Ōnoki arrived at the scene with a group of Iwa-nin, surrounding Namikaze Minato and the others, who were preparing to use the Flying Thunder God Technique to leave.
Faced with the encirclement, the Konoha group didn't make any unnecessary moves.
They simply stood quietly where they were.
Fifth Hokage's Naruto, Sasuke, Minato, Six Paths Hashirama, as well as Kaguya and Black Zetsu all remained calm, their expressions unbothered.
But the same couldn't be said for Six Paths Madara.
Arms crossed, nose raised arrogantly, he looked at the airborne Ōnoki with contempt in his eyes.
At that moment, Ōnoki was completely stunned.
Although Madara's appearance was slightly different now, Ōnoki still recognized him.
The man looking down at him with such an annoying gaze was none other than the nightmare of his youth—Uchiha Madara.
Forcing his eyes to move, he saw another familiar figure—Senju Hashirama, grinning stupidly with his arms around the shoulders of two young men.
With both Hashirama and Madara here, even the Fourth Hokage Namikaze Minato was instantly overshadowed.
Well, that made sense.
In front of those two, even the Third and Fourth Hokage combined were nothing but trash.
"Uh… if I said this was all a misunderstanding, would you believe me?"
Ōnoki awkwardly forced his body to move, slowly descending into the basket on the back of Kitsuchi, peeking his head out timidly, looking both silly and a bit cute.
The surrounding Iwa-nin were visibly shocked by their Tsuchikage's behavior.
Still, even if they didn't recognize Senju Hashirama or Uchiha Madara, they definitely recognized the Fourth Hokage—Namikaze Minato.
Anyone who can stand beside the Fourth Hokage… how could they be an ordinary person?
The sharp-minded shinobi from Iwagakure had already realized—if this situation wasn't handled carefully, it might lead to a war between Iwa and Konoha.
Konoha possessed a divine resurrection technique.
If war really broke out between the two villages, it was certain that Iwagakure would suffer the most.
"Ōnoki, I didn't think that as you aged, your courage would grow too."
"You actually dared to bring people here to surround me."
"Are you trying to experience despair once again?"
Madara of the Six Paths didn't give Ōnoki the slightest face.
He looked at him with complete disdain, and his words made it very clear—he looked down on him.
"Dammit…"
Standing in the back, Ōnoki was grinding his teeth so hard they were about to shatter.
He never imagined that Konoha, in their madness, would actually bring Uchiha Madara back to life.
Facing Uchiha Madara was even more suffocating than facing the God of Shinobi, Senju Hashirama.
Everyone knew—Hashirama was a pacifist.
During his time as Hokage, his wise (and insane) policies had greatly extended the peaceful era of the Shinobi World.
But Uchiha Madara was different.
Putting aside how he once humiliated the Second Tsuchikage in his youth, just his personality alone—any way you looked at it, he wasn't someone easy to talk to.
Right now, Ōnoki was stuck in an impossible position.
If he retreated just like that, this entire operation would become a joke, and his authority in Iwagakure would plummet.
But if he didn't leave, then what?
Was he supposed to fight this man?
After carefully thinking it through, Ōnoki finally decided— a wise man doesn't fight a losing battle.
Personal pride meant nothing.
Everything was for the sake of Iwagakure.
"Apologies, Lord Madara. I received intel that a group of rogue ninjas were causing trouble in the Land of Earth. I brought these men with me to capture them, but we took the wrong path. I'm truly sorry. We'll leave right away."
Ōnoki jabbed at Kitsuchi anxiously, signaling him to hurry and retreat with the Iwa-nin.
"Wait."
Madara stroked his chin, stopping the Iwa-nin who were about to flee.
"Ōnoki, do you take me for an idiot? A mere group of rogue ninjas requires your personal attention? And with this many jōnin in tow? Feels to me like… you came for me, didn't you?"
"Hehe, Lord Madara, you're joking. Why would I come for you?"
"As the saying goes, 'Every meeting is fate.' If you don't leave something behind… don't blame me for losing my temper."
"..."
Just thinking of Uchiha Madara's terrifying power made cold sweat pour down Ōnoki's back.
If a fight really broke out, Madara alone could slaughter everyone on his side.
And if he died, Iwagakure would be left leaderless—an easy target for the remaining ninja villages to carve up.
Most likely, Konoha would absorb them.
Let's not forget—besides Uchiha Madara, the other side also had Senju Hashirama.
He didn't believe that the declining Kumogakure, Sunagakure, or Kirigakure could stand up to Konoha.
To avoid worsening the situation, Ōnoki had already prepared himself to pay a heavy price.
"How about this—let Iwagakure send a diplomatic mission to Konoha. We can properly negotiate the matter then."
As the Fourth Hokage of this timeline, Namikaze Minato didn't want to completely sever ties with Iwagakure.
Unlike the aggressive ideology of the Second Hokage's timeline, where uniting the ninja world was the goal.
The people of Konoha from the Third Hokage's Timeline thought it was best to maintain the current situation.
They believed that once the Second Hokage's Timeline truly unified the ninja world and achieved lasting peace, it wouldn't be too late for them to pursue unification on their side as well.
"Alright then, let's go with Minato's suggestion."
Madara nodded, giving Namikaze Minato enough face.
If things were done entirely his way, he wouldn't have let it go this easily.
But who asked him to not be this timeline's Madara?
He and Hashirama would soon return to the Second Hokage's Timeline.
Letting the people of the Third Hokage's Timeline handle their own matters sounded just fine to him.
"Thank you so much, Fourth Hokage. Our Iwagakure will dispatch a diplomatic mission as quickly as possible."
Seeing that Madara agreed to Minato's proposal, Ōnoki finally breathed a sigh of relief.
After giving a brief farewell, he took his Iwa shinobi and made a swift retreat.
Along the way, nearly every Iwa ninja wore the expression of someone who had narrowly escaped death.
They couldn't help it.
From the conversation between their Tsuchikage and the others, they already knew that the arrogant man with his nose in the air was none other than the infamous Shura of the Ninja World—Uchiha Madara.
On top of that, the other man was the legendary Yellow Flash—Namikaze Minato.
The fact that none of them wet their pants was already proof of their strong mental fortitude.
Among them, only Kurotsuchi, who had come along out of curiosity, remained calm.
She even had the nerve to complain, "Come on, Grandpa. This is too much. Even if they are Uchiha Madara and the Fourth Hokage, it's not like Iwagakure would be scared of them."
Hearing this, Ōnoki instantly broke away from the back-carrier and flashed to her side, giving her head a hard knock.
"You don't understand anything! If your grandpa hadn't thought fast on his feet, we might've all been left behind right there!"
"Ow, that hurt!"
Kurotsuchi rubbed the spot where she'd been smacked, replying with frustration, "But Grandpa, don't you always say that Dust Release is unbeatable? Then why are you scared of Uchiha Madara?"
Ōnoki's face turned red.
He didn't know how to explain it to Kurotsuchi.
Was he supposed to tell her that Grandpa had just been bragging all along, and that back in the day, he and the Second Tsuchikage, Mu-sama, had been taught a brutal lesson by Madara?
He was too old now to bring himself to say such things.
So he simply acted shamelessly and said, "Such a simple question—go think about it yourself. Don't bother an old man like me."
Kurotsuchi: ???
****
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