CHAPTER 63:Nameless Weapon

After Tamura Hao finished eating the apple, he said, "Of course there is a way to avoid war. The First Hokage and Uchiha Madara attempted it once. That was to cover all small wars with a larger peace through absolute strength—uniting the clans under one banner and founding the Hidden Villages.

They aimed to enforce laws that could be universally obeyed.

As for relying solely on understanding and goodwill between people to achieve peace—while noble, it's ultimately idealistic. Because not all hearts are kind.

Laws serve as the bottom line for morality and order. But right now, that bottom line is imperfect. Especially since even those in high positions—like village elders or daimyō—can initiate wars on whims or self-interest, inflicting pain on others to secure their own prosperity.

For example, the war waged against the Uzumaki Clan by multiple major villages—including Konoha—was entirely self-serving.

Hashirama Senju and Uchiha Madara had unmatched power, but even they couldn't unify the world. Hashirama chose the Hidden Village system, believing mutual cooperation among villages and nations would lead to peace.

But what followed his death? The First Great Ninja War. Its scope dwarfed the constant battles of the Warring States Era. The entire shinobi world was dragged into it, resulting in staggering casualties and grief.

And now? The Second Ninja World War has begun. The Uzumaki Clan became the first casualty—and this is just the beginning.

Later comes the Third, Fourth, and maybe even a Fifth Great War. Tragedy will continue, as long as the current village system exists.

That's the reality of the shinobi world."

Avoiding war isn't theoretically difficult. In Hao's past life, history had shown that the method is unification.

The problem is that while early dynasties like the Song or Ming had the potential to resist external threats, their flawed internal systems allowed rot from within. They collapsed not because of invasion, but because of their own people.

The theory of "grand unification" is still valid. What's needed is a robust legal and administrative system to preserve stability for centuries.

As for the current competition between the Five Great Nations—Hao considered it manageable.

"You're saying the Hidden Cloud Village intends to unify the ninja world?" Karura looked startled. She hadn't expected such ambition.

"Why so shocked?" Hao rolled his eyes. "It's not like we're the only ones. Every one of the Five Great Nations has had the same dream. Deep down, they all know true peace can only come from unification."

Karura remained skeptical. "Is that really the only way?"

Hao shrugged. "Sure, if you could convince all five Kage to drop everything and merge their villages into one, that might work too."

Karura fell silent. That was impossible.

Standing up, Hao continued, "But that's not for people like us to decide. In this world, strength rules. Hashirama could call the Five Kage to a summit because he had the power to back up his ideals.

If you lack power, your thoughts and ideals mean nothing. What you need now is to heal—mentally and physically—then get to work in the shop I opened. Make money for me.

That room's yours. Check the closet for bedding."

Pointing to an empty room, he then went to his own.

Lying on his bed, Hao pulled out the Sword of the Thunder God and resumed practicing his Lightning Release nature transformation. He'd only scratched the surface so far—his goal was to advance further, possibly creating a unique variant like the Third Raikage's black lightning or the purple lightning Kakashi would later develop.

He trained until 10 p.m., then slept. At 8 a.m. sharp, he woke—and found a strange black object on his stomach and a sealed scroll by his pillow.

"Inside is the Uchiha clan's legacy—along with many Sharingan." Black Zetsu stood nearby, dropping the information before turning to leave. He had more work to do. But Hao stopped him.

"Is Otsutsuki Isshiki truly dead?"

"Huh?" Black Zetsu blinked, puzzled by the sudden question.

"Yesterday I used my Good and Evil Sense during a routine inspection for spies. I detected a cursed seal buried deep in someone's brain at the Research Division. The chakra signature was unmistakably Otsutsuki—extremely pure."

Hao explained what he found. He didn't believe the Kara Organization would act openly yet, but he wanted to be prepared. Their scientific tech was years ahead of anything in the ninja world. And if anyone could investigate, it was Zetsu.

Black Zetsu hadn't paid much attention to forces outside the Tailed Beasts or major villages. But if Isshiki had embedded his chakra somewhere—he may have escaped death after all.

Zetsu fell into thought. Hao wouldn't lie—so the possibility was real.

"He must have used a failsafe contract to reincarnate. But the process was likely incomplete—otherwise he'd already be harvesting chakra," Zetsu muttered. Now he had another potential threat to worry about.

"Otsutsuki Isshiki is dangerous to both us and the world. We're not ready to face him. But maybe the Sage of Six Paths can be baited into dealing with him. Let them fight—it would distract both sides."

Tamura Hao offered a bold idea. Zetsu, chuckling darkly, agreed. "Not bad. For the greater good, we'll let the gods bleed each other dry."

"Also," Hao added, "that man in the Research Division was responsible for chakra cannon tech. If Isshiki is possessing high-tech researchers, he's likely spread across multiple groups—not just in Hidden Cloud."

Zetsu nodded. Kara's roots might already reach several factions. If he traced every research group worldwide, he might uncover connections.

"I'd love to see Isshiki and the Sage fight. The chaos alone would be worth it." Black Zetsu's tone turned gleeful.

"One more thing," Hao said. "That summoned beast Urobuchi—the one who cast the genjutsu interrogation on Hiruzen—had a memory fragment. During the Warring States Era, a weapon called 'Mumei' appeared within the Uchiha. It wielded devastating Mangekyō powers, and it took both the Senju and Sarutobi clans to seal it."

Urobuchi had fought in that battle.

If it was the same Mumei Hao suspected, then somewhere lay an Uchiha with a dormant Mangekyō Sharingan.

But because Enma had returned to the spiritual realm, the monkey didn't know the final battle's location. So Hao turned to Zetsu.

Given Zetsu's obsessive surveillance of the Uchiha clan, he was the most likely to know where Mumei had been sealed.