The five-man conference room fell into complete silence.
Those eight characters...
No matter who saw them, they'd have to stop and think.
"Um..."
Aburame Shiken originally wanted to say something, but seeing everyone deep in thought, he realized that anything he said right now would just be pointless nonsense.
"Raise your hand if you agree with Hideki's proposal."
Swish, swish, swish—
Five arms shot into the air.
"Hahahahahahaha!"
"Hahahaha!"
"Hahahahaha!"
The five burst into laughter.
Bang!
Ryoha slammed a fist into Hideki's shoulder.
"You sure you haven't been possessed? Since when can you come up with something this constructive?"
"Exactly. Before dealing with external enemies, we need to eliminate the biggest traitor among us first. Only then should we discuss unifying the ninja world."
Hyūga Hiyasu said seriously.
"Hey, hey, hey, don't look at me like you all want to beat me up, alright? Be fair here—I didn't do anything wrong!"
Hideki felt utterly wronged.
I haven't done a single bad thing, so why are you all treating me like this?
"Because of the extra work Hideki dumped on us, our workload just exploded. Let's start the discussion."
Aburame Shiken ended the topic and moved on.
"The agenda for Operation: Unify the Ninja World officially begins now."
"First point: the enemies we'll face if we attempt to unify the ninja world."
"I'll start. First are the four great ninja villages: Hidden Cloud Village, Hidden Mist Village, Hidden Sand Village, and Hidden Stone Village. Hidden Stone Village is basically already a shell of its former self, so it's not much of a threat."
Hideki was the first to voice his thoughts. After all, he was the one who proposed the grand unification plan, so naturally he was putting in the effort.
"I'll handle Hidden Sand Village. Old rivals—easy fight."
Ryoha immediately claimed an opponent.
"As for Hidden Stone Village, I'm personally going to flatten it this time. That old bastard Ōnoki isn't a threat to me anymore."
Hideki spoke with complete confidence.
If he couldn't even deal with Ōnoki, then talking about unifying the ninja world was a joke.
"Leave Hidden Cloud Village to me. Haven't seen that Fourth Raikage in a while. Honestly, I kinda miss him."
Hiyasu revealed a malicious grin.
After all, nobody ever said you couldn't repeatedly farm the same boss fight.
"Then I guess I'm left with Hidden Mist Village. Doesn't matter though. A tiny village like that is easy pickings."
Uchiha Kamito said confidently.
So what if he lost his eyes?
He was still Uchiha Kamito.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Four consecutive hits.
The previously confident four now each had a giant lump on their heads.
The one responsible was naturally Aburame Shiken.
"You brainless idiots! Do you really think wiping out the four great ninja villages besides Konoha is enough to truly unify the ninja world? With brains like yours, you still want to rule over others? I must've been blind and out of my damn mind to even consider doing something this insane with you people!"
Aburame Shiken was furious.
Unifying the ninja world really was just a fantasy.
These four idiots didn't even possess basic common sense.
"Do you know how many people live in the four great villages besides their ninja?"
"Do you know how many civilians exist in the four great nations outside the villages?"
"Do you know how many people inside Konoha would never agree with our ideas?"
"Do you know that the Fire Daimyō would never allow Konoha to become that powerful?"
"Do you know how many people actually exist in the ninja world? How far the Akatsuki Organization has developed? Whether Uchiha Madara still has backup plans? Whether Black Zetsu has other schemes prepared?"
"Do you really think unifying the ninja world is that simple?!"
Kamito and the other three were scolded so hard they couldn't even lift their heads.
But they couldn't find a single point to argue back with.
So Kamito, Ryoha, and Hiyasu secretly kicked Hideki under the table.
It's all your fault for bringing up this stupid idea. Now we're all getting yelled at!
Hideki's face filled with confusion.
Don't dump every problem on me, alright? I'm not Shimura Danzō. I've got a temper too, you know.
"Now listen carefully to your first mission."
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
The four immediately stood at attention.
As expected, muscleheads could only ever be muscleheads.
"Uchiha Kamito."
"Here."
"Going to Hidden Mist Village and dealing with Kisame Hoshigaki and Jūzō Biwa shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Easy. I'll crush them casually."
"Senju Hideki."
"Here."
"Go eliminate Kakuzu."
"Understood."
"Hyūga Hiyasu."
"Here."
"Take care of Sasori. His hidden weapons and core shouldn't be able to escape your eyes, right?"
"Definitely not."
Hiyasu pointed at his Byakugan.
People who relied on dirty tricks were never a match for the Byakugan.
"Ryoha."
"Here."
"You know where Takigakure is, right?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"Bring your ninja hound army and avenge the Seven-Tails. If not for the Seven-Tails, we wouldn't have been ambushed on the Hidden Stone battlefield."
"Understood. How far should I go?"
"You decide. I trust the 'Butcher of the Ninja World' won't disappoint me."
Everyone knew "Butcher" was being used as an adjective here.
"Now that, I understand perfectly. I guarantee you'll be satisfied."
A river of blood seemed to flash through Ryoha's eyes.
"Alright, that's the rough outline. First we eliminate the unstable factors. We'll bury the Akatsuki Organization into the dirt before anything else."
(Nagato: What the hell is happening? My Akatsuki Organization hasn't even fully developed yet and everyone's already dead?!)
"Move out."
With Aburame Shiken's command, the other four returned to pack their things,
then departed in different directions.
Meanwhile, Aburame Shiken headed straight for the Nara clan compound.
There were simply too many things to consider for an operation like this.
He desperately needed a truly intelligent brain.
What if Nara Shikaku refused?
Then they'd abandon the plan, obviously.
If even Nara Shikaku thought it was impossible, then everyone else should just give up early instead of wasting precious time.
"What?!"
"You're planning to wage war against the entire ninja world?!"
After hearing it, Nara Shikaku was so shocked he nearly jumped three feet into the air, smashing the back of his head against the ceiling beam.
"Hey, keep your voice down. I sealed this room with barrier insects, but if you smash the house down, how are we supposed to explain that?"
"Explain? Explain to who? You people are already planning something this insane—who exactly are you planning to explain yourselves to?! Who even deserves an explanation anymore?!"
Shikaku was speechless.
He had never heard of people preparing to declare war on the entire ninja world while still worrying about things like this.
If you're scared, then don't try to do something this outrageous in the first place.