"You really have something, Obito Uchiha."
Looking at Konoha Village, which had already been stirred into chaos before it had even begun to formally meet the invading enemy, Rei Kaguya's clone, who had long since used proper procedures to stay at an inn inside Konoha Village, stood in front of the window.
With a little surprise, a little astonishment, and even a little approval, he muttered to himself:
"After seeing Nagato completely lean to my side and prepare to turn the Akatsuki into a platform for mediating conflicts between the major shinobi villages, then realizing it would not be long before the official power of the various nations left Root with nowhere to hide and nowhere to run, you actually thought of using Kumogakure and Iwagakure's ambitions in reverse to support Root."
"And you directly modified a plan at the level of a terrorist attack into a full-scale war against Konoha…"
"What a good move. A good move that lets you profit no matter how it ends."
Rei Kaguya had originally thought that secretly placing Nagato and Shisui Uchiha in Konoha as hidden pieces would be enough to completely destroy Root's plan to raid Konoha, seize the Nine-Tails, and take Kakashi Hatake's Sharingan.
But judging from the current situation, he had still underestimated just how deranged and ruthless Obito Uchiha could be.
Root's deep knowledge of Konoha's defensive system gave them the confidence to persuade Iwagakure and Kumogakure to deploy multiple high-level combatants and destroy Konoha Village in one stroke.
The excellent battle opportunity of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki giving birth, a chance that would be difficult to find again once missed, gave Iwagakure and Kumogakure the resolve to start a war.
When three Jinchuriki and their escort squads, assisted by Root, quietly infiltrated to a region only three kilometers from Konoha without being discovered by Konoha, Konoha was already destined to become tonight's greatest loser.
Kushina Uzumaki was currently giving birth. Not only could she not fight as combat strength, she also tied Minato Namikaze, a high-level combatant specialized in fighting people, to her side to prevent the Nine-Tails from rampaging unexpectedly.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Jiraiya could fight normally, but they did not possess the ability to prevent Tailed Beast Balls from striking Konoha proper directly.
Even if they actively took the initiative to meet the enemy, they would inevitably be unable to go all out because of concern for the village's safety.
Among the backup measures Rei had left in Konoha, the strongest, Nagato, needed to help block the Tailed Beast Balls. He could not spare attention to deal with the three Jinchuriki hiding outside as Tailed Beast Ball launchers.
And although Shisui Uchiha had entangled Obito Uchiha, who wanted to seize Kakashi Hatake's eye, without the Mangekyo Sharingan, there was no way he could truly cause trouble for Obito Uchiha, who possessed an absurd ability like Kamui.
Although Konoha's side also had one extra Tsunade, and he did not know whether she had overcome her hemophobia, Root's side also had Hanzō of the Salamander, who could create large-scale poison gas casualties.
Even if those two canceled each other out, Hanzō's combat strength was clearly superior to Tsunade, who had been away from battle for too long.
As for Fugaku Uchiha?
He was a man who valued his clan more than the village.
As long as the three Jinchuriki outside aimed their Tailed Beast Balls even slightly toward the Uchiha clan's residential district, once he had an excuse, he naturally could no longer appear as a surprise force to change the situation that was extremely unfavorable for Konoha.
Without additional reinforcements, Rei Kaguya could not see any chance of Konoha winning alone.
"Shisui's Cursed Seal of Heaven has settled down. In other words, Obito Uchiha has freed his hands and can go seize what he wants."
Looking at Kakashi Hatake on the street below, who was guiding the Konoha residents left helpless by the sudden flames of war to take shelter together with several chunin, Rei Kaguya, who was merely a bone clone, sighed.
A somewhat troubled expression appeared on his face.
"Oh my, oh my. What should I do now…"
"Is it more profitable to let Root destroy Konoha, but prevent their core goals from succeeding, meaning not allowing them to seize Kakashi Hatake's Sharingan or the Nine-Tails?"
"Or is it more in line with my interests to bring Kirigakure's shinobi out at the critical moment and preserve Konoha in a relatively complete state?"
Needless to say, the Nine-Tails and Obito Uchiha's other Mangekyo Sharingan were core interests that absolutely could not be handed to Root as an enemy.
But whether or not Konoha should continue standing on this land was a matter worth careful consideration.
If he allowed Konoha to be destroyed, then every Konoha shinobi who survived this war would become a mortal enemy of Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Root.
Hatred would push them into becoming the greatest obstacle to Iwagakure and Kumogakure's rule over this land.
And as Kirigakure, which also had enmity with Root, provided them with some assistance at such a time, it would be very easy to win the goodwill of Konoha's survivors.
If he operated properly, it would even be possible to directly turn some of Konoha's ninja clans into part of Kirigakure.
But the downside of doing so was that after Konoha fell, Kirigakure's plan to keep harvesting the shinobi world through economic means, subtly conduct cultural export and color revolution across the various nations while providing the necessary economic foundation for its own reforms, would collapse along with it.
And as Root's strategic targets shifted, Kirigakure would also be forced into a wartime state.
Under those circumstances, his reform plans would naturally become impossible to continue implementing.
If he preserved Konoha, then Konoha, with its vast foundation, would become the front line of battle against Root, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure. It could provide good cover for Kirigakure, which was isolated overseas and specialized in Water Release, buying time and buffer space for Kirigakure's development and reforms.
At the same time, Kirigakure could also ensure the growth of its own high-end combat strength by sending its talented youths to the Konoha front line to participate in battle.
But the downside was that the current Hokage in power was the young and open-minded Minato Namikaze.
If he led Konoha in resisting foreign invasion, it would be very easy for him to unite the originally scattered Konoha.
In the face of war, many long-standing problems that would originally have been difficult to solve could be handled using extreme, unconventional methods.
And Rei Kaguya believed that Minato Namikaze did not lack the resolve to do so.
"In other words, preserving Konoha can let Kirigakure live more comfortably for a while in the future. But when I want to unify the shinobi world later, it will become a very hard bone to chew. Not only will it be difficult to subtly influence Konoha's next generation through cultural invasion, I might also have to face the Konoha rookies who grow up ahead of time, as well as Naruto and Sasuke, those two Children of Destiny."
"But if I allow Konoha to be destroyed and watch their experts be killed, then although Kirigakure can take over Konoha's surviving clans and inheritance and avoid fighting Konoha to the death in the future, the heavy pressure brought by Root, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure will all have to be borne by Kirigakure alone. There is also a high chance that Kirigakure's reforms, which have finally entered the right track, will be forced to come to a complete stop…"
"Tch. Hard to choose. Truly hard to choose…"
"If Hiruzen Sarutobi were still in power, preserving Konoha would be the absolute better choice. But with Minato Namikaze as Hokage, either choice will leave troublesome aftereffects. And if I want to kill him, it is not convenient for me to do it personally. Otherwise, if I do not handle the loose ends cleanly, I will be giving Naruto a free reason to unlock a flashback power-up for no reason…"
Just as Rei Kaguya's clone lightly tapped the edge of the window with his finger, torn over what action he should take next to maximize Kirigakure's interests and his own, a terrifying chakra fluctuation that made one's heart tremble suddenly fell from the sky above his head without warning.
Kakashi Hatake on the street and Rei Kaguya inside the inn raised their heads at the same time.
They looked at the Tailed Beast Ball that had suddenly appeared directly above Konoha, and at the giant flying insect that had revealed itself because it had fired the Tailed Beast Ball from an invisible state.
"That is… the Seven-Tails!? Even Takigakure, whose strength is second only to the Five Great Shinobi Villages, has joined today's war against Konoha?"
Despair could not help appearing on Kakashi Hatake's face.
As the holder of the Sharingan, a dojutsu capable of seeing chakra flow, Kakashi Hatake understood far more clearly than others just how terrifying the chakra contained within that Tailed Beast Ball was.
If a chakra aggregate of that level fell into Konoha Village's central area and exploded…
Damn it.
Move.
Move!
Why won't my body move?
Even if I cannot change anything, I refuse to be a useless waste who can only stand here stupidly and wait for destruction to descend!
Kakashi Hatake's heart roared desperately.
But his body, filled to the depths with powerlessness and fear, refused to respond to his expectations no matter what.
He remained frozen where he stood.
Together with the people beside him, whose faces were also filled with despair, he watched helplessly as the apocalypse that would destroy them descended bit by bit.
But in that daze, the corner of his left eye caught sight of a figure rising from the ground, fearlessly charging toward the Tailed Beast Ball in the sky that was filled with destructive aura.
"Dance of the Clematis: Nation Hunter!"
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