Dragon Heritage choosing to expand its territory at this time meant it had chosen to betray the shinobi world, to betray the Five Great Nations. Once the war with Akatsuki concluded, Dragon Heritage would become a public enemy. Surrounded by the Lands of Fire, Wind, and Earth, was it truly worth it for Dragon Heritage to make such a move?
"Have the Sunagakure and Iwagakure ninja stationed at the borders prepare their defenses," Onoki instructed the communications ninja seated at the center of the command post.
Tsunade pondered for a moment and understood his reasoning. Currently, the main forces of the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth were concentrated on the battlefield against Akatsuki. The shinobi left guarding their homelands were simply no match for Dragon Heritage, which was at the zenith of its power.
"You can rest assured on that point. Dragon Heritage is a nation that yearns for peace. Even if we were to fight, it would be in the Fifth Shinobi World War." Naruto's figure appeared unnervingly in the command post, his calm voice putting every ninja present on high alert, as if facing a formidable enemy.
"If you truly yearn for peace, then how do you explain what happened in the Land of Birds and the Land of Rain?" Tsunade scoffed at his words.
"Believe it or not, under my protection, the situation in the Land of Birds and the Land of Rain will be infinitely better than when they were unscrupulously manipulated by the Five Great Nations." A chair materialized behind him, and Naruto sat down as if the surrounding shinobi were nothing.
A flicker of apprehension crossed Onoki's and Tsunade's eyes at his behavior. This was the Allied Shinobi Forces' command post; even they weren't confident they could appear here so silently, given the defensive measures in place.
"Justifying the invasion of other countries with such high-sounding rhetoric... I don't recall the Ninja Academy teaching any of that." Tsunade's face remained calm, but she covertly signaled for the weaker sensory-type ninja nearby to evacuate quickly.
"I didn't come here to discuss whether Dragon Heritage's actions are right or wrong. History is written by the victors. If you can't stand it, then turn your armies around and defeat us until we submit, just like Amegakure during the Second Shinobi World War." Naruto paid no mind to Tsunade's subtle maneuvers.
"You see things clearly enough. But I'm very curious: how exactly do you intend to create peace?" Hearing this, Onoki also understood that this man was not naive like the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara. He possessed the strength and conviction to carry out his ideals.
"The hidden village system and the very existence of shinobi are a decaying legacy of history. They should be swept into the garbage heap," Naruto stated, looking calmly at the two of them, nonchalantly revealing his thoughts.
"Ridiculous!" Tsunade snapped.
"You yourself were once a ninja. You, more than anyone, should understand that the existence of shinobi is a historical inevitability," Onoki said, seeing things more clearly than Tsunade in this regard.
"The monks and samurai who were swept into the dustbin of history by shinobi once thought the same about themselves. And now? Shinobi have only existed for a little over sixty years, yet how many wars have they caused? You know better than I." Naruto also sneered. As vested interest holders at the apex of the pyramid, even if Tsunade and Onoki were aware of the flaws in the ninja system, they would choose to ignore them. "Shinobi who don't engage in production are nothing but vampires! You are the very source of the constant wars in the shinobi world today!"
"Therefore!" Naruto scanned all the surrounding shinobi. "I will sweep all of you into the dust of history!"
His calm tone was like a thunderclap on the ground, pushing the bizarre atmosphere in the command post to its absolute peak.
"Then why have you appeared here? To announce your plan to the shinobi?" Onoki was so angry he laughed.
"The Fourth Shinobi World War is still too mild. I want to add fuel to the fire." Naruto grinned, his clean teeth becoming the last impression Onoki and the others had of him.
BOOM!
The Allied Forces command post, seen by all shinobi as a beacon of hope, was instantly reduced to ruins.
... "What in the world is he trying to do?!" Darui slammed his fist into a nearby stone pillar, shattering the ancient structure in an instant. In the final moment before Naruto struck, the Allied Forces' sensory ninja had transmitted everything they saw directly into the minds of their commanders.
Having lost the coordination of the command center, the frontline Allied Shinobi Forces could only fight their own battles. The advantage they had painstakingly established just yesterday collapsed in an instant.
"It's obvious. He wants to deplete the Allied Forces' strength as much as possible to lay the foundation for unifying the shinobi world through a Fifth Shinobi World War." In an emergency meeting of the Allied division commanders, Kakashi's voice appeared in his mind.
"Isn't he afraid of playing with fire and getting burned himself?" As a frontline combatant, Darui knew very well just how terrifying Akatsuki's power was. The endless stream of White Zetsu alone had forced them to hold their ground. If the Ten-Tails dormant in the ocean were to make its move, he could hardly imagine how dire the situation would become.
"…I don't know," Kakashi sighed.
"Should we fall back and temporarily abandon the war against Akatsuki?" Gaara too felt the situation was becoming increasingly troublesome.
"We can't retreat. We have no idea how many White Zetsu are hidden among the Allied Forces," Sasuke, who had also secured a position as a division commander due to his formidable strength, pointed out. "If we bring these White Zetsu back to our home villages, you know better than I how terrifying the consequences would be."
"Haven't we found a way to identify the White Zetsu hidden in the Allied Forces yet?" Darui asked through clenched teeth.
"The White Zetsu transformed into Allied shinobi are identical to the real ones, whether in chakra signature or appearance. Ordinary sensory techniques are useless," Kitsuchi said, unable to resist pinching the bridge of his nose. The complex composition of the Allied Forces had become fertile ground for the White Zetsu to wreak havoc.
"My puppet can detect the abnormality in White Zetsu's chakra, but there simply isn't enough time," Uchiha Sasuke stated. Relying on the chakra absorption ability of his Otsutsuki Urashiki puppet, he had managed to clear out the White Zetsu hidden in his own division, but he couldn't do anything about the situation in other divisions. The front line was too long, and he only had one such puppet.
"Could we perhaps..." Kitsuchi hesitated, then decided against voicing his suggestion. With the command post just lost, asking someone to abandon command of their division to go screen for White Zetsu on other battlefronts just didn't feel right, no matter how he thought about it. Besides, changing commanders mid-battle was a major taboo.
"Let's think of another way," Kakashi said helplessly. He understood Kitsuchi's unspoken idea, but they couldn't just abandon Sasuke's front.
"I have an idea. Temporarily hand over command to the vice-captains, and a few of us will launch a surprise attack on the Akatsuki leader," Gaara proposed, offering what was less a plan and more a desperate gambit.
"I agree!" Darui voiced his opinion. No matter how crude the plan, it was better than sitting idly by. The Ten-Tails' terrifying aura undoubtedly pointed them towards the location of the enemy's leader. They hadn't done this before mostly because they had intended to first clear out the White Zetsu and then rely on the Allied Forces' numerical advantage to besiege the Ten-Tails. Based on fragmented information, they also knew how Kirigakure had been destroyed. One person annihilating an entire village. The enemy's strength was, without a doubt, immense.
But now, with the situation at a stalemate, if they didn't take a risk, they would truly be finished.
"Agreed!" The others also voiced their concurrence.