"Madara-sama, how would you like to arrange things?"
Renya was considering whether he should just tell Madara-sama the truth directly.
Don't be fooled by all the oxygen tubes stuck in him—he wasn't the feeble, struggling-to-walk version from the original story.
Facing a Madara-sama like this, Renya probably wouldn't be able to win a fight.
He could only stabilize things for a few more years for now, then tell him the truth later.
"First, capture the tailed beasts," Uchiha Madara said. "I'll give you one year. Gather all the tailed beasts."
With Renya's Mangekyō abilities, capturing the tailed beasts wasn't difficult.
A year was more than enough.
"Madara-sama, hasn't the Three-Tails not yet revived?" Renya reminded him.
Back then, the Three-Tails had been slashed into blood mist by Madara-sama's blade. Injuries like that wouldn't heal in just eight or ten years.
Uchiha Madara fell silent at those words.
A long while later, he slowly said, "Then capture the other eight first."
"After you catch them, bring them to me. The Gedo Statue behind me can absorb the tailed beasts."
"Madara-sama, it's not that I don't want to catch them, but we're at war now."
Renya used the excuse he had already prepared beforehand to stall for time.
Uchiha Madara stared at him expressionlessly for a long moment, then said in a low voice:
"Iwagakure and Kumogakure have both sent out their jinchūriki. When the time comes, you just need to take them on the battlefield and bring them here."
White Zetsu's information network had already tracked the movements of each village's jinchūriki.
Kumogakure's Eight-Tails jinchūriki, B, and Four-Tails jinchūriki, Han, had both secretly headed for the battlefield.
This was the perfect opportunity for Renya.
"Understood, Madara-sama."
Renya felt helpless. He hadn't expected Madara-sama to have even this investigated.
Now he had no reason to refuse.
"Go. Don't disappoint me," Uchiha Madara said.
A feeling deep in his intuition told him this kid wasn't as honest as he appeared.
As if he were secretly plotting something.
But Madara felt nothing dangerous—everything was still under his control.
Uchiha Madara would never place all hope on someone else—only he himself could achieve true peace.
Renya was merely a partner helping him realize his ideal.
Even without Renya, he could still bring peace to the shinobi world!
The moment he realized his physical state was declining, he immediately used the Gedo Statue to maintain bodily functions and delay aging.
If Renya ever betrayed him one day, he could still rely on himself to carry out the Eye of the Moon Plan.
Though he was no longer at his peak, with the Rinnegan's support, he wasn't all that far from it.
It was more than enough to accomplish the plan for peace.
"Kid, I hope you don't betray me."
Only after Renya left did Uchiha Madara murmur to himself.
He had experienced the bitterness of betrayal in his life; he didn't want the one junior he valued to betray him.
"Madara-sama, should we continue following him from the shadows?" a White Zetsu asked respectfully.
It was the White Zetsu who had always monitored Renya.
"Tobi, keep following him."
"Understood, Madara-sama."
The White Zetsu called Tobi silently sank into the earth.
...
Renya exited the underground base and sighed helplessly.
Madara-sama inserting the oxygen tubes ahead of time was absolutely him guarding against him!
He had worked diligently as a cook for ten years, yet Madara-sama still didn't trust him.
Heartbreaking—truly heartbreaking.
Was he really the type to betray people?
And now, he had to kill two jinchūriki later.
If something went wrong and it was exposed, he'd become the public enemy of the entire shinobi world.
Renya wore a deeply troubled expression, unsure of what to do.
Madara-sama might even send more White Zetsu to monitor him. In a fight against jinchūriki, he wouldn't be able to hold back at all.
Otherwise, the White Zetsu spying on him would definitely report back.
Thinking this, he instinctively glanced around—found nothing unusual.
Floating Jutsu was truly an underworld ability!
As long as White Zetsu didn't appear directly in front of him, he would never notice.
...
Among the forces heading toward the battlefield—
"Renya, you came back pretty early," Sarutobi Hiruzen said cheerfully.
He thought Renya was angry and would take several days before returning.
But he'd only been gone for one afternoon.
Looks like he wasn't upset by this morning's incident.
Renya ignored Sarutobi Hiruzen, preoccupied with figuring out how to seize the jinchūriki quietly.
But a jinchūriki was nearly Kage-level. It was impossible to take one down silently.
It felt like Madara-sama was forcing him to choose.
Either betray Madara-sama and abandon the Eye of the Moon Plan, or sever ties with Konoha and join Madara-sama's side to carry out the plan together.
It seemed Madara-sama really was guarding against him now.
At first Renya thought it was his imagination. Later, he realized it absolutely wasn't.
Madara-sama was genuinely guarding against him!
Couldn't people trust each other?!
Now he could only take things one step at a time.
Thinking that, he sighed helplessly.
"Renya-kun, don't be sad. Don't mind the rumors outside," Mitokado Homura said, seeing his troubled face and thinking he was upset about earlier.
"Yeah, Renya, we won't talk nonsense," Sarutobi Hiruzen promised earnestly.
"It's alright, Renya-kun. It's not a big deal," Uchiha Kagami comforted him.
Renya: "???"
What were these people babbling about?
Why didn't he understand a single thing?
But he didn't have the mind to discuss anything with them—he was too busy thinking about how to take the jinchūriki without being discovered.
If he really couldn't do it, then he'd have to come clean with Madara-sama.
Sure enough, things never went exactly as planned.
What a twisted mess!
...
Two days later, Konoha's ninja forces arrived on the battlefield.
Commander Nara Mikage did not order an attack.
The four countries that were fighting each other suddenly learned that Konoha's forces had entered the battlefield.
It felt as if the sky had collapsed.
...
Iwagakure, Tsuchikage's office.
"What is Konoha doing?" Ōnoki stared at the frontline reports, face dark as iron.
Their war had deliberately avoided Konoha, yet Konoha had chosen to intervene anyway.
Fire Country acted as if they didn't take their nations seriously at all!
Were they not afraid of the three nations joining forces against Konoha?
"Looks like I need to go to the frontlines personally."
Rage flickered in Ōnoki's eyes.
Though Iwagakure alone wasn't Konoha's match, three nations united would not necessarily lose!
In Kirigakure and Kumogakure, the same scene unfolded in their offices.
The moment Konoha intervened, they all simultaneously considered cooperating to win.
...
Amegakure.
Salamander Hanzō, having just driven back the three-nation coalition, returned to the village injured.
When he learned that Konoha had joined the battlefield, he fell silent.
Four great nations entering Amegakure at the same time...
Amegakure alone couldn't possibly be a match.
"Heh… is this the sorrow of a small nation?"
Salamander Hanzō looked up toward the sky, letting the cold rain strike his face.
No one could tell if it was rain or tears.
Perhaps he could no longer change the state of the Land of Rain.