He has even mastered Haki, and you say this is Naruto?

If Madara still believed that his own will would submit to him, he would never be able to take the next step.

But now, not only did he refuse to allow his so-called "will" to yield to him, he also refused to accept a future in which no one was capable enough to inherit Shanks's dreams and ideals.

Of course, Madara himself didn't realize this change.

What he had always sought was never submission—but a worthy opponent.

That—was the quality of a true king.

"Shanks… let's make a bet."

Standing in the doorway, Madara spoke with his back to Shanks.

"Your dream is to create a new era, isn't it?"

"I'll make it happen,"Shanks said with a confident smile. He firmly believed he could.

"I believe you. Then I'll do the same—I'll bet everything on the future as well.I want to see if this so-called new era of yours can really find someone to inherit your beliefs and dreams."

After speaking, Madara returned to his room.

At some point, he had changed too.

Belief…

"Who could inherit my belief?Who could do what I have done?Heh…"

"If Black Zetsu wasn't my will incarnate, then there's far too much I need to investigate—Izuna's death, and everything that happened in those decades afterward…"

"I'm not like Shanks. I don't have that kind of spirit.If I had to name someone capable of challenging me… maybe only the Sages of the Three Great Sanctuaries."

That was the only possibility Madara could think of.

He was out of time. Being toyed with by Black Zetsu like this—how could Madara not be furious?

If he had the chance, he would take his revenge with his own hands. But…

"Boar – Dog – Rooster – Monkey – Goat… Summoning Jutsu!"

The next moment, amid a swirl of smoke, a cat appeared in front of Madara.

"A member of the Uchiha clan? If there's anything you need, go talk to Hinai. Meow."

An old cat appeared before Madara.

The cat stared at the elderly man in front of him.He looked kind of familiar… probably Uchiha, judging by appearance.

"You are…?"

"Uchiha… Madara."

"M-M-MEOW!!!"

Hearing the name, the cat's fur stood on end—then it passed out on the spot.

This had to be a dream. No way he was seeing that guy.

But even ten minutes later, when it woke up again—Madara was still standing there.

"I need your help with something.It concerns Izuna's death, the First Hokage, and many matters from the Warring States era."

"I don't have much time left.I need you to go to the Three Great Sanctuaries and seek an audience with one of the sages.Help me negotiate with them."

Madara's voice left no room for refusal.

The old cat was drenched in sweat. This was way too important a task to give to an old cat like him.

The Three Sanctuaries?! That wasn't somewhere he could just go...

Sound Village – Orochimaru's hideout.

"That old woman thinks she can fob me off with a basic Sage Mode?I'm not interested in some half-baked technique."

Orochimaru was no fool.

If the White Snake Sage had personally come to him, it meant she wanted something.

And if it was important enough for her to reach out directly, it couldn't possibly be a small matter.

It might even concern the entire ninja world.

But all she gave him were vague, cryptic comments.

"New world,""Grand Line,""Devil Fruits,""Armament Haki,""Conqueror's Haki"…

He was Orochimaru, not the Sage of Six Paths—how could he understand such things from a few strange names?

What concerned him more was that this whole situation reeked of danger. And if there wasn't enough benefit, Orochimaru wouldn't get involved.

Clearly, the White Snake Sage wasn't sincere.

What Orochimaru wanted was the Dragon Transformation Sage Art, not some basic snake arts.

So the meeting ended badly. Even the White Snake Sage had her limits.

Besides, she didn't actually have the Dragon Transformation art—it was just an ancient legend.

But Orochimaru was sure Ryuchi Cave did possess it.

His research into Sage Mode was all about dragon transformation, not the snake-based style of the White Snake Sage.

"How could the Uzumaki clan have this kind of power…That old lady hid so much from me.If I weren't in hiding right now, I would've contacted Shanks directly. That'd be much simpler."

Though the Sage didn't tell him everything, she did reveal where the information originated.

Orochimaru thought—if he went straight to Shanks to cooperate, wouldn't that be more efficient?

"Still… if that's true,Karin's power really does deserve some deep analysis.Though her Kagura's Mind Eye resembles Observation Haki,it's clearly not the same thing."

Orochimaru was a pragmatic doer.

Even though the deal with the White Snake Sage fell through, with just a few scraps of intel, he had already begun his own research.

At this point, Karin was still in Grass Village—she hadn't even met Orochimaru yet.

But in the span of just a few months, her strength had skyrocketed—and behind it all… was Orochimaru.

But it wasn't enough.

Karin's progress, even after months of life-and-death experiences, couldn't compare to one week of growth from Shanks.

Sometimes, the gap between people is just that enormous.

"Next year's Chunin Exams will be an opportunity.If Shanks shows up in Konoha, Karin can come into contact with him."

Orochimaru had no choice but to postpone his plans until next year.

He was well aware of his current circumstances.If he showed his face now and was caught by the Akatsuki, he'd be in big trouble.

Just the thought of them made Orochimaru's already-dark eyes even darker.

Lack of funding had forced him to strip his underground labs to the bare minimum.He barely used electricity—reserving it only for critical experiments.

And now he had even more things to work on.

Money wasn't the only problem.He also feared being traced through his financial activity.

Especially since Kakuzu was extremely sensitive when it came to money.

While Orochimaru was grumbling to himself about all these issues, he suddenly sensed a familiar power.

A white snake slithered into the room, followed by… an old cat.

"Oh? Did the White Snake Sage finally agree to my offer?"

Orochimaru's expression returned to its cold, unreadable calm.He didn't even glance at the ninja cat.

"The Dragon Transformation Art doesn't exist—but the White Snake Sage has gathered some ancient records.Also, the Uchiha clan is involved in this matter.The Three Great Sanctuaries have agreed to cooperate with them."

As the white snake spoke, it passed a scroll to Orochimaru with its tail.Then it vanished via summoning.

"The Uchiha clan? You got all three Sanctuaries to agree?"

Orochimaru's gaze deepened.

Not only had the Uchiha gotten ahead of him, but apparently, there were still surviving clan members—aside from Sasuke and Itachi.

"Other Uchiha still alive?If they sent a ninja cat to deliver the message, those two kids couldn't have been enough to convince you."

"Naturally—it's a big figure from the Uchiha clan.You needn't worry about the details,"the old cat replied.

"We've already made contact with Shanks.We can share intelligence on Haki training and other data related to Shanks."

"Not enough,"Orochimaru said, shaking his head.

"What if we added information about the God Tree's organization?"

"God Tree?"

Orochimaru was puzzled.

But following the old cat's gaze, Orochimaru turned to the scroll from the White Snake Sage.

He opened it—

And found an ancient passage written in a lost language.

Not from this era at all.

Yet—Orochimaru understood it.

It was a history from the Era of the Sage of Six Paths.

The descent of the God Tree, the fruit it bore, the origin of ninjutsu…

Just a few hundred words.

But what it revealed left Orochimaru in utter shock.

He processed the entire message in his mind—

And immediately locked onto the most important piece of information: the God Tree.

The God Tree's fruit… and Devil Fruits?

If this was the path forward—then the God Tree was the key.

"So there's someone like that in the Uchiha clan…Did he know all along that I'd say yes?"

Orochimaru felt like he'd been played.

No—he was played.

And worst of all, he couldn't even fight back. He couldn't refuse.

"What's his name?"

Orochimaru asked coldly.

"Izuna. Uchiha Izuna-sama."

"Izuna Uchiha?That rumored brother of Uchiha Madara, supposedly killed by Tobirama Senju?"

Orochimaru was stunned.

Uchiha Izuna?

A long-forgotten name, buried in history.

Almost no one remembered him—because he was supposedly dead.

But now that Orochimaru thought about it…

Could someone who stood alongside Madara in the Warring States Era really have died so easily?

Faked death. That had to be it.

And to mobilize the ninja cats—only Izuna could have had the authority.

"So… what does he want me to do?"

"Investigate the Warring States period.Specifically—everything involving the Uchiha and Senju clans."