"According to the latest intelligence from the Land of Water, the Akatsuki organization, using some unknown weapon, instantly obliterated Kirigakure and a significant portion of its surrounding area. There's no trace of the village's existence to be found. Immediately afterward, Akatsuki issued a statement to the shinobi world, claiming responsibility for the incident."
Listening to the ANBU's report, Tsunade's shapely eyebrows knitted tightly. She simply couldn't fathom Akatsuki's motive for such an act. Fame? Wealth? Status? With that kind of terrifying power, any other approach would have yielded far greater returns than the destruction of Kirigakure.
"Convene an Emergency Five Kage Summit immediately!" Tsunade ordered. The most urgent task was to find a way to deal with Akatsuki as quickly as possible.
In a room with walls covered in wires and a floor littered with energy flasks, four square television screens seemed utterly out of place. Once the video connection requests were accepted, seeing the varied expressions on the faces of the Raikage, Kazekage, and Tsuchikage, Tsunade knew they too had received the relevant news.
"It seems all of you Kage are aware of what happened in the Land of Water," Tsunade began.
"Princess Tsunade, let's skip the time-wasting pleasantries. Your Konoha and Kumogakure are closest to Kirigakure. Do you have more detailed intelligence?" Onoki asked, his expression grave, his voice deep.
"We only know that Akatsuki was responsible. What weapon they used is still under investigation," Tsunade replied, shaking her head slightly and glancing at the Fifth Raikage, Darui, on the screen. She too hoped for more information about Akatsuki's mysterious power.
Unfortunately, the Fifth Raikage Darui simply shook his head. Due to the Fourth Raikage's long-standing feud with them, Kumogakure had never given up its pursuit of Akatsuki. But before the Kirigakure incident, Akatsuki had seemingly vanished into thin air. Even regarding this event—where Akatsuki had emerged from, what power they had used to destroy Kirigakure, and where they had gone afterward—they still had no intelligence.
"Akatsuki's White Zetsu have anti-reconnaissance capabilities that are simply too strong."
Hearing this, the expressions of the other three Kage turned grim.
"My proposal is that we form an Allied Force to confront Akatsuki together," Tsunade suggested. Given Kirigakure's fate, even Konoha, despite its reputation as the strongest hidden village, had to proceed with caution. Defeating Kirigakure wouldn't be difficult for Konoha either. But to annihilate it in an instant? The difficulty increased exponentially.
"I agree," the Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, stated.
"Acceptable," the Fifth Raikage, Darui, nodded.
"I have only one question: who will lead the Allied Forces?" Onoki stared directly into Tsunade's eyes.
"I will," Tsunade declared, her presence undiminished, her sharp eyes locked on him.
"On what grounds? Seniority? Age? Experience? Or is it because you're the only woman here?" the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, calmly retorted.
"On the grounds that Konoha is the strongest."
"Iwagakure is not weak either."
Watching the two clash, the Fifth Kazekage Gaara and the Fifth Raikage Darui didn't intervene, but quietly awaited the outcome. The leadership of the Allied Forces had nothing to do with them from the start; they lacked the necessary seniority, age, and experience.
"Jiraiya's student—my grand-disciple, so to speak—Uchiha Sasuke, has awakened the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan." Tsunade played her trump card.
Onoki's pupils contracted. His mind raced, piecing together information. Uchiha Itachi's eyesight was failing; he hadn't been seen for a long time; rumors circulated that Itachi joined Akatsuki to protect his younger brother; Uchiha Sasuke also possessed the Mangekyo...
"You've hidden him well." At this point, how could he not understand? Uchiha Sasuke of the shinobi strike teams had been holding back his true strength.
"Under normal circumstances, Sasuke's Mangekyo can handle most things," Tsunade said with a knowing smile, offering a noncommittal response.
The existence of the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan directly led Onoki to acknowledge Tsunade as the leader of the Allied Forces. He had no choice. For someone who had personally experienced the devastating power of Uchiha Madara, the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, in a way, represented invincibility.
Once the "dragon's head"—the leader—was decided, subsequent agenda items progressed with extreme speed.
...Land of Water. A deserted island.
ROOOOAR!!
A colossal creature, strongly resembling a bamboo shoot but with a single, enormous tomoe eye and ten terrifying tails, was frantically destroying everything around it. A tube connected its head to Nagato.
Nagato's expression was somewhat grim. He had been too hasty, manipulating the ultimate weapon to unleash a large-scale Tailed Beast Bomb to destroy Kirigakure before he had fully mastered it. As a result, he was now having trouble controlling the ultimate weapon. Fortunately, with the formidable power of his Rinnegan, he would soon regain control over it.
In the distance, two figures quietly watched this scene.
"Clearly, Nagato is no longer under our control. Getting him to revive Uchiha Madara is now impossible," Naraka Path Uchiha Obito stated.
"Troublesome," Black Zetsu said, his voice devoid of emotion as always.
The Naraka Path glanced at him. According to the main body's intelligence, this one is the true mastermind. Reviving Uchiha Madara or not seems to make no difference to him. As long as someone successfully revives the Ten-Tails, absorbs the Divine Tree, and then gets betrayed by Black Zetsu ripping their heart out, Otsutsuki Kaguya can be revived. Whether that person is Uchiha Madara or not doesn't seem to be the crucial point.
Due to Nagato's lack of cooperation, from Uchiha Obito's perspective, the Naraka Path had, quite naturally, not informed Nagato about the Hundred Thousand White Zetsu. Black Zetsu seemed to be of the same mind.
Excellent.
Rumble~
The rampaging Ten-Tails gradually calmed down and began to move towards the vast ocean.
"That direction... is the Land of Fire." Seeing the direction Nagato was moving, the Naraka Path's expression flickered. He wondered if Uchiha Sasuke could stop the Ten-Tails in its first stage. As far as he knew, Uchiha Sasuke didn't just possess the Eternal Mangekyo; he also had the Puppet Otsutsuki Urashiki.
"At this rate of movement, by the time Nagato and the Ten-Tails reach the border of the Land of Fire, the Ten-Tails should have entered its second stage," Black Zetsu calculated.
"By then, Konoha should also be prepared. Before the Eye of the Moon is activated, we can still watch a world-class performance." The Naraka Path vanished from the main world.
Black Zetsu watched him disappear, his eyes narrowing slightly. The Obito of today always gave him a very strange feeling. Did Nagato's successful rebellion show you the way forward, Obito? He sneered inwardly. Obito, I look forward to your performance. You, Nagato, or Madara—it doesn't matter who activates the Eye of the Moon. Keep striving to revive your Rin... Heh heh...