"Renya-sama, I'm Tobi who acts together with you!"
Tobi was being choked tightly by Renya, his desire to survive extremely strong, and he hurriedly spoke to state his identity.
Hearing this, Renya loosened some of the strength in his hand, but did not let go completely. Frowning, he asked.
"Tobi, what are you doing here?"
This guy was Madara's loyal little follower. Showing up here definitely didn't mean anything good.
It was very likely he had been ordered to cause trouble.
"Renya-sama, I have no ill intent. I only came to deliver Madara-sama's words to you…"
As soon as this was said, Senju Tobirama's gaze turned slightly cold. He looked at Tobi and said in a deep voice.
"What does Uchiha Madara want to say to us?"
"Madara-sama wants you to give up resistance, don't try any futile struggle, and obediently hand over the Nine-Tails jinchuriki."
Tobi immediately relayed Uchiha Madara's words.
"Madara-sama can promise you that he will extract only half of the Nine-Tails' chakra and leave Uzumaki Mito's life."
Renya raised his brows slightly at these words, not having expected that Madara still had a bit of humanity left.
Perhaps because Mito-san was Hashirama-san's wife, he only planned to extract half of the Nine-Tails' chakra.
It could only be said that the two were truly good friends.
Even when things had reached the point of a fight to the death, he still cared about Hashirama-san's feelings.
"Do you have anything else to add?" Renya stared into Tobi's eyes and guided him, saying, "For example, when Madara-sama will attack Konoha?"
Being stared at by Renya made Tobi's skin crawl all over, and he subconsciously swallowed.
"Renya-sama, I don't know…"
He was practically about to cry from anxiety; he really didn't know the exact time Madara would attack Konoha.
At best, he was just a messenger tube.
"Really don't know?"
Renya pressed further, unwilling to give up, suspecting that this guy hadn't told the truth.
He was simply overthinking it—Tobi truly didn't know anything.
Seeing that the questioning bore no fruit, Renya let go, feeling bored.
The instant Tobi broke free, he immediately sank into the ground, and only after a long while did he dare stick his head out from far away.
He was terrified of being grabbed out again by Renya.
"Renya-sama, I've delivered the message. I hope you'll think it over…"
Before he finished speaking, he was cut off by the furious Senju Tobirama.
"Go back and tell Uchiha Madara to give up on this idea. We absolutely will not let him run wild!"
The Eye of the Moon Plan was simply a mad, world-destroying scheme.
No matter what, they had to stop Madara!
Tobi took one last look at the three of them, and his head slowly sank back into the earth.
The laboratory returned to silence once more.
"The time left to us isn't much."
Renya's expression became serious, and he subconsciously looked at those eyeballs in the culture tank.
If the experiment succeeded, he would have great confidence in stopping Madara, making him abandon his unrealistic fantasies and peacefully return to the village to enjoy retirement.
But if it failed, they could only rely on human-wave tactics to wear him down.
"Kid, even if the experiment fails, it won't be a big blow to us."
Senju Tobirama thought Renya believed they couldn't oppose Uchiha Madara, so he spoke to comfort him.
"With Konoha's combat strength, stopping Uchiha Madara's plan isn't as hard as you think."
In the worst case, more people would simply die in this battle.
Including himself.
But as long as they could stop Uchiha Madara's world-destroying plan, those losses would be worth it.
"Renya-sensei, the victory of this war will ultimately belong to Konoha." Orochimaru said calmly.
No matter how strong Uchiha Madara was, it was impossible for him to defeat so many powerful figures of Konoha at the same time.
As long as they dragged things out until Madara's condition declined, they would count that as success.
Renya did not explain, he only nodded silently in response.
He glanced at the eyes in the culture tank, then turned and left the laboratory.
He had to inform Danzō of what had just happened so preparations for battle could be made in advance.
Madara would launch his attack within these days.
...
Senju Hashirama's residence.
"Is Madara ultimately going to take this step?"
Senju Hashirama sat on the threshold, propping his chin with both hands, sorrowfully looking toward the distant Hokage Rock.
Obviously, the two had been the best of friends, yet because of differing ideals they had taken completely opposite paths.
Once, in order to stop Madara, he had personally killed his best friend.
And this time, Madara had returned in force, yet he himself lacked the power to stop his friend.
"Renya, do you think I can persuade him to abandon the plan?"
Senju Hashirama turned his head and looked at Renya, who was likewise sitting on the threshold, asking with anticipation.
He wanted to hear the answer he wished for from his mouth.
Renya did not give Hashirama hope; he simply shook his head silently.
If Hashirama-san could talk Madara down by words alone, things wouldn't have developed to this point.
Ever since awakening the Rinnegan, Madara had no longer been the Madara they once knew.
Seeing this, Senju Hashirama couldn't help feeling somewhat lost.
After a moment of silence, he asked again with expectation,
"When the time comes, can we spare Madara's life?"
Back then, he had personally killed Madara—this was the greatest regret of his life.
Even though he later learned Madara had faked his death with Izanagi, that regret did not disappear; it merely stayed quietly buried in his heart.
He did not want, within his lifetime, to witness the tragic death of his friend once more.
"Hashirama-san, I'll do my best."
Without the Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan, Renya truly didn't have much confidence.
In battle, capturing an enemy alive was often much harder than killing them.
That would require Konoha to possess overwhelming strength, able to defeat Uchiha Madara with ease.
But clearly, Konoha did not have that level of power.
Or rather, Madara was simply too strong, making it hard for Konoha to achieve.
"I'm counting on you, Renya."
...
Land of Iron, inside a cave.
"Madara, the message you instructed me to deliver—I've already passed it on to Renya-sama."
"What did that kid say?"
"Renya-sama said nothing. Senju Tobirama stated they absolutely could not agree."
Tobi reported everything he had witnessed in the laboratory in full detail.
Including Senju Tobirama's remarks.
"Tobirama, what an infuriating fellow."
The disgust in Uchiha Madara's eyes flashed by and vanished, and he spoke coldly.
"Since they are unwilling, then we can only suppress them by force."
If not for Hashirama's sake, he would never have sent Tobi to notify them.
In the shinobi world, fists were the only truth.
And Uchiha Madara's fists just happened to be both big and hard!
He gently closed his eyes, feeling the surging power within his body, and subconsciously clenched his fists.
"My body has almost fully recovered. Prepare to carry out the Nine-Tails retrieval plan."
"Understood!"
Tobi immediately gathered the White Zetsu army and issued orders for the upcoming invasion of Konoha.
...
Three days later, Uchiha Madara slowly stood up and snapped the chakra transmission tubes connected to his back.
He looked in the direction of Konoha and murmured to himself.
"Hashirama, I'm coming."
Right after that, countless White Zetsu troops burrowed underground, continuously heading toward Konoha.