Naruto: Passerby and Returnee

Chapter 479 A Stroke of Genius

In principle, Ban's plan was quite simple and brutal.

He collects the tailed beasts, stuffs them into a golem, resurrects the Ten-Tails, becomes its jinchūriki, and then uses the Ten-Tails' power to enhance his eye power, thereby unleashing an illusion that projects the moon onto the entire world—Infinite Tsukuyomi. The illusionary world created by Tsukuyomi is absolutely perfect; everyone can find happiness there, the only price being the abandonment of reality.

In this way, all conflicts in the world will cease, and everyone will become one with the caster, achieving lasting peace.

This is Project Eye of the Moon.

"What a joke! I would never entrust the world to someone like you!" Ai was the first to roar. He was already very unhappy with "Xiao", and hearing such an outrageous plan made him even more opposed.

"A false peace is just a lie; peace only has meaning when it is realized in the real world." Gaara is a pragmatist. His Sand Village had finally started to improve and saw hope in another direction, so he would absolutely not agree to it.

"What's the point of living there? There's no hope, it's just running away!" The Mizukage was a ninja who had personally experienced the "Bloody Mist Era" and saved her village in despair. She would never forget what Akatsuki had done, and she would never forgive them! Back then, Akatsuki controlled the Fourth Mizukage, and now this guy is even more insane, trying to manipulate the whole world. How could she possibly agree to that?

“Unify the world. How many people have such ambitions?” Onoki saw it more clearly and pointed out the logical flaw behind it directly: “What you are doing is less about unifying the world and more about creating a world that belongs only to you.”

Only the Hokage remained silent, seemingly deep in thought with his eyes lowered.

The four Kage's vehement rebuttal only earned Madara's cold laugh, who mocked, "Then what contributions have you Five Kage made? You should have already realized it..."

"There is no such thing as hope. Hope is the same as giving up; that's just a perfunctory lie..."

"That's because you yourself have already given up on reality and chosen to escape." The Hokage's tone was fierce, abruptly interrupting Madara's speech. "Your rhetoric can only fool some weak-willed individuals. Even if I could see the person I want to see through the Eye of the Moon, that person would no longer be the real him. Everyone is unique, and no genjutsu can replicate their soul. So many people are striving for a better world, so what gives you the right to deny their achievements with a false genjutsu?"

"Don't lump everyone else in with you, you coward!"

The Hokage's sharp tongue was beyond imagination. Onoki was the first to be shocked. The Hokage was truly fearless, completely unaware of just how terrifying Madara was. It seemed that this kid had actually held back when he was criticizing him. Look, Madara seemed stunned by the retort, pausing for quite a while.

A slightly unrestrained laugh rang out, and Madara's voice even carried a hint of pleasure as he said, "Now we can be sure that you won't cooperate, right, Naruto?"

The Hokage replied, "I will stand on the side of the people. And you are not qualified to represent everyone."

"So you won't answer the question I prepared specifically for you, will you? About..."

"Where are the Jinchūriki of all except One-Tailed Beast, Eight-Tailed Beast, and yourself?"

All eyes immediately turned to the Hokage. Every nation thought their Jinchuriki had been captured by Akatsuki, but Madara's words... didn't seem to confirm that?

But the Hokage simply curled his lips into a smile, a smile far more vibrant than any of his previous smiles.

"How does it feel to have been working so hard for so long, only to fall short every time? Now that I knew your purpose all along, I naturally wouldn't let Akatsuki grow stronger quietly." The Hokage openly announced a shocking fact, "I swear on the honor of Konoha that Yugito, Rōshi, Han, Utakata, and Fu, these Jinchūriki, are all safe and sound, alive and well, in an absolutely safe place. Apart from necessary protective measures, I have not restricted their personal freedom."

“If you Kage believe you can protect the Jinchuriki from Madara, then I will return them to you.”

The people in the room reacted very differently when they heard these words.

Tsuchikage looked meaningfully at the familiar face, now 100% certain that this shadow was someone else's child.

The Raikage's eyes widened in anger, but he quickly calmed down because he knew that Yugito was a very responsible ninja, and he would never have been hidden away so quietly without a good reason.

The Mizukage's Jinchūriki were either dead or had escaped. She had practically never seen the escaped one, only sending people to search for him. Moreover, Kirigakure was in chaos at the time, and even if he were found, he would likely suffer. Therefore, the Mizukage specifically arranged for ANBU who knew Utakata to join the fight, and hinted that they shouldn't use force, but rather try to persuade him to return. Upon hearing of Utakata's whereabouts, she was genuinely happy and greatly admired the Hokage's foresight. This straitened move completely put Akatsuki on the defensive.

The Kazekage's gaze, however, was much purer; it was one of support and trust. To him, Naruto was not only his savior and the one who pulled him out of the abyss, but also a leader with shared political views and a close friend with common ideals. He fully approved of Naruto's efforts to go to such lengths to counter Akatsuki.

Mifune could only be considered half a member of the ninja world, but he knew just how frequent and swift Akatsuki's actions had been since the first Jinchuriki was killed. The Hokage's ability to protect so many Jinchuriki in such a short time, and to do so so flawlessly that no one even realized the Jinchuriki hadn't actually been captured, forcing Akatsuki to make a wasted trip while simultaneously suffering a hidden loss, was truly a stroke of genius.

As for the guards in the room, apart from the older ones who could somewhat control their expressions, the younger ones were completely dumbfounded. Neji, in particular, was one of Tsunade's backup strategists, yet he hadn't heard of this at all! It seemed Naruto had even kept it from Tsunade!

"You will never cooperate with my plan and hand over the Jinchuriki under any circumstances."

"That's impossible."

"I also object."

"Raikage, what about you?"

"I will absolutely not hand my brother over to you!"

"Oh."

Madara stood up and said in a tone that suggested he was asking what to eat today, "Alright, I hereby declare the Fourth Shinobi World War."

"See you on the battlefield next time."