Chapter 480: Lie to the End

"I found it among the piles of scrolls you gave me," Shinki explained. "It contains records of some past events involving your grandfather, the First Hokage."

Tsunade unrolled the scroll. Sure enough, it was filled with notes attributed to Senju Hashirama.

As she skimmed through it, the name Uchiha Madara appeared repeatedly.

"The power of Senju and Uchiha?"

The more Tsunade read, the more confused she became. The records were incomplete, with many gaps and vague details. Senju Tobirama's entries were slightly more coherent, but even those lacked anything truly valuable.

After staring at the scroll for a while, Tsunade sighed and decisively destroyed it.

"Forget it. I'm too lazy to figure this out. You deal with it," she said, waving a hand dismissively.

Classic Tsunade—when she couldn't be bothered to think through a problem, she'd leave it to Shinki to handle.

Shinki smiled faintly. "After the war, we'll expose Uchiha Madara's conspiracy and eradicate this threat once and for all."

He paused, then added, "Talking about it now won't be enough. Only after exposing the truth will we gain the support of other villages and nations."

"Why not expose it now?" Tsunade asked, raising an eyebrow.

Shinki didn't hesitate. "Because Iwa and Cloud are at their peak strength right now. If we expose Madara's plans prematurely, we risk causing even greater chaos instead of fostering unity."

He pointed to his eyes.

"The allure of the Rinnegan is too strong. If word gets out about the Eye of the Sage, the villages won't focus on fighting Madara. They'll fight each other to claim the eyes."

Tsunade frowned, still struggling to process everything. "You're saying revealing this would lead to more fighting instead of cooperation?"

"Exactly," Shinki said, his tone serious. "Somewhere out there, a pair of eyes as powerful as the Tenseigan exists. The legendary Rinnegan, the pinnacle of the three great dojutsu."

What?!

Tsunade shot up from the couch.

First, Uchiha Madara was alive. Now there was talk of the Rinnegan—the legendary eyes of the Sage of Six Paths. Just hearing the name was enough to send chills down her spine.

Shinki continued calmly, "In the Uchiha ancestral shrine, there's a stone tablet. Madara read its contents, which convinced him to betray the village and steal the Senju clan's power—your grandfather's power, to be precise."

He explained, "By combining the power of Uchiha and Senju, Madara gained what he desired: the power of all things."

"During the battle in the Valley of the End, Madara didn't die. Instead, he achieved his goal—the Rinnegan, a terrifying dojutsu that rivals the Tenseigan in power and ability."

"Wait!"

Tsunade rubbed her temples with one hand and waved the other at Shinki. "Give me a moment. I need to process this."

Shinki remained silent, allowing her time to digest the information.

After several minutes, she looked up. "You're saying the combination of Uchiha's Sharingan and Senju's power can produce the Rinnegan? And how do you know about the stone tablet in the Uchiha shrine?"

Shinki shrugged, his expression unreadable.

"Let's just say the stronger the dojutsu, the more of the stone tablet's content you can decipher. It's likely something left behind by the Sage of Six Paths himself. The conclusion about the Rinnegan is simple—it's the final evolution of the Sharingan. Achieving it, however, is incredibly difficult."

Tsunade nodded, deep in thought. "So… you know where the Rinnegan is, don't you?"

"Yes," Shinki admitted. "And I'm not the only one. Jiraiya figured it out before I did. Those eyes were key to deducing that Madara is still alive."

Damn it.

Tsunade slumped back into her seat, overwhelmed. She had thought Konoha's current situation was bad enough, but this new information made it seem trivial.

After a moment, she waved a hand dismissively. "Fine. You handle Madara and his conspiracy. Just let me know when you're ready to expose it."

She had no desire to waste energy overthinking something so convoluted.

Her priority was clear—focus on rebuilding Konoha. If the other villages wanted to exhaust themselves fighting wars, so be it. Better they deplete their strength now than squabble later over the Rinnegan.

Although Konoha had participated in the war, their involvement was limited, leaving them in a better position for recovery.

After learning about Madara's survival and the existence of the Rinnegan, Tsunade became a different person. Gone were her lazy habits. She worked tirelessly, managing village affairs with newfound vigor.

Meanwhile, those close to Shinki took his warnings seriously. They avoided unmonitored areas whenever possible, especially when it came to using the bathroom—nobody wanted to be spied on by a pervert.

One day, as Killer Bee prepared to leave Konoha, he waved cheerfully at Kushina.

"Big Sis, goodbye! I'll come visit when I can!"

Kushina smirked, raising her hand in mock threat. "Don't forget me when you're out there, or I'll make you regret it!"

The playful warning wiped the grin off Killer Bee's face.

During his time in Konoha, Killer Bee had grown immensely, finally becoming the perfect Jinchūriki—a feat few could claim. Much of his success was thanks to Kushina, who had mentored him.

However, Kushina's "teaching methods" often involved… aggressive encouragement, leaving Killer Bee with a healthy dose of fear and respect for her.