Eiji was wandering out of town.
It was the first time in a long while that he was alone.
After running into difficulties in the discussion with Jiraiya, he somehow managed to recover and came to an agreement where the plan only slightly deviate from what Eiji originally planned.
But he needed to wait for Konoha and the other Shinobi villages for the responses first.
And after that, he would need again for Jiraiya to get the Shinigami mask and release the Hokage's souls.
When it came to Sasuke, there was no reason for him to intrude on Sasuke's reunion time with his parents.
So in short, he had a lot of free time for the first time in a while.
He thought about slacking off and get some rest from all he went through, but on the same day, he got information concerning what happened to Kumogakure.
It didn't change the fact that he still needed to wait, but now he felt a bit of regret about fucking the timeline up.
He was outside on a plain at the border of the Land of Iron with no one around.
'After learning about the nature of Divine Jutsu's at the Dragon Temple, I didn't create one because I never planned to sacrifice myself...but with how things are going, the world might end and it would be partly my fault I guess...' - Eiji scratched his head.
He decided to take responsibility and create a suicide Justus akin to the Eight Gates or the Reaper Death Seal - just in case.
'Hmm...this might take a while...but why do I have the feeling I forgot something?'
Somewhere a fuming Ukon was waiting for Eiji...
"Weird that the boss called for us to gather all in person...that reminds, didn't he call Tobi too a while ago?" - Kisame had his typical shark grin.
"...if we have to meet in person, something important must have happened." - Itachi
"I hope it's something interesting since we'll lose the track of our target if we leave this area now." - Kisame
Itachi didn't say anything, but he noticed his feeling of unease.
With Danzo being dead and Sasuke not being in Konoha anymore, the only reason he was still in Akatsuki was to continue to spy on them.
But he noticed how his illness has gotten even worse again, so he needed to make sure that he could meet Sasuke in the near future.
The problem however was now that something weird seemed to have happened in the Akatsuki, so he needed to look out for that.
'...whatever this new variable may be, it's best to just see for myself what it is...' - Itachi's gaze was deeper than usual.
At the Hokage office.
"I see..." - Tsunade tried her best to remain professional in front of Yamato, but she couldn't hide wrinkles that appeared on her forehead.
First Kumo and now even a resurrected Madara!
Silence.
After it became unbearable, Yamato did a fake cough and asked: "So...will Konoha go to war with the Shiki Ryuu now?"
"This depends on what Jiraiya will report to me after his meeting...and Ireally hopethat there is a good explanation from the Shiki Ryuu's side...sigh...whatever call Kakashi for me, he should be fully recovered by now."
"Yes." - with that Yamato left.
The moment he left Tsunade instantly slammed at the table, breaking it in half.
"Uhm...you should calm down Lady Tsunade..." - Shizune said carefully.
"CALM DOWN?! THIS DAMN EIJI UNLEASHED SOMETHING WHICH CAN THREATEN ALL COUNTRIES CARELESS AND I SHOULD CALM DOWN?!" - Tsunade
"To be more precise it was Sasuke..." Shizune
"YOU THINK SASUKE WOULD DO THAT ON HIS OWN?!" - Tsunade
"..." - Shizune thought it would be wiser to just remain silent.
"Huff...huff..." - Tsunade breathed in deeply to calm down.
Like with perfect timing, this was the moment Kakashi entered: "You have called?"
"Yes...it seems like Sasuke won't return in the foreseeable future, so you'll get a new member for Team 7."
"I don't think Naruto and Sakura will be happy about that, but I understand...so, who'll be the new member?" - Kakashi
InAmegakureit was raining like every other day.
Therain wascrashing against Pain's Tower and the wet surface made it difficult for any ordinary person to stay or sit onit.
But this was only for ordinary people - not Shinobis.
Especially if it was one of the mostlegendary Shinobi's in history: Madara Uchiha.
Madara looked at Amegakure from thetop of one of the four faces protruding fromPain'sTower: "What a gloomy village...I neverunderstood why someone would voluntarily settle in such a location."
"Despite that, the people here would sacrifice their lives for this homeland of theirs. The amount of Pain this village has seen because it's surrounded by three of the five Great Countries is unmeasurable...this is even more a reason for us to succeed with the plan. " - Obito appeared behind Madara.
Because of Obito's teleportation ability, they arrived here earlier than Nagatoand Conan who were still on their way from Kumogakure.
Madara didn't respond and instead looked at his hand in silence.
Rain was dropping on his undead hand and no one would be able to guess his thoughts at this very moment.
After a while, he clenched his hand into afist and got up.
"I don't doubt that Nagato has grown with him possessing the Rinnegan, but I'm curious what kind of other people you assembled...oh right, I assume you used my name while leading the group, correct?" - Madara
"The one who was officially leading the Akatsuki was Nagato, but I approached some of themas "Madara", so they know that "Madara" was leading the Akatsuki in truth...funnily enough, the ones who didn't know are the ones who died."
"There is no need for me to know aboutthe dead...it looks like Nagato arrived..."
Nagato, who was linked to a mechanical walker, arrived with Conan from a secret passagewaybut Madara could sense the chakra.
Likewise, they could sense his ominouschakra as well, so Nagato stopped in the passageway and instead used the Deva Path to arrive faster at the location where Madara and Obito were.
When he saw that he was speechless. Heinstantly recognized the infamous face of Madara, but that meant that there are two Madaras now?
Conan also arrived with her paper wingsand landed next to Deva Path.
Madara looked at them and sneered: "Whythis puppet show, Nagato?"
"What...what's happening?" - Deva Path pointed his finger at Obito who was sitting nonchalantly next to Madara with his back to them.
He turned only his upper body a bit around and said: "My main body was revived, and he'll take charge from now on."
Nagato calmed down and saw the signs of the Edo Tensei on Madara's body and tried to understand the situation, but before he could conclude anything, Madara said: "Looks like two more arrived. Zetsu has another task to do currently, so that must be all."
He glanced towards Obito if this was right, and Obito slightly nodded.
This was seen by Nagato, and normally such detail would make him question Obito and Madara, but he was currently in a confused state.
And Madara?
Of course, he isn't a rookie that he would such a mistake, but he simply didn't care enough about not exposing that Obito never wasMadara.
He was Madara after all and could just use his might to make the member subservientto him.
"Hmm...what a place for a meeting. I don't mind the rain, but we have Conan here and too much rain is bad for a women's skin...ah, here you are Tobi. I hope boss didn't scold you too harshly." - Kisame appeared with his usual hideous grin, and next to him Itachi.
"..." - Itachi was silent and gloomy as usual.
"Hm? Now that is interesting..." - Kisame looked around and his grin grew even wider.
But Itachi's gaze got deeper.
'This is Madara and looks like he was revived by the Edo Tensei...but if this is Madara...who is...'
Madara mustered Kisame and Itachi.
He could conclude a lot from Kisame's appearance, chakra, and the sword he was carrying, but reading Itachi was difficult.
'So, that's Itachi, huh? For some reason, he reminds me of that bastard Tobirama...
A painful cry could be heard in a dim room underground.
Orochimaru panted heavily while looking at his arms.
The pain worsenedagain andhis Right-Hand - Kabuto - wasn't here right now.
In fact, he was sure that Kabuto wouldn't be able to serve him ever again.
And the worst part is: Orochimaru's currentbody was reaching its limit and he needed a new body as soon as possible.
Back then he risked a lot for the chance to obtain Sasuke's body, but not only washe unsuccessful in this regard, everything else ended in the worst possible way - to call it a complete disaster would be a huge understatement.
Another wave of pain assaulted him and he gritted his teeth to not fall unconscious.
Normally, Kabuto would get him a full cocktail of painkillers right now, but Orochimaru in his current state wouldn't even be able to hold a cup, so he could only endure for now.
Of course, he could ask one of his many minions instead, but truth to be told, he didn't trust most of them.
The only ones who he trusted were the Sound Three and Kabuto, whom he also didn't trust completely.
But even if he didn't trust Kabuto completely, he was still better than the opportunistic sla- minions.
And he had the medical knowledge, something the Sound Three lagged.
However, this all didn't matter anymore, since the Sound Three were now also a thing of the past.
When thinking about this, Orochimaru'smalice towards Eiji intensified even more.
At this point, even Orochimaru was surprised that he didn't lose his mind and started to laugh maniacally.
Almost everything he built up, has been lost just like that.
Instead, his mind was unnaturally calm, and he didn't know why.
Maybe he went past a point of insanity, where he surpassed the restrictions of a healthymind.
Or maybe not.
Anyway, he stopped scheming all kindsof future plans and decided to focus on the more glaring issue.
He needed to prepare a body, but he was unable to do it himself, so he neededsomeone who was trustworthy and wouldn't backstab him instantly.
Only a few seconds passed until he called for a henchman stationed outside of the room.
"Call Kimimaro here." - Orochimaru's eyes glinted.
The henchman nodded and disappeared.
Kimimaro was on death's door himself because of the illness, but currently, Orochimarudidn't have anyone who was more trustworthy than him.
So he had to do for now.
After a while, Orochimaru could hear weak footsteps coming towards his room.
"...you called, Lord Orochimaru?" - Kimimaro who entered the room asked with a weak voice.
Orochimaru glanced at the emaciatedKimimaro who was struggling to even standbeforereplying: "I have a really important task for you..."
"The plan is simple.Wreakhavoc!"-Madara's voice resounded ominously while a thunder coincidentally struck in the distance.
Rain clashed onto their heads and robes while a short silence appeared between the Akatsuki members.
Everyone had their own thoughts, and Madara used this opportunity to study the expressions of every member.
But when it came to Itachi, he couldn't read anything.
'Tsk, as Obito said. It's hard to tell what he's thinking...but this doesn't matter. Hewouldn't be strong enough to go against usanyway.' - Madara
Finally, the silence was broken by Kisame: "Wreaking havoc, eh? Sounds fun, but it would be good to be more specific."
Madara glanced at him: "The 5 villages are as disorganized as ever and it would be a wonder if they managed to unite because of myappearance. Plus...the peace made themweak and naive. They are probably expecting that we would bid our time and collect the Bijus before starting our grand plan. But why should we do that? We can just crush them completely without waiting for them to come up with countermeasures against us."
Obito could feel the contempt Madara's words carried.
"That's good and all, but our current force isn't big enough for such a feat. Though, we managed to save a decent amount of money over the years with which we could hirea sizeable army of mercenaries. But I assume that's not what you are going for, right?" - Obito
Hearing that, a smile appeared on Madara's undead face.