchiha's spy and knows what's happening in Konoha, it might have already escaped Akatsuki..."

"It's not a maybe, it's a certainty."

Uehara Naraku raised his head with a grim expression and looked at Konan, saying, "Sensei, Black Zetsu's goal all along was to make us collect the Tailed Beasts. Now that Lord Nagato has sacrificed himself, we've also given up on the plan to collect the Tailed Beasts. It definitely won't stay with Akatsuki anymore..."

"If we can't find Black Zetsu..."

Jiraiya slowly lowered his head and said in a low voice, "Then we can only continue to send more people to search for Obito Uchiha and Orochimaru!"

"Then please take good care of us."

Uehara Naraku clenched his fists and said in a deep voice, "Notify me immediately after you find them. I will absolutely not let those two bastards get away with this!"

We must go back and appease Black Zetsu as soon as possible.

Given Black Zetsu's exceptional intelligence-gathering abilities, it will soon learn what's happening in Konoha. It will know about Nagato's sacrifice, Kabuto's collusion with Obito Uchiha to betray the Eye of the Moon, Orochimaru stealing the Rinnegan, and a whole host of other information...

I wonder if Black Zetsu will feel despair!

After all, this was the closest Black Zetsu had come to success since setting the Eye of the Moon plan a thousand years ago, but it was betrayed time and time again... Even if Black Zetsu had a strong heart, it was hard to say whether he could withstand such a blow.

Uehara Naraku sighed softly to himself.

Now that things have come to this, he's the only one left who will stay with Black Zetsu. He wants Black Zetsu to know that, apart from him, there is no one else in the entire ninja world who can be trusted.

Apart from him, there is no one in the entire ninja world that Black Zetsu can rely on!

After all, controlling Orochimaru to revive Madara Uchiha, and incidentally reviving Nagato, will all require Black Zetsu's help!

That is indeed the case.

"Alright, let's leave those topics aside for now. Next, I'll send more Anbu to search for Orochimaru and Obito Uchiha. They definitely won't hide now that they've obtained the Rinnegan."

After Tsunade finished speaking, she looked at Uehara Naraku and Konan and continued in a deep voice, "When do you plan to return the tailed beasts of the other major countries to them... This way, their hostility towards Amegakure will also be reduced."

"There is no way to return it."

Uehara Naraku shook his head and said in a low voice, "The Gedo Mazo, which imprisons the tailed beasts, is only controlled by the Rinnegan. Now that Lord Nagato's body and the Rinnegan are in Orochimaru's hands, the Gedo Mazo will probably fall into his hands soon as well. We must find the Rinnegan first."

"Where is the Gedo Mazo that imprisoned the Tailed Beasts now?"

"After Lord Nagato released the summoning of the Gedo Mazo, he may still be inside Akatsuki's base, but he should be summoned away by Orochimaru soon... The Rinnegan is not the goal; the goal is to use the Rinnegan to manipulate and revive the Gedo Mazo."

Uehara Naraku shook his head again and said in a deep voice, "Unfortunately, no matter how strong we are, we can't do anything about the Gedo Mazo..."

However, Tsunade's words reminded Uehara Naraku.

The Gedo Mazo may still be at the Akatsuki's base, but we must find a way to move it away to avoid leaving any evidence against it.

After all, he has already been exonerated.

Now that it's been cleared up, it certainly can't have any more stains left.

"Is that so?"

Tsunade frowned again. She shook her head, temporarily ignoring the Gedo Mazo issue, and glanced at Uehara Naraku before saying, "I'll be holding a Five Kage Summit soon. Please attend!"

"The Five Shadows Conference?"

After pondering for a moment, Uehara Naraku said softly, "It sounds like a meeting of the five great ninja villages. Can our small country participate?"

"Of course you can participate."

After Tsunade nodded, she continued softly, "If possible, I plan to hold the Five Kage Summit in Amegakure or the Land of Iron. This would be partly to discuss how to deal with the crisis involving Obito Uchiha and Orochimaru, and partly to help you mediate with Amegakure to prevent the hatred from spreading further."

Tsunade acted purely out of kindness.

After all, Uehara Naraku destroyed four major ninja villages as a member of Akatsuki. Even though Sunagakure and Kirigakure have temporarily given up the pursuit under pressure from Konoha, Kumogakure and Iwagakure will not give up easily.

Tsunade planned to eliminate all hatred and hostility at the Five Kage Summit, thereby forming a ninja alliance to jointly hunt down Obito Uchiha and Orochimaru.

The power of a ninja village is limited.

If the five great ninja villages could unite, no matter where Orochimaru and Obito Uchiha hid, they would have a hard time escaping their pursuit.

Moreover, if a real battle were to break out with Orochimaru, Obito Uchiha, and their group, a powerful ninja like Uehara Naraku would be indispensable.

That guy, Uehara Naraku…

He can be called a new generation of ninja demigod!

How could they possibly shut out such power?

Uehara Naraku frowned and remained silent for a while, probably feeling that this world was a bit magical. He was going to attend the Five Kage Summit?

How...

How did he, the mastermind behind it all, get invited to the Five Shadows Conference?

That's amazing!

After a long pause, Uehara Naraku seemed to have finished thinking and slowly nodded, saying, "Thank you, Hokage. I will attend. If the Third Tsuchikage, the Fourth Raikage, or I clash..."

After saying this, a resolute glint flashed in Uehara Naraku's eyes: "I will absolutely not back down! I'm just worried that it will disrupt the Five Kage Summit that His Hokage has worked so hard to prepare..."

"It's okay."

Tsunade slowly closed her hands, lowered her head, and said, "I still hope that everyone can understand each other... After all, with Orochimaru and Obito Uchiha posing a threat, it would be best to avoid conflict."

"Um."

Uehara Naraku agreed.

Since they had finished their discussion and would resolve future matters at the Five Kage Summit, Uehara Naraku and Konan decided not to linger and planned to leave Konoha.

Quite a few people came to say goodbye to them.

This was also thanks to Uehara Naraku's redemption; many ninjas who had gotten along well with him in Konoha came to see him off, such as Might Guy and Team 3.

"Finally...finally..."

Rock Lee almost burst into tears, his words tumbling out in a jumbled mess, overwhelmed with emotion: "We're no longer enemies! We can finally be friends with Uehara-senpai again!"

"Yes! How can male friendships end like this!"

Might Guy was also filled with emotion; he was probably the luckiest ninja in this war.

After Might Guy sacrificed himself, he was almost reduced to ashes. He was first resurrected by Kabuto Yakushi using the Impure World Reincarnation technique and his body was restored to its original state. Then he was resurrected again using the Samsara Reincarnation technique and came back to life.

They only came to see them off before returning to their work. Konoha had just been burned to the ground by Obito Uchiha's great fire, and there was still a lot of work to be done.

Only Naruto Uzumaki, Kakashi Hatake, Sakura Haruno, and Jiraiya accompanied them for a long distance, clearly indicating that they had something to ask each other privately.

Uehara Naraku guessed it.

Before Naruto could ask a question, Naraku Uehara spoke first: "Naruto, do you want to ask about Sasuke?"

"Mmmmmm!"

Naruto Uzumaki nodded immediately, looking at Naraku Uehara with anticipation: "Will Sasuke come back?"

"I have no idea."

Uehara Naraku shook his head and sighed softly, saying, "Akatsuki and Konoha are no longer enemies, but what Sasuke has always wanted to do is destroy Konoha..."

After saying this, Uehara Naraku said in a low voice, "I suspect that once Sasuke learns about what happened in Konoha, he might leave the Akatsuki. Since he obtained the Mangekyou Sharingan, his strength has increased by leaps and bounds, and perhaps even I am no match for him."

"Has Sasuke... gotten stronger again?"

Naruto Uzumaki slowly clenched his fist.

They had all witnessed Uehara Naraku's power; even Uehara himself admitted that he was inferior to him. Just how powerful must Sasuke be now!

Sakura Haruno, standing nearby, gaped in surprise and asked curiously, "Wait... is the Mangekyou Sharingan's power really that exaggerated? I remember Kakashi-sensei..."

"No, it's true."

Konan glanced at Sakura Haruno and added, "Back then, Itachi Uchiha relied on the power of the Mangekyou Sharingan, and even Nagato dared not ignore him..."

Kakashi Hatake nodded and continued, "Indeed, the Mangekyou Sharingan's eye techniques are very special; they can almost drastically change a person's strength. Each eye technique possesses unimaginable magical abilities..."

After saying this, Kakashi Hatake said in a low voice, "However, the Mangekyou Sharingan also has its flaws. Every time you use a dojutsu, it consumes some of its ocular power, which will reduce the Mangekyou Sharingan's vision until it goes blind..."

"That will take some time!"

Uehara Naraku shook his head and said in a deep voice, "At least my chances of defeating Sasuke are very low right now. According to Kisame Hoshigaki, Sasuke has already obtained power that surpasses Itachi's!"

"When I get back, if Sasuke is still at Akatsuki's base, I will try my best to persuade him to let go of his hatred for Konoha; if he has left Akatsuki's base, I will send someone to bring you information about Sasuke."

"Thank you, Uehara."

Naruto Uzumaki adjusted his ninja headband and said with unwavering determination, "I will definitely bring him back someday!"

"I believe you can do it."

Uehara Naraku nodded sincerely.

(End of this chapter)