"Thinking back, Hyuga Zuo seeking out The Third was probably just an excuse to get some benefits. Then again, this must have already been part of The Third's plan."
Akaba mused inwardly.
Hyuga Zuo didn't show strong resistance toward "Ao," because he was a very pragmatic person who clearly understood what he needed at the moment and what actions were appropriate.
He arrived at the Hokage Tower precisely to press The Third about forming the Reconnaissance Division.
The Third had long considered establishing such a division. He had brought it up multiple times before, but each time it had been postponed or tested without ever being formally organized—until now, perhaps.
Maybe today would finally mark the beginning of its true formation.
But that wasn't Akaba's concern.
Although the Sakuma clan did possess certain sensing abilities, due to their relatively low physical conditioning, they mostly played supporting or auxiliary combat roles rather than acting as scouts.
So even if the Reconnaissance Division were established, it wouldn't affect the Sakuma clan at all—Akaba had nothing to worry about.
What required careful thought, however, was the manga.
To stock up on chakra, he was only using two shadow clones a day for drawing manga—no choice but to slow down updates.
Assuming no interruptions, the next chapter would finally dive into the real core of the Moon Eye Plan—
[Infinite Tsukuyomi].
A Genjutsu projected onto the moon that would put everyone in the world into a false, peaceful illusion.
Seems pretty good at first glance.
Yet Akaba knew clearly—and Black Zetsu knew too—that all of this was fake, a lie fabricated by Black Zetsu to make Madara believe it was real. Once convinced, Madara would activate the Infinite Tsukuyomi to rescue "mother," Kaguya Otsutsuki.
Once this chapter drops, Black Zetsu is going to freak out.
And indeed, that was exactly what happened.
Even without anything else, just seeing those five words—"Moon Eye Plan"—made Black Zetsu feel a sense of impending doom. If possible, he wouldn't even want to hand over the following chapters directly to Madara, preferring instead to personally rewrite parts himself.
Unfortunately,
he had absolutely no drawing ability whatsoever. Worse yet, any revisions would require rewriting the entire related plot—an effort nearly equivalent to creating a brand-new manga from scratch.
Even if he had both the time and skill, getting Madara to believe in the rewritten plot would still be a major problem.
Under current circumstances, he couldn't risk pulling any more underhanded tricks.
No choice—he had to reluctantly bring back the Fire Country updates again, while also picking up the latest One Piece installment for Madara to review.
Madara still had mobility; with Hashirama Cells integrated into his body, living another ten years or so wouldn't be difficult. But since Black Zetsu's creation, unless absolutely necessary, he rarely left the cave.
Having someone to fetch stuff for him sure beat having to do it all himself.
Black Zetsu was having a rough time.
This wasn't the life he wanted—what he desired was efficiently gathering the Tailed Beasts and completing the Infinite Tsukuyomi as soon as possible.
Madara put the manga away without showing any emotion after finishing it. He then stared at Black Zetsu for several seconds before asking, "How is Sunagakure Village faring?"
"They've already begun the war. Ebizō and Chiyo are furious, determined to attack Konoha."
Black Zetsu said with a knowing smile.
"Oh?"
Ebizō had begun surveilling Konoha at great cost, sacrificing many spies hidden across the Land of Fire. But it was this woman Chiyo...
Black Zetsu stopped short.
Chiyo had secluded herself indoors. One day out of curiosity, he secretly slipped inside and saw her crafting a puppet.
The puppet bore an uncanny resemblance to her deceased son.
If that were all, there would be nothing unusual about it—after all, it's natural for a mother to miss her child. What unsettled him, however, was discovering Chiyo researching a strange technique.
[Self-Born Reincarnation].
Undoubtedly, she intended to use this jutsu to bring back her son. Whether she planned to sacrifice herself or someone else remained unclear.
But Chiyo was undeniably intelligent and decisive, making her extremely difficult to manipulate. If she ever uncovered their actions, the repercussions would be catastrophic.
Moreover, the body was in Sakuma Akaba's possession. Which meant Chiyo would inevitably come face-to-face with Sakuma Akaba sooner or later, possibly even reaching some kind of agreement.
A chill crept up Black Zetsu's spine.
Madara slightly narrowed his eyes, smirking.
Since their reunion, Black Zetsu had regained his usual composure, rarely showing strong emotions, making it hard for Madara to sense anything from him.
Except during rare moments like when new manga chapters came out.
For example, this time—ever since entering the cave, Black Zetsu's mind had been in turmoil, completely unlike his normally stable self.
Was it because of the Moon Eye Plan?
Madara remained expressionless, neither probing nor revealing anything.
We'll see how young Akaba plays this next. Perhaps that brat really has grasped something that frightens Black Zetsu.
The next day, Akaba completed his final chakra stockpiling, sealing his Yin Seal completely. Considering the increase in chakra from attribute growth, flying from Konoha to sea posed no issue.
Outsiders believed he was usually asleep in the mornings, which was indeed often the case. Therefore, without hesitation, Akaba activated Flying Thunder God early that morning.
The ship had docked near a small island. Most of the passengers had gone ashore searching for treasure, leaving few aboard.
When Akaba appeared, Jiraiya was still asleep.
Inside his cabin, scattered across the floor, were numerous sketches—various 'human-beast hybrid' females. The artistic style resembled something straight out of One Piece, depicting an adventure about a ninja named Kaeta who sails the seas in search of an "Ai Ai Fruit."
Not quite sure what to make of it—but kudos to you, great artist!
Akaba expanded his sensory perception.
This was a desolate island, completely devoid of human presence. Searching here was pointless.
Using his sensor ability, he detected another direction containing a very small island.
It was tiny indeed.
Yet, he sensed most of the island remained submerged beneath the sea.
Let's check it out!
Without hesitation, he activated his Mangekyo power, marking a distant spot, then used the last of his dwindling chakra reserves to teleport directly onto the island.
Thus depleting all his remaining chakra.
Once there, he had placed significant distance between himself and Jiraiya's group. Immediately, he pulled out food rations and Military Rations Pills to restore his strength and chakra.
After regaining some chakra, he exchanged for the Vampire Fruit.
The island was small—just a dozen steps across. In its center stood two or three coconut trees and some bushes. He scoured every corner of the island but found only a few birds resting there.
He fed one of the birds a Devil Fruit, then used the Kaleidoscope Sharingan to control it, ensuring it wouldn't fly away.
To make things believable, Akaba dove underwater and carved the words "Demon," "Fruit," and "Disaster" onto a broken, corroded stone tablet on the ocean floor.
After aging the markings with ninjutsu, the freshly carved words blended perfectly into the stone without a trace of forgery.
While Jiraiya and the others hadn't noticed yet, Akaba continued to recover his chakra. At the same time, he used his Sensor Ability to monitor Konoha shinobi on distant islands.
There was nothing special on that deserted island, so Konoha's group soon set off again.
Their goal was various islands. Without Haino—who had eaten the Human-Human Fruit—it might have taken a lot of effort just to locate them. But with the help of flying birds, they quickly found the island where Akaba stayed.
At this point, Akaba used Transformation Jutsu to hide among the bushes, keeping himself out of the bird's sight. Once Konoha's ship approached, he reinforced the illusion control over the bird using his Eternal Kaleidoscope Sharingan.
Only after that did he use the Eternal Kaleidoscope Sharingan's Materialization ability to teleport back to the earlier deserted island.
Now he could focus entirely on recovering his chakra.
Sitting cross-legged, he monitored Konoha's movements through his sensing ability while simultaneously refining and restoring his chakra—a process that consumed considerable energy and took time.
Though not for too long—he hadn't used much chakra with the Flying Thunder God technique. Moreover, after acquiring the Vampire Fruit, he'd used his leftover points to boost his Physical Strength attribute, which slightly increased both his chakra capacity and recovery speed.
At this pace, he would return to Konoha no later than tomorrow.
For today, though, he'd have to spend the night on the deserted island. Luckily, the island wasn't tiny—it probably had enough food to help him regain his strength.
Jiraiya's team didn't wait for their ship to arrive. A group of ninja dashed toward the island by running atop water.
The island was tiny.
But after a brief search, they quickly noticed debris and traces of bricks along the beach. Although badly eroded, these clearly showed signs of artificial craftsmanship.
This suggested someone had once lived here long ago.
From this clue, they discovered a submerged island filled with ruined houses and numerous stone tablets whose inscriptions had corroded beyond recognition.
These stone tablets seemed to carry the weight of history itself.
After diving underwater, the ninja soon found the three words left behind by Akaba:
"Demon," "Fruit," "Disaster."
If they hadn't read about the world of pirates in One Piece, they might not take this seriously—likely blaming it on a Kekkei Genkai awakening gone wrong.
But now, though, the connection was obvious—Devil Fruits were the first things that came to mind.
After the ships arrived, everyone on board thoroughly searched the island—even killing all the birds present. Jiraiya suspected they might have eaten Devil Fruits.
Had there been no records on the stone tablets, he probably wouldn't have done this.
But right now,
clearly, Jiraiya had succeeded.
After killing that bird, it wasn't long before everyone noticed the coconut on a palm tree rapidly developing strange patterns. Eventually, it transformed into Devil Fruits.
"We've found the Vampire Fruit!"
"Great! I've had enough of the ocean air already."
"We can go home!"
On the island, cheers erupted like an explosion.
In the distance, Akaba knew they had succeeded and quickened the process of extracting his chakra.
The Shadow Clone left in Konoha could only last half a day. Even if one could pretend to be his real body going to sleep, he still needed to return to Konoha before morning arrived.
Thankfully, with prior experience, he understood exactly how much chakra was required to return home. As soon as his personal chakra recovered, he could immediately activate [Flying Thunder God] to return.
However, doing so would drain the chakra stored within the Yin Seal once again.
Jiraiya and the others had obtained Devil Fruits; there was no way they'd ever return to search for this barren island again. They all wanted to go home, but first, they needed to figure out which sea they were in.
Sailing blindly could mean never returning to Konoha—at least not in their lifetime.
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