Chapter 63: Dawn Fisherman Reaps the Benefit

… In the forest not far from the Sound Village, a group of figures clad in black cloaks with red clouds had gathered, all waiting with closed eyes for news.

Hidan swung his bloody triple-bladed scythe back and forth, as if swatting at mosquitoes, impatience written all over his face.

“What’s Uchiha Madara waiting for? We should just storm in and kill everyone!” He was itching for a fight.

Black Zetsu, his whole body pitch black, could only sigh at the comment. He certainly wanted to charge in, but the casualties would be devastating. For now, all they could do was wait for the perfect opportunity.

Besides, the real Uchiha Madara hadn’t been resurrected yet, and as for the fake one, nobody knew where he was—likely dead.

What exactly could the two of them do?

Black Zetsu almost wished they would show up and cause some trouble, so he wouldn’t have to shoulder all the burden alone.

He sighed inwardly. The fact that Akatsuki currently had no leader was still a secret, and had to remain so; otherwise, these people would probably fight over the position. None of them had a sense of proportion, and their strengths were too evenly matched—the organization could easily fall apart.

To become leader of Akatsuki, one required both the reputation and the power to command everyone’s respect. Besides Payne and Tobi, there were no suitable candidates.

Black Zetsu was racking his brains. He wanted to support someone else for the position, but there simply was no one. All he could do was hope Uchiha Itachi’s mission succeeded.

Itachi and Kisame were currently on a secret mission, unknown even to other Akatsuki members: to resurrect Uchiha Madara!

Recently, Uchiha Itachi had been paying particular attention to local legends and had come upon a rumor about a certain box.

Supposedly, this box was in Hozuki Castle and could grant any wish. So, Itachi and Kisame had set out with Uchiha Madara’s corpse.

Until Madara’s true resurrection, this matter must remain absolutely secret.

“Hey, Black Zetsu, ever since you split off from White Zetsu, I’ve been really curious: why are you one black and one white? Are you male and female? The hundred thousand White Zetsu army you mentioned before—did you and White Zetsu create them together? But it’s weird, you both sound like men when you speak.”

Hidan, clearly bored out of his mind, had begun scrutinizing Black Zetsu with great interest since he first saw Black and White Zetsu separated.

Black Zetsu was exasperated—though it showed on his pitch-black face, no one could tell. He snorted coldly. Who had the bright idea to bring this guy into Akatsuki? Couldn’t they return him?

He ignored Hidan, not wanting to get into a fight. His own combat power was weak, and more importantly, he didn’t want any extra trouble that might jeopardize the “saving mother” plan. His mother had only him left to rely on.

After going on for a while and seeing Black Zetsu ignore him, Hidan turned to White Zetsu—who had now taken the name A’Bai.

“A’Bai, what does it feel like to have someone wrapped inside your body?” Hidan was very curious.

Unlike the taciturn Black Zetsu, White Zetsu grinned, “Want to try? I can wrap you up too.”

“Really? Go ahead!” Hidan eagerly stepped forward, excited to give it a shot.

White Zetsu didn’t stand on ceremony. His body began to flow and twist, preparing to envelop Hidan.

The other Akatsuki members, meanwhile, waited in silence, expressionless, paying Hidan no mind. In their hearts, they likely thought of him as a fool.

Suddenly, a head emerged from the ground—it was a White Zetsu, one of the hundred thousand in their army. All eyes turned toward him.

“It’s started.” This White Zetsu delivered the news.

Finally, the war had begun, which meant their own moment to act was near.

Akatsuki’s members moved out, quietly gathering intelligence on the battle. To their surprise, the situation was turning in their favor.

No one knew what was going on in the Sound Village, but the former Konoha forces had seized the opportunity to rebel, killing nearly a thousand. Since the start of the war, Sound Village had lost three thousand men and had only about twenty thousand troops left.

“Sound Village has twenty thousand troops, the Allied Shinobi Forces of the Four Nations nearly sixty thousand. Let them wear each other down a bit more, then we strike!”

Akatsuki decided to let the two sides weaken each other and reap the benefits as the third party. Not a single one of their hundred thousand White Zetsu army had fallen yet.

That night, the situation shifted again. The rebellious Konoha forces suddenly betrayed once more, splitting into small squads to destroy the Allied Shinobi Forces’ command centers. At the same time, Sound Village threw all its remaining troops into a head-on assault.

The war had reached its decisive climax.

“Excellent!” Akatsuki reveled in the news.

Sound Village and the Allied Shinobi Forces were locked in a death struggle—a perfect outcome for Akatsuki. The more brutal the fight, the better; it would be ideal if both sides wiped each other out.

And as one piece of good news arrived, others quickly followed.

“The location of the Ten-Tails’ vessel has been confirmed.”

“We’ve located the One-Tail jinchuriki.”

“We’ve found the Nine-Tail jinchuriki.”

“We’ve secured the position of the Eight-Tails jinchuriki.”

Black Zetsu traced a map on the ground with a stick, feeling utterly confident—this battle would allow them to reclaim everything except for the Rinnegan.

“As for the Rinnegan…”

Those eyes were with Orochimaru and wouldn’t be easy to obtain. They’d have to wait until Madara’s resurrection.

…

At the border of the Land of Fields, the mobile fortress rumbled forward. In another half day, they would reach the Sound Village.

Orochimaru stood inside the moving castle, his gaze calm as he looked at two cannon-like devices protruding from the fortress walls.

Kazahana Dotou was visibly excited—the first test was about to begin.

“Fire!”

At Orochimaru’s signal, Kazahana Dotou shouted, and the thermal propulsion system was activated.

A deep hum vibrated through the air as all the heat gathered in the two iron barrels, and blue flames—formed from the concentrated thermal energy—shot out.

With a thunderous roar, the moving fortress surged forward.

The first test was a resounding success; the fortress now moved at an incredible speed!

“It shouldn’t even be called a moving fortress anymore,” Kazahana Dotou thought.

Recent modifications had added ten chakra cannons to the fortress, each one capable of unleashing the equivalent of an elite jonin’s full-power attack!

The walls had also been reinforced in strength and durability. Over time, the moving fortress would become ever more invincible.

…

Behind the Allied Shinobi Forces, the four Kage gathered in the main command room.

They didn’t have the Yamanaka Clan’s powerful mind-linking techniques, so their real-time communication was somewhat lacking; the command center had to be closer to the battlefield.

When news of the “Konoha prisoners” uprising arrived, the four Kage fell silent.

Mizukage Mei Terumi spoke first: “We’ve lost the initiative in this opening.”

Onoki, the Tsuchikage, sighed, “We’ve taken out nearly five thousand of Sound Village’s forces, but after tonight, we might lose five thousand of our own as well—a stalemate.”

Acting Kazekage Chiyo shook his head. “What I don’t understand is—who is commanding the Konoha forces? How could they, after rebelling, turn around and help Sound Village?”

It truly made no sense; after all, Sound Village was the very group that destroyed Konoha.

Raikage A’s expression was twisted with frustration. He was unwilling to give up; with sixty thousand on their side against Sound Village’s twenty thousand and the seven thousand Konoha prisoners, they should have been able to eliminate Sound Village.

But he wasn’t a fool. Akatsuki still hadn’t made a move. There was no way they would allow both sides to bleed themselves dry and reap no reward.

“Retreat,” Raikage A ordered, making the decision as commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces.