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"I don't have time. If you want me to teach that little girl Sage techniques, it'll take at least a few months. Unless you offer me some compensation!"
Ichikishimahime's eyes lit up as she mentioned compensation, raising her hand eagerly. Beside her, Tagitsuhime and Tagorihime glanced at her, clearly puzzled about what kind of compensation she was so excited about.
"Then take your time teaching. If it really doesn't work out, I'll teach her myself." Yoichi shook his head as he spoke, giving some suggestions to Tagitsuhime and Tagorihime without pressuring them.
Now that they had signed contracts with Konoha's jōnin, they could provide their summoners with significant strength.
Their 800 years of accumulated energy had resulted in an immense amount of Sage Chakra within them. If they were to appear on the battlefield to fight for Konoha, the strength of these three snake princesses would far surpass that of Gamabunta from Mount Myōboku.
However, since they had just joined, Yoichi hoped they could help Konoha train more shinobi and teach them Sage techniques.
Ichikishimahime's task was to teach Yugito. Although Yugito could use the Sage Seal, she hadn't trained with Matatabi to achieve the Tailed Beast Sage Mode, nor did she know Sage techniques.
Matatabi's ability to absorb natural energy wasn't as adept as Kurama's and didn't help Yugito enter the Tailed Beast Sage Mode. It might also be due to the different abilities of the nine tailed beasts, with Matatabi specializing in Fire Release.
However, teaching such an energy being as a tailed beast should not be too difficult. Yoichi initially planned to teach her himself, but since the three snake princesses had arrived in Konoha, he figured he could leave it to them.
"I already have someone in mind. I'll go find her when the time comes."
"I have someone in mind as well," said Tagitsuhime and Tagorihime, unwilling to accept Yoichi's assignment. However, they were still willing to stay in Konoha to teach the shinobi Sage techniques. After all, those who understood Sage Chakra were very close to Yoichi.
Since Ryūchi Cave joined Konoha, over thirty people had signed summoning contracts with the cave. A significant number of these were from the Uchiha clan, while only seven civilian shinobi had signed contracts with Ryūchi Cave.
These seven civilian shinobi were members of the Police Force. Seeing their Uchiha colleagues signing summoning contracts with Ryūchi Cave and obtaining such powerful summoning beasts, they were eager to do the same.
These seven had to accumulate enough mission merit to sign summoning contracts with Ryūchi Cave. The giant snakes of Ryūchi Cave, under the orders of the White Snake Sage, knew they had to assist Konoha's shinobi once summoned, so they were obedient.
The giant snakes of Ryūchi Cave, over forty meters long, posed a significant challenge even for chūnin, making them a considerable boost to the village's strength.
After the three snake princesses left, Yoichi turned to Kurenai, who was standing nearby. "Kurenai, why were you hiding earlier? Their teaching in Sage techniques is quite good, and since you're also learning the Ryūchi Cave Sage Mode, they can help you achieve the perfect Sage Mode."
"But it's so strange that the three of them are snakes. You wouldn't be able to tell at all," Kurenai feigned fear, inching closer to Yoichi, adding, "Besides, I'm currently assisting you, Yoichi-sensei. I don't need much strength, and handling village affairs helps you too."
"Kurenai, thank you for your hard work."
Yoichi smiled as he gently stroked Kurenai's black hair. Just then, there was a knock on the door, which was pushed open by Rumi.
Rumi entered and saw Kurenai inching closer to Yoichi-sensei, and she couldn't help but snort internally. Still, she kept her composure and said, "Yoichi-sensei, the review is complete. Would you like some tea?"
"No need, I have to go back to the clan grounds."
Yoichi stood up and spoke. Suddenly, one of his Edo Tensei bodies vanished. Trying to summon it again failed, indicating that this Edo Tensei body had likely been sealed.
He needed to have the Uchiha investigate which village's spies had recently come to the Land of Fire. The Edo Tensei body was that of a jōnin from Kumogakure, but it was unclear whether it was the work of a Kumogakure infiltration team.
"Edo Tensei!"
Black Zetsu, attached to White Zetsu, used a slightly modified version of Madara's forbidden technique, summoning Madara once more.
This time, the Madara that appeared was in his prime.
Upon awakening, Madara felt his Edo Tensei body. It was much better than the old, frail one from before, with a significantly higher chakra limit.
Black Zetsu approached and asked, "Madara-sama, it seems we succeeded this time, thanks to the Edo Tensei body Tobi brought back."
"Not bad. With the current sacrifice, I can only regain this much power. To regain more of my former strength, I'll have to wait until I am fully resurrected."
Madara spoke coldly, arms crossed. If he were fully resurrected, he would be several times stronger than he was now.
"Where is Nagato? I can't wait to fight with my own body."
"So soon, Madara-sama?"
Black Zetsu was taken aback and then advised, "Madara-sama, if news of your resurrection spreads too early, it might cause panic among the Five Great Nations. Currently, the Four-Tails and Five-Tails have not fully resurrected. If the Five Great Shinobi Villages learn of your intentions, they might take extreme measures."
"Extreme measures, Black Zetsu? Are you saying..."
"They might deliberately kill the jinchūriki to slow down your collection of tailed beasts." Black Zetsu speculated.
Even if they kept everything a secret, with Madara capturing one tailed beast after another, the shinobi villages would eventually notice. To combat them, the villages might choose to cut their losses.
"The Four-Tails and Five-Tails haven't revived yet. Nagato is useless except for my resurrection."
Madara scoffed. He knew that without the full resurrection of the tailed beasts, even if he were eager to come back to life, he couldn't immediately execute the Eye of the Moon Plan. It would only expose him and cause the Five Great Shinobi Villages to unite against him.
That would be troublesome for him, especially since one of the shinobi villages had a powerful descendant of his clan.
"Black Zetsu, tell Nagato to capture the tailed beasts quickly. He needs to capture at least three; after that, he won't be needed anymore."
Black Zetsu nodded, "Understood, Madara-sama. I will take a few Edo Tensei bodies to assist Nagato."
Madara had modified the Edo Tensei technique with the body Tobi brought back, allowing the Edo Tensei bodies to display more of their former strength, coupled with high-quality White Zetsu clones.
Seeing Madara had no objections, Black Zetsu let White Zetsu continue with the Edo Tensei. Earlier, Madara had already taught them the hand seals for the forbidden technique. With a dozen Edo Tensei bodies capturing a jinchūriki, it was feasible.
Currently, the easier tailed beasts to capture were Shukaku from Sunagakure, the wild Three-Tails, Saiken from Kirigakure, and Chōmei from Takigakure.
The Eight-Tails, Nine-Tails, and Matatabi were more challenging to capture, and the Four-Tails and Five-Tails hadn't been revived yet.
If they could capture the four easier tailed beasts first, reviving Madara wouldn't be an issue. Otherwise, Madara's appearance would alert the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Black Zetsu thought to himself. Mother's resurrection was getting closer!
Subsequently, the main body of White Zetsu handed over the collected flesh to several White Zetsu clones. Among them were remnants of many past strong individuals, with some corpses still in good condition, at least not completely decomposed.
"Which one should I choose first? How about reviving Konoha's Second Hokage with Edo Tensei? After all, he was quite familiar with Madara-sama, heh heh."
White Zetsu chuckled as it took Tobirama's flesh. It enjoyed witnessing such events, and luckily Madara hadn't noticed earlier, or this clone would have been killed.
"Edo Tensei."
Taking the flesh, White Zetsu's clone prepared everything, formed hand seals, and placed its hand on the ground. Immediately, countless fragments covered the White Zetsu clone before it, gradually revealing Tobirama's face.
"Heh, the Second Hokage of Konoha. If we capture the wild Three-Tails, he alone might be enough," the White Zetsu clone chuckled, preparing to stab Tobirama's head with a fuda kunai.
However, just as the kunai was about to touch Tobirama's head, Tobirama's Edo Tensei body suddenly opened its eyes, glaring coldly at the White Zetsu clone.
"What?"
The White Zetsu clone was shocked. It hadn't even activated the Edo Tensei body, so how had Tobirama regained consciousness?
"You dark rats think you can control me from the afterlife with my own forbidden technique?"
Tobirama grabbed the White Zetsu clone's arm, unleashing a burst of chakra and hurling the clone into a distant wall with a loud crash.
"What's that noise?"
Madara sensed Tobirama's chakra from inside, but since he was deep in the base, he hadn't seen the White Zetsu clone's actions.
Madara used the Body Flicker Technique and appeared outside. Upon seeing Tobirama, he said, "So it's you!"
The tomoe in Madara's eyes slowly spun. Even though Izuna had been dead for a long time, seeing Tobirama again rekindled his hatred. He even wanted to kill him right then.
"Madara, you really couldn't accept death. I should have disobeyed my brother's orders back then and studied your corpse properly!" Tobirama said coldly upon seeing Madara, his chakra rapidly flowing.
"That White Zetsu did something unnecessary, but it doesn't matter. It fulfills my long-standing desire." Before he finished speaking, Madara suddenly appeared in front of Tobirama, chakra concentrated in his fist, ready to smash Tobirama's head.
Sensing Madara's attack, Tobirama threw a Flying Raijin kunai into the air, disappearing just as Madara's fist approached.
Almost simultaneously, Tobirama reappeared above Madara, holding the kunai he had just thrown.
"Such a boring move!" Madara's tomoe quickly transformed into the Rinnegan, and a powerful repulsive force erupted from him. "Shinra Tensei!"
Boom!
The nearly irresistible repulsive force pushed everything away, creating a hemispherical crater on the ground. Tobirama was sent crashing into the ceiling of the cave before falling heavily.
Bam.
As Tobirama hit the ground, Madara stomped on his chest, forming a black rod in his hand and stabbing it into Tobirama's body.
Poof!
Smoke erupted from the black rod, embedding deep into the ground.
"A shadow clone? To think you could fool my Sharingan. What did that guy do in the Pure Land?"
Madara sensed something amiss. From Tobirama's earlier words, it seemed he knew Madara was using Edo Tensei.
According to White Zetsu's information, Tobirama had never returned to the ninja world and shouldn't have known.
"Madara, your schemes won't succeed. The Sage of Six Paths has long known your every move."
Suddenly, Tobirama's voice echoed in the cave. Before Madara could use sensory techniques, Tobirama's chakra vanished. By the time Madara checked again, Tobirama was nowhere to be found.
"Madara-sama, what happened?"
Black Zetsu asked with a hint of unease, feeling slightly nervous. Even Hagoromo's name had been mentioned.
"White Zetsu, where is your clone?"
"It died earlier, Madara-sama," White Zetsu said. "But before it died, it sent back its memory. Tobirama seems to have broken free from the Edo Tensei on his own. The clone didn't awaken his consciousness."
"On his own… It seems he does indeed have a different status in the Pure Land." Madara's expression grew serious.
The Pure Land was like an endless dark expanse, with no way out and no one to be found. Madara had once tried to find Hashirama's soul with his Rinnegan, but after searching for a long time, he found nothing.
Could it be that Tobirama had met the Sage of Six Paths?
"Go find Nagato immediately, Black Zetsu. Bring him back at the critical moment, and don't do anything unnecessary." Madara shot a cold glance at White Zetsu.
This foolish failure had acted on its own by using Edo Tensei on Tobirama, causing Madara's plans to be exposed.
With the Four-Tails and Five-Tails not yet revived, he might have to resurrect sooner than planned.
"I understand, Madara-sama." Black Zetsu said promptly. The mention of Hagoromo made it uneasy, fearing that his interference could hinder Kaguya's resurrection.
After issuing the orders, Black Zetsu and White Zetsu split up to carry out their tasks, while Madara returned to the depths of the base to retrieve his gunbai, planning to observe the situation in the ninja world.
Once Madara had left, the White Zetsu clone looked at the Edo Tensei materials and the clone used as a sacrifice, scratching its head. "Madara-sama didn't say to stop, so I guess I can continue with Edo Tensei?"
(End of Chapter)