Frontlines of the Hot Water Country.
Sakumo had just returned to his tent for rest after a small-scale battle with Kumogakure forces when he received a phone call.
The message was straightforward—due to someone's disappearance, the Third Hokage was concerned about the war situation in the Land of Grass and decided to have representatives from each major clan sent to the Hot Water Country.
Meanwhile, the Third himself would head to the Land of Grass to take over the role of Supreme Commander, which originally belonged to Konoha.
"I see... Iwagakure even deployed Tailed Beasts," Sakumo murmured thoughtfully, holding a freshly printed stack of photographs still warm from the printer.
The photos showed a nearly one-kilometer-wide crater and the Five-Tails Kokuo lying in front of a pile of ninja corpses, clearly indicating the emergency in the Land of Grass.
With the person who could defeat a Four-Tails Jinchuriki and fund the production of rocket-propelled grenades now missing, it wouldn't matter whether it was the Third Hokage's student or even the legendary White Fang himself going—it would be no better than a fifty-fifty chance of victory.
"Although they captured the Five-Tails' Jinchuriki, Takigakure's Seven-Tails Jinchuriki is still active..."
Thinking about Kumo's Eight-Tails Jinchuriki made Sakumo understand why the Third Hokage would abandon the Hot Water Country entirely, redeploying most of Konoha's forces to defend the Land of Grass.
Everyone knew the official cause of the Second Great Ninja War was because Kumo failed in its attempt to abduct Uzumaki clan members, then out of embarrassment declared war on the Land of Hot Water, an ally of Konoha.
As for the true reason behind it all, Sakumo had absolutely no interest in finding out.
Still, from this official pretext alone, he could deduce that Kumo's Jinchuriki were unable to enter the battlefield.
Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Mito Uzumaki, was definitely not going to participate directly in combat.
A crippled Four-Tails Jinchuriki combined with a flying Seven-Tails Jinchuriki alone would be enough to shift the Allies' slight advantage into disadvantage.
If Amegakure's ambiguous stance was also factored in, then the battlefront at the Hot Water Country simply wasn't that important anymore.
Hokage office.
The Third Hokage started worrying about what excuse he would use tomorrow to convince the clan heads of Konoha's major families to contribute sufficient fighters to hold back Kumo's offensives.
That was just part of being a Kage—worrying about a thousand different things at once.
The only countries yet to enter the Great Ninja World War, aside from possibly Amegakure—which might declare war on multiple sides—were the Land of Water, whose true status remained unknown.
It was precisely to monitor Ame ninjas that he had stationed Sakumo there.
A person capable of steadily defending against Kumo's repeated fierce attacks was surely qualified to handle the complex situation in the Land of Grass.
However, if Kirigakure were to land on former Uzu territory from the sea, Konoha would then be forced to fight enemy forces directly within its own borders.
When that time came, it would be up to Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Hokage, to lead the Anbu to confront them.
"Has dawn arrived already?" A sliver of morning sunlight pierced through the window, making the Third Hokage's original resolution even firmer.
At the same time, the continuously trembling underground chamber finally settled.
The three figures dispersed their defenses and lay panting on the ground.
"Setting aside that brat's antics for now... Hashirama, what exactly was that?"
Impure World Reincarnated Hashirama sat up immediately and explained without batting an eye, "I was just trying to save you two from some awkwardness, that's all."
"Hmph. You're still talking the same way as always."
The aloof elderly Madara and the slightly obsequious Impure World Reincarnated version of Hashirama somehow got along without any sense of discord.
Shen Uchiha felt like he should play a song to celebrate their survival through catastrophe.
"Don't get too happy yet," Madara, now relieved of his inner burdens, spoke with sudden clarity. "Breaking the seal on Planetary Devastation isn't going to be simple."
Doused in cold water, Shen Uchiha still tried hard to keep his optimism alive. "I refuse to believe that even one or two years won't be enough to break this ridiculous seal!"
"I can agree with that," the Impure World Reincarnated Hashirama immediately added a sobering truth. "If we're talking about a two-year time span, Black Zetsu might completely turn the shinobi world upside-down."
Now thoroughly chilled by two consecutive splashes of cold reality, Shen Uchiha understood that prolonged delay would only work against his favor.
Black Zetsu clearly had the capability to eliminate Shen Uchiha, the self-proclaimed Reincarnated Asura, and Madara, the actual Reincarnated Indra—but chose not to.
Why? Simply because he wanted the next reincarnation cycle to emerge later rather than sooner.
The longer things stayed like this, the more advantageous it became for Black Zetsu.
"Agh… If only I'd known earlier, I should've reinforced all the Tailed Beast Seals before stepping onto the battlefield."
Regret flooded Shen Uchiha as he realized his future wouldn't even allow time for slacking off.
One opponent never even needed sleep—the Impure World Reincarnated Hashirama.
And another—Madara Uchiha, whose very presence could crush anyone.
Under supervision from these two giants, not only would slacking off be impossible, but even sleeping might become difficult.
"Kid," Madara gazed intensely at Shen Uchiha with his Sharingan, "with such mediocre power, you'd better give up on your New Moon's Eye Plan already."
"Madara, he's just a child. You don't need to be so harsh..."
"Shut up, Hashirama!"
Shen Uchiha knew his plan was nearly impossible to accomplish.
But he refused to back down. "I am Shen Uchiha!" he declared. "I will definitely realize my New Moon's Eye Plan!"
"Young man, don't expect us to go easy on you."
For once, Madara did not refute Hashirama's words.
He simply gave a look that plainly said—let's see what you can do.
With a bitter expression, Shen Uchiha realized he had fallen into a verbal trap set by these two heavyweights.
Completing the New Moon's Eye Plan indeed required obtaining the Rinnegan.
However, it didn't require becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki.
As long as he could control the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, the plan could proceed smoothly.
No one else could become a god—but Shen Uchiha, a transmigrated outsider possessing immense computational ability, was different.
The most stable way to pacify the shinobi world involved two measures: establishing a centralized state specialized in ninja governance, and keeping a Sword of Damocles hanging over every shinobi—a constant, ultimate deterrent.
Hashirama Senju's role in history had been suppressing chaos across an entire era.
What Shen Uchiha desired, however, was to dominate multiple eras.
With the Demonic Statue at his disposal, he could live indefinitely.
Even if weakened to complete immobility, Shen Uchiha could operate the statue remotely from the moon, launching devastating attacks from extreme distances against any insubordinate individuals or rogue forces beyond the reach of any shinobi nation.
The New Moon's Eye Plan was to transform himself into an eye, observing the entire world.
Before advancing the plan to create a nation, Shen needed to establish a legend in the ninja world that surpassed even Hashirama and Madara.
On the great continent of the shinobi world, a parliamentary nation existed to manage the affairs of Ninja.
Meanwhile, the distant moon kept a close watch on them at all times.
By turning one man into a god, they could spread such paralyzing fear that no Ninja would dare consider war ever again.
By that time, even if Shen and the Demonic Statue had long vanished from the moon, under the governance of world-level nations, any ambitious schemer would have to carefully weigh their actions.
In this early entrepreneurial phase, Shen immediately took the first step: painfully and slowly amassing his power reserves.
At the very least, before breaking the seal, he needed to grow strong enough to single-handedly bring the Great Ninja World War to an end.
(Don't even ask about breathing—just try clapping your hands and see what happens.)
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