Mastermind of the Akatsuki

"Are you ready to face the challenge?"

Madara Uchiha's voice echoed repeatedly in everyone's minds. They could hardly believe that the Madara Uchiha before them was merely a wooden clone with less than 30 percent of the original's strength.

If even the wooden clone possessed strength comparable to a Kage, then how incredibly powerful must Madara's true body be!?

Is this really an enemy that the combined forces of the Five Great Shinobi Villages can defeat?

After a long moment, Ōnoki looked at Madara Uchiha with a complicated expression. He had thought he had grown strong enough to make Madara see him differently, but in reality, there was still an immense gap between them.

Madara quietly stared at Ōnoki and, using the residual chakra in the clone, activated Susanoo.

Susanoo raised its twin swords and slashed heavily toward the fortress above. With the power of Susanoo, if the strike connected, both the fortress and the ninja above would be annihilated in an instant.

At that moment, Byakuya, who had been watching, moved suddenly. He clasped his hands together forcefully.

The cracked ground rapidly sprouted several huge vines that wrapped around Susanoo's twin swords. Then Byakuya leapt high into the air and dove toward Madara's position.

With just one punch, cracks appeared all over Susanoo.

In the next instant, Susanoo shattered like glass. Byakuya appeared right in front of Madara Uchiha and, drawing his sword, sliced Madara in half at the waist.

After enduring destruction beyond limits, Madara turned back into wood.

Before his chakra completely faded, he looked at Byakuya with interest and clicked his tongue, "So you are Byakuya. I never expected such a strong shinobi in this era. This war is going to become more and more interesting."

Byakuya glanced at Madara and said, "Madara Uchiha, are you trying to start a war? Is your goal of collecting the Tailed Beasts to challenge the Six Great Shinobi Villages?"

Madara smiled, shaking his head, "You are the true challengers. Before the Infinite Tsukuyomi arrives, I don't mind fighting you upstarts to see if you are worthy of entering the Infinite Tsukuyomi's realm."

Pausing, Madara looked at the shinobi above the fortress and shouted loudly, "You so-called Kage of the younger generation, do you have the confidence to accept my challenge? In three days, I will lead the Ten-Tails to attack you! This will decide the future of the shinobi world."

After finishing, Madara's wooden clone completely withered and dispersed in the wind.

With Madara's clone gone, the gathered shinobi shifted their gaze to Byakuya. They looked at the ninja who had defeated Madara's wooden clone with complex emotions.

Madara's power was terrifying. Byakuya's victory over the clone and Madara's acknowledgment of him were good signs for the Allied Shinobi Forces—it meant they still had a capable shinobi to lead them, preventing the Six Great Shinobi Villages from becoming a laughingstock.

But Byakuya was a shinobi from Amegakure, not from any of their villages.

Byakuya's impressive display would inevitably affect the selection of the Allied Forces' general. Would the commander position fall to Amegakure?

Would this prove that newer generations had surpassed the Five Great Shinobi Villages and were running out of successors?

After a brief silence, Tsunade and others approached Byakuya.

Tsunade looked at Byakuya's fist and asked with some puzzlement, "Byakuya, breaking through Susanoo just now—that was due to your superhuman strength, right? Isn't that a secret technique of the Senju clan?"

Byakuya didn't deny it. He nodded and said, "Yes, the superhuman strength of the Senju clan. Hokage-sama should remember that I am a descendant of the Uzumaki clan and have received Senju clan's inheritance. This is part of it."

Tsunade fell silent, filled with doubt.

She had long heard about the Senju heirs but thought Byakuya was only borrowing the name. Awakening Wood Release Bloodline Limit wasn't anything unusual for today's Konoha.

But the Senju secret techniques were not so easily accessed.

Could it be that their great-grandfathers truly left behind tricks for the Uzumaki clan, including the Senju inheritance?

Ōnoki came beside Byakuya, uninterested in Senju secrets or Wood Release techniques. He looked at Byakuya and asked, "Byakuya, what do you think of Madara Uchiha's strength?"

Byakuya pondered for a moment and said, "Madara's strength is very high. Even his clone possesses power comparable to a Kage, but I believe with the joint effort of the Allied Shinobi Forces, even Madara can be defeated."

Ōnoki relaxed his brow. His lost confidence was returning.

Madara represented the pinnacle of the old era, still a daunting mountain in today's times. But Madara was not invincible as he had things to fear.

If Madara were truly invincible, he would not have sent a clone but rather wiped out all ninjas at the summit meeting. Besides, the current situation is very different from decades ago.

Decades ago, it was only him and the Second Hokage challenging Madara, but now Madara's enemies were the entire shinobi world, backed by all shinobi villages.

At that moment, Jiraiya and the Fourth Raikage, who had been pursuing Obito, returned to the fortress.

Seeing the fortress sliced in half, they frowned and hurried over. "Lady Tsunade, what happened here just now?"

Tsunade recounted the events in detail.

Hearing that Madara Uchiha had sent the attack, Jiraiya and the Fourth Raikage's faces darkened with caution toward Madara's strength.

The legendary Madara Uchiha was so powerful that even his clone could wield Susanoo.

It seemed that the perceptions of Killer Bee and Gyuki were correct—the Masked Man was just a puppet pushed to the front, while the true mastermind hunting the Tailed Beasts was none other than the legendary shinobi Madara Uchiha.

However, was there a problem with Konoha's Wood Release technique?

Both the rogue ninja Madara and the Masked Man had Wood Release Bloodline Limit. Byakuya from another village also had it. Yet only Konoha lacked a powerful Wood Release user.

Thinking this, the Fourth Raikage said to Tsunade, "Fifth Hokage, it looks like this time your Konoha caused the trouble. The Masked Man isn't a Konoha ninja, but Madara always has been."

Tsunade's face turned ashen, but she had nothing to say.

Jiraiya frowned at the Fourth Raikage and said, "Raikage-sama, under these circumstances, let's avoid blaming each other and focus on what happened to us."

The Fourth Raikage's expression stiffened before he said, "The pursuit of the Masked Man failed. After entering a forest, we were attacked by unknown creatures. Although they appeared foolish, they could imitate our jutsu. After defeating those unknown creatures, the Masked Man vanished."

Hearing that Jiraiya and the Fourth Raikage had failed in pursuit, the faces of those present grew grim.

Two culprits had attacked the Kage Summit—one escaped successfully, and the other was just a clone. If the attackers couldn't be dealt with, the Kage Summit would undoubtedly become a joke.

At this moment, Byakuya approached the Fourth Raikage and Jiraiya, saying, "Those unknown creatures are called White Zetsu. They contain cells from the First Hokage, which is why they are so difficult to deal with. I've encountered them before. Without extremely strong sensory abilities, it's easy to be attacked or monitored by them."

"So they're called White Zetsu... But why haven't we heard about them before?"

Halfway through, the Fourth Raikage suddenly realized that the relationship between the Kumogakure and the Amegakure was not very harmonious. In their limited past encounters, the two sides were basically enemies.

Byakuya, seeming interested, smiled and explained to the Fourth Raikage, "That was in the past. Now that the Shinobi Alliance has been established, we actively share intelligence."

After Byakuya's tone softened, the Fourth Raikage also became considerably more polite.

In the face of the significant crisis that Madara Uchiha poses to the shinobi world, the divisions between the great shinobi villages have become trivial. After all, the major villages primarily seek to maximize their own interests.

However, Madara genuinely intends to dismantle the shinobi system itself, even the entire ninja world.

About ten minutes later, everyone returned to the fortress conference room. After repairs using Earth Release and Wood Release, the room remained in disrepair but was barely suitable for holding a meeting.

The agenda for the meeting was quite simple. In addition to exchanging information on the Masked Man and Madara Uchiha, the primary focus was the continuation of the previous leadership election—selecting the general commander to lead the Shinobi Alliance against Madara's threat.

Unlike before, there was one additional candidate for the alliance leader—Byakuya.

Though Byakuya was not the leader of Amegakure, he was the leader of the Akatsuki organization. Considering his relationship with Yahiko, the two held comparable status.

What really made Mifune and others change their minds was undoubtedly Byakuya's recent performance.

Before Madara's wooden clone, candidates like Mei Terumi, the Mizukage, and Zabuza suffered crushing defeats. Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage, Onoki, the Tsuchikage, and Sasori, the Kazekage, managed to defeat the wooden clone but lost the courage to continue because it was only a clone.

Only Byakuya dared to face Madara head-on, completely overwhelming him in spirit. This kind of courage was exactly what the Shinobi Alliance needed. "Everyone, regarding the choice of alliance leader, I think Byakuya-dono is very suitable."

During the meeting, Sasori of the Sand, who had been skeptical before, expressed support for Byakuya as the alliance leader.

Facing Sasori's proposal, the other village leaders were silent for a few seconds, then, after much thought, voiced their opinions.

Tsunade, after witnessing Byakuya's power and presence, knew she was no match and could only support him.

Byakuya was a descendant of the Senju clan; Konoha had no reason to reject that.

Mei Terumi and Zabuza, not even Mizukage candidates, naturally weren't qualified troublemakers and cast their Kirigakure vote for Byakuya. After all, Kirigakure was nominally one of the five great villages but had already been incorporated into Akatsuki's system and was under its protection.

The Fourth Raikage still insisted on becoming the alliance leader himself. Confident in himself and his brother Killer Bee, Kumogakure wanted to hold the alliance's leadership.

Onoki also had his own opinions, supporting himself, but after careful thought, chose to abstain.

He still carried a shadow of fear from Madara. Even though he tried to overcome it, seeing Madara's figure made him instinctively fearful.

The shadow Madara left was too heavy.

Finally mustering courage, he realized Madara was only a wooden clone. Did this mean that decades ago when he and the Second Hokage fought Madara, Madara didn't even use his full power?

A ninja who was deeply afraid of Madara naturally could not be the alliance leader. However, as a strong figure among the village leaders, he couldn't support others in becoming the leader either and had to abstain. Mifune looked at everyone and then voiced his opinion. He also backed Byakuya as the alliance leader.

As a renowned neutral nation in the ninja world, his support typically aligned with the interests of the majority of the villages and wouldn't contradict this. Furthermore, he had some understanding of the village leaders' thoughts. After Byakuya demonstrated such strong power, the Five Kage were no longer suitable as the alliance leader.

First, appointing one of the Five Kage would antagonize Byakuya. Second, having Byakuya as the leader would maximize benefits. Compared to having one of their own in that position, they preferred that others not take it.

After a round of voting, Byakuya was smoothly elected as the leader of the Shinobi Alliance. The other village leaders who participated in the voting became commanders of various large units, each leading different armies in different regions.

---

Several hours later, news of Byakuya becoming alliance leader spread throughout the fortress.

Members of the Kage Guards from all great villages heard the news, stunned and engaging in heated discussions.

They were not unfamiliar with the name Byakuya. Byakuya was the kind of ninja who gained fame at a young age, demonstrating strength comparable to elite Jonin as a teenager and showing potential to become a Kage-level ninja. They had heard of Byakuya's actions in the ninja world and recognized him as a figure comparable to a Kage. However, being comparable to a Kage didn't mean he was truly on the same level.

The ninja world had many individuals with potential Kage strength, but these individuals often failed in their bid to become Kage. Either due to sensitive identities, unsuitable personalities, or, most importantly, a lack of sufficient strength, they couldn't surpass the current Kage.

They resigned themselves to being elders, managing villages in the long term. However, Byakuya actually won the leadership election of the Shinobi Alliance, competing against all the Five Kage. It became clear to the Kage Guards why Byakuya could become the alliance leader.

The reason was simple: Byakuya's strength surpassed that of the Five Kage.

The Five Kage were the strongest ninjas of the five great villages, and the title of alliance leader was even more prestigious. To earn respect from all Five Kage, one had to demonstrate strength beyond their own. Byakuya's combat ability exceeded theirs, making him a natural fit for the alliance leader.

However, despite this, the ninjas from the great villages still held some reservations. The old grudges between villages were not something that could be easily resolved.