Chapter 396: The Fifth Hokage
The situation had gone out of control.
Completely out of control.
The moment blood was shed, the unspoken agreement between the ninja shattered. Their attacks immediately became ruthless, and powerful Ninjutsu began to erupt across the battlefield. Screams grew louder, injuries multiplied, and some ninja even died on the spot.
Even though Tsunade and the others began restraining their subordinates, some ninja whose fighting spirit had already been ignited found it difficult to stop.
"What's going on? Who delivered the fatal blow just now?"
Tsunade shattered Kitsuchi's Earth Release Ninjutsu with a casual strike, then wiped the rain from her face and asked in a low voice.
She was confused by the current situation.
Before this, she had clearly ordered the Konoha ninja that their main objective was to capture the rogue ninja who knew the truth. They were not to kill the enemy.
Yet a fatal blow had still been delivered.
Once someone died, the situation changed completely. At that point, even whether the Hero's Water could be preserved became uncertain.
Tsunade understood this, which was why she had restrained her subordinates from the beginning. She believed the others should also understand it and would certainly restrain their own people as well.
But the situation had still spiraled out of control.
"I don't know, Lady Tsunade. The current situation is too chaotic. We can't tell who made the first move," Shikaku said, shaking his head.
Although he was a brilliant strategist, even he was helpless in this situation.
After all, the Five Great Ninja Villages had deep grudges against one another. It could be said that every ninja present had a reason to kill someone from an opposing Village.
Their family or friends might have died at the hands of an enemy Village, or even at the hands of a specific ninja from that Village. That made it almost impossible for ninja to coexist peacefully.
Before a fight began, they might still be able to temporarily stand together.
But once the battle started, that became impossible.
Battles between ninja were extremely dangerous. A single mistake could cost one's life. At a time like this, asking them to show mercy was impossible.
Even someone as powerful as Tsunade could not guarantee that she could spare her opponent every time.
What if the enemy made a mistake and failed to dodge?
They would still die.
That was why Shikaku was helpless. His strength did not vastly surpass ordinary ninja, and he could not multitask in battle while observing the entire battlefield to determine which side had delivered the first lethal blow.
The difficulty was simply too high.
He could only investigate afterward. However, Shikaku felt it was unlikely they would obtain a clear answer. In battle, it was hard to say whether a fatal blow had been delivered intentionally or as a forced counterattack because the enemy had struck first.
"It seems the mission is complete."
At the edge of the battlefield, Uchiha Shiori quietly withdrew from the bloody battle and hid in the distance, watching the situation unfold.
Just now, she had put on a Konoha forehead protector, rushed in, and launched a fierce attack against ninja from other Villages.
With the help of her Mangekyo Sharingan, Shiori could achieve excellent killing results against ordinary Jonin who were unprepared.
So she had succeeded.
"Not necessarily. If only ordinary ninja die, then the various Ninja Villages might simply swallow their anger. Unless an important person dies," Yakushi Kabuto said cautiously from the side, wearing a mask.
His strength was not outstanding. In front of these ninja, he seemed even more insignificant.
So he hid in the rear and could only offer advice. Fortunately, his years as a spy had given him some understanding of how to incite conflict.
That rogue ninja was the bait he had prepared, and the result proved that the other party had performed well. It also ensured his own safety. Otherwise, the person being surrounded on the battlefield would have been him.
"An important person..." Shiori looked at the battlefield and shook her head. "Too difficult. It would also be easy to expose myself if I made a move."
Who counted as an important person?
Obviously, the leading ninja of each Village.
Chiyo of Sunagakure and Tsunade of Konoha.
At the very least, it would have to be a deputy like Shikaku.
Attacking them would certainly prevent the situation from calming down easily. But the problem was that, on the battlefield, these leading ninja were basically fighting one another.
They had a tacit understanding and did not interfere with the ordinary battlefield.
Under these circumstances, if Shiori intervened, it would be very easy for her to expose herself, which would be detrimental to Lord Amamiya's plan.
Kabuto frowned.
He had considered whether to seize the Hero's Water, but the item had already been collected by the leading ninja.
To take it now meant attacking those leaders directly, which was no different from openly going after them.
"Then we can only wait and see," Kabuto said, shaking his head.
The current situation could only depend on whether these ninja lost control as the battle continued and directly attacked the leading ninja. If that happened, it would be even better.
Unfortunately, things did not develop in the direction he had hoped.
After the rogue ninja was "accidentally" killed at some unknown point, the battle quickly subsided.
One by one, the ninja withdrew from the battlefield, taking away the bodies of their comrades. They left behind only ruined houses and bloodstains that even the heavy rain could not wash clean.
The body of the rogue ninja was also burned to ashes by a large fire, leaving nothing behind.
The ninja were still as ruthless as ever, leaving no opening for anyone else.
Sometimes, corpses could reveal information. If they could not take the body away themselves, then other Ninja Villages should not even dream of taking it either.
As the ninja departed, Amegakure slowly fell quiet.
"Alright. Now it's time for the next step of the plan." Shiori stood up.
Relying on this alone might not be enough to plunge the Ninja World into chaos.
With good luck, the Five Great Ninja Villages would launch a major conflict after verifying the effectiveness of the Hero's Water.
With bad luck, it would only lead to small-scale probing between ninja forces.
"Mm. I hope our luck is better," Kabuto sighed.
He sincerely hoped their luck would be better this time, so he could return sooner and see Yakushi Nonou.
"Entrusting Lord Amamiya's plan to luck is not the thinking of a qualified subordinate," Shiori said, glancing at Kabuto.
Kabuto had not yet received the blessing. According to Amamiya Kenichi, he intended to personally grant Kabuto a high-level blessing.
A blessing on the same level as Shiori's.
Kabuto quickly apologized.
His time with Shiori had already made him understand this woman's personality. She was somewhat fanatical toward Amamiya Kenichi, even to an unexpectedly fervent degree.
Naturally, Kabuto would not show any reaction to that. Instead, he would work hard to prove his loyalty.
That was what a smart person should do.
Before leaving Amegakure, Kabuto looked back at the ravaged battlefield behind him and silently sighed.
He knew he had taken on new sins.
But this was simply what ninja were.
There was nothing he could do about it.
After leaving Amegakure, the ninja from the five Villages returned to their respective Villages and presented the bloodstained Hero's Water to their Kage.
"Is this the Hero's Water? It looks rather ordinary."
Inside the Konoha Hokage Building, Hiruzen looked at the Hero's Water in his hand. Aside from its silvery-white color, it looked no different from ordinary water.
"In any case, each of the five Ninja Villages obtained one bottle," Tsunade said, tiredly pinching the bridge of her nose.
Thanks to Amamiya Kenichi, traveling through the Ninja World had become much easier.
Furthermore, the Hero's Water and its stable source were far too important, so Tsunade had rushed back quickly by airship. She also had to arrange matters for the ninja who had died or been injured in the battle, so she was extremely exhausted at the moment.
Hiruzen glanced at Tsunade.
He had to admit that Tsunade's efficiency was truly high. She had returned so quickly.
It was time for him to fulfill his promise.
"Then how this matter is handled will be up to you, Fifth Hokage."
Hiruzen stood up and patted Tsunade on the shoulder.
Tsunade froze when she heard this, looking at her teacher in surprise.
Although her teacher had indeed mentioned this before, she had not truly taken it seriously. She had not expected him to be serious.
Traditionally, Tsunade should have held the Hokage inauguration ceremony first. But because of the importance of the Hero's Water, her inauguration ceremony had been placed after this matter.
"Let's test it."
Hiruzen stood inside Root's secret base, looking at the Root ninja kneeling respectfully on one knee before him.
Although Hiruzen had retired from the position of Hokage, he was old, not useless.
He had chosen another way to use his remaining strength.
He took over Danzo's position and became the leader of Konoha's Root.
"Yes, Lord Sarutobi."
The Root ninja directly drank the Hero's Water in front of him.
Outside the desolate Root base, the celebration was already lively with gongs and drums.
Konoha was preparing to celebrate the inauguration of the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade.
Tsunade's inauguration was about to usher in a new era, an era belonging to her. The carving of the Hokage Rock had already begun to be planned, and soon, Tsunade's face would appear on that most prominent cliff face.
But Tsunade was not there.
She was currently in the Hokage Building, while Hiruzen brought over the test results.
"Old man, how many ninja do you think we should send out?"
Looking at the test result showing that even a Jonin's Chakra had been amplified tenfold, Tsunade's mood sank heavily.
The Hero's Water was real.
Although it had the side effect of shortening one's lifespan, having one's lifespan shortened and losing one's life on the spot were two different concepts.
Tsunade naturally knew which was more important.
It could be said that after this test result came out, Konoha had no way back.
Even if Tsunade knew there were many problems and many doubts, she could not retreat.
The other four Ninja Villages must also be conducting intense experiments right now.
Once they discovered that the Hero's Water could indeed amplify Chakra, then Takigakure in the Land of Waterfalls would become a strategic point the entire Ninja World had to fight over.
"The effect of the Hero's Water is real. Although we haven't tested whether it works on someone of my level, if it does, then its importance goes without saying," Hiruzen said, taking a puff from his pipe.
He glanced at his student.
She was not wearing the Hokage hat. Instead, she had placed it on the table.
Looking at that symbol of Konoha's highest authority, Hiruzen's heart felt complicated.
Fortunately, he had left himself a way out.
Konoha's Root was the retreat he had prepared for himself.
"Too few people certainly won't do. The Land of Waterfalls is relatively close to Konoha, and we can reach it quickly by airship. But the other Ninja Villages are also not far from the Land of Waterfalls," Homura said with a grave expression.
This thing had to fall into Konoha's hands.
If it could not, then it had to be destroyed so that the other Ninja Villages could not obtain it either.
"I'm worried they might deploy Tailed Beasts," Koharu said with a frown.
"Impossible. In the previous wars, Tailed Beasts only appeared on especially important battlefields," Hiruzen said, shaking his head.
Tailed Beasts were the foundation of a Village.
But when he thought of this, Hiruzen's head began to ache.
That Amamiya Kenichi had actually taken Naruto away.
Tsunade took a deep breath.
She suddenly felt that becoming Hokage might not be a good thing.
At least, the pressure she was currently facing was far too immense.
She was the one who had to make the final decision now, and her decision could cost countless lives.
But the Hero's Water...
"Then..."
With Tsunade's command, squads of ninja walked out of Konoha.
At the same time, Konoha began celebrating the inauguration of the Fifth Hokage.
Across the entire Ninja World, one airship after another rose into the sky, flying toward the Land of Waterfalls.
"Damn it, where in the world is that Uchiha Madara?"
In the Land of Earth, Kakuzu walked along the road with an annoyed expression. Beside him, Obito, wearing his mask, could not help rolling his eyes.
Madara?
Madara was still lying somewhere else. If he did not come out himself, how could Kakuzu possibly find him?
But Obito also had not expected Kakuzu to be so persistent, searching for Uchiha Madara in this godforsaken place, the Land of Earth, for so long.
Naturally, there were no clues.
Obito was gradually losing his patience. He did not have that much time to waste here with Kakuzu's nonsense.
"Senior Hoku, shouldn't we..." Obito finally could not hold back anymore.
If he continued wasting time with Kakuzu like this, he felt he was about to become a workaholic.
Only the heavens knew how much work he had done with Kakuzu during this period. He could not even refuse. It was suffocating.
And it was at that moment that Obito and Kakuzu froze at the same time.
They looked down.
Their rings were giving off a warm sensation.
This meant the leader was contacting them.
Obito frowned slightly.
Why was Nagato contacting them at a time like this?
But that was fine.
No matter what Nagato wanted, at least he finally would not have to keep wasting time here with Kakuzu.
He really did not want to work anymore.
Soon, Obito and Kakuzu entered the Genjutsu Projection Space.
"Everyone, the base needs to change location."
Nagato's first sentence made every ninja present freeze.
.....
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