— — — — — — —
To know, Kaito had already tried using the revival mechanism to see if he could exploit it to harvest Sharingan and Rinnegan, but it turned out to be impossible.
Even if he revived Uchiha Kagami without using his original Sharingan, the moment he was brought back to life, those eyes wouldn't be his original Sharingan.
It was just like how, in the original timeline, when Uchiha Madara was resurrected, he didn't regain his Rinnegan since those eyes still existed in the world elsewhere. Instead, his eye sockets were empty.
"Uchiha Kagami, huh? Alright, that works."
Uchiha Naori nodded in agreement. "As for the other clan members, I think we should leave that up to them. Let them earn contribution points themselves and decide whether or not they want to revive their ancestors."
"We shouldn't interfere in that."
After all, she wouldn't even know who to revive and who to leave alone.
"Alright, sounds good." Kaito had no objections.
Next, Kaito took some time to teleport to Kirigakure and meet Uchiha Madara.
---
At the moment, Madara was using his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan's genjutsu to control the war between Kirigakure and the clans of Hōzuki and Kaguya.
"Kill them all!!!"
"Damn you, Yagura! Are you really going to wipe us out completely?!"
"You won't even spare the kids?"
When Kaito arrived, he saw the chaotic battlefield in the distance and frowned slightly. "It's already started? That was fast."
"You again? Something urgent?"
Madara glanced at Kaito before shifting his focus back to controlling the battlefield. "I don't have time to waste here, so obviously, the sooner I finish this, the better."
"Once I settle things with these two clans, I'm going to capture the two Tailed Beasts in Kirigakure. After that, I'll crush the other villages one by one and seal all eight remaining Tailed Beasts before doing anything else."
"Oh, right."
Madara paused briefly before continuing, "What's the plan for the Nine-Tails? Do you want Uzumaki Mito to cooperate and extract part of its chakra to seal in the Gedo Statue for reviving the Ten-Tails, or do you have another idea?"
"No need to bother Lady Mito with that. When you go to Kumogakure, have Black Zetsu find the Gold and Silver Brothers. Then, just use Edo Tensei to revive them and extract the Nine-Tails' chakra from their bodies."
"Oh?"
Madara raised an eyebrow. "I almost forgot. In the intel you gave me, it mentioned that those two were swallowed by the Nine-Tails but somehow survived. Not only that, but they also ate its flesh and absorbed part of its chakra."
"In that case, using them as substitutes for the Nine-Tails will work just fine."
"Alright, that's settled then."
Kaito nodded before adding, "You've already mastered Edo Tensei, right? No need for me to teach you?"
"No need."
Madara shook his head. "Even though that jutsu was created by 'the self-clan sabotage' Tobirama, but it's incredibly useful. Of course, I learned it."
After all, there were times when this technique came in handy.
"Good."
Kaito nodded in satisfaction before getting to the real reason for his visit. "I came here to give you an important update…"
He then explained how Iwagakure had surrendered and the adjustments to their plans moving forward.
"Hah?"
Madara's expression turned to shock. "Iwagakure surrendered just like that? I thought their current Tsuchikage was that brat, Ōnoki?"
"Isn't he supposed to hate Konoha and hate me?"
"How could he just lead Iwagakure to surrender? That doesn't make any sense."
To Madara, Iwagakure was the last village that would ever submit to Konoha because of their history. But reality had proven him wrong.
Guess he had underestimated how unpredictable real life could be.
"Right?"
Kaito chuckled, spreading his hands. "Honestly, we didn't believe it at first either."
"But that's how it is. Ōnoki is still in Konoha right now."
"Turns out, he's far more intelligent, decisive, and pragmatic than we expected."
"He made the best possible choice."
"As a sign of goodwill, we're treating Iwagakure with generosity. But the other villages won't be so lucky."
Kaito even planned to publicly announce Iwagakure's surrender along with the benefits they received. That way, other villages might be more inclined to surrender as well, lowering their resistance.
"Now that you mention it, that does make sense."
Madara nodded in agreement. "I never thought that brat had such guts."
"I take back my earlier assessment of him. He's worth acknowledging."
"The next time I see him, I'll be sure to tell him that."
That should put Ōnoki at ease… or maybe not.
Either way, Madara didn't really care. He did what he wanted.
"That's up to you."
Kaito smirked. "Anyway, stick to the plan and speed things up."
"Collect all the Tailed Beasts as soon as possible and declare war on the entire ninja world in the name of the Akatsuki. Publicly announce the Eye of the Moon Plan. No problem with that, right?"
"Not at all."
Madara grinned. "That was my plan from the start."
"The ninja world is too small—it should've been dealt with long ago."
"Then, I can focus on the Pirate World. That place is far more interesting."
"Even I can find plenty of fun and worthy opponents there, heh."
If the timing was right, he even wanted to challenge the World Government in Mary Geoise and test their strength.
"Indeed, the Pirate World will be our next focus once this is over. With our growing numbers, we'll be able to spread across it easily. I can even revive people like the Third Raikage and others—if their villages prove useful." Kaito smirked. "I can't wait to see the World Government's faces when they realize their world has been invaded."
"Hahaha! Especially that Imu... I want to see if he really has what it takes to call himself the King of the World."
"Hmm... I have high hopes for the opponents there. I just hope they can actually give me a real fight."
Madara was practically buzzing with excitement at the thought of the powerful battles waiting for him.
"Alright then, I'll leave you to it. Let's wrap this up quickly so we can move on to bigger things." Kaito took one last glance at the battlefield before teleporting away.
As for the fallen members of the Hōzuki and Kaguya clans?
Anyone who had 'died' was actually teleported to a prepared location in Konoha, where they were being treated and monitored.
Later on, Kaito planned to gain their trust and contract them so he could send them to work in the Pirate world.
A few days later, the news of Iwagakure's complete surrender to Konoha spread like wildfire across the entire ninja world.
The revelation caused an uproar.
In Kumogakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure, many ninja were in complete disbelief.
— — —
Kumo ~ inside the Raikage's office
Fourth Raikage slammed his fist down, shattering his desk, his furious roar echoing through the room: "What the hell is that old bastard Ōnoki thinking?!"
"What is he trying to do?!"
"Why would he make such a stupid decision?!"
.
.
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