After Danzo left, the air in the heavy rain was damp and sweet.
Yako stood on a tree trunk, looking into the distance through binoculars.
Otsu was on the other side of the Tree Birth Technique, also on guard against threats from afar—and watching Yako.
Madara had chosen a very remote location; the rain here was heavier than most places in the Rain Country, with no nearby activity or shinobi visits.
Days passed with no communication between Yako and Otsu.
Yako knew Otsu had warned Danzo days ago about whether to kill Yako to silence him. Otsu was likely the oil ninja Ryoma from the original story.
Oil Ninja Ryoma—better not leave Danzo's side.
From the south of the Rain Country to Konoha took seven days.
Even if Danzo returned to Konoha and discussed a plan with Sarutobi Hiruzen within a couple of hours and departed immediately, the round trip would take fourteen days.
On the first day of the fourteenth day, a large group appeared in the distance.
Yako put down his binoculars, thinking—did Madara put so much psychological pressure on Danzo?
Sarutobi Hiruzen, Danzo, and the clan heads of Senju, Uchiha, Yamanaka, Inuzuka, and Aburame—the five great clans—while the Hyuga sent elders.
The heads and elders of Yamanaka, Inuzuka, Aburame, and Hyuga clans took charge of reconnaissance.
Senju Hanamoku and Uchiha Sho, the two directly involved, each brought two bodyguards, making the group look enormous.
With such force, even Hanzo would tremble at the thought of attacking the Hidden Rain Village.
A truly lavish investigation team.
Yako focused on Danzo, whose right eye was still bandaged.
No end in sight; once Danzo tasted the Sharingan's power, temptation was irresistible.
Resurrection—too tempting.
Danzo had gained too much from Uchiha Kagami.
The group landed around the Tree Birth Technique.
Sarutobi Hiruzen wore battle armor and wielded the Kongō Nyoi staff.
On the staff, a giant monkey eye blinked open.
"Hiruzen, is this... the First Hokage's Wood Release?"
Hiruzen swung the staff with force, breaking the twisted, coiled trunks. "Such strength, it's definitely Wood Release."
Everyone looked at Senju Hanamoku, who had seen Wood Release firsthand, confused and puzzled.
"Advisor Danzo said Madara used Wood Release? Not some Senju awakening their Kekkei Genkai on the battlefield?"
To Hanamoku and Uchiha Sho, this was so outrageous it almost seemed real.
Danzo had no reason to fabricate such a bizarre lie.
No one replied; the Senju hadn't produced Wood Release for decades—except for Shibuki—and no recent Senju prodigies had emerged.
Members of the Yamanaka, Inuzuka, Aburame, and Hyuga clans immediately began reconnaissance, gathering local intel.
Yako and Otsu remained near the senior leaders.
Sarutobi Hiruzen ignored Otsu from Root and first looked at the Anbu fox mask, asking,
"Fox, what happened? Tell me everything from the start."
Yako guessed Danzo had already reported, so he briefly explained how they encountered three Konoha shinobi controlled by Madara, and how they themselves were trapped in genjutsu causing self-destruction.
He pinned the squad's infighting on Madara.
Then he escaped, met Danzo, and returned, encountering Madara.
Madara controlled the three Konoha shinobi and fought Kato Dan and two others; Danzo came with Yako and Otsu for backup.
Kato Dan's team and the other auxiliary shinobi died.
Inuzuka clan leader Inuzuka Hiru found seven corpses within the Tree Birth Technique.
Yako led the seniors onto the Tree Birth site to the bodies, identifying them one by one.
When pointing out Kato Dan, Senju Hanamoku's face instantly turned pale.
Through the trunk gaps, Kato Dan's lower face was visible.
Hanamoku's heart bled, seeing one of the clan's most important juniors dead here.
Kato Dan wasn't only Tsunade's lover but also head of the Senju-affiliated Kato clan.
His death dealt a heavy blow to the Senju clan.
Yamanaka clan leader Yamanaka Kai reported, "Several corpses had their heads crushed by Wood Release. No intel could be extracted from their brains."
Yako stood on a tree trunk; beneath him in the gap lay Kato Dan's crushed severed hand.
The sight was grisly—Hanamoku could not sew even half of Kato Dan with two hundred meters of surgical thread.
When Hanamoku gave up hope without questions, Yako spoke again,
"Hokage-sama, please come with me to the cave where Madara once hid. There's important intel there."
Sarutobi Hiruzen immediately said, "Let's go!"
As they neared the cave, even Hiruzen slowed his pace.
Madara had left a deep impression on the young Sarutobi and others.
Not only Sarutobi— even Senju Tobirama would have struggled against peak Madara.
The group entered the cave.
The cave was hollowed downward, creating a large cavern beneath the mountain.
At the center was a stone chair atop steps.
Thick dust lay everywhere, imagining how Madara had sat still on the stone chair for countless days and nights, leaning on his scythe.
He was too old, unwilling to move.
This world was dull, unworthy of his attention.
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood below the steps, looking up tensely as if Madara still sat there.
"Hokage-sama... Hokage-sama?"
Yako called twice before Hiruzen snapped out of it.
Yako said,
"Hokage-sama, behind the stone chair is a deep pit, like a giant... I'm not sure, maybe a giant, but I don't know what exactly."
Except for Senju Hanamoku, all other seniors' attention was captured by the Madara intel.
They followed Yako around the stone chair and saw the large deep pit behind.
Yako said,
"I sent a shadow clone to check; the pit contains the lower half of a huge humanoid—legs, knees, feet.
By scale, there must have been a giant over a hundred meters tall here."
Even Danzo stared at the black pit.
Yako's goal was achieved; no one questioned whether to kill him now.
Everyone was baffled—what exactly was Madara planning? What was the giant—Wood Release?
Or the Senju Great Buddha?
Yako took out a scroll and handed the image of the giant's lower half to the Third Hokage.
Otsu was astonished—Yako had repeatedly sent shadow clones into the cave these days, was he just there to sketch?
Yako thought, "Here's some architectural drafting skills from my past life."
The Third Hokage looked at the giant's lower half sketch and shook his head—neither the Senju Great Buddha nor Wood Release, but more like a malnourished, muscle-atrophied giant.
Once they absorbed this, Yako added,
"Hokage-sama, there's a wooden bed made of Wood Release on the side, just big enough for a child to lie on.
I don't know what Madara did on that bed."
The group flocked to the side.
Yako finally relaxed; no one paid attention to Kato Dan anymore, and Danzo had no mind to silence him.
The mist surrounding Madara was enough for these people to study for a long time.