Hatake Sakumo—an A-rank powerhouse—was even stronger than the current, not-yet-peak versions of the Three Legendary Sannin.
However, since the war with the Land of Wind hadn't officially begun yet, he hadn't had the chance to prove himself on the battlefield. The name "White Fang of the Leaf" was still relatively unknown.
Assigning someone of this caliber to protect him clearly showed just how much Sarutobi Hiruzen valued him.
Nawaki smiled. Of course Sarutobi would have someone watching over him in secret. From the perspective of Konoha's upper echelon, sending Nawaki out alone would be no different from handing over his life.
That thought alone eased much of the frustration he felt from being used as bait.
Well then, in the future, you and your son can fight it out—only one of you gets to enter the Lord God System. Rock-paper-scissors, maybe.
With minimal rest, Nawaki continued heading west. By the afternoon, he had already crossed the border of the Land of Fire, passed through the Land of Rivers, and entered the Land of Wind.
Compared to Konoha's fertile land and mild climate, the Land of Wind—along with the Land of Earth in the northwest—was all desert and rocky wasteland. The environment was harsh.
He hadn't traveled far into the Land of Wind when the scenery changed—barren earth stretched endlessly, and yellow sand danced wildly in the wind.
"Must be tough for the Land of Wind's sentries to operate in this kind of terrain."
Although the anticipated ambush had yet to appear, Nawaki played his part, taking out pen and paper as he walked through the dunes, seemingly scouting the layout of the enemy outposts.
Even though he knew the real purpose of this mission was to draw out hidden enemies, he had to at least look the part.
Thanks to his radar map, all life forms within a three-kilometer radius were marked, so actual reconnaissance was hardly any effort at all.
What Nawaki had to consider instead was how much to intentionally miss to make the report look believable.
By sunset—
Beep!
[An A+ rank lifeform has entered your three-kilometer range.]
An actual Kage-level enemy?
Nawaki quickly opened the radar map and spotted a rapidly moving entity near the edge of the scan. What caught him off guard was that the target had two names marked:
White Zetsu (Flying), Uchiha Madara.
What the hell—it's actually Madara?!
Nawaki's mouth twitched. He had suspected Madara might act, but seeing the name "Uchiha Madara" confirmed on the radar still gave him a strange, disappointed feeling.
So much for a hidden final boss. So much for a mysterious mastermind. In Naruto, if it's not Danzo, Black Zetsu, or Madara behind the curtain, who else could it be?
Yeah, probably no one.
Someone with both the power and motive to destroy the Senju Clan? Madara fit the bill perfectly.
As for why his sister Tsunade was still alive?
The answer was becoming clear.
Due to aging, Uchiha Madara's strength had greatly declined—so much so that he was now marked only as an A+ rank. He had already removed his Rinnegan and implanted it into Nagato, and was now relying on a backup Sharingan. He couldn't even activate the Mangekyō.
With such limited power, he might still defeat the current Tsunade in a fight, but killing her? Not likely—especially since Tsunade could always flee if needed.
Madara had probably just attacked her out of frustration or boredom, and spared her because she was too much trouble.
So why was he coming after Nawaki now?
Did Madara somehow learn about Nawaki awakening Wood Style? Did that pique his interest, prompting him to investigate whether Nawaki's cells differed from Hashirama's?
But Nawaki's Wood Style was only known to a few people: Konoha's upper echelon and a handful of Senju elders.
Clearly, White Zetsu had stolen the information with ease.
Thinking back to another timeline, when Kushina—still a Jinchuriki—was abducted by several Kumo Genin, and the entire Anbu failed to find her… Nawaki's forehead pulsed with a bulging vein.
Konoha's security division was absolute garbage.
"…Whatever, I'll deal with that later. Right now, I need to think about how to handle Uchiha Madara."
Nawaki paused to consider.
With Sakumo as his bodyguard, the aged Madara probably couldn't do much. If things got dicey, he could just retreat and escape.
But… letting Madara slip away now would be such a waste.
Maybe… he could make him a Reincarnator and rope him into the next Reincarnator Mission?
Infinite lifespan, youth regeneration—for someone like Madara with limited time left, that offer would be irresistible.
And with his strength, Madara could take on tougher missions, earning Nawaki plenty of points.
The only downside?
If Madara regained his youth, what if he went straight to Nagato to retrieve the Rinnegan and resumed his damn Eye of the Moon Plan?
Nawaki had no intention of letting his Naruto world get destroyed—it was supposed to be his base of operations! If Madara messed that up, who was Nawaki supposed to cry to?
And if Ōtsutsuki Kaguya were to show up this early, that'd be even worse. Nawaki wasn't nearly strong enough to stop her. She could travel through space and time—if she went rogue, not even the system could punish her due to his limited points.
Letting Reincarnators go out of control like that? Absolutely unacceptable.
"…Fine. Let Madara become a Reincarnator. As long as he has desires and dreams and doesn't want to die, once he joins the cycle, he's mine to control. I'll just expose the Eye of the Moon Plan as a lie and make him use his brain for once."
Nawaki had made his decision. Though… poor Black Zetsu.
His carefully plotted scheme was about to get steamrolled. He'd probably be sobbing in the nearest latrine.
Hmm… should he pull Black Zetsu into the system too? Let him and Madara both be utterly dumbfounded? Food for thought.
Pretending as if he noticed nothing—
A few minutes later, a figure appeared in the distance and spotted Nawaki standing in the sand.
"Hashirama's grandson…"
His body wrapped in a swirling mass of White Zetsu, only his head exposed, the cloaked figure with a war fan and scythe on his back looked every bit the image of a dying warrior. His long gray hair fluttered as death clung to him like a shadow.
His life was nearing its end. He would soon need the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path just to stay alive another day.
After all, most chakra came from the body's vitality. When that vitality faded, even a once-godlike ninja could become frail and powerless.
"Wood Style kekkei genkai… such powerful life force. I wonder how it differs from Hashirama's cells…"
With a single flash of movement, even cloaked in death, Madara—assisted by White Zetsu—crossed hundreds of meters in an instant, rapidly closing the distance to Nawaki.
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Remove the parentheses btw