People in Demon Slayer: The Journey That Began with Demon Slayer

However, Tobirama, who was engrossed in studying the mystery of the Sharingan, did not dispose of Madara's body, but instead hid it deep in the mountains of Konoha.

However, Madara had calculated that even if he was defeated by Hashirama, Tobirama Senju would not immediately dispose of his body. So before he died, he placed the forbidden technique Izanagi in his right eye, rewriting reality at the cost of his right eye to revive himself, and disguised his shadow clone as a corpse.

Madara Uchiha, having left the deep mountains, did not leave the Land of Fire, but instead found an underground base near the Valley of the End.

That underground base was where Obito first met Madara Uchiha, and it was also the burial place where Madara Uchiha died due to the failure of his bodily functions.

Obito and Black Zetsu arrived at the underground base with ease.

At this time, the underground base was overgrown with weeds due to years of disrepair, and there was no trace of human habitation.

At the very back of the base, only a skeleton lay silently on the ground.

And this skeleton is none other than Uchiha Madara, the legendary ninja who once dominated the ninja world.

Looking at Madara Uchiha's skeleton, Obito felt a mix of emotions.

Obito felt grateful to Madara Uchiha because Madara had saved him from the Kannabi Bridge battle, leaving him severely injured and on the verge of death.

However, Obito was also very clear in his heart that Madara was just using him to achieve his own goals.

The two were simply getting what they wanted.

Seeing Obito lost in his memories, Black Zetsu asked, "Obito, shall we revive Madara now?"

Obito, regaining his senses, nodded: "Since we've already decided, let's revive him directly. The longer we drag it out, the more disadvantages there will be. Besides, Nagato is already suspicious of me. Only the appearance of the real Uchiha Madara can dispel his doubts and make him work for us with peace of mind."

Obito spent several days learning the ninjutsu on the two scrolls.

Once everything was ready, Obito began forming hand seals.

After completing the hand seals, he placed his hands on the soil, which still carried the aura of Madara Uchiha's corpse.

"Earth Release: Ultimate Creation Technique - Soil of the Dead!"

As Obito unleashed his ninjutsu, the soil on the ground churned up, and then the mud piled up one after another.

Soon, a clay statue made of soil, bearing the appearance of Madara Uchiha, appeared on the spot.

At this point, Madara Uchiha was merely a clay puppet devoid of any consciousness.

Obito took a deep breath and formed hand seals again.

"Earth Release: Reincarnation Technique!"

Obito continuously poured his chakra into the puppet.

As the clay figure gradually fell away, Madara Uchiha's complete body appeared a moment later.

Madara Uchiha opened his eyes, looking coldly at Obito and Black Zetsu before him: "Why did you revive me in this form?"

Obito explained, "The plan has gone wrong, so we have no choice but to revive you ahead of schedule."

Madara Uchiha frowned: "Is Nagato in trouble?"

"It's not Nagato."

Obito and Black Zetsu told Madara Uchiha about Yosuke and Orochimaru.

Madara Uchiha's eyes were filled with interest: "Interesting. I never expected that in the years since my death, two such interesting fellows would appear."

"You chose to resurrect me in this way, so it means Nagato's strength is insufficient to use the Rinne Rebirth technique, right?"

Obito nodded and said, "That's right. Nagato's body was severely overdrawn. Even if he forcibly used the Rinne Rebirth Technique, the Rinnegan would probably drain his life force halfway through the technique."

"Heh, I didn't expect that even the physique of the Uzumaki clan couldn't withstand the life force consumption of the Rinnegan. But it was within expectations, after all, they are only distant relatives of the Senju clan."

Madara Uchiha naturally took over command: "In that case, let's continue in this manner for now. Black Zetsu, do you have any news about the tailed beasts?"

Black Zetsu reported the intelligence he had gathered to Madara Uchiha: "The Jinchuriki of the One-Tailed, Five-Tailed, and Eight-Tailed are in Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure, respectively."

The Four-Tails Jinchuriki became a wandering monk, traveling throughout the ninja world, and is currently located in the Land of Birds.

The Six-Tails Jinchuriki is in Tsuchigumo Ninja Village.

The Nine-Tails Jinchuriki betrayed Konoha and disappeared without a trace.

After thinking for a moment, Madara Uchiha said, "In that case, let's take action against the Four-Tails Jinchuriki in the Land of Birds first, speed up the capture of the Tailed Beasts, let the Gedo Mazo absorb the Tailed Beasts, and then replenish Nagato's life force so that Nagato has enough power to use the Rinne Rebirth Technique to completely revive me!"

...

On the other hand, Orochimaru, having obtained Yosuke's flesh and blood, achieved a major breakthrough with the help of the God and through a series of advanced technologies.

However, Orochimaru was unable to transplant Yosuke's flesh and blood.

Because Orochimaru's Sage Body constitution is so domineering that it will lignify the transplanted flesh.

However, Orochimaru could use this flesh and blood to clone and replicate.

Although the effects of cloned flesh and blood will be much weaker.

However, Orochimaru could use this flesh and blood to create a ninja army with bloodline limits, who were not afraid of death and had immortal bodies.

Orochimaru's idea was also approved by the God.

Orochimaru's subordinates are currently too weak to be of any help to him.

Moreover, since Yosuke had taken down almost all of Orochimaru's bases, he no longer had many subordinates.

Orochimaru currently possesses immense talent, but he needs time to transform that talent into real strength.

Therefore, Orochimaru needed a group of capable subordinates to handle some trivial matters for him.

Just like the Twelve Demon Moons under Muzan Kibutsuji.

Chapter 284 Naruto and Orochimaru's Cooperation

Just as Orochimaru was about to begin his demon transformation experiment, someone he never expected found him.

"Isn't this Naruto Uzumaki, the rogue ninja from Konoha? What brings you here today?"

Orochimaru couldn't understand why Naruto would seek him out, but when he saw Kimimaro, he understood everything.

"I didn't expect you to still be alive, Kimimaro. What, did you bring Naruto Uzumaki here to surrender to me?"

Kimimaro felt a pang of guilt as he faced Orochimaru, whom he had once considered his everything: "Lord Orochimaru, I'm sorry, but I am now Naruto's comrade."

Orochimaru scoffed, "I always thought you would be loyal to me until death."

"I have already died once, and Naruto gave me a new life, so this time I want to live for Naruto."

Naruto interrupted Orochimaru and Kimimaro's reminiscing: "Orochimaru, I'm not here to cause you trouble, I'm here to discuss cooperation."

"Cooperation? Aside from the fact that we're both Konoha rogue ninja, we don't seem to have any other points of cooperation, do we?"

Naruto threw out his Konoha headband: "Your goal is Konoha, and so is mine. Don't we have something in common?"

"Although we are the same in this respect, I can destroy the entire Hidden Leaf Village at any time if I want to, and I don't need to cooperate with you."

"Kimimaro, let's go." Seeing that Orochimaru had no intention of cooperating, Naruto turned and left without hesitation.

"and many more!"

Orochimaru called out to Naruto.

Naruto stopped and looked at Orochimaru with a puzzled expression.

Orochimaru stared at Naruto for a long while before slowly saying, "You came here this time not just to cooperate with me to destroy Konoha, but mainly for Kimimaro's Bloodstained Disease, right?"

Naruto said coldly, "I only intend to cooperate with you, not to be controlled by you. Even without you, I am sure I can find a way to cure Kimimaro."

"If you're going to cooperate with me, Naruto, at least you should be a little nicer."

Naruto frowned: "What do you mean?"

"As the son of the Fourth Hokage and Jiraiya's disciple, isn't it more dramatic for you, Naruto, to destroy Konoha than for me? I agree to your request for cooperation."

"You should already know my terms for cooperation: cure Kimimaro's bloodstain disease. So, Orochimaru, what are your terms?"

"At my current level, I have no interest in whether or not Konoha is destroyed, but I am interested in how you would destroy Konoha, so that is my condition."

Naruto readily agreed: "I accept your conditions. How do you plan to treat Kimimaro?"

"I must say, Naruto, you've come at just the right time. I was helpless against the Bloodstain Disease before, which is why I gave up on Kimimaro, who was practically the perfect vessel. But now, as long as Kimimaro successfully transplants this thing, he will definitely recover."

Orochimaru held a petri dish containing the cloned flesh and blood of Yosuke.

"What about the risks?"

"I thought you'd be eager for me to transplant it into Kimimaro, since we haven't done any experiments yet and the risks are still unknown. How about it, do you want to take a gamble and transplant it into Kimimaro right away?" Orochimaru tempted.

Naruto, his expression furious, said, "Orochimaru, Kimimaro is not your test subject! I want absolute certainty!"

"You're really cautious. Alright then, but the experiment needs test subjects. Could you please bring some over for me, Naruto?"

"I will bring the test subjects with me."

Orochimaru licked his lips excitedly and extended his right hand: "Then it'll be a pleasure to cooperate, Naruto."

Naruto and Orochimaru clasped each other's right hands.

...

Since the war against Konoha ended and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki defected, Konoha, like Kirigakure, has become one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages without a Jinchuriki.

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was once hailed as the Hokage with the highest power and longest reign, and who ushered in the golden age of Konoha, has seen his reputation plummet.

The fact that Naruto is the orphan of the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, is already common knowledge in Konoha.

To outsiders, Hiruzen Sarutobi is now seen as an evil figure who coveted the power of the Hokage, indirectly caused the death of the Fourth Hokage, and forced the son of a hero to leave.

In Konoha, Hiruzen Sarutobi's reputation is somewhat better, but it's only slightly better than before.

The villagers of Konoha also harbored considerable resentment towards Hiruzen Sarutobi, believing that Konoha's current predicament was entirely due to Hiruzen's old age and senility.

The Uchiha incident forced Konoha to cripple itself.

The Naruto defection incident has made everyone aware of the importance of Jinchuriki. If Hiruzen Sarutobi hadn't concealed Naruto's identity, everyone wouldn't have treated Naruto so harshly, allowing a Jinchuriki belonging to Konoha to defect.

The departure of Jiraiya and Tsunade, along with the continuous blows, made the villagers of Konoha extremely disappointed in Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The glory days of the former number one ninja village in the ninja world are gone forever.

As a ninja village, Konoha's main source of income is accepting mission requests, but now that Konoha's reputation is low, the amount of missions has dropped by half.

Originally, there were more missions than ninjas, but now there are more ninjas than missions.