To be honest, Yahiko had already prepared himself before coming.
He didn't know exactly what was going on with Kumogakure Village, but with Jiraiya's intel and the analysis from Shanks, Shisui, White, and Amado, he had a rough idea about Kumogakure and the Land of Thunder.
Simply put, Kumogakure is all about raw strength.
While Konohagakure focuses on building bonds and teamwork, Kumogakure just grabs as many people as possible and uses everyone they can. Bonds? Don't need them.
Of course, it's not that Kumogakure doesn't want to play that way—it's that they simply can't compete with Konohagakure.
At this time, the power level of every village is about the same. If you want to build bonds, you need rare, high-cost units. But with only a one-percent chance, how are you supposed to get them?
Konohagakure, on the other hand, is like running a luxury store. They open a basic bond, and high-cost units just show up.
Hashirama and Madara from the Warring States era? Two god-tier units, each with a one-percent chance, and they're both on the field as two-star, five-cost cards. How do you even play against that?
And there are plenty of other high-cost units too.
Take Namikaze Minato. You call him a four-cost unit? He can flash in and strike you down, even slicing off the Eight-Tails' tentacles. Is that a normal four-cost card?
And Jiraiya, Tsunade, Orochimaru—they're all broken too.
Especially Jiraiya. He started as a three-star, four-cost, and now he's basically a five-cost card. How do you play against that?
Luckily, from the start, Kumogakure went a different route. Forget bonds.
We'll make three-cost units work just fine.
While you chase high-cost units, we chase star levels.
We stack a bunch of three-star, low-cost units, and it still works.
And we don't just focus on stars—we pile on gear too. Everything is about raw power. There's barely any moral line.
That's why Kumogakure has tried so many times to get the Hyuga clan's Byakugan. At the end of the day, it's all about strength.
Why not go after the Sharingan too? Because they don't dare.
The Uchiha clan on the battlefield really dared to charge forward, and not only that, they charged with such strength yet still had so many survivors left.
If you had to say which clan was the strongest in the ninja world, without a doubt it was the Uchiha. They were truly a clan that could fight.
That's why Kumogakure didn't dare to mess with them. Instead, they picked on the Hyuga clan.
But later, a series of events happened that made Kumogakure hold back.
A and Killer Bee didn't feel anything strange about it, but Mabui, as the Raikage's secretary, had to think carefully about these things.
When she noticed the Blood Mist change in Kirigakure, she knew something was wrong.
From top to bottom, the entire village went crazy. Not only were the agents she had planted gone, even Kirigakure's own clans were slaughtered almost completely, as if the village had lost its mind.
And it didn't stop there.
After Kirigakure went insane, next it was Konohagakure's turn.
They outright wiped out the Uchiha clan—the strongest clan in the ninja world.
Do you realize how many enemies the Uchiha had crushed in all those ninja wars? Could any sane person do something this foolish?
Of course not.
Mabui was so shaken that she immediately ordered Kumogakure's two Jinchuriki to be separated and at the same time began a full internal investigation of the village.
During that period, Kumogakure even cut off many ties with the outside world.
That's why, in the original story, Kumogakure didn't take the chance to destroy Konoha when it was weakened.
To be fair, if Kumogakure dared to bully Konoha when the Uchiha were still around, then they would have had no problem stepping all over the Third Hokage once the Uchiha were gone.
But what happened with Kirigakure and Konoha scared Kumogakure stiff.
Fortunately, after going through the trials of the new era, the Kumogakure that once had no morals and only pursued strength had returned.
Now, inside the Raikage's building, many key figures had been waiting for some time. From the moment they got the news, they had made every preparation.
If the goal was to chase strength, then of course the strongest man in the world had to be one of their targets.
"The founder of the Revolutionary Army? He looks younger than I expected."
Next to Dodai and Mabui, a sturdy old man narrowed his eyes.
He wore the luxurious clothes of a noble, and even members of the World Nobles were present.
"This body of mine is just from Edo Tensei. I may belong to the Revolutionary Army, but this time I'm here representing Shanks."
"Empty words alone aren't enough. Just waving a flag isn't proof."
Dodai of Kumogakure also spoke up. Shanks' name was big enough, but they still held doubts about Yahiko's identity.
"Shanks said it doesn't matter whether you believe me or not."
"Well, since you put it that way, of course we'll believe it."
Mabui showed a warm smile, easing the tension.
If Yahiko had stubbornly insisted he was Shanks' man, they might have needed to think it over. But with him speaking like this, there was no doubt—it had to be Shanks' true intention.
That man never bothered with tricks or fake words.
"In that case, let's get straight to the point. We also want to know—what exactly does Shanks plan to do?"
After speaking, Mabui went right to the main issue.
Faced with so many people, Konan and White Zetsu at Yahiko's side felt a bit tense, but Yahiko himself remained calm and at ease.
After spending so much time with Shanks, they were already used to this kind of pressure. In fact, their very presence naturally gave everyone else here a sense of pressure.
That kind of… pressure coming from the New World.
"It's possible, yes.
Before we came here, we already learned a bit about Kumogakure Village's situation, but…"
Yahiko glanced at the strong-built old man, and his meaning was clear.
Pirates, samurai, or bounty hunters were one thing, but a World Noble was much harder to trust.
"Oh? Are you doubting me?"
"Don't worry about it. I may have been the Daimyo of the Land of Thunder in the past, but I've already stepped down.
And sure, I'm a World Noble, but isn't Shanks a World Noble too? Heh."
The old man grinned, then casually took off his fine clothes and set them aside.
Underneath, his well-trained muscles glimmered faintly with a dark shine—clearly, he wasn't just an ordinary man.
Just like the sages, the World Nobles weren't completely united. To outsiders, they were all nobles, but among themselves, it was different.
World Nobles did have the potential to become sages, but not all of them could. Just like among ninja, some people simply lacked talent in chakra training.
The first World Nobles turned their eyes toward the power of Devil Fruits.
At first, the sages didn't notice anything wrong. But once they were forced out of hiding by history's darker turns, the situation had already gone beyond repair.
Even before the World Government was formed, the World Nobles argued endlessly among themselves.
But in the end, the conclusion was that what the first World Nobles did—while selfish and ruthless—wasn't really "wrong."
After all, even the sages had recognized Shanks's position.
And if you think about it, the final say still rested with the sages. You say "a reverse sage isn't a sage"? Do you really know better than the sages themselves? If they say yes, then it is so!
Otherwise, how could the sages possibly use the power of reverse sages to ascend?
With that foundation laid out, then look again at Shanks's status as a World Noble. If Shanks is a World Noble, and we're World Nobles too, then using the power of Devil Fruits is perfectly justified.
Unreasonable? How could it be? If you've got the guts, say that Shanks isn't a World Noble.
Faced with such troublemakers, the World Government simply pushed all these rebels out of the core of power.
That circle had no place for outsiders like them.
Of course, even after being expelled, they still enjoyed the same privileges—they just weren't allowed near the World Government's center of power.
At the same time, the World Nobles understood: a single path wasn't always guaranteed to work.
For over a thousand years, the ninja world's growth had been held back only by fools. The World Nobles, on the other hand, had the best systems and resources to raise their descendants.
At first, their training goal was aimed at the highest level—becoming sages. But even those who remained just "ordinary World Nobles" enjoyed top-tier treatment and education.
While the great ninja villages were still busy uniting their clans and their villages, the World Nobles had already sent people to explore new paths.
The sages were one road. But Devil Fruits were also a path worth investing in.
At this point, Yahiko gave the old man a long, deep look.
Then, with a small smile, he acknowledged the old man's right to sit at the table.
"In that case, I'll be straight with you.
The World Government may be strong, but that doesn't mean Shanks will lose. Even if he does lose this war, in the New World he'll still have room to fall back.
The World Government's attack is mostly for the power of the New World, but Shanks's view is different. The strength of the New World doesn't belong to any one faction."
Yahiko unrolled a scroll. Sealed inside was a record of a ninjutsu—an altered version of the Third Hokage's crystal ball technique.
As the ninjutsu scroll was opened, thick sage chakra spread out, and an image covered the entire Raikage hall.
Everyone stared in shock at the scene, at the sight of the red continent.
Mabui reached down and touched the red sand beneath her feet. Under the sage chakra's projection, the sand felt almost real.
"This is… the New World!"
"A red continent!!"
"A continent formed from the eruption of the Dragon Vein."
"..."
This was the problem that came with the information barrier. The sages didn't care much about it, but to ordinary people, the value of this place was beyond belief!!
And yet, that wasn't all. What Shanks wanted was far more than just this result.
"I remember… even ninjas are qualified to become World Nobles. And World Nobles are qualified to build nations, right?"
"What do you think of this continent?"
At that moment, Yahiko finally revealed his true bombshell. The power of the World Government once again became a tool in Shanks' hands.
As soon as he said that, everyone's faces changed. In the shadows of the Raikage building, several ninjas collapsed and were dragged away.
The Two-Tails' jinchuriki also lit up with dense seals, the full power of the beast bursting forth, and the whole village of Kumogakure instantly entered a state of high alert.
"Yahiko… keep talking. This kind of resolve—we in Kumogakure do have it."
The gentle look on Mabui's face vanished, replaced by fierce determination. Not just her, but everyone present was the same.
This kind of resolve, they had.
At worst, it meant betraying the World Government. That wasn't really a big deal. Morality? Sorry, that doesn't exist here.
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