The world I hear is completely different from yours.

Speaking of eating and sleeping, what are they? Obito recalled his memories of eating, drinking and sleeping, and felt a little incomprehensible. During the long period of wandering alone, Uchiha Obito never felt that he needed to sleep or eat, and he couldn't even be sure if he had any "feelings" at all.

However, Obito was certain of one thing: his body seemed completely different from what he remembered. For example, all the plants on the path he walked withered, and the living things he encountered became listless, as if they had been infected by him.

"What an interesting fellow. I originally just came to see what would become of the Evil God Church, but it seems this trip to the Land of Hot Springs was definitely the right one!" A strange man, half black and half white, suddenly appeared beside Obito and said, "Uchiha brat, how did you get here?"

Looking at Zetsu who had suddenly appeared, Obito Uchiha was a little confused: "Uchiha? How did you find out that I am an Uchiha?" Then Obito remembered that those people with red eyes were all called Uchiha.

"Is that why?" Obito reached out and gouged out his left eye, then held it up to his right eye to look at it. "Hmm... that's right, a red eye. No wonder you could tell I'm an Uchiha."

*Splat!* Obito casually shoved his left eye back in, and didn't forget to blow the dust off it first.

Jue's face twitched: "........."

My god, this Uchiha brat is terrifying! Is he even human? Eyes are vital organs connected to the brain, and they can't just be inserted or removed casually! The reason Madara was able to insert and remove his own eyes later on was because he had mastered the key points of eye transplant surgery after multiple surgeries. With the support of Hashirama's powerful life force and his own Six Paths power, he was able to replace his eyes instantly.

However, even before Madara obtained the power of the Six Paths, when Madara and Izuna Uchiha underwent eye transplants, they still needed to undergo a series of complex surgeries. Even later on, apart from Madara Uchiha, other people's Sharingan transplants still required surgery, which is clearly stated in the original work.

It is evident that to achieve the instantaneous insertion and withdrawal of the Sharingan requires immense strength and physical constitution. Therefore, apart from Madara, Zetsu has never seen any other Uchiha clan member capable of doing this, which is why he was startled by Obito's actions just now.

Forcibly suppressing his inner surprise, Zetsu continued his abduction maneuver: "I've been observing you for a long time. You seem quite lost. How about we go see a senior Uchiha? He can teach you how to bring peace to the world, teach you..."

“Okay.” Before Zetsu could finish speaking, Obito readily agreed. Since he didn’t know how to cross the ocean anyway, he might as well go with this guy and see. As for things like world peace, he didn’t understand what they were at all.

Absolute: "..."

Damn it! Do you know how much time I spent memorizing this long, brainwashing, and seductive script? Couldn't you at least respect me and let me finish? Do you know how I felt when I realized my prepared remarks were completely useless?

..................... ..

It was still a dark and enormous underground cave, still the motionless Gedo Mazo, and still the elderly version of Uchiha Madara with a full head of white hair and a face full of wrinkles, who relied on the Gedo Mazo to sustain his life.

"Madara, look who I brought!" Zetsu pointed at Obito Uchiha behind him. "This strange Uchiha brat has a strong aura of death on him. Any living thing that comes into contact with him will be affected. Only ninjas with strong vitality can withstand it to some extent. But what's strange is that he himself is still alive!"

Madara Uchiha rubbed his eyes, the three-tomoe Sharingan in his eyes spinning rapidly as he stared intently at the boy who had returned with Zetsu. Ever since Madara Uchiha entrusted his Rinnegan to Nagato, he had been using a pair of ordinary three-tomoe Sharingan as his own eyes.

Even without the Rinnegan, Madara could still sense the dense death aura emanating from Obito Uchiha, an aura that seemed to devour all living things, even causing the life-giving Hashirama cells within Madara's body to react.

"The One God, seeking stability, created the Yin and Yang poles. These opposing poles interact, giving rise to the myriad phenomena of the universe." Madara Uchiha murmured, reciting the inscription he had seen on the stone tablet in the Uchiha Chamber, his expression shifting between light and shadow. "Originally, I thought the so-called opposing forces referred to the Senju and Uchiha clans, and the awakening of the Rinnegan later proved this. But now, it seems that this 'opposing force' also refers to the forces of life and death. Could it be that this boy is also an indispensable part of the plan?"

Black Zetsu stood quietly to the side, saying nothing, but inwardly he was cursing: "Damn it! Madara, what are you hesitating for? I modified that inscription. My intention was to refer to the Senju and Uchiha clans, just in a more elegant way. It's not some nonsense about life and death! It has absolutely nothing to do with this brat. I only brought it back for you to study because I thought it was interesting!"

However, Black Zetsu didn't dare to speak at all. He was currently pretending to be Madara Uchiha's will, so he dared not show the slightest abnormality.

After a long silence, Madara Uchiha made his decision.

...............

PS: Second update, please continue to add to your favorites and recommend!

.............

P.S. As many of my astute readers probably already know, when I write an interlude, it usually marks the end of a volume.

Chapter One: A Dialogue Between Father and Son

The Land of Lightning derives its name from the thunderous roars echoing through the towering mountains that dot the country. As a peninsula-shaped nation, the Land of Lightning boasts numerous high mountains at its center. Rivers flowing from these mountains eventually converge on the coast, creating many winding rivers and hot springs. Thus, the Land of Lightning is renowned for its abundant hot springs. However, unlike the Land of Hot Springs, the Land of Lightning, as a traditionally military power with the highest military expenditure among the Five Great Nations, has Cloud Ninjas known for their formidable fighting prowess, far from being as cowardly as the ninjas of the Land of Hot Springs.

Late at night, atop a high mountain in the Land of Lightning, the Third Raikage, contrary to his usual behavior, did not soak in his favorite hot spring after finishing his official duties. Instead, he stood alone, puffing heavily on his pipe, silently gazing at the darkness that enveloped the Land of Lightning in the distance, lost in thought.

"Father, I'm back! The mission to wipe out the evil cult in the Land of Hot Water has been successfully completed!" The son of the Third Raikage, the future Fourth Raikage, strode in, creating a gust of wind. Most of the Cloud Village ninja were like this, walking with a powerful stride and speaking with an exceptionally loud voice, possessing the imposing aura of a true iron-blooded man like Li Kui, the Black Whirlwind.

"Hmm, well done." The Third Raikage turned around and casually replied, then glanced behind his son and asked, "By the way, where's Killer Bee? How did he fare on this mission?"

"Very good. He has been able to control the power of the Eight-Tails very well during this mission. He has now gone back to continue his training."

To prevent the tailed beasts within them from suddenly going berserk and harming the villagers, the Jinchūriki of Kumogakure live alone outside the village. In fact, this is common practice in most villages regarding Jinchūriki; in comparison, Jinchūriki like Gaara and Naruto Uzumaki, who can live within their own villages, are relatively rare. Of course, living within a village might actually cause these Jinchūriki even more suffering.

The Third Raikage continued to smoke his pipe in silence, as if he were thinking about what he wanted to say.

"Dad, what happened? Is there some problem?" The Fourth Raikage looked at his father. He knew very well that his father would only smoke so silently to relieve stress when he was facing a very difficult decision, so he asked.

Unlike Konoha, where the abundance of talent led to fierce competition for the next Hokage, in Kumogakure this generation, the Fourth Raikage, with his unparalleled military achievements and strength, became the sole candidate for the next Raikage and was already designated as the next Raikage. Therefore, even as a Jonin, he was qualified to discuss many important matters within Kumogakure with the Third Raikage.

The Third Raikage took a deep drag on his pipe, exhaled a large cloud of smoke, and then said calmly to his son, "There's a very difficult decision to be made in the village right now."

"Oh? A decision? Is there some difficult problem to solve?"

The Third Raikage put down his pipe, not answering directly, but changing the subject by asking, "You've been on the front lines for quite some time now, so from your own perspective, how is our war with Konoha going? Can we continue fighting?"

The Fourth Raikage carefully recalled his experiences on the front lines, organized his thoughts, and then answered, "In the early stages of the war, thanks to the superior combat skills of our ninjas and our strategic advantage of striking first, we gained the upper hand. However, when Konoha's reinforcements arrived with aircraft carriers and those large puppets called Zaku, our army could no longer compete with Konoha on the main battlefield. Now we can only rely on the country's mountains, fortifications, and other geographical features to resist Konoha's army. We must admit that our army is indeed temporarily at a disadvantage against Konoha's new puppet weapons."

"That Third Hokage named Tensei is indeed very clever. The various puppet weapons she developed have greatly improved the combat power of the Konoha army. It's just a pity that there are no puppeteers in our Land of Lightning, and the Cloud Ninja basically don't know puppetry. Even if we capture these puppet weapons, we can't use them!" The Third Raikage said bitterly, slamming his pipe heavily on the table.

"No wonder the Third Hokage personally led the full-scale attack on the Sand Village every time a battle started. It was to force those Sand puppeteers to surrender as soon as possible! That way, there wouldn't be any puppeteers to counter Konoha's puppet weapons in the subsequent war!" The Fourth Raikage suddenly realized. "But our Cloud Village hasn't lost yet. We still have a chance to win!"

"What chance do we have to turn things around now?" the Third Raikage asked coldly.

"Tomorrow, I will take Killer Bee and the two Yugitos to the battlefield!" the Fourth Raikage said with a resolute look in his eyes.

As a traditionally leading military power, the Hidden Cloud Village possesses two tailed beasts: the Eight-Tails, Gyūki, and the Two-Tails, Nekomamushi. In this war, the Hidden Cloud Village's army suffered repeated defeats against Konoha's aircraft carriers and Zaku. Therefore, not long ago, many of the Hidden Cloud Village's high-ranking officials requested the use of the tailed beasts to reverse the village's current predicament. However, the Third Raikage consistently refused, and even forbade Killer Bee, the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, from fully unleashing the Eight-Tails during the battle. This order caused considerable confusion among the Hidden Cloud Village members.

The Third Raikage looked at his son, who had volunteered, and offered his explanation: "Don't forget, we have Jinchuriki, and so does Konoha. Besides, Killer Bee and Yugito Nii have only recently become Jinchuriki, and their control over the Tailed Beasts isn't quite there yet. But it's different in Konoha!"

The Third Raikage hesitated for a moment before adding, "The top-secret intelligence the village received earlier, while not knowing who Konoha's Jinchuriki is, confirms that the Jinchuriki is from the Uzumaki clan, and has been a Jinchuriki for several years!"

As a clan with powerful vitality and sealing techniques, the Uzumaki clan has always been considered an excellent candidate to become Jinchūriki. Considering the time it takes to become a Jinchūriki, the Third Raikage ultimately concluded that his two Jinchūriki, who had only recently become Jinchūriki, were no match for the Jinchūriki of Konoha. Therefore, he prohibited his Tailed Beasts from appearing on the battlefield unless he was certain of victory.

Normally, at this stage of a war, according to past practice, the Land of Fire, which would be in a superior position, would propose peace talks. Then, the two sides would discuss reparations, with the defeated Land of Lightning compensating the Land of Fire for a portion of the spoils. This would allow both sides to cease hostilities and continue building strength for the next Shinobi World War. After all, if the Land of Lightning were truly pushed to the brink and launched a suicidal attack with its tailed beasts, even if Konoha won, it would still suffer heavy losses.

Therefore, the Third Raikage had been waiting for Konoha's invitation to peace talks until recently when Danzo, the frontline commander of Konoha's army, sent the Third Raikage a statement that "Konoha does not accept peace talks."

..............

PS: First update! Please continue to favorite and recommend!

Chapter Two: Tsunade's Furious Roar

In Konoha Village, Tsunade, wearing glasses, sat in the Hokage's seat reviewing documents. During the time that Tensei had left Konoha under some pretext, the village's political affairs were handled by Tsunade, the only high-ranking elder with real power, which could be seen as allowing the future Fifth Hokage to play a role ahead of time.

"Lady Tsunade!" Shizune rushed in, holding a frontline battle report that had just been deciphered by the code team. She looked flustered and had lost all her usual composure.

Tsunade was a little surprised by Shizune's reaction. She knew Shizune's personality very well, so she put down the documents in her hand, took the information from Shizune's hand, and read it carefully.

After a long silence, Tsunade removed her glasses with trembling hands, her face grim, and said in a low voice, "All staff, ANBU, and personnel, get out." Sensing the impending storm, those who had been working quickly dropped what they were doing, ran out of the office without looking back, and closed the door behind them, standing outside barely daring to breathe.

Soon, only Tsunade and Shizune remained in the huge Hokage's office.

"Danzo, you piece of trash! I'm so angry!" Tsunade slammed her pen on the table and roared, "Who does he think he is? How dare he send a notice of war against the Land of Lightning behind the village's back?! Does he even respect me as his acting government official?! And he even dared to say something like 'the distance is too far and the village's feedback is not timely, so he needs to make a temporary decision on his own,' does he think I don't know the meaning of 'a general in the field may disobey the emperor's orders'?!"

In the original work, Tsunade has always been at odds with Danzo. After Tsunade became the Fifth Hokage, she keenly realized that Danzo coveted the position of Hokage. Therefore, after taking office, she used various excuses to suppress and reduce Danzo and the Root organization, to the point that the other two advisors, Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, could not stand it anymore.

At this moment, when Tsunade discovered that Danzo, stationed on the front lines of the Land of Lightning, had informed the village without prior notice that the Land of Lightning had refused to negotiate, Tsunade was deeply enraged by Danzo's dismissive attitude. Moreover, this notification of refusal to negotiate was essentially forcing the Hidden Cloud Village to launch a full-scale counterattack. Did Danzo really have that much confidence in dealing with the Land of Lightning? After all, Danzo currently only had the Konoha army equipped with an aircraft carrier and Zaku puppets; what could he possibly use to fight against the Land of Lightning's tailed beasts?

Tsunade took a deep breath to calm herself, then quickly issued the order: "Shizune, immediately contact the Konoha army in the Land of Lightning. In the name of Konoha, demand that they immediately cease their attack. Until Konoha issues further orders, forbid them from waging war against the Land of Lightning. Also, to prevent Danzo from controlling the normal communication channels, send another copy of this order through the secret Anbu communication channels!"

Then, Tsunade thought of Orochimaru, who was also on the battlefield in the Land of Lightning. Although she was increasingly unable to understand this former comrade, she thought he wouldn't be so easily won over by Danzo. Then Tsunade spoke up again: "In addition, in the name of Konoha, appoint Orochimaru as the commander-in-chief of the Land of Lightning Expeditionary Force, replacing Danzo!"

Because Danzo had not previously informed Tsunade of Orochimaru's defection, Tsunade made a huge mistake at this moment.

"Yes!" Shizune quickly wrote down Tsunade's orders, then hurriedly ran out of the office and headed towards the communications team.

.............................

In the Konoha military camp of the Land of Lightning, Danzo stood in his tent and said to someone beside him, "The Raikage should have received our notification by now. That should be enough to prove my sincerity, right?"

“Of course, your sincerity is more than enough!” the ninja in Iwa ninja attire replied respectfully. “Rest assured, our previous agreement remains in effect. Soon, the Third Tsuchikage will lead an army of 30,000 Iwa ninja to join forces with you in attacking the Land of Lightning!”

"Very good!" Danzo nodded. What could enhance one's prestige more than the feat of destroying a country? Compared to the monumental achievement of destroying the Land of Lightning, one of the Five Great Nations, all of Minato Namikaze's previous achievements seemed insignificant!

The alliance with the Hidden Stone Village of the Land of Earth is why Danzo dared to launch a war of annihilation against the Land of Lightning without authorization!

Although Konoha has always fought against the other four great nations with the strength of a single country, the other four nations are not a united front. Among them, the deep-seated grudges between the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning are the most profound.

In the original story, during the Third Shinobi World War, the Third Raikage led a large army into the Land of Earth, ultimately fighting a massive army of tens of thousands of Iwa ninja for three days and three nights before dying. This time, however, because the Land of Lightning was suffering repeated defeats at the hands of Konoha, it lacked the extra resources and manpower to invade the Land of Earth. Instead, the Iwa ninja of the Land of Earth, upon discovering the strength of the Konoha army, broke their previous declaration of "never launching a surprise attack" and decided to join forces with Danzo to attack the Land of Lightning.

Of course, Danzo himself played a significant role in the smooth formation of this alliance. As the dark side of Konoha, Danzo maintained subtle connections with high-ranking officials of various other countries. Thus, despite the long-standing feud between the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning, Danzo, relying on his extensive network of connections, managed to secure an alliance with the Land of Earth without Konoha's consent.

"That's enough. With the Land of Earth's 30,000 troops, I can completely offset my disadvantage of not having any tailed beasts to deal with the Land of Lightning's Jinchuriki!" Danzo carefully considered his cards once more. Relying on the aircraft carrier and Zaku puppets, the Konoha army was already capable of defeating the Land of Lightning's army on the main battlefield. The only problem lay with the Raikage and a few other Kage-level powerhouses from the Hidden Cloud Village, as well as the two Jinchuriki. However, according to the intelligence Danzo had obtained, the Land of Lightning's Jinchuriki had only recently received tailed beast transplants. Therefore, considering the fighting power of the Third Tsuchikage and the 30,000 Iwa ninja troops, his victory this time was entirely assured!

It's a sure thing now! How could the Third Tsuchikage possibly lose when he's on top of the enemy??

As for the crime of bypassing the village and contacting other ninja villages on his own, Danzo didn't care at all. With the tremendous achievement of destroying a great nation, his reputation would reach an unprecedented height. At this time, Konoha would definitely not dare to pursue any of his crimes. And after he ascended to the throne of the Fourth Hokage with this reputation, who would dare to settle scores and investigate the past?

It's just a pity about Orochimaru! Danzo chuckled to himself.

.............

Second update, please continue to add to your favorites and recommend!

Chapter Three: The Man Destined to Become the King of Pigeon Catchers

When Orochimaru proposed his plan to Danzo to feign defection to mislead the enemy, the cunning Danzo immediately saw through it. He knew Orochimaru was genuinely trying to escape, and it wasn't a smokescreen. Although Danzo didn't understand why Orochimaru would choose to flee at this opportune moment when the Konoha army was winning victory after victory, it didn't stop Danzo from feeling a strange sense of smug satisfaction, like a pillow being handed to him just as he was about to take a nap.

At this time, Danzo had secretly reached a preliminary agreement with the Land of Earth, but to show his sincerity, he needed to make it clear that he would not negotiate peace with the Land of Lightning. However, as the commander-in-chief, Danzo could not bypass Orochimaru, the deputy commander-in-chief, if he wanted to issue any announcement.

Unlike in the original story, this time Orochimaru not only didn't collude with Danzo to make a deal, but also clearly stood on the side of the Third Hokage, Tensei. Therefore, Danzo didn't think that Orochimaru would so easily agree to his "no peace" declaration to the Land of Lightning.

Therefore, when Orochimaru took the initiative to say that he wanted to run away, Danzo, who always claimed to put the interests of Konoha first, not only did not criticize Orochimaru's idea of ​​wanting to break away from the people of Konoha, but also did not stop Orochimaru's attempt to take the reactionary path against Konoha. Instead, he readily agreed to Orochimaru's "defection plan", and was almost ready to wave colorful flags and dance a sexy dance to send Orochimaru off.

After Orochimaru left, everything in the Konoha army fell into Danzo's hands. In addition, with the Root organization that Danzo brought and planted in the Konoha army, Danzo was now confident that he could completely control the army, and even the Konoha village far behind could not interfere with his command.

Of course, Danzo, who always claimed to be a loyal subject of Konoha, would not openly disobey the village's orders. So after Orochimaru left, Danzo sent someone to impersonate Orochimaru and have this "Orochimaru" take the blame for everything—after all, Orochimaru, you've already defected, so please do your part for Konoha one last time!

Moreover, given Danzo's cunning nature and his multiple escape routes, he certainly wouldn't have made only one arrangement.

.....................

In a forest between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, Yekura and Sasori stood in a tree, preparing to capture Konoha's carrier pigeons for communication. Just like before, it was the same familiar recipe and the same familiar taste.

"Coo coo!!"

The woods were silent; nothing came near.

"Coo-coo!!" Sasori reluctantly cooed again, and then when he saw Yekura giving him a very dissatisfied look, Sasori simply gave up: "You think my cooing doesn't have the feel of a female pigeon in heat, doesn't attract the male carrier pigeons of Konoha? Yes, I admit I didn't study animal language properly when I was in the Ninja Academy, I just relied on my status as an elder's disciple to get by, is that enough? If you're so good, you do it!!"

"Seriously, Sasori, you're giving up on yourself pretty quickly." Yekura looked at Sasori with a disappointed expression. "Kid, don't you know how important it is to know a foreign language? If you know a foreign language, you won't need subtitles when you watch movies, and you won't have to beg and plead to find a translator. How come you don't understand something so good?"

"Even if I understand pigeon cooing, what kind of foreign film would I understand, Animal World?" Sasori retorted without any politeness. Although the arts and culture sector was not very developed due to years of war, movies still existed in the ninja world. Film crews and movie equipment appeared in the theatrical version of the original work, but movies were not very popular in this turbulent world.

"On another note, why do we always get these pigeon-catching jobs when we go to the black market to take on extra work?" Scorpion asked疑惑地. "Are there no other jobs on the black market? Or are there many employers posting jobs to catch Konoha's pigeons and disrupt Konoha's communications?"

Ye Cang knew the answer to this question and readily replied, "No, it's because our previous mission to catch carrier pigeons was very successful, so the black market manager thought we had a talent for catching carrier pigeons. Therefore, when we encountered similar missions, he specifically recommended us to the employers."

Upon hearing this, Scorpion felt a surge of anger. Just thinking about how other mercenaries' black market profiles were filled with words like "ruthless killer," "godlike killer," and "professional at wiping out entire enemy teams," while his own profile was simply "skilled at catching pigeons," made Scorpion feel that he was getting further and further away from the persona of a "cold-blooded, ruthless, handsome young assassin."

After a wave of despondency and despair washed over him, the disheartened scorpion opened his mouth weakly and uttered a casual "Coo-coo!!"

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!