Starting as a pirate, he rose to become the strongest Shinigami in Soul Society.

Chapter 395 The goal of the ninja world has been basically achieved, and Madara Uchiha meets with Bane.

Inside the Ryūchi-dō cave.

Zoro took two jugs of sake from his waist, placed them on the table, and said to Waver, "I brought these back from the Land of Water. They taste very good. You can try them."

"It's really kind of you to bring me wine when you go out," Weber said, slightly touched.

"I'm just letting you try it." Zoro said, glancing at the two Yugito beside him, and asked with a hint of curiosity, "So, you two are together?"

"How could that be!?" The two Yukitos denied it without hesitation, "He only likes that cat!"

"Oh, so what you're worried about is that he doesn't like you, if he did," Robin teased with a chuckle.

Waver blushed, stroking Two-Tails and Rider, and said, "Mind your own business!"

The two Yugito glanced at Weber, pouted slightly in dissatisfaction, but said nothing.

The others burst into laughter upon seeing this.

"Fubuki said she's on her way back too," Ain said at the right moment. "This time in Sunagakure, she mastered gold dust, sand magnetism, and many related ninjutsu, secret techniques, and sealing techniques. It seems her strength has increased significantly."

"Ain, you haven't left Ryuchi Cave much. Don't you plan to go see the world?" Robin asked lazily, resting her chin on her hand.

"I'm not really interested. It's fine here," Ain said, shaking her head.

"When will Bane be able to come out of the Pure Land?" Zoro asked.

All eyes turned to Orochimaru.

Orochimaru paused for a moment, then said, "I don't know. Perhaps it will be fine once that illusory moon in the sky has completely transformed into a spirit?"

As he spoke, he took out the scroll of the Spirit Transformation Secret Technique and placed it on the table, saying, "This is the Spirit Transformation Secret Technique 2.0 revised version, which can also be called the universal version. I have studied it in detail and there are no special difficulties. You can all practice with peace of mind and strive to reach the state of unity of spirit and body as soon as possible. When we reach that point, we can all be considered to have 'immortality'."

The others were also quite interested in this technique and responded, but quickly moved on from the topic.

Only then did Robin tap on the table, drawing everyone's attention to her.

Robin then spoke up, "Of the nine tailed beasts, we've already acquired the One-Tailed Shukaku, the Two-Tailed Matatabi, the Three-Tailed Isobu, the Six-Tailed Saiken, and the Seven-Tailed Chomei. The Three-Tailed, Six-Tailed, and the newly acquired Seven-Tailed haven't been dealt with yet; they're currently sealed away. We can deal with them when Bane returns. So, the only remaining tailed beasts we haven't captured are the Four-Tailed, Five-Tailed, Eight-Tailed, and Nine-Tailed. What are your thoughts on these tailed beasts?"

"As for the Nine-Tails, Bane has already mentioned it to Konoha. There shouldn't be any major problems. If they know what's good for them, I think they'll send it over soon," Ain said softly.

"Wasn't the Eight-Tails originally assigned to Zoro? Why didn't he go to Kumogakure?" Waver asked Zoro, deliberately bringing up a sensitive topic.

Zoro's face twitched, and he glared at Waver, saying, "Looks like you want to fight again, huh? Even though I didn't capture the Eight-Tails, I did bring back the Three-Tails and the Six-Tails!"

"Wasn't that Robin's doing?" Nami teased from the side.

Zoro blushed, then argued, "While it's true she found it, I also helped."

"You're openly discussing the Eight-Tails here, have you even considered my feelings?" the two Yugito said helplessly.

"Didn't we tell you to send a letter to the Fourth Raikage of your village? If he's willing to hand over the Eight-Tails, Ryuchi Cave can give him some compensation," Nami said casually.

"I did write the letter, but the Fourth Hokage didn't reply at all, and the summoning beast I sent hasn't returned either," the two Yugitos said, somewhat embarrassed.

She knew her own Raikage's personality all too well; he was incredibly hot-tempered and wouldn't listen to reason. Even if she went back in person to persuade him, let alone write a letter, it probably wouldn't do any good.

"Well then, the Eight-Tails will remain in your hands, Zoro, Waver, and Yugito. Afterwards, you should go to Kumogakure and have a proper 'talk' with them," Robin said solemnly.

Although Zoro makes the decisions when Bane is not around, it is clear that Robin has extensive experience as someone who once managed Baroque Works, so Zoro respects her ideas more in these matters.

"Understood," Zoro nodded.

Yugito Nii didn't refuse, because she knew very well that her role was to act as a "lubricant." She knew all too well how powerful Ryuchi Cave was; even if there were ten more Kumogakure villages, they wouldn't be of any use.

While Ryuchi Cave's demands are also 'unreasonable,' at least they are willing to act in a gentle manner. If Kumogakure were to take a hard line, the outcome would likely be dire.

Therefore, Yugito and her companion would certainly not refuse this arrangement; she would go along to try her best to mediate and reduce the conflict between the two sides.

"The Four-Tails is in Iwagakure; the intelligence is complete." Robin tossed a file onto the table. "The Five-Tails' jinchūriki is the infamous Steam Ninja Han from Iwagakure. While the Four-Tails is also a tailed beast belonging to Iwagakure, it seems its jinchūriki has defected? Or perhaps left the village? In any case, he's not there. We need to search for him. Who's taking over this task?"

"I'll do it," Nami said, raising her hand after thinking for a moment.

After saying that, Nami looked at Sasuke Uchiha, who was silent and seemed somewhat downcast, and said, "Sasuke, will you come with me?"

Sasuke Uchiha paused for a moment and looked towards Waver. Actually, his plan was to go to Kumogakure with Waver for some training when he set off.

However, since Lady Nami had spoken, Sasuke Uchiha nodded and said, "Yes, I understand."

"That's how things are arranged regarding the Tailed Beasts. After that, you should act as soon as possible and not delay any longer," Robin instructed.

No one had any objections.

After discussing the Tailed Beasts, Ain took out a plan and placed it on the table, saying, "Basically, we have almost achieved our goals in the ninja world so far."

The series of goals set at the beginning have indeed yielded fruitful results.

They directly acquired Orochimaru's knowledge of ninjutsu and other related concepts.

Not only that, but he also obtained the Book of Sealing from Konoha. The others also acquired some secret techniques. Sasuke Uchiha even shared the legacy and rich variety of ninjutsu of the Uchiha clan, a major ninja clan in the ninja world.

It can be said that they have gained a great deal of ninjutsu, secret techniques, sealing techniques, and so on, even more than the average ninja village.

That's good enough.

The knowledge related to space and time has also been mastered, and most importantly, the Flying Thunder God and other space-time techniques.

Next comes the cultivation of natural energy, which is the issue of immortal techniques. Because of the Dragon Earth Cave, this was arguably the first thing we obtained, and now everyone has mastered it, so there's not much to say about it.

Then, there are the Tailed Beasts.

Opening and maintaining the portal requires a massive energy output, and the tailed beasts are an energy alternative they intend to try.

They have already achieved some success and have made plans for the next step.

Not a single mistake, not a single poem, not a single post, not a single piece of content, not a single look!

So, just as Ain said, they have basically accomplished the goals they set for themselves in the ninja world.

"Uchiha Madara, who was specifically mentioned by Bane, has now been defeated by Nami with an absolute advantage. This can almost be considered as proof that there is nothing else in the ninja world worth paying attention to. After Bane resolves his problem and we collect all the tailed beasts, it will be about time for us to leave," Zoro said after thinking for a while.

"Withdraw?" Orochimaru asked Zoro with some confusion.

Not only him, but Yugito and Sasuke Uchiha also had strange expressions.

Zoro paused for a moment, then looked at Nami and the others and said, "It's been so long, hasn't any of you mentioned these things to Orochimaru?"

Nami scratched her head slightly embarrassedly and said, "I've been forgetting about it and haven't remembered."

Just then, Robin spoke up: "No rush."

As she spoke, she looked at Orochimaru and Sasuke Uchiha and said, "We'll wait until Bane returns and he'll tell you about this himself."

As for the two Yugitos, Robin seemed to get along well with them on the surface, but in reality, he was still somewhat wary and had no intention of mentioning her.

Although Orochimaru was very puzzled and even a little uneasy, he finally nodded and said, "Okay, I understand."

Sasuke Uchiha didn't think much of it when he saw this. He assumed that everyone was moving their base and would no longer live in Ryuchi Cave. Such things didn't matter to him, so he stopped thinking about it.

Meanwhile, in the Pure Land.

After Madara Uchiha returned to the Pure Land, he thought he would fall into eternal slumber.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a courtyard filled with green plants and flowers, and even pavilions and waterside terraces.

The Spirit Lord, whom I had met once before, was loosening the soil and watering a tree.

At the same time, the tailed beast he was very familiar with, Kurama, the Nine-Tailed Fox, had shrunk to the size of a large dog and was lying at the Spirit Lord's feet, elegantly licking its paws.

Yin Jiuwei!

Originally, he was sealed inside the stomach of the Shinigami along with Minato Namikaze.

Now, the Grim Reaper is gone, and he died in the Pure Land. The Yin Nine-Tails' chakra cannot escape the Pure Land and return to the mortal world. It is kept by Bane's side and can be considered his pet in the Pure Land.

As for the flowers, plants, pavilions, and waterside terraces that exist today, they are all creations of his soul, having no real meaning, merely for his amusement.

Just as Madara Uchiha was filled with doubt, Bane turned around and asked curiously, "You haven't been gone long, have you? Why are you back already?"

Before Madara Uchiha could speak, Bane seemed to just remember something, and smiled sheepishly, saying, "Sorry, sorry, I haven't introduced myself yet. My name is..."

"Spirit Lord." Uchiha Madara nodded slightly in greeting.

"Ah, it seems you've gotten to know me better this time you went out." Bane laughed upon seeing this, and didn't continue the introduction.

"I once wanted to visit you at Ryuchi Cave in the mortal world," Madara Uchiha said with a slight sigh, "but there I learned the whole truth, the tragedy of the Eye of the Moon. So I came back."

Bane hadn't expected this situation either, and was briefly stunned before remarking, "Really? It's a good thing for you to have come to your senses sooner."

"Yeah, at least it wasn't so embarrassing that everyone knew about it," Madara Uchiha said with a self-deprecating laugh.

After a slight pause, he looked at Bane and asked, "Spirit Lord, do you think my life has been both pathetic and laughable?"

"Perhaps it's a little pathetic," Bane stroked his chin, then said, "but I think that being able to stick to an ideal and a goal, and to fight and strive for it until death cannot end your obsession, even if the result is not satisfactory, is not something to be laughed at. On the contrary, it is something very admirable."

Upon hearing this, Madara Uchiha, who had been feeling somewhat down, was initially dazed. After a long while, he smiled, shook his head, and said, "To receive such praise from the Spirit Lord at the end makes me feel much better."

(End of this chapter)