The shinobi world shook.
On one side stood Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Otogakure.
On the other stood Kirigakure, Sunagakure, Amegakure, Takigakure, and the rest of Konoha's allies.
The two sides argued fiercely, as if war could break out at any moment.
And yet—
Konoha, the uncrowned king of the shinobi world, remained as steady as a mountain.
There was no panic.
No disturbance.
It was as if Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Otogakure's declaration of war had not affected them at all.
And that was exactly the truth.
Inside Konoha, everyone was simply waiting to watch those three villages make fools of themselves.
After all, the current Konoha was far stronger than it had ever been under the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
To put it bluntly—
even if the other four Great Shinobi Villages joined hands, they might not survive a single exchange against Konoha.
"Hahaha! Kumogakure, Iwagakure, and Otogakure really are courting death."
"A, Ōnoki, and Orochimaru must have lost their minds."
"Let the storm come harder. We might as well use this chance to unify the shinobi world."
Confident voices rose throughout Konoha.
Many civilians and shinobi wore proud expressions, clearly ready to enjoy the show.
At the same time—
inside the Hokage Building.
Uchiha Ren, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Konan of Amegakure, the Queen of Loulan, Shibuki of Takigakure, Hiashi Hyūga, Fugaku Uchiha, Shikaku Nara, and the others had all gathered.
"I truly don't understand where A, Ōnoki, and Orochimaru found this courage."
"If the Fourth Great Ninja War begins, then we use it to unify the shinobi world."
"Do they really think we're harmless?"
"Just fight. Beat Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Otogakure until they kneel and surrender."
"Unifying the shinobi world directly would be better. Only a unified world suits Lord Fifth Hokage's will."
Konan, the Queen of Loulan, Shibuki, Hiashi, and the others spoke one after another, their voices cold.
In their eyes, any village that dared provoke Lord Fifth Hokage deserved to be crushed.
"Orochimaru joined them too?"
"I really don't know why that bastard decided to jump into this."
Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged helpless glances.
Neither had expected Orochimaru to choose this path.
"Enough."
At that moment, Uchiha Ren, who had remained silent until now, finally spoke.
"Madara has probably been revived through Edo Tensei."
"This Fourth Great Ninja War won't be as simple as it looks."
"What?"
"Madara has been revived?"
"So he's the one manipulating things from behind the scenes?"
The moment those words fell, everyone in the room was shocked.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, Konan, the Queen of Loulan, Shibuki, Hiashi, and the others all showed traces of disbelief.
They had imagined many possibilities.
But none of them had expected Uchiha Madara to have been revived.
That was no small matter.
After all, this was Uchiha Madara.
A legendary shinobi.
A man who once stood shoulder to shoulder with the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju.
His strength was beyond question.
Of course—
that was all.
As Konoha's shinobi and allies, they had already witnessed too many miracles from Uchiha Ren.
Their admiration for him was already absolute.
"Lord Fifth Hokage," Jiraiya asked after a moment, "who revived Madara?"
"Most likely Black Zetsu, Obito, White Zetsu, and Orochimaru."
Ren thought for a moment before answering calmly.
"I see…"
The room fell silent.
None of them were fools.
Some time ago, when Ren returned to Konoha, he had already revealed many hidden truths of the shinobi world to them.
Black Zetsu's true identity.
How Obito had been manipulated.
What White Zetsu really was.
Kaguya Ōtsutsuki's origin.
And now, with A, Ōnoki, and Orochimaru trying to ignite the Fourth Great Ninja War, it was obvious that Madara was preparing to revive the legendary Ten-Tails.
"Relax."
Ren stretched lazily, his tone casual.
"Everything is within the plan."
"Whether Kaguya is revived or not, it won't affect us."
"If my senses are correct, the Ōtsutsuki main family should already be heading toward Earth."
"This time, we'll clean up all these scraps in one sweep."
After saying that, Ren leisurely took a sip of hot tea.
In truth, after reviving the Ten-Tails rewarded by the system, nothing in the shinobi world could truly escape Ren's perception anymore.
Not even the movements inside certain hidden dimensions.
He could sense them clearly.
Once the timing was right, he would settle everything in one stroke.
Wouldn't that be perfect?
For now, he simply did not want to alert the hidden enemies.
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