Uchiha Madara was actually still alive.
After all these years, he had appeared before him in the flesh.
That alone was terrifying enough.
Still, the Fourth Raikage was the Fourth Raikage.
After the initial shock and disbelief passed, he quickly forced himself to calm down.
"What exactly do you want?"
A moment later, the Fourth Raikage, A, took a deep breath, suppressed the turmoil in his heart, and said in a low voice,
"Uchiha Madara, I don't know why you're still alive, but this is Kumogakure—not a place where you can come and go as you please."
"How insolent."
Madara only shook his head disdainfully and said lightly,
"As far as I'm concerned, Kumogakure is a public toilet. I can come when I want and leave when I want."
"You—"
Hearing that, A's face twisted with rage. He felt like coughing up blood.
There was nothing more to say.
If not for the fact that the man before him was the legendary Uchiha Madara, he would have already attacked in fury.
To casually call Kumogakure a public toilet—
that was a direct slap to his face, a complete refusal to give him any respect.
"Hmph…"
Seeing that A seemed on the verge of attacking, Madara let out a cold snort.
A vast surge of dōjutsu power erupted from his purple Rinnegan and swept out at lightning speed, instantly washing over the entirety of Kumogakure.
"This…"
Sensing that terrifying wave of ocular power, the Fourth Raikage's heart trembled. His eyes widened, and his powerful body froze in place.
At the same time—
throughout Kumogakure, countless shinobi sensed the same terrifying fluctuation.
"What is this?!"
"That power… it's horrifying!"
"It's coming from the Fourth Raikage-sama's office!"
After the initial shock and disbelief, every Kumo shinobi turned toward the Raikage's office, one after another crying out in alarm.
Among them, the Kumo ANBU had already begun moving to surround the building.
After all, none of them were fools.
A terrifying pulse of dōjutsu power had suddenly erupted from the Raikage's office.
It was obvious—
someone had infiltrated it.
"Wait… stop."
Inside the office, the Fourth Raikage, A, felt that scalp-numbing pressure from the Rinnegan and clenched his fists.
Grinding his teeth, he asked,
"What exactly do you want?"
"What do I want?"
Madara did not answer. Instead, he gestured toward Obito.
"…Tch."
Seeing Madara clearly trying to put on a show, the masked Uchiha Obito felt some irritation, but still spoke in a flat voice:
"Fourth Raikage, A… it's time for you to make your choice."
"Submit or die."
Pfft—
Before the words had even settled, A was so enraged that he coughed up a mouthful of blood.
Submit or die?
That sentence was far too familiar.
He still remembered it clearly—
when the allied forces of the Four Great Villages had faced the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren had said those exact same words.
And now someone else had said them again.
It left A feeling both humiliated and helpless, to the point that he could only cough up blood in rage.
As one of the Five Great Villages, when had Kumogakure ever been brought this low?
And yet—
whether it was Uchiha Ren or the Uchiha Madara before him—
both of them treated Kumogakure like a public toilet, speaking those contemptuous words without the slightest restraint.
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
The next moment, still unwilling to accept it, A growled,
"Uchiha Madara, since you're alive, you should be dealing with Konoha—not coming here to trouble Kumogakure."
"I am in the middle of something that will change the entire structure of the shinobi world."
Madara's eyes narrowed slightly as he spoke in a lofty tone.
"Now is not the best time to make a move."
"But once the preparations are complete…"
"…it will be time to deal with the Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren."
"A plan?"
A asked instinctively,
"You're planning to deal with the Fifth Hokage too?"
"Correct."
Obito's voice turned ice-cold.
"The existence of that Fifth Hokage has severely disrupted our plans."
"So Uchiha Ren must die."
"I'm willing to cooperate with you."
The moment he heard that, A looked as though he had found a kindred spirit. Gritting his teeth, he said,
"That Fifth Hokage, Uchiha Ren, truly deserves to die."
"That's more like it."
Obito nodded in satisfaction.
"Then submit."
"As long as Kumogakure submits to us, defeating Konoha and defeating Uchiha Ren will only be a matter of time."
"Submit?"
A said unwillingly,
"Can't Kumogakure simply cooperate with you?"
"Kumogakure is not worthy."
This time, Obito said nothing.
It was Madara who spoke coldly instead.
"If Kumogakure does not submit, then there is no need for it to continue existing."
"I will personally destroy Kumogakure."
"You…"
A's expression shifted several times in an instant. He opened his mouth as if to say something—
but no words came out.
What was there to say?
Truthfully, the moment he learned Madara was still alive and had personally appeared, he already knew this matter was far from simple.
And now it was obvious—
Madara was also a man with monstrous ambition.
"Make your decision."
Madara smiled coldly.
"My patience is limited."
"Hurry up."
Even Obito sounded somewhat impatient as he urged him again.
"…I am willing to submit."
A's expression was full of struggle.
But when he thought of Yugito, Killer B, Mabui, and the others—
in the end, he still lowered his once-proud head.
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