The formation of the Allied Shinobi Forces came together almost too smoothly—without resistance, without delay.
There were many reasons for that.
But the most important was this:
The main force responsible for confronting Uchiha Madara was not them.
That point, Kyoichi had already made very clear.
"Leave Madara to me."
And so—
With the greatest burden shouldered by someone else, the rest had only to surround and contain the White Zetsu army, maybe lend a hand in finishing off Black Zetsu later. Nothing more.
Besides, Konoha already had two monsters.
Kanda Kyoichi and Namikaze Minato.
Two shinobi who both wielded the Flying Thunder God Technique.
Together, there were few in the entire world who could kill them—
Madara barely included.
Of course…
That was only because few alive truly understood what Madara's prime power looked like.
Had he possessed the Rinnegan, even the Flying Thunder God might not have frightened him.
But as he was now—with nothing but a pair of three-tomoe Sharingan—his power was limited.
Once they located his hiding place, the rest would be simple.
Kyoichi remained on the front line, quietly observing Madara and Black Zetsu's movements.
He even sent one of his shadow clones north, circling around the sea from behind—
If Black Zetsu or the White Zetsu tried to escape northward, Kyoichi's sensory network would still catch them instantly.
In short—
every White Zetsu must die.
That was the first priority.
Madara's death was the second.
Without White Zetsu, Madara would be crippled—like losing a limb.
A crippled Madara wasn't a threat to anyone.
Meanwhile…
Deep underground, Madara and Black Zetsu were already aware of the Five Great Nations' mobilization.
It was impossible to hide such a massive movement.
Black Zetsu, visibly anxious, broke the silence first.
"We need to leave. Now. If we wait until they finish assembling, it'll be too late!"
Madara didn't even look up.
"Then take the White Zetsu with you. Leave by the northern sea. There aren't many ninja who can fight effectively over water."
"And you?"
Black Zetsu almost shouted.
The enemy's forces were gathering—
and this lunatic wanted to stay?
Did Madara really plan to go and duel Kyoichi one-on-one?
As if the enemy would care about honor or fair fights at a time like this!
"You think I'd run?" Madara said, eyes calm.
"I still owe this world one final battle.
At this point, if I don't die, they'll never rest easy.
Even if all the White Zetsu are wiped out, it doesn't matter."
He leaned back in his chair, tone flat, final.
Madara knew exactly what he was doing.
From the moment his existence was exposed, his death became inevitable.
If he lived, the world's war machine would never stop turning.
And even with Black Zetsu's protection,
there was no way he could hide forever—especially not from Kanda Kyoichi, who had somehow learned to sense even Black Zetsu's unique, inhuman chakra.
That man had become their most dangerous enemy.
Even Black Zetsu's own movements were risky now—
let alone moving together with Madara.
Black Zetsu was stunned for a moment.
Madara's logic… made a cruel kind of sense.
"If we both try to flee," Madara continued,
"do you think they'd let us go?"
"…Then…"
Black Zetsu hesitated, but he understood now.
Madara and the White Zetsu were both too conspicuous.
If they tried to retreat together, none of them would escape.
So—
It was time to choose.
The expendable White Zetsu army would act as bait.
Black Zetsu would take only Madara's original body and slip away while the others drew attention.
"Go," Madara said quietly.
Black Zetsu bowed slightly. "I'll make the arrangements."
"Good."
Madara's lips curved faintly.
He appreciated that Black Zetsu always understood him without needing every word spelled out.
Efficient. Silent. Obedient.
That was how a subordinate should be.
And besides…
With his talent for hiding and moving through shadows,
Black Zetsu could evade most sensory ninja with ease.
Even so, Madara still couldn't understand Kanda Kyoichi.
Was the bloodline of the Senju really that miraculous?
Two whole generations apart, and they still managed to produce a monster like him.
Even in Madara's youth, his genius had never reached that level—
nor had he ever stirred the world the way Kyoichi did now.
This one boy had unified the great nations,
turned them all against a common enemy—
himself.
How?
Madara could guess.
He'd painted Madara as the ultimate evil,
the dark hand behind every disaster.
With the evidence of Kirigakure incident—where Madara had indeed manipulated them—he had no defense.
The world didn't care that, under his control, Kirigakure had actually stabilized and prospered.
People only saw the illusion:
"Madara controls villages. Madara manipulates shadows. Tomorrow, he might control us."
"Fear," Madara muttered, "is born of ignorance and weakness…"
He picked up his war fan.
"It's time."
---
At that same moment—
Kyoichi and Jiraiya sat cross-legged, meditating.
Suddenly, the air around them stirred.
Kyoichi's eyes snapped open.
"What is it?" Jiraiya asked.
"They're moving."
Kyoichi stood at once, gaze fixed on the horizon.
From the surface, everything was still.
But deep underground, his network of roots—his hidden sensory jutsu—began to pulse with signals.
The White Zetsu were on the move.
Which could only mean one thing—
Madara had made his move too.
He frowned, sensing the flow of chakra.
A portion of the White Zetsu army was heading north.
The rest—south.
None toward the east or west.
"What's going on?" Jiraiya asked, tense.
He could enter Sage Mode, yes—
but compared to Kyoichi's perception, it was like a candle beside the sun.
And besides, sensing the Zetsu army required more than natural energy.
It needed Wood Release.
Something Jiraiya didn't have.
So for now, he could only wait for Kyoichi's report.
But Kyoichi just stood there, eyes narrowed in deep thought.
"…You'll feel it too, soon enough," Kyoichi murmured.
"They're moving south, in force."
He took a deep breath.
Madara wasn't dead—so of course he wouldn't sit and wait to be hunted.
Still, this fit one of Kyoichi's predictions perfectly.
He activated a seal and sent a coded message through the Flying Thunder God network to Minato:
"Madara's forces heading south. Madara himself—location unknown."
Jiraiya watched him write.
When the message was sent, he spoke:
"Then we should go after Madara. Finding him is the key. If he escapes, everything else we're doing will mean nothing."
Kyoichi shook his head slightly.
"I don't think he's planning to run.
If he were, he wouldn't have divided his army this way."
"…You mean," Jiraiya said slowly, "he's sending part of them away to hide… while he himself stays behind?"
"Exactly."
Madara's name was too heavy—
as long as he lived, the world would never rest,
the alliance would never stand down.
So this was it.
Madara was preparing for his final battle—
while sending part of his army to vanish underground, to wait for some future plan.
Troublesome.
Jiraiya exhaled. "Fine. You handle Madara. I'll hold back his forces.
Let's just hope the southern units move fast enough to cut them off."
Even as he spoke, he could already feel it—
The faint, crawling chakra of the White Zetsu spreading underground.
One or two might hide their presence—
but hundreds, thousands?
Impossible.
The earth itself was starting to tremble.
***************************
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