He held no formal title as Hokage, yet he wielded the authority of one.
Kabuto felt as if he were the true foundation of Konoha—quietly patching up this decaying ship while its captain drank and slacked off, dumping all the work on his first mate.
And the one assigning him tasks was the fiancée of Hyuga Mirai. If nothing unexpected happened, her status in the organization would be equal to Orochimaru's—someone Kabuto absolutely could not afford to offend.
He had just sat down to begin his work when a stack of documents nearly two meters tall piled up in front of him.
Taking a deep breath, Kabuto secretly summoned a small snake from Ryūchi Cave. He wrote down all his longing for Otogakure and the regret of not assisting Orochimaru in his research, sealed the message in a scroll, stuffed it into the snake's belly, and sent it off as quickly as possible.
Only if Orochimaru personally requested it from Hyuga Mirai could Kabuto return to the Sound Village.
Until then, he had no choice but to keep working.
Knock, knock.
"Lord Kabuto, these are the financial approvals from all departments. The Finance Division needs your signature as soon as possible."
The Konoha finance shinobi dropped off the documents and quickly left.
Meanwhile, Kiyo Hyuga led half of the Police Force and several clans to detain all Sarutobi clan members and their affiliated families who remained in Konoha. Their ninja tools, explosive tags, and weapons were all confiscated, and they were held under guard.
They hadn't committed any crimes—but they were political enemies. Until Tsunade returned or until the merger between Konoha and the Sunagakure Federation was finalized, they had to ensure these clans caused no trouble. Only when they were certain no rebellion remained would they be released.
For the next three generations, these clans would have no chance to enter the federal government. Even running businesses would require them to honestly follow federal tax laws.
Only after three generations would they have a chance to rise again.
Truthfully, Kiyo Hyuga was already being generous. If this were Danzo, none of them would still be alive.
When Nara Shikaku returned with the Ino-Shika-Cho trio and over a hundred other clan shinobi, he froze upon hearing what Danzo had done.
He even suspected Danzo might be one of Mirai's people—but the Danzo he knew, the "Darkness of the Shinobi World" who survived the Second and Third Shinobi World Wars, would never commit such a stupid act.
Konoha was about to turn and swallow the entire Land of Fire. Yet Danzo brought the daimyo and a group of high-ranking officials into Konoha—then detonated them with explosive tags. What kind of logic was that?
"Inoichi, Choza—let your clans rest for two days. Make sure everyone hears what happened. Two days from now, gather all your ninjas. Konoha is about to make a major move."
Shikaku had no intention of returning home either. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio needed to show good performance, so he would carry out his duties as the Jōnin Squad Captain.
Many stationed shinobi across the Land of Fire still didn't know what happened in Konoha. Shikaku planned to inform them as captain so they would abandon their posts and return immediately.
Even without consulting Kabuto, Shikaku already guessed Konoha's next move: overthrow the old noble system of the Land of Fire. Only by tearing down the old architecture could they build something new.
He needed to report this to Konoha, so he rushed to the Police Headquarters—currently serving as the temporary Hokage office.
Inside another hideout…
"Not good! Not good! Tobi, everything failed!"
Zetsu burst into Tobi's hideout screeching like a gossiping old woman. The noise disrupted Tobi's concentration, making him fail the final step of creating an Edo Tensei control talisman.
"Calm down! Stop screaming at every little thing! This is exactly why you still haven't found the Three-Tails! The Moon's Eye Plan is nearly finished, but because of one stupid Three-Tails, we're stuck—and you're still shouting!"
Obito vented his anger on White Zetsu. They still had no news of the Three-Tails, and White Zetsu laughed around every day.
After yelling at him using Madara's voice, Obito finally asked:
"Speak. What happened?"
"I forgot."
White Zetsu tapped his head, trying to imitate a cute little girl.
Obito clenched his fist so hard he nearly snapped Zetsu's neck. "White Zetsu…"
"The Allied Shinobi Forces lost. Actually—three nations lost. The Hokage is also on the side of the Sunagakure Federation."
Black Zetsu cut in before White Zetsu could annoy Obito further. He explained quickly—he couldn't stand this idiot either.
"Tsunade…? I suspected it before, but didn't White Zetsu confirm she had no connection to the Federation?"
Obito's dissatisfaction grew. Danzo had warned him, but Obito assumed Danzo was just slandering Tsunade for the Hokage position.
He even sent White Zetsu to investigate. White Zetsu swore up and down she had no ties.
"Explain. In detail."
Zetsu described everything he saw from afar—the Four Red Yang Formation, the appearance of the One-Tail and Nine-Tails, the massive summoning beast of Hyuga Mirai, the complete orange Susanoo, and a steel puppet.
They couldn't see the details inside the barrier. They didn't have Byakugan, after all.
Even Sasori's thirty-meter puppet looked tiny from their perspective.
"And the Raikage? Tsuchikage?"
White Zetsu shrugged. "Captured. If you go to the Federation's southwestern mining zone, you'll find them."
"Tell Nagato—and exaggerate it. I don't want him thinking he can do whatever he wants just because he has a Rinnegan!"
Obito issued the order. The Allied Forces had lost, and they still needed three more tailed beasts. The Federation was unifying the entire shinobi world, and they still couldn't find the Three-Tails.
He obtained the location of the mining zone. Once his talisman was complete, he would go there personally. The Raikage and others might still be useful—Cloud and Stone had lost many shinobi, but they weren't completely powerless.
The Moon's Eye Plan had stalled. Thanks to the fog of war, Akatsuki had managed to capture six tailed beasts quickly—but now they had hit their limit.
This snail-paced progress was burning Obito's patience. Losing control of the world's situation was exactly why he traded his Sharingan, White Zetsu clones, and favors with Danzo to obtain Edo Tensei.
As for the mining zone—trains transporting ore to the southwest passed through Roran, then traveled south for another day.
There were too many unmined regions outside the shinobi world. The Federation needed enormous quantities of iron ore daily. The Land of Rain could no longer supply enough, so a new Ministry of Mining was established to explore new deposits.
After thousands of Allied shinobi were captured, the mining ministry celebrated wildly.
With this manpower, they could easily meet next year's and the following year's ore extraction goals.
"Cough…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi finally woke up, realizing he was inside a moving vehicle. As he slowly sat up, he recognized everyone in the cramped compartment.
"Third Hokage, you're awake."
Onoki lay weakly on a large seat, hooked up to an IV.
Hiruzen scanned the group. Only Terumi Mei looked mostly unharmed. Everyone else was in miserable condition.
The Raikage's entire left side was wrapped in bandages. Though conscious, he looked hollow, like his spirit had been beaten out of him. Mabui and Samui were no better—their necks fixed in braces, bodies wrapped head to toe.
Hiruzen glanced at himself. Surviving Tsunade's monstrous strength was already a miracle. No—she had held back. Otherwise, he wouldn't be alive.
After a moment of silence, he asked, "Lord Tsuchikage… where are we being taken?"
"Not sure. But I heard they're sending us to work the mines."
Onoki spoke weakly, lifting his hand to show the chakra-blocking chain locked onto him.
"It seals our chakra. Don't try to force it off. If it detaches, it explodes. If you value your life, don't attempt anything…"
His voice faded, whether from his back pain or simply the crushing blow of the defeat.
Over a thousand elite Stone shinobi were lost. Years of effort vanished. Even he was captured. With the Federation and Konoha now allied, Iwagakure's future was grim.
(End of chapter)