Land of Fire, Daimyo's Residence.
The Madoka family was the royal house that had inherited the title of Daimyo in the Land of Fire.
The current Fire Daimyo was Madoka Ikkyū, a long-faced man with long hair who wore a daimyo's crown shaped like a folding fan, with a red flame painted across it.
Just half an hour after Madoka Ikkyū had finished playing with his son, Madoka Tendo, bad news began pouring in from Konoha one after another.
At the same time, urgent intelligence reports about the large scale troop movements of the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning along the borders of the Land of Fire kept arriving at the daimyo's military hall.
"Has the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, gone insane?! He actually killed Shimura Danzo and dismissed the two senior advisors! Does he think our daimyo's court doesn't exist?!"
Madoka Ikkyū slammed his fist onto the table and roared in fury.
Konoha had been attacked by a mysterious enemy, leading to the deaths of Kushina, the Nine Tails jinchuriki, and the Third Hokage. The new Nine Tails jinchuriki was only an infant, basically useless in war.
That alone had already caused Konoha to lose two Kage level combatants.
And now the Fourth Hokage had gone even further and killed Danzo Shimura, another Kage level advisor, cutting Konoha's top tier strength nearly in half.
At this rate, Konoha might not even be able to keep its position as the strongest hidden village.
Now the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning were both taking advantage of Konoha's weakness after the Nine Tails incident and its internal turmoil.
"My lord, I suggest dismissing the Fourth Hokage at once," Kazuma, a radical member of the Twelve Guardian Ninja, said as he stepped forward first. At the same time, he cast a slightly hostile glance toward Sarutobi Asuma, who had only recently joined the Twelve Guardians.
The son of the Third Hokage was returning tomorrow to attend his father's funeral, wasn't he?
Kazuma was one of the strongest young ninja of the Land of Fire, and he came from a civilian background. Naturally, he disliked this kind of second generation official.
He was even more dissatisfied with Konoha itself.
In his view, the real power of all ninja should be gathered under the direct control of the Fire Daimyo. Independent ninja villages should not exist as semi autonomous war machines.
"My lord, what we should be thinking about now is how to deal with the invasion from the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning, not continuing internal conflict with Konoha! If we keep fighting among ourselves, both the Land of Fire and Konoha will be pushed into danger!"
Sarutobi Asuma, looking exhausted, still stood up without hesitation.
All for Konoha.
After hearing of Hiruzen Sarutobi's death, he had been hit with a wave of grief unlike anything he had expected.
He had always been a rebellious son.
He graduated from the Ninja Academy at nine and became a chunin at twelve. Toward his father, he had always carried both admiration and resentment.
In the past, he had even quarreled with Hiruzen and left Konoha to wander the world, acting however he pleased while trying to understand the true meaning of the Will of Fire.
He became a special jonin at fifteen, and at sixteen he was chosen by the Fire Daimyo to join the Twelve Guardian Ninja.
Now his combat strength was already comparable to that of a true jonin.
"At the very least, my lord, we need a Hokage who obeys orders," Kazuma said coldly, narrowing his eyes.
One day, he intended to bring all of Konoha's ninja back under the daimyo's direct authority.
For now, though, the most urgent issue was the coming war with the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning.
"Asuma, leave for Konoha today," Madoka Seira ordered with a cold face. "When you see Minato Namikaze, tell him this. Even if he dies on the battlefield, he must not allow the ninja of Earth or Lightning to step into the Land of Fire!"
The Fire Daimyo's tone was icy.
He was already furious that Namikaze Minato had caused him such a disaster.
Wasn't Minato supposed to be the Yellow Flash?
Then how could he fail to protect even his own wife, the Nine Tails jinchuriki?
Truly worthless.
Because of him, the Land of Fire had lost both Kushina and the Third Hokage, two of its strongest assets.
In the daimyo's view, the Nine Tails jinchuriki should never have been allowed to marry or bear children in the first place. Kushina Uzumaki should have remained a weapon of war.
It was Minato Namikaze's ingratitude, daring to marry the Nine Tails jinchuriki, that had planted the seeds for the Nine Tails disaster.
The more Madoka Ikkyū thought about it, the more dissatisfied he became with Minato Namikaze.
He had already begun considering the next Hokage candidate, and among the Twelve Guardian Ninja, Kazuma was by far the most loyal.
In the end, the Fire Daimyo could only sigh.
His own strength was too weak. He simply could not suppress Konoha's powerful ninja clans.
Without Kage level strength, no one was qualified to become Hokage.
Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, the two senior advisors, were relatively obedient, but they were only elite jonin and completely unfit for the Hokage's seat.
After all, which hidden village's Kage was not a true Kage level powerhouse?
So mere obedience was not enough.
Finding someone who was both obedient and strong enough to be Hokage was incredibly difficult.
Even though Madoka Ikkyū was furious over Minato's absurd conduct, war was already at the doorstep. He had no choice but to immediately mobilize supplies and send them to Konoha so it could withstand the pressure from the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning.
··
Across the ninja world, everyone could see that the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning were sharpening their blades.
Yet Sunagakure, Konoha's ally, remained silent.
No one knew whether the Hidden Sand intended to attack Konoha as well, or whether it still meant to uphold the alliance.
As for Kirigakure, far across the sea, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen had been crippled and the Three Tails, once sealed inside Rin Nohara, had already revived somewhere unknown. The Hidden Mist was currently busy tracking down the Three Tails and preparing a new jinchuriki.
So they had neither the time nor the strength to involve themselves in this war.
The smaller hidden villages, meanwhile, were already trembling in fear.
After all, when the great nations went to war, they preferred to fight inside the territory of small countries and use them as buffer zones.
The major nations rarely fought directly on each other's borders. Instead, they battled to the death in smaller countries, then stopped once both sides were exhausted.
It was always the smaller countries that paid the price.
After helping Yahiko and the others stabilize Amegakure, Brook returned to Konoha.
Right now, his main focus was still tracking down Isshiki Otsutsuki, the true planetary threat.
And yet these ninja still dared to try and ransack his home?
Truly shameless.
Brook had also set his sights on Onoki's Kekkei Tota, Dust Release.
That bloodline ability looked very useful.
So he wanted to devour Onoki and merge with his bloodline power.
After all, the Western Underworld God, Jin, had thrown the Death God sealing force into the Northern Underworld precisely to gather the bloodline of Hirasaka, the Northern Underworld God, and seize every useful thing he could.
Now it was Brook's turn to carry out that same plan.
Ideally, he would devour the entire Otsutsuki clan as well.
When Brook returned to Konoha, the Hokage Building was already holding an emergency meeting to respond to the impending invasion from the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning.
Brook himself returned home, took out a White Zetsu body from a ninja scroll, stuffed Kushina's soul into it, and allowed her to complete an alternative form of resurrection.
"Thank you for your grace, Lord Death!"
The White Zetsu slowly transformed into Kushina's appearance.
It resembled the Impure World Reincarnation technique, but with Brook, the true Death God, personally performing the resurrection, the result was even more perfect.
-------------
Watching Kushina hold Naruto in her arms, Brook felt a faint ache of longing. He missed the women from the One Piece world.
To be honest, there were very few women in the Naruto world who could truly catch his eye.
At this point, he was almost tempted to taste the Rabbit Goddess herself. If that happened, he could directly make the Sage of Six Paths call him father, and the entire ninja world would have to call him ancestor.
Still, before unsealing Kaguya Otsutsuki, the only barely acceptable option was probably Tsunade, that oversized milk cow.
As for the others, they were not worth considering for now. Women without Kage level strength could only be set aside temporarily.
After all, in the Naruto world, everything came down to bloodline.
Without a strong bloodline, surviving at the top was genuinely difficult.
Even the half blood Otsutsuki brothers, Hagoromo and Hamura, had lost the Otsutsuki clan's long life bloodline and ended up with lifespans of less than a hundred years.
So even reaching Six Paths level did not guarantee a long life.
"Sigh. I should kill Otsutsuki Isshiki first and increase my strength. Everything else in life can wait."
Brook vanished from Minato Namikaze's house and reappeared in the Hokage's office using Minato's appearance. In front of the many clan heads and jonin present, he directly dispelled Minato Namikaze's soul entity as if it were nothing more than a shadow clone.
Then he immediately read through Minato's recent memories to catch up on the progress of the meeting.
"Shikaku, continue."
"Minato Namikaze" looked at Nara Shikaku, Konoha's chief strategist, and spoke calmly.
He had not expected the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning to move this quickly.
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Nara Shikaku carefully glanced at Minato before continuing.
"According to the latest order from the Fire Daimyo, Konoha must use every last bit of its strength to repel the invasion from the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning, even if the Fourth Hokage himself dies on the battlefield."
"Heh. Go on."
Minato Namikaze responded indifferently.
"A mere daimyo. I'll deal with that trash sooner or later."
Back in Wano, in the One Piece world, Brook had already subdued several daimyo. At the very least, those men still had some strength as swordsmen.
But the daimyo in this Naruto world were simply useless trash.
"Furthermore," Nara Shikaku continued, "the daimyo has ordered that the two senior advisors, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, be released, so Konoha can unite all its strength against the enemy."
As he spoke, Shikaku kept watching the Hokage's face, afraid that this terrifying superior would explode at any moment.
The pressure Brook gave off now was clearly on an entirely different level from the Minato shadow clone who had presided over matters earlier.
And for some reason, the Fourth Hokage was still wearing special sunglasses in his own office, like an Aburame clan member.
Had Kushina's death really twisted his temperament this badly?
"Hmph. What use are those two old wastes even if they're released?"
"No need to waste more time discussing it. You all go deal with the ninja from Kumogakure. I'll take a certain senior and go directly kill the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, and seize their jinchuriki."
"After I finish with the Iwa ninja, I'll move to your battlefield and take the two tailed beasts from Kumogakure as well."
Minato Namikaze made the decision instantly.
In his eyes, all strategy was meaningless in the face of overwhelming power.
If that old bastard Onoki dared to reach for Konoha, then he had to be ready to die for it.
"Hokage-sama, please reconsider!"
Not only Nara Shikaku, but the other clan heads also spoke up one after another.
Konoha could not afford to lose another Kage level fighter. If that happened, Konoha would truly decline.
And the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, possessed the Kekkei Tota, Dust Release, a terrifying ability. Even with Flying Thunder God, the Fourth Hokage might still die against him.
"Don't worry. Konoha still has another Kage level powerhouse."
"A senior of the Senju clan. He went into seclusion years ago in one of the three great holy lands, where he pursued natural sage arts."
Even the Senju themselves have long forgotten this old patriarch. Not only can he use Wood Release, he also preserved a youthful appearance like Tsunade despite being more than a hundred years old. I hope all of you show him proper respect when he returns tomorrow."
"Minato Namikaze" spoke with absolute seriousness.
Brook had already decided to switch identities for a while. He was starting to feel uncomfortable wearing the Fourth Hokage's skin too long.
Especially since his Rinnegan could not be turned off, forcing him to wear those sunglasses all the time.
"What? There's such a senior figure?"
"A member of the Senju clan? Over a hundred years old? And he can use Wood Release?"
"He's returning tomorrow?"
"A super Kage level powerhouse?"
The clan heads and jonin all stared at the Fourth Hokage with strange expressions.
If Minato Namikaze had not already displayed overwhelming power, they might have openly ridiculed this absurd story.
"Yes. Lord Senju Brook will return to Konoha tomorrow, and he is even stronger than I am."
"I hope none of you do anything to offend Lord Brook."
"He is a true monster who lived through the Warring States era. He is not known for having a good temper. I advise all of you to keep that in mind."
Minato Namikaze's warning instantly created a vivid image in the minds of the assembled ninja.
A terrifying Senju elder, savage and ruthless, returning to Konoha.
"Then… should we wait until Lord Brook and the Legendary Sannin return tomorrow before holding another war meeting?"
Nara Shikaku cautiously suggested that if this Senju Brook really existed, then the war would become much easier to handle.
If he truly possessed that level of strength, then the return of the Senju clan might reshape Konoha's entire balance of power.
Uchiha Fugaku and Hyuga Hiashi both looked solemn.
Could it be that the Senju clan was really about to rise again?
"You can hold the meeting," Minato Namikaze said calmly, "but Lord Brook will not attend."
"He's simply a ruthless man who chases power. All he cares about is killing Kage level enemies, or being killed by someone even stronger."
With those words, the image of Senju Brook as a cold blooded wolf became even clearer in the minds of the clan heads and jonin.
"Alright. Then let's end today's meeting here."
Nara Shikaku could only force out a dry laugh and adjourn the session.
Even if the Fourth Hokage's personality had changed beyond recognition, and even if Senju Brook sounded wildly suspicious, strength was still strength.
No one present dared to challenge Minato Namikaze, who could use the Reaper Death Seal at any moment.
Danzo had already provided the perfect example of what happened to those who pushed too far.
As the meeting ended, everyone gradually left the room.
Once Brook confirmed no one was nearby, he summoned Minato Namikaze's soul again, pulled out another White Zetsu body from a scroll, stuffed Minato's soul into it, and revived him as well.
All these White Zetsu bodies had been collected along the way while Brook traveled from Amegakure back to Konoha.
If he could just locate Black Zetsu, he would love to seize a whole batch of the higher grade White Zetsu, especially the advanced ones that had successfully fused with Hashirama's cells.
.....
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