Bitter disappointment was all that the meeting with the representatives of the great villages brought. Fukasaku and Shima watched the departing Shinobi, who took with them the precious knowledge of Senjutsu from Mount Myoboku, and felt only emptiness.
The big words about the alliance turned into zilch, an empty formality.
When they returned to the sanctuary, they told the Great Toad-Sage about everything. He listened to them in silence, and only when they finished, a heavy, rattling sigh escaped from his chest.
"Their thirst for power has blinded them,— he rasped. — They only see the benefits and do not understand that Uchiha Yue is not a human being. It's an element. The monster.
— The rest can still be understood, but Jiraiya! How could he? Shima persisted, her voice ringing with anger. "He's turned his back on us, doing who knows what…
"We gave them our art. Now we can only hope that this knowledge will somehow change the balance of power.
The Great Toad Sage shook his head impotently. He could not have imagined that human ambitions would turn out to be so reckless. Although, if you think about it, they could be understood. Uchiha Yue's power was too great, too tempting for the world of warriors.
But those eyes shouldn't have stayed in this world.
— Fukasaku, Shima. Keep an eye on the villages. If any of them really find a way to defeat Uchiha Yue, don't let them take over his eyes. Absolutely not. No one should get those eyes. They must be swallowed up by nothingness!
— We are listening.
Time passed unnoticed, but the world was changing. It was getting colder in the Land of Fire. An unusual, dank chill spread from the Area of Dead Silence, freezing the ground.
Panic spread like an infection through towns and villages. Rumors fueled by the stories of refugees drove people from their homes. The Land of Fire was plunging into chaos. Even the richest and most influential left its borders in a hurry. The planetary energy that Yue was ruthlessly draining was drying up, and the world began to respond with a chain reaction of disasters. And it wasn't just here.
"It's been so long, and he doesn't even think to stop... huh, monster," the voice hissed.
Far away from there, on an inaccessible peak, Ootsutsuki Isshiki, in the body of a Jigen, looked at a dark spot spreading across the ground. He was pretty sure that if he broke in there now, he would be able to kill this upstart. One, two, three... before he himself would have to retreat to survive.
But what's the point if you don't find a way to interrupt his endless resurrection?
How he longed for those eyes! A dojutsu capable of infinitely strengthening the body, perhaps even elevating life itself to a new level... and on top of that, eternal resurrection. Against his background, his own dojutsu, the power of the noble Ootsutsuki, seemed like a pathetic trinket. If you offered him a choice, he wouldn't hesitate for a second.
"I must be resurrected!" As soon as possible! Anger and despair twisted him inside. "Damn vessel, I still haven't found a suitable one!" Me! I shouldn't have been swallowed up like this, sucked dry! This is the fate of the lower beings, the natives of this planet! I should have been the one to reveal the Divine Tree and devour their lives, not be devoured by the damn aborigine!
In theory, there was a way to kill Yue. His immortality was fueled by an inexhaustible source of energy within him. Deprive him of this energy and he will die completely. If Isshiki had been at full strength, if he could have revealed the Tree, he would have had a chance. But now... right now, he could only draw out the crumbs of Yue's power, which immediately turned against him, devouring his own energy. It wasn't just difficult, it was suicide.
With these thoughts, Isshiki disappeared, continuing his desperate search for the vessel. Time was playing against him, and he wasn't going to disappear into this cursed world, becoming Uchiha Yue's last meal.
Soon, news of the Shinobi Alliance reached him. And with his methods, he quickly found out that this alliance was nothing more than a farce. The great villages did not even think of uniting. Their minds were only occupied with dividing the skin of an unkilled bear.
—Fools,— Isshiki burst into a low, contemptuous laugh. "And these idiots are going to defeat Uchiha Yue?"
What naivety. The Eternal Izanagi… Kill him three times… Where did they even get that number, three? He, Isshiki, had killed this monster countless times, but it just got up again and again.
Even if the entire Shinobi world were united, they would have only one chance in a thousand — to see Yue's true power and die in despair. And now they were hoping to defeat him with the strength of a single village?
They weren't studying an object. They studied a living, growing, changing natural disaster. By the time they figure something out, all that's left of the world is a scorched desert.
Even he won't go into this inferno until he regains his true body.…
And then, like a flash of lightning, an idea was born in his mind.
Ootsutsuki Kaguya is sealed. No one in this world knows about his, Isshiki's, existence. And that means… This is the perfect moment to step out of the shadows.
"Yes... that's right!"
A brilliant, daring plan had matured in his mind. He uses the entire Shinobi world to achieve his goal. After all, they all need a hero right now. A super-strong warrior. He would appear to them, crush them with his might under the pretext of fighting Yue, and secretly force them to look for the perfect vessel for him.
Moreover…
He can do it openly! He will not be looking for a vessel for himself, but for the "Child of Prophecy", the savior of the world!
And he... he will become a messenger. A wise man who saw hope in the dark. The very prophet who will point to this savior.