Rest area of the Hokage Building.
Shinji sat quietly on the bench.
As the Captain of the Hidden Leaf Military Police Force, although he was not qualified to enter the conference room and participate in the Five Kage Summit, it was allowed to wait for news inside the Hokage Building.
And waiting for the result in the rest area, besides him, were elite Jonin of the village like Kakashi and Asuma. Department heads like Shikaku Nara and Inoichi Yamanaka. And patriarchs of wealthy clans like Hiashi Hyuga and Kurama Murakumo.
Of course.
The high-level officials among the accompanying personnel of various villages who arrived in the Hidden Leaf with other four Kage but were not qualified to enter the conference room were also waiting in the rest area.
"I wonder how the discussion inside is going!"
"Just wait, there should be a result soon."
"Don't know why, feeling panicked for no reason..."
"Why did the Akatsuki organization have internal strife?"
"Could it be that a Great Ninja War is really going to break out this time..."
People in the rest area gathered in twos and threes, chatting idly, mostly discussing the ongoing Five Kage Summit and the current situation of the Ninja World.
Besides chatting, some people were mumbling, seemingly praying for something. Others leaned against the benches, closing their eyes to rest.
Taking everyone's actions into his eyes, Shinji sighed faintly.
After this great war, no one knew how many of these ninjas in front of him would die, and how many would be injured.
On second thought, he suppressed this thought.
Now was not the time for overflowing sympathy. If he couldn't resurrect the Ten-Tails as soon as possible and become the Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, he had no confidence in repelling the Overlord at all.
At that time, it wouldn't just be ninjas suffering; all living beings in the entire Ninja World would become food for the Overlord!
Just then, the door of the conference room was suddenly opened, and the Five Kage walked out one after another.
Subsequently, the Five Kage gathered their respective subordinates for a final discussion for the vote half an hour later.
Tsunade gathered the high-level officials of the Hidden Leaf into a small conference room. First, she briefed them on the content of the Five Kage Summit just now, informing everyone that the summit would resume in half an hour for the final vote.
Utatane Koharu was the first to stand up and express her stance: "The advisory elder group still maintains the previous opinion, agreeing to strike first, launch attacks on the Akatsuki organization, and rescue the captured Jinchuriki!"
Other departments such as the Jonin Council, Intelligence Division, Communications Division, etc., expressed their stance successively, all supporting it.
Then, patriarchs of wealthy clans like Hiashi Hyuga also stood up one by one, expressing support.
Finally, Shinji stood up: "On behalf of the Hidden Leaf Military Police Force and the Uchiha clan, I express support for any decision of the village!"
Seeing everyone express their stance, Tsunade stood up and said in a deep voice: "In half an hour, on behalf of the Hidden Leaf, I will vote in favor of going to war with the Akatsuki organization at the Five Kage Summit!"
Half an hour passed in a flash.
The Five Kage returned to the conference room and began the final vote.
In the rest area, everyone stared fixedly at the closed door of the conference room, the atmosphere extremely solemn.
If the vote inside passed, then a war not inferior to the Third Great Ninja War would probably break out!
And everyone present, every single one, was a decision-maker who pushed for this war!
Inside the conference room.
Tsunade announced: "Vote starts now. Those who agree to declare full-scale war on the Akatsuki organization immediately, please raise your hands!"
Saying this, she was the first to raise her hand.
Immediately after, the Fourth Raikage raised his hand without hesitation, followed by the Third Tsuchikage and the Fifth Kazekage.
Glancing at the four Kage, Mei Terumi as the acting Mizukage finally raised her hand helplessly.
Without any thrilling moments, this final vote deciding the Great Ninja War took less than a minute in total.
The door of the conference room was opened again.
The Five Kage walked out of the conference room solemnly, announcing the news of the impending outbreak of the Great Ninja War to all ninjas in the rest area.
Almost simultaneously, the Communications Division ninjas of various villages waiting in the Hokage Building immediately spread the news. For a moment, ninja crows, communication pigeons, communication hawks, and other communication birds spread their wings, flying in all directions in the night.
A town in the Land of Demons.
Tanjiro, whose pupils were pitch-black and no longer had the characters 'Upper Rank One', licked his tongue and walked out of a large mansion in the town.
Although lights were on in the large mansion behind him, there was not a single sound.
Not only this large mansion, but the entire street, and even the entire small town were scarily quiet, as if the whole town was empty.
However, if someone passed by here, they would find that the air here was filled with a thick, pungent smell of blood!
Tanjiro, licking his tongue, stood quietly on the street, seeming to savor something.
The robe on his body was already dyed red. His face, hands, and soles of his feet were also thick scarlet, as if he had just crawled out of a blood vat.
After a while, Tanjiro finally moved.
With just a flash of his figure, he disappeared from the long street and the small town with a swish.
Accompanied by the whistling wind in his ears, he sped towards the next town like a ghost, following the scent of life.
On the way, he happened to meet two rogue ninjas.
Swish...
Watching Tanjiro speed past like a ghost, the two rogue ninjas were both stunned.
One of them asked: "Did something just fly past?"
The other turned back suspiciously: "Seems so, I didn't see clearly either!"
Although these two were rogue ninjas, their strength was not weak, almost reaching the Chunin level. It was only because the Five Great Ninja Villages were increasingly strict with rogue ninjas that they had to flee all the way from the Land of Hot Water to the remote Land of Demons.
Therefore, regarding the figure that passed just now, the two were both surprised and suspicious.
For ninjas, encountering such a thing was not good news. If the opponent's speed could exceed the dynamic tracking of their eyes, it meant they could be killed easily!
Just as the two were bewildered, Tanjiro who had just brushed past them suddenly returned, drew his sword with a swish, and beheaded them.
Looking at the spurting blood, a trace of greed appeared on Tanjiro's cold face. Then he pounced on them, feasting on the two corpses.
Undoubtedly.
Eroded by the Overlord's power, he had long broken the precept of not eating humans. At this time, having devoured hundreds or thousands of citizens of the Land of Demons, unimaginable flesh and blood power and chakra gathered in his body, not inferior to the Demon King Ryūhei Ubuyashiki before. So even just standing there doing nothing, his evil aura could deter living beings from afar, making ordinary living beings' brains stop working, their bodies and minds shrouded in fear, thus unable to move.
In a blink of an eye, the corpses of the two rogue ninjas were swallowed into Tanjiro's stomach.
He licked his tongue again, his figure disappearing into the dark night...