"Dad! Sasuke and Naruto are back!"
Along with Yukio's urgent shout, a mess of hurried footsteps came from the courtyard entrance.
Yukio rushed in first, followed by the panting Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto.
"Teacher, something happened at the Five Kage Summit!", Sasuke spoke in a hurry.
Naruto couldn't even catch his breath. "Grandpa Arisu! My dad... my dad was controlled!"
Arisu frowned, but didn't speak right away. He simply raised a hand, signaling the two of them to calm down.
After they had barely caught their breath,
Sasuke and Naruto took turns recounting everything that had happened at the Five Kage Summit.
Illusion clouds appearing in the sky, the Five Kage suddenly losing control and attacking without warning, an incredibly powerful genjutsu, the mysterious man in a black robe, and even Obito seemingly being controlled...
Arisu listened quietly from beginning to end, and a sharp light flashed deep within his eyes.
This technique...
With all his experience, Arisu immediately thought of Uchiha Hikaru's Yachimata.
"How is this possible?"
Arisu thought to himself, his brows knitting even tighter.
'Was Hikaru the one controlling the Five Kage?'
'Had her ability really reached that level?'
On the surface, however, Arisu remained as calm as ever.
"I understand. Go get some rest. Don't spread this around for now."
His voice was low and steady.
"But, Teacher..."
Sasuke hesitated. This time, all Five Kage had been controlled. The crisis already concerned the survival of the entire ninja world.
"Don't worry. I know.", Arisu replied evenly.
Though unwilling, Sasuke and Naruto saw how unshakably calm their teacher was. In the end, they obeyed and left with Yukio.
The courtyard fell silent once more.
Arisu leaned back into the wicker chair and closed his eyes.
At the same time, Hikaru had assembled a massive army and summoned powerful figures from every era of ninja history with the Impure World Reincarnation.
The Venus Flytrap White Zetsu stood with his back against the enormous Demonic Statue of the Outer Path.
He slowly raised both hands, his palms facing the statue as chakra surged through his body like a raging tide.
"Divine Sage Art: Impure World Reincarnation!!!"
White Zetsu slammed both hands onto the ground.
In an instant, a terrifying power that surpassed the boundary between life and death erupted, tearing open the barrier between the living world and the Pure Land once again.
Rumble!
Inside the cave, the ground shook violently as countless black coffins burst from the earth, rising one after another.
Then the disturbance rapidly spread outward. Within a radius of ten li, the land itself began to churn.
Thousands... tens of thousands... a hundred thousand... a million!!
In only a few moments, more than a million coffins burst out of the ground at the same time, covering the land like a black forest.
Within the Pure Land, the once peaceful world of reincarnation was instantly thrown into chaos.
The figure of Otsutsuki Hagoromo, seated cross-legged in the void, suddenly trembled. Disbelief filled his eyes.
"What's going on? Why...? Didn't I already cut it off?!"
For the first time, panic crept into Hagoromo's voice.
Then he silently thought, "Perhaps the Great Sage is summoning them?"
But the Great Sage was currently in the mortal world, so it wasn't his place to interfere.
The Uchiha clan grounds.
Uchiha Tajima stood in the center of the compound. Seeing his body suddenly begin to glow, shock immediately spread across his face.
"I've got a bad feeling about this...", Tajima muttered.
Beside him, Uchiha Yuto looked equally grim, his body trembling on its own.
"Why does it feel... like something's pulling me... like it's trying to drag me out of here..."
———
[The Senju Clan Grounds]
Senju Kawarama and Senju Itama stood facing each other. Almost at the same time, they sensed that familiar yet unsettling chakra.
"This feels like... Brother Tobirama's forbidden jutsu!", Kawarama frowned tightly.
Itama's eyes narrowed, and his fists clenched on their own.
"So... someone's playing with life and death again."
It wasn't just the Uchiha and Senju clan grounds.
At this moment, every famous powerhouse throughout the history of the ninja world, no matter how long they had been dead or where they were in the Pure Land, began to shine with dazzling white light.
That light forcibly pulled their souls toward the living world.
The entire Pure Land shook as whispers and cries of alarm echoed everywhere.
An unprecedented storm was about to sweep across the entire ninja world.
———
Back in Arisu's courtyard, Arisu suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze shooting into the distance.
He had already sensed it...
The overwhelming power of the Impure World Reincarnation, enough to almost swallow the entire world.
"So you're making it this big? Fine. I'll play along."
A trace of coldness appeared on Arisu's face. In the next instant, he flashed straight to Mount Myoboku.
He immediately gave his orders.
Seal off the entire mountain.
At the same time, place Mount Myoboku's army on full alert. If necessary, they could later descend into the ninja world.
Arisu arrived at Longevity Peak and immediately saw Kaguya and Hikaru.
He simply glared at them.
In an instant, the two of them turned into two White Zetsu.
"Great Sage, forgive us! We were controlled!"
"Kaguya and Hikaru controlled the two of us!"
The two White Zetsu hurriedly knelt on the ground.
Arisu looked helpless.
"Forget it. It isn't your fault. Go home."
He knew the two White Zetsu couldn't have done anything about it, so he had no intention of holding them responsible.
"Yes, sir!"
The two White Zetsu nodded apologetically before leaving.
Looking at the now-empty Longevity Peak, Arisu remained silent for a long time.
Just then, Fukasaku and Black Zetsu arrived behind him after receiving the news. Both the toad and the man wore shocked expressions after learning that Kaguya and Hikaru had escaped.
"Great Sage... we..."
Black Zetsu's expression was complicated. He had never expected his mother to run away.
Fukasaku also waited quietly for Arisu's orders.
Arisu rubbed his forehead and let out a faint sigh.
"Forget it. Let them go. Mount Myoboku is to stay put. I'll handle what happens in the mortal world."
With that, Arisu left Mount Myoboku.
The moment he returned to Konoha, he received a declaration of war.
Using the Five Kage, Uchiha Hikaru ordered every major hidden village to attack Konoha, and the Fourth Great Ninja War broke out instantly.
Faced with the situation, Arisu directly took control of the ninja world.
He contacted the daimyos of every nation and ordered them to establish the Allied Shinobi Forces, with himself serving as Supreme Commander.
The five great nations... the Land of Lightning, the Land of Wind, the Land of Fire, the Land of Water, and the Land of Earth, all obeyed Arisu's orders.
Everyone was stunned.
They couldn't understand why the daimyos were listening to Arisu when their own Kage had ordered them to attack Konoha.
Arisu then announced that the Five Kage had been controlled by the Akatsuki and that he was forming the Allied Shinobi Forces to launch a campaign against them.
The situation became tense, and the villages quickly understood what was happening.
They were shocked, even frightened, that the Akatsuki possessed the terrifying power to control the Five Kage.
Every hidden village chose to organize its own ninja forces.
———
On Konoha's side, Arisu brought Danzo, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, and Homura Mitokado back into service to command the battlefield.
In just one day, the ninja world split into two camps.
On one side: Uchiha Hikaru and the Akatsuki, leading an army of Impure World Reincarnation shinobi from every era. Their forces were overwhelmingly powerful, gathering legendary figures from history, with even the Five Kage under their control.
On the other side: Arisu, leading the Allied Shinobi Forces.