In the woods outside Konoha.
"Lord Madara, Konoha lies just ahead..."
Snap!
Madara plucked a leaf from a nearby tree and clenched it tightly in his hand.
"I know. That detestable aura... Even after decades, it lingers like a ghost that refuses to fade."
As he spoke, he crushed the leaf into powder and brought it close to his nose, inhaling deeply. "Hmm? The tantalizing scent of blood. It seems there has been recent conflict in Konoha?"
Black Zetsu responded truthfully, "Indeed, Lord Madara. Sasuke has attacked Konoha twice, but both attempts ended in failure. The first time, he was stopped by Naruto, and the second, by Hinata Hyuga."
"Oh?" Madara raised an eyebrow. "Sasuke may be young, but he possesses the same Mangekyō Sharingan as I do. Naruto stopping him is understandable, but Hinata Hyuga? How could she possibly..."
Black Zetsu hesitated, wanting to mention the Tenseigan, but recalling its previous blunder, it chose its words carefully. "I'm not entirely sure, but it seems Hinata Hyuga awakened a power beyond the Byakugan, one with immense destructive capability."
Madara's lips curled into a faint smile. "A power beyond the Byakugan? Interesting. It seems the Hyuga clan also has ties to the Sage of Six Paths... However, I had no intention of attacking Konoha in the first place."
With that, Madara opened his mouth, pinched his tongue between two fingers, and pulled it straight.
Even though he had been resurrected, the Cursed Tongue Eradication Seal was still in place!
It turned out that the seal, invented by Tobirama, was inscribed onto the soul itself. Without Yin-Yang Release at the level of the Sage of Six Paths, it was impossible to remove.
Black Zetsu thought to itself, I could remove that seal, but doing so would undoubtedly arouse Madara's suspicion. Best to stay out of this.
Feigning indifference, Black Zetsu remarked, "So, until you ascend to the level of the Six Paths, you must abide by your vow?"
"Hmph. I did vow not to attack Konoha, but I never said I couldn't set foot in Konoha. And besides..."
Madara turned his gaze toward the distant forest.
"I never said I couldn't act outside of Konoha!"
Boom!
Before the words had fully settled, Madara had already unleashed his fury!
"!" The Konoha ninja who had been secretly observing immediately retreated, throwing shuriken in an attempt to counterattack.
Though Madara was without eyes, he could locate his target by sound alone. With a metallic clang, he deflected the shuriken and hurled a black rod from his hand!
"Argh!!"
With a sickening thud, the ninja's shoulder was pierced, eliciting a scream of pain as they fell from the tree.
Madara approached coldly. "I'll be borrowing your eyes for a while."
The ninja gasped in alarm. "You're after my clan's Byakugan, aren't you?!"
"Oh?" Madara raised an eyebrow in mild surprise before his lips curled into a smirk. "A member of the Hyuga clan? Even better."
In a flash, he lunged forward!
"This is bad!!! I can't let the Byakugan fall into enemy hands!!!"
Slash! The Hyuga ninja plunged a kunai into their own left eye, destroying it. Despite the excruciating pain and the blood streaming down their face, they immediately moved to destroy their right eye as well.
But Madara was faster. With two fingers, he pressed against the upper and lower edges of the ninja's right eye, and with a forceful push...
Pop! The Byakugan was gouged out!
"Arghhhhhh!!!"
The Hyuga ninja screamed in agony, their face a bloody mess, their cries of pain echoing through the forest.
Madara held the blood-soaked eyeball in his hand and inserted it into his own right eye socket. A green glow enveloped the area, and a trickle of fresh blood ran down from the corner of his eye as the optic nerves connected.
Madara raised his hand to form seals.
Sizzle!
The veins around his right temple bulged, and the white pupil glinted with clarity and precision.
In the gray-tinted vision, every blade of grass and tree within several kilometers was laid bare before his eyes.
"I see. So this is the Byakugan. Its insight is indeed unparalleled."
Black Zetsu grinned darkly. "Shame they destroyed one eye. Otherwise, you could have had a pair."
Madara sneered. "Hmph. It's just a temporary substitute. Removing it later will be less troublesome."
The Hyuga ninja, blood streaming from their empty eye sockets, spat, "You scoundrel! The Hyuga clan and Konoha will never forgive you...!!!"
"The Hyuga clan? Konoha? To me, Madara Uchiha, they are nothing more than grains of sand."
With those words, Madara delivered a fatal blow to the Hyuga ninja.
After Black Zetsu disposed of the body, it asked, "Lord Madara, what shall we do next? Wait here for the Hokage to appear? If I may, Hokages rarely leave the village."
Madara pondered. "What kind of person is the Hokage?"
Black Zetsu replied, "She's a rather impulsive type."
Madara chuckled coldly. "That makes things easier."
In Konoha, inside the Hokage's office.
"Lady Tsunade, the autopsy on Uchiha Obito has been completed. Here is the report for your review."
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