But alas, Hashirama Senju had long since died.
So in this world, no one could stop him anymore.
Regarding Madara Uchiha's words, Black Zetsu didn't refute, only asking: "What about Obito? Your Wood Release clone disappeared, and the Third Mizukage and Three-Tails were killed in battle. Now, the Hidden Mist Village has fallen into absolute civil war..."
"Just an ignorant little brat. There are many ways to take away the 'love' in his heart, such as..."
Madara Uchiha laboriously moved his finger.
Two White Zetsu clones walked in, carrying the unconscious Kakashi and Rin Nohara.
They were originally fighting in the Rain Country battlefield with Minato Namikaze. In the chaos, they were kidnapped, which wasn't difficult for the undetectable White Zetsu.
Madara glanced at Black Zetsu.
He immediately understood Madara's meaning, his mouth splitting into a wide smile as his body transformed into a black shadow, approaching Rin Nohara and gently covering her.
Black Zetsu instantly completed the control of Rin Nohara.
If the target was Kakashi, it might have been more difficult, but Rin Nohara was no challenge at all.
Flexing his wrist, he rasped: "How should this play be performed?"
"According to the original script."
As Madara Uchiha's voice fell, the two White Zetsu clones transformed into ordinary-looking Mist ninja.
Then, they took Kakashi and Rin Nohara and left this space.
Just as Qifeng had thought, whether Obito was killed, or prevented from being captured, or protecting Kakashi and Rin Nohara, none of it could stop Madara Uchiha's plan.
If Obito was gone or dead, he could replace him with another Uchiha. Shisui and Itachi were good options. Even an ordinary Uchiha, with his guidance and Black Zetsu's assistance, would only need a slightly longer development time, and the plan could still proceed.
And Kakashi and Rin Nohara were even simpler. Killing them early would cause Obito to fall to the dark side sooner. Protecting them wouldn't necessarily guarantee their safety. Even if they were truly protected, White Zetsu could transform into their appearance at any time, and it was impossible to protect them for a lifetime.
The only way was to take out Madara Uchiha.
But that was clearly unrealistic.
So, after Qifeng made an effort, stopped Madara Uchiha and the Third Mizukage, and Obito was still taken away, he gave up.
Whatever happens, happens. Once Madara dies, everything will be fine.
In a word, wait for Madara to die.
At the same time, White Zetsu, feigning a nervous appearance, informed Obito of the situation, and Obito, as originally planned, put on White Zetsu and rushed out.
Everything was under Madara's control.
Meanwhile.
Qifeng, who was on his way home, seemed to suddenly sense something. His eyes flashed, but he didn't show any reaction.
"He's about to die, isn't he..."
— — — — — —
Recently, something's been going on at home, the updates are a bit rushed...
Chapter 198 That Corpse, Leave it to Me? (4000 words)
Time flew by quickly.
Qifeng successfully pulled many of the Leaf Village's large and small clan ninjas into the Root, finally shaking off the awkward situation of being a lone commander.
For example, the most active Uchiha, the relatively passive Hyuga, and the even more passive Sarutobi clan, Nara clan, Yamanaka clan, Akimichi clan, and other clan members, more or less received his "invitation" and sent people to join.
Suddenly, Qifeng, the newly appointed Deputy Head of the Root, suddenly had many subordinates.
Judging from the on-paper strength alone, it seemed to be not much weaker than the Root forces in Danzo's hands.
But at the same time, Danzo hid even deeper.
Not only Danzo, but even all the members of the entire Root seemed to have evaporated from the world, and no trace of them could be found.
Even if Qifeng sent out all the Root members under him, he couldn't find them.
It was as if they were deeply buried underground in the Leaf Village.
Qifeng found Hiruzen Sarutobi, who said that he hadn't seen Danzo for a long time either.
For this reason, Qifeng could only give up for the time being.
He understood Danzo's meaning.
As long as he hid, he would always be the leader of the Root, and Qifeng could only be the deputy leader.
That's how cunning and treacherous he was.
While the Leaf Village gradually tended towards stability, the Leaf ninja army led by Minato Namikaze in the Rain Country battlefield also gradually gained an absolute advantage on the battlefield. The Sand ninja's defeat was only a matter of time.
If Minato Namikaze hadn't left once in the middle, he might have already won.
No one said anything about him, after all, he went to save his two disciples.
However, it was a pity that Minato Namikaze's original three disciples were now only Kakashi left.
And it seemed that the death of his two companions made Kakashi's already introverted and rigid personality even more introverted, even cold.
The whole person became like a walking corpse.
Helpless, Minato Namikaze could only temporarily send Kakashi back, into Qifeng's hands, hoping that he could let Kakashi join the Root and experience the true darkness of this world, maybe he could find a little bit of himself from it.
Of course, Qifeng would not refuse this.
Although Kakashi was not old at this time, he had completely possessed the strength of a Jonin after experiencing the baptism of war, and should have been attacking Elite Jonin.
It was a pity that the deaths of Obito and Rin Nohara had a great impact on him, and coupled with the constraints of Obito's "remnant" Sharingan, it restricted his path to continued rapid progress.
Whether he can get out of it in this life can only depend on himself.
But to say nothing else, Kakashi, who was as cold as an ice cube, became a good hand in the new Root, with an amazing mission completion rate.
That's right, after Qifeng put together enough manpower to form a Root independent of Danzo's control, Hiruzen Sarutobi had already begun to hand over some tasks that originally belonged to Danzo's Root, as well as some tasks that belonged to the Anbu, to Qifeng's new Root to handle.
After all, they were all a group of Jonin with outstanding strength and abilities, all elite ninjas who had experienced war, and it was too wasteful to "retire" with Qifeng.
And this also meant that Qifeng had begun to gradually take over Danzo's Root from actual actions.
