Reinforcements finally arrived. The Hyuga clan were the first on the scene, their Byakugan having detected the massive chakra fluctuations from miles away.
"Lady Tsunade! What in the name of... what happened here?!" the Hyuga commander gasped, his eyes bulging as he surveyed the field of corpses.
The only survivors were a child, a medic, and a legendary Sannin. He didn't initially suspect them of killing the Hokage; he was simply terrified of whatever monster was powerful enough to assassinate the "Professor" and his Council in the heart of the village.
Tsunade hadn't formulated her lie yet. She simply adopted her most commanding tone. "This is a classified matter beyond your clearance. Deploy your clansmen to the perimeter. Establish a total lockdown. No one enters or leaves without my direct authorization."
Faced with Tsunade's authority and the horrifying reality of the scene, the Hyuga commander didn't ask questions. He barked orders, and his squad moved to seal the area.
Shortly after, the Uchiha arrived, led by a man named Uchiha Go—someone Saiki didn't recognize.
Go stared at the bisected remains of Hiruzen Sarutobi, his heart hammering against his ribs. He couldn't fathom how the "God of Shinobi" had been reduced to a pile of wet meat.
But the Uchiha had been suppressed by the High Command for decades. Go didn't display shock; he maintained a mask of stoic silence, though a spark of savage, dark excitement flickered deep in his eyes.
Tsunade issued the same lockdown orders to the Uchiha.
The Uchiha certainly had their own agendas, but they obeyed the Sannin for now. The Hokage was dead; the seat was open. Now was a time for observation, not impulsive action.
The clearing became a pressure cooker of tension.
Saiki watched the clans arrive, his plan already in motion.
Konoha's destabilization was inevitable. He was already mentally sharpening his blade for the next round of executions.
Tsunade looked at Saiki, her eyes full of a thousand unspoken questions and a newfound, terrifying respect.
She realized that Saiki's suggestion of a coup might be the only way to prevent a total civil war.
But becoming Hokage in a village this fractured was a nightmare.
Tsunade took a shuddering breath and looked into Saiki's eyes. "Fine. I'll do it. I will claim the title. But you have to promise me, Saiki... stay alive. Don't let yourself be consumed by this."
Saiki hadn't really expected her to say yes, but he felt a surge of relief when she did.
It was the only logical choice. Saiki could survive as a wanderer, but he wouldn't let Nono'u or the children suffer for his actions.
If Tsunade sat on the throne, Saiki would be her executioner. He would clear her path of every obstacle.
"Thank you, Sister Tsunade. I'll make sure no one stands in your way."
Saiki's aura turned murderous, a shift so sudden it made Tsunade flinch. "I told you, no more reckless killing!" she hissed.
Saiki ignored the scolding, his gaze locking onto a specific point in the forest. "It's not about what I want. It's about people who refuse to let go of the past."
The words were barely out of his mouth when several silhouettes burst from the treeline: the Sarutobi and Shimura clansmen, their faces twisted with grief and rage.
They stared at the remains of their patriarchs and the council members in absolute horror.
"What is this?! WHO DID THIS?! Who dared to lay a hand on Lord Hokage and the Elders?!"
They roared with a suicidal fury, their eyes locking onto the only people in the clearing.
"It's you! It must be you! You traitors! You've assassinated the village leadership! KILL THEM! KILL THEM ALL!"
The Sarutobi and Shimura clans had been the village's elite for far too long; they were drunk on their own importance. Even with Tsunade, the Senju Princess, standing there, they immediately branded her a traitor.
They didn't just hate the crime; they hated Tsunade's lineage. They had been the ones to profit from the Senju's erasure.
Without giving her a chance to speak, the lead Sarutobi lunged, his weapon aimed at Tsunade's throat.
Tsunade felt a surge of cold fury at their arrogance. But Saiki didn't give her the chance to react.
Saiki drew 'Thunderstorm'. He blurred into motion, tearing through the air so fast the lead Sarutobi didn't even have time to blink before his body was bisected vertically.
"WHAT?!"
The others froze for a heartbeat, but realizing they were already committed to a coup-de-main, they threw themselves at Saiki in a desperate wave.
The gap in power was a chasm. Within seconds, the clearing was filled with the sound of steel meeting flesh. Saiki systematically dismantled the attacking squads.
Then, more reinforcements arrived—over a dozen more ninja from the Mitokado and Utatane clans. They saw the brawl and joined in without a second thought, ignoring Tsunade's presence entirely.
The battle turned into a massacre. It happened so fast that Tsunade, caught in her own internal struggle between loyalty and self-preservation, could only watch in silence.
She remembered her family being sent to the front lines as cannon fodder by these very men. Watching their descendants fall to Saiki's blade gave her a dark, sickening thrill of satisfaction.
The newcomers were the remaining strength of the four elite clans in the village.
They saw the Hokage's body beside Tsunade and immediately assumed she was the mastermind.
On the perimeter, the Hyuga and Uchiha watched the "internal cleanup" with cold, calculating gazes.
They weren't the only ones. Other minor clans were arriving, keeping their distance, waiting to see who would emerge from the bloodbath: Tsunade, or the loyalist remnants.
In a way, the war for the Hokage's hat had already begun.
It looked chaotic, but the rules were simple: the last one standing claims everything.
Seeing their numbers dwindle, the Sarutobi called for a total mobilization of their remaining forces in the village. Nearly a hundred ninja—the final reserves of the four council clans—poured into the clearing.
"Stay back. I've got this," Saiki said, stepping in front of the paralyzed Tsunade and Nono'u.
Saiki was actually surprised. It felt like he had kicked a hornet's nest.
But as the numbers grew, so did his battle-lust. A faint red glow began to shimmer in his previously clear eyes.
How exactly the Senju had been "phased out" was a mystery to the public, but the way these clans were attacking Tsunade now proved that Hiruzen's people had always been prepared to finish the job if she ever sought revenge.
The Sarutobi and their allies were insane with rage, determined to execute the "traitors."
To them, Saiki was the primary target.
Facing a tidal wave of steel and Ninjutsu, Saiki didn't flinch. His blade became a rhythmic instrument of death. Every swing resulted in a head or a limb flying into the air.
This was a battle for the "King of the Hill." Finally, under the shocked stares of the observing clans, Saiki unleashed a final, world-cleaving strike.
A massive shockwave of blade-qi shredded the remaining forest and cleaved a literal mountain range in the distance. The boom was so loud that every resident in Konoha felt the vibration in their marrow.
When the dust settled, Saiki walked out of the ruins. Tsunade walked in front, her face a mask of iron resolve, while Nono'u followed behind, her hand gripping Saiki's in a pained, protective hold.
Saiki wasn't hurt; he was just winded.
He had spent thirty minutes systematically butchering over two hundred elite ninja. Toward the end, it hadn't just been the Sarutobi; members of other clans had masked their faces and tried to sneak into the fray, hoping to score a lucky kill on a future rival.
The moment Saiki stepped out into the light, with the blood of the village's elite staining the grass behind him, Tsunade's position as the Fifth Hokage was officially cemented. No one else dared to breathe.