"Believe it or not, I have collaborated with many people, such as Nagato and Obito. When working with Nagato, I found one thing very strange. His pair of Rinnegan had a severe rejection with his body. Nagato, as someone from the Uzumaki Clan, was severely overusing his body with the Rinnegan, and it seems that the Uzumaki Clan can’t awaken the Rinnegan. It’s very unreasonable."

Su Xiao lit a cigarette. He knew too many secrets, enough to unravel Madara’s entire plan.

"Now seeing your eyes, I think I know what’s going on."

"Oh? Have you researched Nagato’s Rinnegan?"

Madara’s expression was not looking good because Nagato’s Rinnegan was originally his.

"When Nagato was near death, he came to me. I used Hashirama Cells to prolong his life. Surprisingly, his body, which had been severely overused, did not reject the Hashirama Cells and even developed resistance to their erosion."

Madara was somewhat shocked. He wanted to know how his eyes were doing, as any problem with them would be an unacceptable loss.

"Compared to Nagato’s abnormal physical condition, there is actually something else I’m more curious about."

"..."

Madara stared at Su Xiao, awaiting his next words.

"Through multiple contacts with Obito, I sensed a talisman at his heart. Initially, I couldn’t detect it, but I had seen a similar talisman near Nagato’s heart, so I captured its almost imperceptible fluctuation. This is very intriguing. These two talismans make me wonder if someone has laid out all of this in advance."

Su Xiao began to gradually reveal what he knew to Madara. The reason was simple: the best collaborator now wasn’t Obito because Obito had always been just a pawn, Madara’s pawn. When Madara abandoned this pawn, Su Xiao would likely be caught in the crossfire.

Madara’s strength is currently indeed strong, but it’s not to the extent that Su Xiao cannot oppose him. What’s important for Su Xiao is to determine whether he can reach a consensus with Madara.

If a consensus can be reached, there’s a chance to develop the ’large-scale plot event’ into the Third Stage, leading to the Strongest Madara. By then, the matter of Otsutsuki Kaguya will basically be out of the picture.

Madara doesn’t know it now, but this is a chance for him to turn things around. And it’s also an opportunity for Su Xiao to reap huge benefits. If he can establish a cooperative relationship with Madara, he might take part in the entire Fourth Ninja World War.

The Fourth Ninja War isn’t long. By now, it’s progressed over 40%. The major upcoming events include Obito becoming the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, thereafter being controlled by Kakuzu, leading to Madara’s resurrection, and Madara becoming the new Ten-Tails Jinchuriki.

Once Madara becomes the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, he’s attacked by Kakuzu and used as a sacrifice for the resurrection of Otsutsuki Kaguya.

But now, whether Madara will be attacked depends entirely on the outcome of his negotiation with Su Xiao. Other Contractors know these plot points, but they can’t come into contact with Madara. The key is, Su Xiao met Madara as one of the war initiators, and he’s a veteran member of the Akatsuki Organization, being involved throughout in Nagato’s and Obito’s plans.

"Kid."

Madara’s ten fingers arched, and killing intent rose in his eyes.

"Seriously consider what you say next if you want to become a meatball."

Su Xiao looked at Madara with a smile. The ball he referred to was what Madara appeared like when devoured by Otsutsuki Kaguya, a black and white meatball.

"Ball?"

Of course, Madara didn’t know about his future fate, and Su Xiao was also gambling, gambling on forming a consensus with Madara. If a consensus couldn’t be reached, participating in the war would be pointless, rather leading to disaster.

Whether Otsutsuki Kaguya is resurrected or the Ninja Union Army is victorious, in the end, Su Xiao won’t fare well. Su Xiao chose to negotiate with Madara in this way because he could return to Reincarnation Paradise anytime. If the negotiation fails, he would simply withdraw immediately and then return to Reincarnation Paradise, significantly lowering the risk.

Moreover, everything Su Xiao revealed to Madara, over 80% were events he experienced firsthand, traceable. He wasn’t predicting the future but negotiating with Madara using known information and personal experiences.

Such as capturing Tailed Beasts, attacking Konoha with Nagato, the assassination at the Five Shadow Summit, instigating war, and so forth—all things Su Xiao had done. 𝘧𝓇ℯℯ𝑤ℯ𝘣𝓃ℴ𝓋𝑒𝑙.𝑐𝘰𝑚

In Su Xiao’s view, Otsutsuki Kaguya tarnished the ultimate boss’s reputation. Besides her immense power, her combat experience was laughably poor.

In her complete form, she was driven away by Naruto in Half Six Paths Mode, a truly ridiculous scenario. Overall, Otsutsuki Kaguya was just a somewhat lonely, beautiful mature woman, made dazed from being sealed on the moon for so long.

Su Xiao suspected that Otsutsuki Kaguya’s combat experience wasn’t even up to the level of a Chunin.

Dragon’s Pride Ban, on the other hand, was different. Although incredibly arrogant, if he acquired Otsutsuki Kaguya’s power, he could undoubtedly beat Naruto and Sasuke. Most of his life was spent in war, with combat experience and intelligence far surpassing Otsutsuki Kaguya.

"If we can both have a satisfactory negotiation, you won’t regret cooperating with me. Nagato cooperated with me; I prolonged his life and aided in attacking Konoha. Obito cooperated with me; I helped start the Fourth Ninja World War. You can verify these claims with Obito and Nagato."

Su Xiao needed a reliable partner, and Obito had been unreliable from the start, often in the battle playing a menial role, treating Su Xiao as a laborer. Su Xiao had long since realized this, dismissing Obito’s methods because, after the war began, Obito would complete his mission as a pawn.

Evidently, Madara was playing chess, but behind him was another manipulator, Kakuzu. Su Xiao would never consider cooperating with Kakuzu, which would be worse than working with Obito.

"Alright, cooperating with you seems like it won’t harm me."

Madara didn’t fully understand Su Xiao, but he could see Su Xiao’s combat power wasn’t weak.

Upon hearing Madara’s words, Su Xiao’s smile gradually faded.

"Are you sure... you want to cooperate with me with that attitude? I’m not threatening you, but you must think this over."

The reason Su Xiao’s demeanor changed was Madara’s lack of sincerity. For cooperation, the parties must first clarify their objectives.

Madara didn’t know Su Xiao’s goals, yet hastily agreed to cooperate, indicating Madara intended to use Su Xiao as a pawn.

"Pity, you’ve lost this opportunity. When you regret it, you might not have the chance."

Su Xiao dropped the cigarette butt, turned away, and headed out of the forest with Bubu Wang and A Mu.

Madara watched Su Xiao’s retreating figure. For some reason, an ominous feeling suddenly weighed on his heart.

"Wait."

Madara spoke up, but Su Xiao didn’t stop.

"What... is your aim?"

Hearing Madara’s query, Su Xiao paused.

"I want... a part of the fruit that grows on that tree."

"Fruit?!"

This time, Madara was unsettled.

"How much do you know?"

"I know many things."

"Impossible."

Madara clearly didn’t believe it.

"You underestimate a ninja known as Orochimaru. Through technology, he researched too many things, including the origins of ninjas and chakra. Technology is not to be underestimated."

Su Xiao disclosed too much to Madara, but fortunately, his strength was sufficient. Yet, he knew the consequences of revealing original plot details to canonical characters, hence he needed someone to take the blame.

Ask yourself: who else in the Naruto World is better suited to take the blame than Orochimaru? He researches everything and is interested in everything—truly a born blame-carrier.

To date, Su Xiao has blamed Orochimaru many times, all without complaint because Orochimaru is in a fake death state. But if you count the time, Orochimaru should have been resurrected by now.

Scientist Orochimaru doesn’t know yet that an enormous burden is soon to be laid on him. Whether or not this burden crushes him depends on his survival ability.

If Orochimaru knew what Su Xiao was about to say, he would undoubtedly drop everything and hasten to eliminate Su Xiao, insisting to Madara he had nothing whatsoever to do with these matters.