Starting as the mastermind behind Naruto

Chapter 328 Konoha's Edo Tensei List: The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju!

The Five-Shadow Talks are still ongoing.

Uehara Naraku leisurely sipped his juice, becoming a beautiful sight at the meeting and attracting glances from everyone present.

The Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, didn't look at him, his gaze fixed on a certain spot, as he stated his opinion: "...I am a Jinchuriki of Sunagakure, and I was once captured and imprisoned by Akatsuki. I have always believed that organizations like Akatsuki are extremely dangerous..."

"...Slurp slurp..."

Uehara Naraku's slurping of juice suddenly grew louder, briefly interrupting Gaara. He slowly put down his juice and said softly, "These are all things from the past, there's no need to continue talking about them, is there?"

"..."

What kind of old story is this?!

Uehara Naraku glanced at Gaara, seeing his speechless expression, and said softly, "Our Akatsuki was just used by despicable people. The most important thing now is to find the real mastermind behind this: Orochimaru, Obito Uchiha, and Kabuto Yakushi's group..."

"That's right."

Tsunade immediately spoke up, picking up where Uehara Naraku left off. She didn't want this meeting to turn into another pointless argument, so she continued in a low voice, "Instead of dwelling on past grievances, let's look at the danger before us!"

Tsunade slowly placed her hand on the table and said in a deep voice, "According to the intelligence we have now, Orochimaru has mastered the weapon that can use the power of other tailed beasts, and he has already collected the One-Tailed to the Eight-Tailed..."

After saying this, Tsunade suddenly turned to look at Uehara Naraku and asked, "Uehara, is that right?"

This information was given to Tsunade by Uehara Naraku.

For example, there's the matter of the ultimate weapon, the issue of Kabuto Yakushi also taking away the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and the possibility of Orochimaru transplanting the Rinnegan's abilities...

After nodding, Uehara Naraku's expression gradually became serious: "Strictly speaking, Orochimaru has actually obtained all the tailed beasts."

"What?"

After a moment of astonishment, Tsunade seemed to realize something, and a bead of cold sweat suddenly appeared on her cheek: "You're right..."

"What do you mean?"

The Fourth Raikage frowned in displeasure. He didn't quite understand the cryptic conversation between them. What did it mean that Orochimaru had obtained all the tailed beasts?

The Fourth Raikage looked at Tsunade and said with displeasure, "Tsunade, what does this mean! Has your Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki been captured too?!"

"No."

After a moment of contemplation, Tsunade said in a low voice, "There is something that perhaps two of you here already know: the Nine-Tails' chakra has already been split in two, and one part is in the body of the reanimated Fourth Hokage. This means..."

"That's right."

Uehara Naraku rubbed his forehead and added softly, "When Orochimaru sent Kabuto Yakushi to steal the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki that Akatsuki originally intended to return, it actually meant that he had already collected all the Tailed Beast chakra."

Now, Orochimaru no longer needs to obtain the Nine-Tails from Naruto to revive that so-called weapon of war. All he needs is to transplant the Rinnegan into himself and thus control the timeline of the Gedo Mazo.

When Uehara Naraku got to this point, he continued, "Now the Rinnegan is in Orochimaru's hands. He has obtained everything he wanted, and he may even be close to completing his plan."

These problems are a fatal flaw.

This means they need to speed up their operation to take down Orochimaru, because the enemy has basically gathered all the necessary tools; all that's left is to wait.

Tsunade glanced at Uehara Naraku, a glimmer of hope in her eyes, and slowly asked, "Wait, Uehara, there's one more thing... Why has Orochimaru been sending people to try and capture Naruto?"

"..."

Uehara Naraku shook his head and speculated, "Orochimaru has always wanted to send someone to obtain the Nine-Tails inside Naruto, perhaps because he wants to obtain the most complete tailed beast chakra in the ninja world, thereby gaining power that is absolutely irresistible."

After saying this, Uehara Naraku suddenly raised his head and said, "Besides that, there is another possibility: the Fourth Hokage, who possesses the Nine-Tails' chakra, has always been his strongest fighting force, and he doesn't want to destroy this force easily..."

These are things that they have all witnessed.

Back in Konoha, before Uehara Naraku arrived, Minato Namikaze was virtually invincible. He could perfectly suppress anyone, whether it was Nagato or Naruto Uzumaki, both of whom were driven to the brink of defeat by him!

Even after Uehara Naraku arrived in Konoha, facing a group of resurrected Kage-level figures who were attacking and killing everyone, only Namikaze Minato could barely hold his own against him for a few moves, and even cause him some trouble.

This also made Tsunade realize the difference in skill.

Therefore, Tsunade spared no effort to win over Uehara Naraku, bringing him onto their side so that they could be used to deal with the reanimated ninjas in the future.

The Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi and the Fifth Kazekage Gaara were well aware of this, so they kept trying to test Uehara's bottom line, instead of turning against him on the spot like the Fourth Raikage A.

The Fourth Raikage and the Third Tsuchikage both believed that the Five Kage together could suppress Uehara Naraku, since they were not only at the top of the ninja world in terms of their own strength, but also had the five strongest ninja villages standing behind them!

After all, if the five great ninja villages were to unite completely, there would be absolutely no crisis that they could not resolve; this was something that was practically ingrained in their very being.

"Uehara..."

Tsunade's fingers slowly curled, her brow furrowing as she asked, "After the Akatsuki collected the Tailed Beasts, what were their plans for using that weapon of war? Did they have any methods to locate it?"

"no."

Uehara Naraku shook his head and said in a deep voice, "Besides the Rinnegan, there is absolutely no way to control it... Even if we find it, Orochimaru might just summon it away, so what we must find is Orochimaru."

"Hello!"

The Fourth Raikage glared at Uehara Naraku and asked in a deep voice, "How powerful is that weapon of war? Don't you know how much power it can unleash after gathering the power of the nine tailed beasts?"

"According to my intelligence, it is capable of destroying a country in one strike."

After finishing speaking, Uehara Naraku frowned and added, "But in my opinion, it should be more exaggerated than the rumors in the intelligence, because I tried to destroy several major and minor ninja villages, such as Kusagakure and the ninja villages of some of you here, and it wasn't actually that difficult..."

"..."

Everyone's face darkened.

Does this jerk think the kettle is too hot to handle?!

You really know how to bring up the most sensitive topic!

Damn it, they've already deliberately and tacitly avoided this topic for the time being, why does this bastard still bring it up!

Uehara Naraku seemed to realize his mistake at this point, and he continued softly, "Based on my own strength, compared to the power of those tailed beast chakra, if the Gedo Mazo were to be resurrected, I believe it would likely possess the power to destroy the world..."

"That's right..."

Tsunade's voice gradually lowered. She glanced at everyone present and said softly, "I think so too."

"In other words..."

The Third Tsuchikage's expression gradually turned serious. He summarized their exchange in a low voice: "The enemy we are facing now is one that has already prepared all the conditions to destroy the ninja world, is that right?"

"good."

Uehara Naraku looked at the Third Tsuchikage and nodded in praise, "That's pretty much it. Lord Tsuchikage is truly wise."

"..."

Everyone in the room fell silent.

"What else is there to think about!"

The Fourth Raikage slammed his fist on the table, surveying everyone present, and said, "Then quickly send people to find him and bring back all the Tailed Beasts!"

"That's the troublesome part..."

Tsunade shook her head and said in a deep voice, "We need a large number of ninjas to search for Orochimaru and his group... Besides the fact that his hiding place is well-hidden, Orochimaru also has a large number of Kage-level ninjas under his command..."

"Um."

Uehara Naraku and Tsunade were practically working in tandem. He looked at everyone present and said softly, "If possible, you could all go and check the memorial stones in the village to see if there are any signs of robbing. It would be best to compile a list of all the graves that have been robbed..."

"..."

What the hell is this?!

Those present were almost speechless.

Uehara Naraku sized up the group and explained in a low voice, "Based on my speculations over this period and the reanimated ninjas I encountered in previous battles, I can provide you with a list of reanimated ninjas. I hope you won't be too surprised..."

Uehara Naraku's gaze first fell on the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, and he said softly, "Pakura, the Scorching Release Kekkei ninja from Sunagakure, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa..."

"..."

Gaara nodded nonchalantly. This information was as expected; he had met Rasa, but not the one with the Scorching Release: Pakura.

Uehara Naraku was a little unhappy to see that Gaara didn't react. Gaara should at least thank him!

Uehara Naraku raised an eyebrow and continued, "I must remind you that Kabuto Yakushi once used Pakura's Scorch Release to fight me. Pakura, that Edo Tensei ninja, is not to be underestimated. Moreover, her will has already sided with Kabuto Yakushi. She can fight with all her might because she was betrayed by the Fourth Kazekage and died as a result of his rage being vented on Kirigakure..."

"..."

Gaara was speechless for a moment, and Mei Terumi was also in a bad mood. Why did they have to bring up public execution when giving them information?

Upon hearing that Yekura had been betrayed by the Fourth Kazekage, the Third Tsuchikage and the Fourth Raikage both simultaneously let out a cold snort…

Uehara Naraku's gaze slowly shifted to the Fourth Raikage, who was grinning slightly, and he said softly, "The person from Kumogakure might be the Third Raikage, because for a period of time, Kabuto Yakushi frequently went to the battlefield where the Third Raikage and tens of thousands of Iwagakure troops were engaged in fierce combat..."

"..."

The Fourth Raikage's expression wasn't very pleasant.

However, the Fourth Raikage did not glare at Uehara Naraku. Instead, he glared angrily at the Third Tsuchikage beside him. After all, the war that killed the Third Raikage was orchestrated by the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki!

This old guy, if he can't beat them, he'll just use a bunch of people!

Uehara Naraku turned his gaze to Onoki and Terumi Mei, and said softly, "Iwagakure goes without saying, I suppose the Third Tsuchikage has already met his teacher... and Kirigakure, Lady Terumi Mei has also met the Second Mizukage, but there might be an additional Fourth Mizukage as well."

"No one..."

Onoki slowly lowered his head, a look of nostalgia and worry flashing across his face. He had followed Mu since childhood and received all of Mu's teachings.

"..."

Mei Terumi also slowly lowered her head.

Uehara Naraku's gaze finally shifted, landing on Tsunade sitting in the middle. His voice grew increasingly serious as he slowly spoke, "Those controlled Edo Tensei ninjas of Konoha...should we reveal them now?"

"Speak!"

Tsunade waved her hand helplessly and said, "Actually, we've already met most of them, haven't we? They're all previous Hokage anyway, it's really troublesome..."

Whether it was the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, or the Fourth Hokage Minato Namikaze, they had all anticipated this long ago.

"Um."

After nodding, Uehara Naraku looked at Tsunade and everyone present, and announced the first Edo Tensei candidate for Konoha: "The First Hokage, Hashirama Senju!"

It's a little late...

I'll write the list of thank-you notes this afternoon!

There's still three watches to go, feeling great...

(End of this chapter)