Chapter 328: The Suspected Truth, Meeting the Slug Sage!

Ten minutes later.

With furrowed brows, Hashirama Senju finally saw a flicker of insight in his mind.

“I’ve got it!”

“Around two a.m. last night, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my soul—it lasted only a moment. If I hadn’t been thinking back carefully now, I’d have thought it was just my imagination.”

“Especially after receiving your Hokage order today, I felt a suffocating sense of panic, as if my heart were racing. When I looked at that Hokage directive, an unnamed rage rose in me—but I forced myself to suppress it.”

“After your explanation, I now also sense something is off.”

“But for some reason, I’m deeply uneasy—I feel like something terrible is about to happen.”

Hashirama Senju spoke slowly and clearly.

Though his words were disorganized and somewhat incoherent, Uchiha Jin understood them perfectly.

He could now confirm: this was the intuition of a powerful being!

Especially since the timing of Hashirama’s intuition, based on Tsunade’s intelligence, matched precisely the moment when the Hidden Mist, Hidden Stone, and Hidden Sand would definitively join the Hidden Leaf.

This could not be coincidence!

Uchiha Jin’s brows tightened as his mind raced furiously.

If this were a native of the ninja world, even if they sensed something was wrong, it would be useless—they understood the ninja world too narrowly to know the hidden forces lurking behind it.

But Uchiha Jin was utterly different!

As a transmigrator, he had read the original novel in full. Perhaps in his past life it was merely an anime, incapable of showing all the ninja world’s details—but he still knew the overall scale of powerful figures, their names, and their personalities.

So.

Once he analyzed this situation, he instantly understood.

His actions must have been too brutal, drawing the attention of some shadowy figures who likely did not permit him to forcibly unify the entire ninja world—they were preparing to intervene at this very moment!

From this perspective, it was bad news.

But here was the question:

Could a shadowy power with the authority to stop this truly need to go through such trouble?

If they simply appeared and acted, he might not be able to withstand them at all.

Then why had they not moved yet?

The only possibility: they could not act—or they refused to reveal themselves, unwilling to let the ninja world see or know them…

Therefore, their only possible path remained—

One: to use the ninja world’s own forces. But what forces in the ninja world could they possibly mobilize?

Akatsuki? Impossible!

If they were acting, Nagato would never miss it.

Moreover, those shadowy figures likely did not want Black Zetsu to detect them.

The major ninja villages? Even less likely!

The current leadership of every ninja village has fully committed to joining the Hidden Leaf. These are all master schemers—they won’t turn unless offered massive benefits.

So who else could they use?

Hiss!

At this thought, a lightning bolt flashed through Uchiha Jin’s mind.

He thought of one person—Jiraiya!

Ever since the old Hidden Leaf was destroyed and he fully integrated into the new Hidden Leaf, this man had vanished entirely from the ninja world.

It seemed that from that moment on, he had never appeared again in the ninja world.

Where had he gone?

Only one place: Mount Myoboku!

What was Mount Myoboku? The most mysterious place in the entire ninja world.

Especially that damn giant toad sage—what exactly was his prophecy technique?

Unknown!

But one thing was certain: this guy apparently had some connection with the Sage of Six Paths—Kaguya Otsutsuki—and he obsessively clung to Naruto Uzumaki’s prophesied path.

Yet because Jiraiya had vanished completely during this period, Mount Myoboku had fallen silent, Naruto Uzumaki remained alive, and the toad sage had never attempted to rescue him.

So unconsciously, he had completely forgotten about this!

Now, if anyone had the authority and capability to intervene in this matter, it could only be that man—Jiraiya.

After all, he was backed by Mount Myoboku…

If the giant toad sage could contact Kaguya Otsutsuki and grant even a fraction of his power to Jiraiya, he might truly shatter all of Uchiha Jin’s plans.

Thinking of this, Uchiha Jin broke into a cold sweat.

Meanwhile,

As Uchiha Jin sank into thought, Hashirama Senju watched his shifting expression and instantly realized Uchiha Jin had figured something out.

He was a man of pure heart and had no interest in hiding his thoughts.

“Hokage, what have Itachi realized?”

“Have Itachi guessed who the enemy is? Do Itachi need me to act?”

“For the unification of the ninja world, I bear full responsibility!”

His eyes were filled with seriousness—no hesitation at all.

Yes!

Unifying the ninja world was his goal. Now that he had finally glimpsed even a sliver of possibility for success, he would not allow anyone to obstruct it.

Once, to protect his village, he killed his closest friend, Madara Uchiha. Now, for the complete peace of the ninja world, he would not hesitate to kill anyone who stood in his way.

And yet,

Uchiha Jin let out a quiet sigh.

He did not answer Hashirama’s question. Instead, he asked tentatively: “Can Itachi currently use the Summoning Jutsu? I wish to meet the slug sage.”

Hashirama Senju was puzzled, but though he didn’t understand, he nodded.

“No problem!”

“The Summoning Jutsu requires blood, but its core is chakra.”

“Though my Edo Tensei body has no blood, my chakra contains the unique power needed to perform the Summoning Jutsu—summoning the Slug Sage is no issue at all.”

After saying this,

Without hesitation, he immediately performed the Summoning Jutsu.

Puff!

With a soft sound, a small slug appeared.

“Lord Hashirama?”

“I never expected to see Itachi again.”

“And this unfamiliar Uchiha warrior—hello to Itachi too!”

The slug’s voice was sweet, and her tone toward both men was gentle.

Hashirama Senju laughed heartily: “Slug Sage, it’s been a long time!”

Meanwhile,

Though Uchiha Jin was somewhat wary of the slug, he had to admit her appearance was quite pleasant.

Katsuyu’s realm was cold and bloodthirsty; Mount Myoboku was full of fanatics.

He had no fondness for either of those two.

But this Slug Sage of the Wet Bone Forest—though he didn’t know if she had hidden schemes behind the scenes—at least her current demeanor left Uchiha Jin with a good impression, so he greeted her warmly.

“Slug Sage, hello!”

“I have something I wish to discuss in detail with your true form. Could Itachi reverse-summon both me and Hashirama to the Wet Bone Forest?”

“…”