"Again?"
Haru sighed slightly. His hands quickly formed seals, and in an instant, he seized control of Tobirama's body.
After so many times, Tobirama really had not learned a thing.
You want to compete with me, Haru?
Can you?
Back then, you also...
Cough, cough. Back then, he actually could. But back then was back then, and now was now!
"What else do you know besides playing dirty?"
"Come out and fight me one-on-one! If you have guts, fight me one-on-one!"
"I'll cut your dog head open with Flying Thunder God Slash!"
Tobirama's body could not move, but his mouth was still shouting. Faced with Tobirama's impotent rage, Haru smiled slightly and directly controlled Tobirama to shut his mouth too.
"Tobirama, why are you so excited? What kind of person am I? Don't you already know by now? You're still getting angry over such a small matter. How can I feel at ease discussing the major issue of Madara with you? The big picture comes first. The capable should do more. You're already dead, so you should keep shining and burning for the Leaf."
Haru patiently persuaded Tobirama.
Tobirama looked at Haru's shameless bastard face, furious inside, but there was nothing he could do.
A man under someone else's roof had no choice but to lower his head.
Haru had already completely grasped Tobirama. He kept an extremely tight hold over the control of Impure World Reincarnation and left Tobirama no loopholes to exploit. He also constantly used the Leaf's safety and future to threaten him.
No. To guide Tobirama emotionally.
He fed Tobirama big mouthfuls of motivational soup, making Tobirama work hard on scientific research. Unless Tobirama one day regained full control of his body, these days would continue forever.
How wonderful.
After about a few minutes, Haru saw that Tobirama had more or less calmed down, so he released Tobirama's restraints.
"Haru, you're good!"
"But remember this. You are the boss today, but that doesn't mean you'll be the boss forever."
"Thank you for the reminder. I will remember it forever. As for the experimental progress, you must speed it up. The Leaf's development cannot stop for even a moment!"
"I... I know."
Tobirama compromised once again.
For the Leaf, he would endure a little longer.
In any case, he loved scientific research. He loved it so much!
"Then let's continue talking about Madara. Compared with the small internal conflict between us, we are essentially both doing this for the Leaf. The Leaf occupies a very large space in my heart. And Madara is the enemy both of us must face together. Infighting now is not a wise choice."
Tch. Weren't you the one who acted like a beast first?
One day, I will regain my freedom.
Tobirama secretly swore this in his heart, but on the surface, he nodded without showing anything.
"Trying to defeat Madara through force is almost impossible, but we still need to prepare early. On one hand, we need to improve my own strength. The Hashirama cell experiment must be accelerated. When the time comes and I have to hold Madara off directly, I might be able to last a few more seconds and not get killed by Madara in three moves."
"If necessary, we'll also have to summon the First Hokage. Even if he can't beat Madara, if he kneels and bows to Madara, maybe Madara will show mercy and leave some seeds for the Leaf."
Haru spoke as though giving his final instructions, making Tobirama's heart tremble.
Since the matter had already been spoken of to this extent, it seemed unreasonable for him not to grind through experiments with everything he had.
"I understand. Don't worry. On issues of right and wrong like this, I'm not foolish enough to get confused. I will fully cooperate with you."
Seeing Tobirama being so sensible, Haru nodded in satisfaction.
If he did not describe the situation miserably enough, Tobirama might submit on the surface while secretly not putting in real effort. Haru really would have no way to handle that. After all, Tobirama controlled the core technology.
"Tobirama, that Flying Thunder God Technique of yours... I actually like it quite a lot."
Haru began thinking about Tobirama's Flying Thunder God Technique. If he learned this move, at the very least, he would definitely be able to run. As long as the mountain remained, there would be no shortage of firewood. It was impossible for him to truly fight Madara to the death. When it was time to run, he still had to run.
Madara only awakened the Rinnegan when he was close to dying of old age. He had nearly poured the entire second half of his life into it, so the price definitely could not have been small.
Time was on Haru's side.
"Hmph. I left all the training methods for the Flying Thunder God Technique in the Scroll of Seals. Do you still need me to teach you?"
Tobirama revealed a smug look, his eyes carrying contempt as he looked at Haru.
The training method was already given to you, and you still could not learn it?
Tsk, tsk, tsk.
"I followed your method for this step and tried to sense the Flying Thunder God mark you left on the Scroll of Seals. I felt nothing."
"Then that only means you don't have the talent to learn the Flying Thunder God Technique. As long as you pass the entry stage, you've essentially learned the Flying Thunder God Technique. Your talent isn't good enough."
"But I don't blame you. After all, only a ninja like me could invent it. Those with mediocre aptitude can only..."
Standing on the high ground of talent, Tobirama pointed and commented at Haru. He had finally found a chance to mock Haru.
"All right, all right. If you won't teach me, forget it. Pretend I never asked."
"It's not that I won't teach you. Even if I personally instructed you, no talent means no talent."
Interesting. Interesting.
Tobirama immediately felt that much of the resentment built up in his heart had disappeared. It was rare to see Haru suffer a setback.
Haru rolled his eyes, very dissatisfied with Tobirama's smug look after gaining the upper hand. Sooner or later, he would definitely draw the Flying Thunder God Technique from the roulette system. When that time came, he would properly slap Tobirama's face.
After that small interlude, Tobirama and Haru continued discussing Madara's problem. The two of them made several contingency plans for the possibility of Madara suddenly attacking the Leaf.
Haru felt that the most effective option was to throw Hashirama out first and have Hashirama shout that he wanted a duel with Madara, saying a few lines of trash talk while luring Madara away.
"Madara, you lost last time. Why are you still thinking of attacking the Leaf while I'm not around?"
"If that's how it is, then I'll really look down on you."
As soon as Hashirama said a few words like that, Madara would definitely be unable to wait and would follow Hashirama away. Mockery from his close friend would be true damage plus critical hit to Madara. Besides, Madara did not think he had lost back then.
"We must buy the Leaf enough time to evacuate. I will conduct targeted drills during this period."
The two quickly reached an agreement on this point. They absolutely could not let Madara make a move inside the Leaf. A Susanoo hundreds of meters tall could casually fire a few blasts and reduce the Leaf to ruins.
"Madara's strength really is unsolvable. Having a big fist is so nice."
Haru sighed slightly. His words made Tobirama feel depressed too.
Tobirama considered his intelligence unrivaled. As long as he was given time, he could develop countless powerful ninjutsu. But when faced with Madara's absolute force, the things he prided himself on were completely useless.
"Haru, do you think we have any chance of persuading Madara to give up the Eye of the Moon Plan? Making everyone in the ninja world fall into a beautiful dream is simply absurd. How is that different from making everyone in the ninja world commit suicide?"
"No matter how terrible reality is, it is still better than a beautiful dream."
Tobirama felt that since they could not beat him, they might as well let his brother talk to Madara. Maybe that could make Madara change his mind.
Then they could all work together to destroy the other four great ninja villages, the feudal lords, and have the Leaf issue commands uniformly, allocate resources, and fiercely develop productive forces. No matter how terrible reality was, it should still be better than a false dream, right?
"Tobirama, sometimes I really do find you innocently cute. As ninja, although our lives have been filled with constant killing and we might die at any moment, you need to know that even among ninja, there are differences."
"Take you and me for example. We were born into the top bloodline clans of the ninja world. Our talent, the ninjutsu we had access to, the resources we enjoyed... These are things ordinary ninja could not even imagine in their dreams. What we can reach out and grab are things they might never see in their entire lives."
"A considerable number of ninja are civilians. By chance, they became ninja. When they were weak, they endured hunger and cold stares. After learning a little skill, if they encountered ninja like us in the end, they would still just be small fry solved with a single shuriken."
"And that already counts as lucky. At least they had the talent, aptitude, and luck to become ninja, so they could make a living. As for the true civilians struggling at the bottom, they worry every day about their next meal. In disaster years, things like people eating people..."
"In just one year, I gained prestige in the Leaf that even you cannot match. Isn't it because I gave those people truly struggling at the bottom a bowl of food and a job? Even if I exploit them by making them work twelve hours a day."
Haru very directly shattered Tobirama's fantasy. In this ninja world, the majority were people living in deep suffering. Compared with suffering in reality, they were more willing to sink into beautiful dreams. Only people like them, standing high above others, would enjoy the beauty of reality.
"If everyone in the ninja world learned what Madara was doing, perhaps he would be the one everyone expected and supported."
Tobirama fell silent again. Everything Haru said was far too realistic, leaving no room to refute it. This ninja world was so cruel that it left people...
After quite a while, Tobirama finally spoke.
"Are we just supposed to watch Madara's conspiracy succeed?"
"I still can't accept Madara's method!"
People could never truly empathize with one another. In Tobirama's view, Madara was taking the entire ninja world with him into suicide. Whether the so-called Infinite Moon Reading could actually make people have beautiful dreams was still unknown.
The rotten story left behind by the Sage of Six Paths might have ulterior motives!
"Of course, I won't accept it either. Hmph. The so-called Infinite Moon Reading..."
Haru did not finish his words, but the sarcasm in his tone was already fully loaded.
The true function of Infinite Moon Reading was merely to absorb the chakra of the entire ninja world and use Madara's body as a medium to revive Kaguya.
Every poor soul trapped in the beautiful dream would, without exception, become White Zetsu.
"What do you mean?"
"What about Infinite Moon Reading?"
Tobirama keenly noticed the emotion in Haru's words.
There was a conspiracy behind this story!
"Infinite Moon Reading can make people sink into beautiful dreams, but the true consequences... Tsk, tsk."
"To be honest, if Madara knew the truth behind it, would he go insane?"
"It's just that if I say it now, Madara probably wouldn't believe me."
Haru fully displayed the characteristics of a riddle speaker, saying only half of what he meant.
If he told Madara the whole truth now, the result would truly be hard to predict. After Infinite Moon Reading was cast, humans would be hung on the tree until they died sooner or later. Whether or not they became White Zetsu did not affect the function of the technique. This technique really would make people sink into beautiful dreams.
That was not very different from what Madara wanted.
The only thing that could break Madara's composure was that he had been deceived by Black Zetsu. In the original story, he had even been stabbed through the heart from behind, directly ending the game. His body was completely controlled until he was devoured and became Kaguya.
If Haru told Madara now, whether Madara could truly wake up was something Haru had no confidence in. He did not have a single piece of evidence to prove that what he said was true. It might be better to not say it for now.
"Why the hell are you only saying half of it?"
"Finish it!"
"What is the true function of Infinite Moon Reading?"
"What does the truth you mentioned mean?"
Tobirama watched Haru say half of something and then begin sighing to himself. His entire person was about to explode.
You are hiding such explosive intelligence? Either don't say it, or say it all!
Tobirama shouted loudly, wanting Haru to tell him the whole truth.
"Want to know?"
"Hehehe. I won't tell you!"
"That's what you get for mocking me earlier!"
Haru revealed a smug expression, making Tobirama so angry that his face flushed red.
"You can't be like this as a person! Is your heart made of black coal?"
"Say something, damn you!"
Haru stood there without speaking, watching Tobirama stomp in anger. He felt incredibly refreshed inside. No wonder some people liked being riddle speakers. This feeling really was enjoyable.
"Fine, I'm begging you. Haru, just reveal a little bit. Just a tiny bit is fine. I'll definitely help you grind through experiments like crazy. I feel like there are ants crawling inside my body. It's so uncomfortable."
As a top-tier scientific researcher, Tobirama was inherently curious about everything in this world. Not to mention, the truth in Haru's mouth already involved the ultimate secrets of the ninja world. Saying only half of it was like attacking Tobirama's most sensitive point.
Before long, Tobirama's tone softened, and he began saying nice words. He had a premonition that the truth in Haru's mouth involved the ultimate secret of the entire ninja world. Now that he had already heard half of it, if Haru did not tell him the rest, Tobirama felt he would go mad from curiosity.
"There's no use telling you. You can't convince Madara either. When the right time comes, I'll tell you the truth."
"That's about enough for today. I'm going back. There are still two beauties waiting for me at home."
"You just stay in the laboratory and work honestly. You're not working for me. All of this is for the Leaf!"
Haru patted his backside and left. Tobirama still wanted to pester him, but Haru directly controlled him completely.
"Orochimaru, remember to take good care of your body. I'll be leaving first."
"Yes, Hokage!"
Haru even greeted Orochimaru before leaving. Only after Haru walked out of the laboratory did he release control over Tobirama's body.
"Haru, you damn bastard! You're not even human!"
"All riddle speakers deserve to die! Ahhh!"
After regaining his freedom, Tobirama cursed loudly in the laboratory. However, the laboratory's soundproofing was excellent.
Not a single bit of noise leaked out.
(End of Chapter)
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