Konoha Hospital, VIP Room.
The second day after Sarutobi Hiruzen returned to Konoha from the Land of Rain.
"Is Uchiha Ryun dead or alive? Have there been any messages from the four nations?"
This was Sarutobi Hiruzen's N-th inquiry. Although his mental state was still very fatigued, he simply could not fall asleep no matter how hard he tried to close his eyes.
From yesterday until now, he had not received any news regarding the outcome of that battle. This situation made him feel uneasy.
"Unclear. The four nations have not replied with any news so far..." Homura Mitokado reported truthfully.
"It seems... the Four Kage must have been defeated. I just don't know how that troublesome brat is doing now..." Sarutobi Hiruzen muttered with a grave expression.
"How is that possible! The five of you Kage joined forces! Even if you withdrew early... the remaining Four Kage couldn't possibly lose..."
Homura Mitokado's face was full of disbelief.
"The Five Kage joined forces! The highest combat power in the ninja world! How could they possibly lose!!!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen listened, lowered his head, and remained silent. After a long while, he finally sighed with emotion.
"That guy is Uchiha Ryun, someone capable of 'killing gods and slaying Kage'. I am not surprised at all that the Four Kage were defeated... Even if I hadn't withdrawn midway, this battle would likely still have been extremely dangerous..."
"How could that be..."
"Don't rush to refute..." Sarutobi Hiruzen raised his hand to quiet Homura Mitokado.
"If they had won that battle, the entire ninja world would have received the news of Uchiha Ryun's demise by now... The fact that there is no news at all means the only possibility is that they lost..."
"The first joint effort of the Five Kage ended in a disastrous defeat. They wouldn't dare let such news leak out. Otherwise, all ninja would fall into panic because of Uchiha Ryun. The Five Kage, and even the Daimyo of the five nations, would likely face major trouble."
The Five Kage could not afford to lose. If the Five Kage lost, it would mean they were incompetent. It would become much harder to suppress ambitious subordinates in their villages afterward, just like Konoha's Shimura Danzo.
The proposal for the Five Kage to jointly hunt down Uchiha Ryun was initially started by the Land of Water's Daimyo. It was later followed by a joint political decree issued by the Daimyo of the five nations. Now that the Five Kage have suffered a disastrous defeat, these Daimyo probably won't even be able to sleep soundly from now on...
Sarutobi Hiruzen completely understood the other Kage's decision to block the news, as he would have done the same. What concerned him most now was... how many Kage died in this battle!
This day passed with difficulty for Sarutobi Hiruzen amidst his anxiety and unease. Finally, on the evening of the third day, Sarutobi Hiruzen received a communication request from the four great nations.
Inside Konoha's Secure Communications Room.
The Daimyo of the five nations and the Kage of the five great ninja villages all appeared together on the network screens. Seeing this, Sarutobi Hiruzen's heart sank, and he immediately became fully alert.
"Let me introduce myself first. I am the newly appointed Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure, Yagura Karatachi. From now on, I will represent the Land of Water in diplomatic contacts with you colleagues. I look forward to working with you."
Looking at the childlike Fourth Mizukage, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, Earth, Wind, and Lightning all showed expressions of surprise. The other four Kage, however, nodded to him with unchanged expressions, clearly already aware of this person's existence.
Someone qualified to become a 'Kage' would undoubtedly have intelligence on file in every village. The Fourth Mizukage might look like just a child, but his actual age was probably several years older than the Fourth Raikage's.
In the ninja world, judging strength by appearance is a foolish thing to do. After all, that young man who defeated the Five Kage likes to pretend to be blind...
"You Five Kage have disappointed us greatly. Let's discuss... how to deal with Uchiha Ryun next."
Seeing the oppressive atmosphere in the communication room and that no one was speaking, the Land of Water's Daimyo couldn't help but be the first to raise this issue.
"This defeat was entirely because we underestimated the opponent's true combat strength. Uchiha Ryun's power has surpassed the level of 'Kage'. The five of us alone are truly not his match..."
The Third Tsuchikage took the initiative to step forward and admit failure.
"Underestimated him... You guys swore before the battle that you could eliminate Uchiha Ryun. Now you tell me you're not his match???"
The one who said this was actually the Land of Fire's Daimyo. This effeminate-looking man, who held the greatest power, was rarely angered.
"Do you know what this 'not his match' means? Can the personal safety of us Daimyo still be guaranteed in the future?"
The Daimyo of the other four nations all nodded in agreement upon hearing this.
"I apologize, Lord Daimyo of the Land of Fire. Although we very much dislike admitting failure, the fact remains... losing means losing. If my Daimyo can find someone capable of defeating Uchiha Ryun, I am ready to step down and yield my position at any time."
The Third Tsuchikage directly stood firm against the Land of Fire's Daimyo.
Hearing this, the Land of Fire's Daimyo looked toward the Land of Earth's Daimyo, only to see the latter shake his head helplessly, clearly having no way to deal with this Third Tsuchikage.
"I need to state something here. In this battle of the Five Kage against Uchiha Ryun, the Hokage of Konoha was the first to be defeated, and also the first to leave the battlefield."
The Third Kazekage did not conceal his dissatisfaction with the Third Hokage. Immediately, everyone looked toward Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Is the Kazekage blaming me? Or do you think Konoha did this intentionally?" Sarutobi Hiruzen retorted with a dark face.
"You are the esteemed 'Shinobi no Tora (The Professor)'. Knocked out by a mere ocular technique from Uchiha Ryun. Do you dare say there's nothing fishy about that?" The Third Kazekage pressed aggressively.
"A mere ocular technique... You make it sound simple. Have you personally experienced that kind of mental attack? Ask the Fourth Raikage. Once hit by that kind of ocular technique, does one have any say over whether their consciousness remains clear or not?" Sarutobi Hiruzen angrily argued.
"Speaking of it, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me. I've been lying here ever since returning from the Land of Rain. If not for the Yamanaka clan members forcibly waking me, I would still be unconscious now."
"You, opening your mouth and spouting nonsense, repeatedly slandering me, isn't it precisely because our two nations are currently at war? A despicable villain. Can't gain advantage on the battlefield, so you resort to underhanded methods like 'slinging mud'..."
"Bastard! I'm slandering you? If you don't want people to know, don't do it, Sarutobi Hiruzen. You old fool, stop pretending there. Who among us doesn't know you are Uchiha Ryun's master's master? What are you pretending for in front of us?" The Third Kazekage slammed the table and stood up, also getting angry directly.
"So what if he is my student's student? Do I need to pretend? So what if I don't want to be an enemy of Uchiha Ryun? Uchiha Ryun hasn't targeted Konoha. Why should I fight him to the death?"
Just as everyone thought the Third Hokage was laying his cards on the table and stopping the pretense, and as they were about to collectively attack him, they heard Sarutobi Hiruzen speak again angrily.
"Our Land of Fire does not want to fight. You forced us to fight. Now that you are defeated, you push all the responsibility onto Konoha. Do you really think Konoha is easy to bully? So it's war you want? Come on, then. Konoha will see it through to the end!"
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━