After seeing what Jin had brought and the intel he shared, Kiryu felt a jolt in his heart.
These things might be valuable to a regular pirate, but to someone like Kiryu, one of the great pirates, they weren't all that impressive.
What truly mattered was the information he got from Jin.
"When ninjutsu clash, they can create new devil fruits—unthinkable types of fruits."
"By using tailed beast chakra, you can create White Zetsu. Then, by using them to cast reverse-transformation ninjutsu, you can recreate the result of a ninjutsu clash at the moment of impact."
In that instant, Kiryu thought of many terrifying possibilities.
The current situation wasn't too tense—at least for now. The ninjas weren't hunting pirates down to the last man, and the Marines were the same.
The Marines didn't have the strength to capture them. As long as they didn't go deep into the five great nations' territories, they were still safe.
So overall, even though the ninja world looked tense, it was just local chaos here and there.
But if this intel got out, it wouldn't just be small-scale chaos anymore—it would be real conflict, real war.
At first, it might look like a fight between pirates and ninjas. But the power of devil fruits is something everyone wants. Once it spreads, it won't just be pirates and ninjas fighting.
It'll turn into a massive world war. All sides will be caught up in it. New alliances might form, but the level of chaos it brings will be far beyond what they see now.
But who cares?
"Devil fruits beyond imagination—powers with endless possibilities!!"
"This is the true power of this era, hahaha."
"And then there's the awakening of devil fruit powers—the final form of a fruit's strength. Is this the path Shanks has shown us all?"
"So this was just a deal between you and the Revolutionary Army. After this, this intel will spread widely, but you get to move first."
Jin's tone was calm.
Some of the items here were sent by Nagato. As for the extra intel, that would soon spread across the world anyway.
His meeting with Kiryu didn't last long. After finishing what he came to do, Jin picked up his barrel of liquor and jumped straight back into the sea, swimming away.
A few days later, intel from the New World spread around the globe. Everyone who saw it was completely stunned.
Shanks didn't make a move—but this was even scarier than if he had.
Konohagakure...
Inside the Hokage building.
Chiriku and Nara Shikaku stared at the information in their hands in silence for a long time.
Beads of sweat covered Shikaku's forehead, and even Chiriku, who had spent years training his mind and body, couldn't stop his hands from shaking.
The only one who seemed calm was Tsunade, sitting in the main seat. She looked over the intel carefully.
She nodded slightly, as if something had finally clicked.
"So that's how it is."
"Ohhh, so Devil Fruits can awaken like chakra nature transformations? That's amazing."
"Hmm, so the Tailed Beasts are basically incomplete Devil Fruits? That means their powers can be developed too."
"With this method, you can even create human-like beings from the Divine Tree? That's a genius-level idea."
Tsunade was impressed. She didn't know who came up with all this, but it felt like something Orochimaru would do.
"..."
After going through all the materials, Tsunade finally noticed the condition of Shikaku and Chiriku. They were both staring at her.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something wrong?"
"There's a huge problem. What's written in the intel isn't even the main issue."
Shikaku stood up, his eyes full of fear.
It wasn't the kind of fear he showed even when the World Government was formed or when they were outplayed by the Sage of Six Paths. He had never looked this scared.
Because even being manipulated by the Sage, the consequences were something Konohagakure could still handle.
But what they were facing now was on a whole different level.
"The World Government was just formed, and Shanks already struck back.
And what's more, the Government hadn't even finished setting up an ambush for him—yet his counterattack alone forced them to throw in everything they had."
"Wait… You guys weren't planning on explaining any of this to me?"
Tsunade suddenly stood up and slammed both hands on the table. The force of the impact made the entire Hokage building shake. A crack ran from the table's corner all the way outside, tearing through the building.
Sunlight streamed through the gap. A breeze followed.
People walking by on the street turned their heads. When they saw how furious Tsunade was, they scattered in fear.
The sweat on Shikaku's face was smacked off by the shockwave and hit the floor, glistening and kicking up dust. His body gave out, and he dropped back into his seat, drained of strength.
"Tsunade-sama, let's call a full meeting!"
"Yeah. Everyone needs to hear about this.
Call in all the jonin from Konohagakure. And Kakashi's team too."
Chiriku added.
Soon, all of Konohagakure's jonin had gathered in the Hokage building. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura were there too.
Naruto and Sasuke were still injured. If the Sage hadn't held back, they'd be in far worse shape than this.
Naruto and Sasuke were both hit by Senjutsu, and now their recovery is taking much longer than expected. Thinking back on it, both of them still feel a bit shaken.
But for Sasuke, the bigger blow was that the powerful sage had been killed by his own brother.
As for Kakashi, he was now standing next to Tsunade. Even Asuma had a very serious look on his face.
After the Third Hokage died, Asuma had basically stopped caring about things. Luckily, no one gave him a hard time about it, and he was happy to stay out of trouble.
But now, things weren't so simple anymore. Jirō (Earth-Style Elder) had explained the seriousness of the situation to him, and it was so bad that Asuma wasn't even smoking anymore.
"You've all seen the intel, right? Let's hear your thoughts,"
Tsunade said.
At this point, the ones who could speak first were naturally the heads of the major clans and Kakashi, the next Hokage.
Kakashi's conflict with the Sage from the World Government wasn't something that could be discussed openly yet.
That's why he hadn't left Konohagakure recently.
Kakashi was the first to step forward.
"The intel came from Shanks, so we can trust it. That means White Zetsu and this new Devil Fruit system are both real.
But those aren't the most important parts. The key is the tailed beasts. Without them, Shanks' plan won't work."
Kakashi looked at Naruto, who had a confused expression on his face. Tailed beasts? What did that have to do with him? He couldn't even use any of their power right now.
"Without the chakra from the tailed beasts, White Zetsu can't be created, and everything else falls apart."
But the situation is different now, because other Jinchuriki have already made it to the New World. That means we can't stop this from happening."
"Of course, that doesn't mean there's no way to stop it.
For the World Government, they're fully capable of killing the Jinchuriki. Once a Jinchuriki dies, the tailed beast takes time to come back. That time would be enough for the World Government to take control of the ninja world."
Kakashi's words were cold and sharp, and they sent a chill down Naruto's spine.
"Kill the Jinchuriki?"
Aburame Shihui, the head of the Aburame clan, also looked toward Naruto. He was Minato's son, after all. Doing something like that would be impossible.
"But if we kill the Jinchuriki out there, all the blame will fall on the major ninja villages. That would weaken their power.
Even if nothing else, weakening Konohagakure would definitely be in the World Government's best interest."
Kakashi added again.
"If that's the case, doesn't that prove killing the Jinchuriki isn't going to work?"
Hiashi, head of the Hyuga clan, rolled his eyes—though no one really noticed.
"That's exactly why this plays right into Shanks' hands. His whole plan is laid out in the open. We can see it clearly, but there's nothing we can do about it,"
Shikaku said with a sigh.
"Killing the Jinchuriki would shift the problem to the ninja villages. None of them would ever agree to that.
Aside from that, the only other option is to protect the Jinchuriki. But even that won't solve the problem.
Simply put, there's no way for us to stop this."
"Since we can't stop it, then we might as well use this power ourselves. All the Jinchuriki from the major villages are still under our control—we naturally have the advantage."
Aburame Shihui spoke in a deep, dull tone.
"Actually, it's the opposite. For us ninja, this isn't an advantage.
As more and more Devil Fruits appear, what comes with them is the growing divide between regular ninja and ability users. And worse, the five great villages will start to lose balance in strength because of how these powers are distributed."
"What happened with the Land of Whirlpools should have made things clear—Konohagakure must be kept in check, at least on the surface."
"We can use it, yes—but we can't use it recklessly. That's the restriction Shanks has placed on all of us ninja villages."
"But that restriction doesn't exist among the pirates. Shanks' goal is to break the World Government. Pirates don't care about political consequences."
Shikaku shook his head. Whatever methods pirates can use, they can use too.
But compared to pirates, ninja are completely tied down.
It may look like they have lots of options, but in truth, they don't really change much in the bigger picture.
This is the brilliance behind Shanks' strategy—a plan so overwhelming it forces everyone's hand.
Under this kind of pressure, every move is locked in place.
"And aside from that... the Devil Fruits born from ninjutsu clashes depend on different types of ninjutsu. So then—who do you think has the most unique techniques among all the villages?"
After Shikaku said that, the entire Hokage building went silent.
After a long pause, two words quietly slipped from Hyuga Hiashi's mouth:
"Konohagakure!"
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