"Konan-sama, that combo technique of yours is incredible."
After Yahiko's group landed, Nagato immediately praised Konan. "Even my Preta Path couldn't absorb an explosion like that. And with that kind of blast radius, even a perfect jinchuriki's Tailed Beast Bomb probably wouldn't be any stronger."
Konan smiled faintly. "No matter how powerful it is, no matter how large the area it covers, in front of your rule-based power, it's no different from any ordinary ninjutsu."
"At the very least, in terms of strategic deterrence, you're already on par with a jinchuriki. You're probably even more troublesome than some of them," Yahiko said.
"And your Paper Release can be used together with explosive tag production techniques, which means you can prepare hundreds of millions of explosive tags in advance. For an explosion on that scale, the chakra cost is practically negligible. In a certain sense, even a Tailed Beast Bomb falls short of what you can do."
He paused, his gaze turning deeper.
"After all, a Tailed Beast Bomb is simply too large. Konoha's Flying Thunder God can teleport something like that away. But Flying Thunder God transfer absolutely cannot do anything against your combination of the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique and the Mutually Multiplying Explosive Tags Technique."
Konan didn't indulge in empty mutual flattery. She kept her hands in her pockets and got straight to the point.
"We've already gathered the intel, and I've gotten the jutsu I wanted. What do we do next? Or are we declaring war on Konoha directly?"
Yahiko's expression turned serious.
"In the Second Shinobi World War, Amegakure was the fuse that lit the whole conflict. After we withdrew, Hanzo-sensei also made a promise to the outside world that we would never do it again. Even though Hanzo-sensei is gone now, and the one who killed him was Konoha's Impure World Reincarnation technique, which gives us every reason to tear up that old promise…"
He shook his head.
"But we still can't be the ones to declare war first."
"The high-end fighting power of Konoha's current generation is way too ridiculous. Just the Third Hokage's three direct disciples alone are already a famous ace squad in the shinobi world. And their students are even worse—the Yellow Flash, the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, and a space-time ninja."
"If Amegakure declares war first, Konoha will very likely send those people here. And even if the other nations join in too, there's still a high chance Konoha won't reassign them away from a battlefield they already know well."
"Amegakure can enter the war, but we absolutely cannot be the ones drawing the main fire for the other countries."
Konan frowned slightly. "If you can think of that, then the higher-ups of those countries can think of it too. So how are you planning to make the other nations declare war on Konoha?"
"I'll be going out for a few days," Yahiko said. "And there's something I need you two to do for me."
He didn't explain further. Instead, he looked at Konan and Nagato and said, "A war that will change the balance of the shinobi world is going to break out soon. Amegakure still lacks high-end combat power. During this time, Nagato, you can gather suitable materials to make the Six Paths puppets, or look for summoning beasts appropriate for the Animal Path contract."
"Other than that, there are two rogue ninja I've got my eye on. I want you to make the trip for me and recruit them."
Yahiko's voice turned cold.
"If they refuse, Nagato, then turn them into Six Paths puppets."
Nagato asked, "Who are they?"
"You should both know them well enough," Yahiko said, before naming them. "They're Kakuzu, the missing-nin from Takigakure… and Hiruko, the missing-nin from Konoha."
Hearing Hiruko's name, Konan raised an eyebrow. "You know where they are?"
The moment she said it, she understood.
"They've got the Spore Technique on them too?"
"That's right. I've been observing them for a long time already," Yahiko nodded. "White Zetsu will guide you to them. It'll also tell you how to negotiate with them on the way. If they'd rather die than cooperate, then do as you please."
"Fine."
Konan agreed without hesitation.
And so, Yahiko's group split up and began moving separately.
Gojo Yoru knew nothing about what Yahiko's trio was doing.
Since the Chunin Exams ended, he had only gone to see Konan once—to help her quickly master the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique and design a few combo techniques for her. After that, he hadn't gone to find her again.
During this period, Gojo Yoru had something even more important to do.
And he needed to deliberately reduce his own presence.
Because—
the countdown to his third evolution had already begun.
His first and second evolutions had both started on August 18, his birthday, and only finished near the end of the month.
During that time, he had to go through a long period of hyperactivity, followed by a single day of weakness.
During the hyperactive phase, Gojo Yoru would become like a perpetual-motion machine, with seemingly endless strength and energy. But since he had no idea whether combat might affect the evolution process, he would never use that phase to fight.
As for the brief weakness phase, that was when Gojo Yoru was at his most vulnerable.
It was the backlash of the hyperactive phase. He would lose consciousness instantly. It might also have been the body's self-protection mechanism. Either way, Gojo Yoru didn't dare test things like holding a soldier pill in his mouth in advance, or having Kushina Uzumaki stay right beside him so that when the hyperactive phase ended, he could bite her and absorb chakra to see whether that would let him resist the backlash.
Because Gojo Yoru suspected that the blackout during the backlash period might actually be the moment when his cells were updating.
Until he had the ability to figure out the origin and secrets behind his evolution, all he could do during both the hyperactive phase and the weakness phase was wait and endure.
And at the same time, he absolutely could not let anyone know that he went through this state once every six years.
Otherwise, the next six-year cycle would become an opportunity for the people playing the game from the shadows.
So Gojo Yoru began lowering his profile and setting up secret bases all over the shinobi world.
He also needed to prepare all sorts of diversions so that during the latter half of the month, no one would disturb him.
"Madara-sama… I need your help."
In that familiar underground chamber, Yahiko returned once again. After reporting everything he had experienced during this period to Uchiha Madara, he spoke in an earnest and respectful tone.
"You weren't blinded by hatred. Instead, through death, you saw through the very nature of the shinobi world's system. That pleases me greatly."
Madara looked at Yahiko with open approval, though there was a trace of regret in his tone.
"I once wanted to change this shinobi world through force as well. Unfortunately, Hashirama stopped me. And by the time Hashirama was gone, I no longer had the energy left to change the world myself."
"Even knowing that your enemy is something unprecedented—something never seen before—you still want to accomplish what neither Hanzo of the Salamander nor I managed to do in our youth. Your courage is admirable. I'd very much like to see how far you can go."
Madara straightened up slightly in his seat, giving Yahiko a kind of silent respect, then asked in a low voice, "Go on. What is it you need this dying old man to help you with?"
"Madara-sama, I need all the information on White Zetsu," Yahiko said. "I want to know how many White Zetsu you've planted inside the hidden villages of the various nations. I want to use the White Zetsu that have infiltrated the major countries to help me target the top leadership of those great ninja villages. With the Human Path of the Rinnegan, I can read their memories, then use Wood Release and the disguise technique to replace them, mobilize those major villages' forces, and have them declare war on Konoha—spreading Konoha's forces as thin as possible."
"I see," Madara said with a light chuckle as he leaned back again. "So that's your plan."
"It's a very good idea. But it still has flaws."
"Wood Release and Tobi's disguise technique can indeed let you perfectly imitate someone else's appearance. And the Human Path of the Rinnegan can ignore the restrictions inside the brain and read everything directly from the soul. But no matter how flawless your disguise is, there's still one thing you can't conceal."
"You can't use those people's secret techniques or bloodline limits."
"The moment you replace them and give some mad order like declaring war on Konoha, the balance between their internal factions will be broken. Some faction that's hostile to them might even send assassins after you. And if you can't display the power they're familiar with—or overwhelming strength—your disguise will be exposed, and all your work will go to waste."
Looking at Madara's faint smile, Yahiko immediately asked with humility, "Madara-sama, then what should I do?"
"Control is better than replacement," Madara said with a smile. "Just turn those leaders into your puppets and make them issue the orders themselves. Just like my battle with Hashirama at the Valley of the End—I used the Sharingan's genjutsu to control the Nine-Tails and make it fight for me."
Yahiko looked troubled. "But I'm not skilled in Yin Release genjutsu."
"It doesn't matter. I'll teach you a formula. If you plant that formula into their bodies, you'll be able to control them."
Yahiko's face lit up immediately, and he bowed deeply.
"Please teach me, Madara-sama!"
Inside the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, Black Zetsu watched the scene with a cold sneer.
Poor fool. He had no idea that he himself had already become Uchiha Madara's puppet.
The most terrifying kind of control in this world had never been puppet curses or genjutsu.
It was Yin-Yang Release working subtly and invisibly over time.
Puppet curses and genjutsu could only control a person's body or mind, and both had weaknesses.
A puppet curse, for example, was like the formula Hiruko had planted into Kakashi Hatake in the movie. Once it activated, Kakashi would become a mindless puppet. That sort of control was the crudest and most low-class kind.
Genjutsu control, meanwhile, manipulated the mind. As long as one's Yin Release chakra was strong enough, even without genius-level genjutsu skill, controlling someone else was easy.
Just like Uchiha Obito in the original story—he had controlled the complete Nine-Tails with a single eye, and even manipulated the Fourth Mizukage for years.
But that kind of genjutsu control could also be broken very easily. Ao of Kirigakure was only an elite jonin, yet with just one Byakugan, he was able to see through and undo Obito's genjutsu control without much trouble.
Even Madara's cursed seal of restraint was really only a more advanced form of puppet curse.
Only Yin-Yang Release was truly terrifying and nearly unsolvable.
That was power that directly altered consciousness, or quietly influenced a person's thinking and memories without them ever noticing.
That was exactly what Black Zetsu was doing now.
Using the tubes of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path as a medium, it was silently influencing Madara's thoughts. At the same time, it was secretly feeding him more and more ways to use Yin-Yang Release, making Madara believe those methods were ideas he had developed himself.
What Madara didn't realize was that all this knowledge of Yin-Yang Release came from the gift of the Ancestor of Chakra—the inheritance of a pure-blooded Otsutsuki.
As early as two years ago, Madara had already learned how to use Yin-Yang Release to create an "incarnation of will."
Once he used that method, the darkened one could openly move around the shinobi world.
It was precisely because he had gained this new Yin-Yang Release knowledge that Madara had staged Yahiko's fall into darkness, turning him into his own puppet.
Madara had not altered Yahiko's memories or thoughts directly. He had only used Yin-Yang Release's subtle mental influence to amplify Yahiko's ambition to change the world—to become a god.
Without the Sharingan, and without talent in Yin Release, Yahiko had no way of detecting Madara's methods.
He wasn't Madara's true successor either. He could learn neither the Six Paths techniques nor Yin-Yang Release. He didn't even know that besides the Six Paths, there was actually another path entirely—
the Outer Path.
And that Outer Path possessed a technique capable of reviving the dead.
If Yahiko had known that, perhaps he might have broken free from Madara's influence and realized that Madara's true goal was resurrection.
But there was no "if."
The limits of his understanding meant that Yahiko would never realize he was nothing more than a puppet for Madara—a distraction meant to start a war and draw attention.
If Yahiko succeeded, it would naturally be a wonderful thing for Madara. After reviving, he wouldn't even need to waste time figuring out how to deal with Gojo Yoru, the greatest threat. He would only need to take over everything, cast the Infinite Tsukuyomi, and sever the world's chain of cause and effect.
And if Yahiko failed, Madara would simply activate his backup plan—erase the puppet, and erase all traces of himself along with it.
As long as he succeeded in pushing Uchiha Obito into darkness and left himself a spare successor, the plan would still be a success.
While Yahiko was learning the cursed restraint formula from Uchiha Madara and beginning to carry out his plan—
Konan and Nagato, under the guidance of a White Zetsu clone, had also found Kakuzu, who was working odd jobs while hunting bounties, and Hiruko, who was still in hiding and continuing his Chimera Technique experiments.
The recruitment process involved a little "friction," but the result was very smooth.
Kakuzu and Hiruko both "willingly" joined Amegakure.
And on the way back to Amegakure, Kakuzu and Hiruko became completely obedient and no longer had any intention of resisting.
Because—
recruiting them had only been a side task for Konan and Nagato.
Their real purpose had been to search for suitable candidates to become Six Paths puppets.
After personally witnessing Nagato turn living people into "Rinnegan-bearing" puppets—each one absurdly powerful and possessing unique abilities—both Kakuzu and Hiruko felt the gap between dimensions.
Kakuzu, who had lived for decades and was even older than Hanzo of the Salamander, quickly realized what those eyes most likely were. He tested the waters and asked.
Nagato didn't hide it. He admitted it outright.
After that, Kakuzu and Hiruko had even less desire to resist.
And once they returned to Amegakure and discovered that Yahiko was also a Wood Release user, they would no doubt be shocked all over again.
Day after day passed, and one by one, the dates on the August calendar were crossed out with large red marks.
Soon, the 17th was crossed out as well.
August 18, Konoha Year 42.
For the shinobi world, it was an entirely ordinary day.
Since Gojo Yoru deliberately spent every birthday with only Kushina Uzumaki, very few people in Konoha even knew that this day was actually his birthday.
And this year, Kushina Uzumaki had unusually not prepared a cake or any surprise for him.
Because yesterday, Gojo Yoru had already said goodbye to her and a few acquaintances.
He was temporarily leaving Konoha to train in senjutsu.
That was one of Gojo Yoru's smokescreens.
Everyone who knew him naturally assumed he had gone to Ryuchi Cave, one of the three great sacred lands, to train in Sage Mode.
Given Gojo Yoru's chakra reserves, he clearly met the requirements for senjutsu training, so no one found it suspicious.
And on that same day, one sailboat after another quietly arrived at the Land of Waves, the small island nation off the eastern coast of the ninja continent, and occupied the country, which had no ninja of its own.
When night fell, one Mist ninja after another skilled in Water Release came ashore by sea, crossed through the forest, and quietly approached the eastern border stronghold of the Land of Fire. Then they cast the Hidden Mist Technique to cover the buildings and began slaughtering through assassination.