Complete Medical Ninjutsu System, Wood Release Hashirama Cells, hundreds of Yin-Yang Release houses, Konoha Number One seed and planting equipment, opening the holy land and offering Sage Art cultivation positions.
These demands from the Four Great Ninja Villages were increasingly outrageous, each striking directly at Konoha's core interests.
What's stopping you from asking for the moon while you're at it?
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was dark and stormy. He fixed the four Kage with a cold stare, his fury boiling over.
As the Third Hokage, there was no way he could accept these unreasonable and shameless requests—not even one of them.
He well understood that agreeing to any of those terms would equate to national humiliation, which would make him universally condemned once returning to Konoha, forever nailed to the pillory of disgrace.
Hiruzen took a deep breath, preparing to firmly reject all the Four Great Ninja Village's demands with the strongest stance possible, already mentally bracing himself for an inevitable battle.
At this moment, he had also completely seen through the truth—this Five Kage Summit was entirely a premeditated conspiracy. The four ninja villages had colluded long ago, planning to gang up on Konoha during this summit, pushing the Konoha delegation into a desperate situation with extreme pressure.
Even the Land of Iron—the so-called neutral country—was probably involved as well.
This meeting wouldn't bring peace to the ninja world; rather, it heralded...the Second Great Ninja World War.
However, just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was about to speak out, Heiyan behind him suddenly said:
"The demands proposed by the Four Great Ninja Villages seem perfectly reasonable to me. There's nothing wrong with them. In my opinion, Konoha should satisfy all your requests."
The moment those words hit, both Hiruzen and the four Kage showed stunned expressions.
Considering Heiyan's usual demeanor, how could he respond with such apparent submission?
"Are you serious?"
Onoki stood abruptly from his seat, staring intently at Heiyan as he asked.
After all, in such a formal setting as the Five Kage Summit, every word spoken carried weight and deliberation.
As a member of Konoha's delegation, if Heiyan gave a response accepting the Four Great Ninja Village's demands, it meant Konoha would be bound to fulfill that commitment. If he then tried to retract his words, claiming he was merely joking, the other four Kage definitely wouldn't allow it—they'd seize upon it immediately and claim moral superiority.
And at that point, Heiyan himself would become the joke.
"Of course I'm serious. Konoha keeps its promises."
Heiyan answered calmly, meeting Onoki's questioning gaze. "However," he continued, "after fulfilling all your conditions, Konoha does have one small request of its own. After all, it wouldn't be fair for Konoha alone to give while the Four Great Ninja Villages offer nothing in return, right?"
"What request?"
Onoki frowned deeply, pressing further.
"It's very simple," Heiyan said softly, his voice steady and calm—and yet his words exploded like thunder, shaking the entire room into silence.
"From today onward, the Four Great Ninja Villages shall jointly declare yourselves part of Konoha."
Silence.
In the conference hall, a heavy silence fell after Heiyan's words. Everyone was shocked by his outrageous and absurd proposal, unable to recover so quickly.
"You all seem surprised."
Heiyan looked at Onoki and the others with mild bewilderment, then continued explaining his vision earnestly:
"Konoha has a pleasant climate and excellent geographical conditions. In the future, it will surely develop into a uniquely modern metropolis unlike any other in the world. Right now, Konoha has plenty of land and housing available. Villagers from the Four Great Ninja Villages could completely relocate here, living together like one big happy family. At that time, the ninja world will achieve unification, where we no longer distinguish ourselves from each other. If we all work together, we'll definitely move toward a brighter, better future."
The words spoken by Heiyan were indeed heartfelt.
Actually, in his opinion, thirty years ago during the First Kage Summit, there had already been an opportunity to unify the shinobi world. Unfortunately, although the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, possessed the capability to unify the ninja world, he lacked sufficient determination.
Long-term divisions in the ninja world always end up sparking wars. The subsequent First Great Ninja World War resulted in countless deaths.
But now wasn't too late.
Today, once again at this Five Kage Summit, the situation across the ninja world mirrored that of thirty years prior.
However, compared to the former Hashirama Senju, Heiyan not only possessed greater strength but also more resolve. As a transmigrator from another world, the concept of unification had long been deeply rooted in his mind.
Now, since all Four Great Ninja Villages simultaneously confronted Konoha, attempting to provoke conflict and reignite war, Heiyan would seize this opportunity to launch a righteous counterattack and unify the ninja world in one fell swoop.
Right here and now, he officially declared his stance toward the Four Great Ninja Villages, openly proposing his idea of unification. Naturally, he hoped for successful peaceful negotiations—with minimal or even no bloodshed.
But should those talks fail, then force would become inevitable.
History had already shown this.
In the world of ninjas, verbal persuasion usually proves utterly ineffective. The only language ninjas truly understand is strength.
"Indeed, Konoha has always harbored ambitions to unify the ninja world. This is something we absolutely cannot agree to."
Faced with Heiyan's proposition, Onoki slowly shook his head, firmly rejecting it.
"In that case, we won't reach an agreement?"
Heiyan remained calm, showing no surprise over this outcome.
"We didn't want it to come to this either."
Suddenly sighing, Onoki spoke in a tone filled with stern accusation toward Heiyan, "Remember—he's the one forcing Konoha to recklessly pursue its path, opposing the entire ninja world. Don't blame us for what happens next."
As his voice faded, he turned his gaze toward Musashi, the general of the Land of Iron, sending the latter a signal.
Musashi nodded slightly. Under the watchful eyes of everyone present, he walked forward and flipped a switch inside the meeting room, completing the electrical connection.
Instantly,
on the walls of the meeting room, five television screens flickered on simultaneously. After brief signal transmission, the screens displayed five noblemen dressed in extravagant garments, each holding a folding fan.
They were the Daimyos—the rulers of the Five Great Countries.
In an instant, everyone else present—excluding Heiyan, Tsunade, and Sarutobi—instinctively bowed deeply before the Daimyos.
"Report to you honorable Lords," Onoki said solemnly, "the negotiations with the Leaf Village have failed."
"Not only that," Musashi added dramatically. As the general of the Land of Iron, he had completely dropped his mask of neutrality and firmly aligned himself with the Four Great Ninja Villages. "The Leaf Village actually plans to unify the world of shinobi! If they succeed, they will certainly overreach and stage a rebellion, overthrowing the sacred rule of the Daimyos."
"All of this was already within my expectation."
The Fire Daimyo, seated in the central position, slowly fanned himself while speaking unhurriedly.
He swept the room with a disdainful gaze before finally settling on Hiruzen Sarutobi. Then, with an expression of regret, he continued,
"The First Hokage of the Leaf was an old friend of my family. It was him who established the one-village-per-nation system by signing the contract with the Daimyo's Mansion back then. However, today's Leaf has gone against its principles, destroying this very system with their so-called reforms and creating massive unrest in the world of shinobi, straying far from the First Hokage's original vision."
He paused here, and his expression suddenly turned cold.
"Therefore, today I, as the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, will help the First Hokage put his house in order!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than—
Buzzzzz.
The television screen flickered, the image of the Daimyo fading away, replaced instead with a place that felt familiar.
The Leaf Village.
At this moment, Heiyan, Tsunade, and Hiruzen all shrank their pupils.
Because they saw, from a bird's-eye view, the outskirts of Konoha now completely surrounded by an enormous army, massed like storm clouds.
These forces—composed of ninja and soldiers from across the Land of Fire—numbered easily in the hundreds of thousands.
On the screen, ninja from the Leaf gathered at the village gate, facing off against an enemy force at least a hundred times larger under the leadership of high-ranking elders of the Leaf such as Orochimaru, Fugaku, and Hiashi.
That hundreds of thousands of soldiers had reached Konoha's doorstep in such a short time clearly indicated this was no sudden move—it had been meticulously planned, likely months of secret preparations already underway.
Now, at a single command from the Daimyo, this flood of flesh and blood would mercilessly surge forward, obliterating everything in sight and utterly destroying Konoha.
At that moment, the image on the television switched back again.
"Now, I give you one last chance."
The Fire Daimyo looked down arrogantly on the trio and coldly issued his command. "Heiyan Uzumaki, I order you to repent immediately and commit suicide in atonement. As for the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, I will allow you to return alive to the Leaf—but upon your return, you must announce your immediate resignation and have the Daimyo's Mansion appoint a new Hokage. Once the Fourth Hokage takes office, the Leaf will completely abandon these reforms and restore the original system."
Upon hearing this, Hiruzen shook violently, his fists unconsciously clenching tight.
A short silence followed.
The Third Hokage glanced at Heiyan and Tsunade beside him, then slowly raised his head to gaze at the Fire Daimyo on the television screen.
Then he made up his mind and solemnly said to the latter, "I'm afraid I cannot comply," said the Third Hokage.
"If that's the case, then we can only go to war. After today, there will be no Konoha left."
The Fire Daimyo put away his fan and announced coldly with a blank expression.
"Wait a second, I still have something to say."
At this moment, Heiyan suddenly stepped forward and looked at the five great Daimyos.
"What? Have you finally come to your senses?"
The Fire Daimyo wore an arrogant and mocking expression as he spoke, "It seems that as Konoha's hero, you wouldn't want to see people around you die or watch the entire Leaf Village suffer destruction because of you, right?"
Heiyan shook his head.
His gaze swept across the five Daimyos, and suddenly he showed a smile—mocking and contemptuous toward them all.
"You worms... Play mahjong while you still can. Before long, you'll all meet exactly the same fate."
As soon as he finished speaking, he made a throat-cutting gesture while simultaneously unleashing an extremely intense killing intent.
At that moment, the five great Daimyos simultaneously turned pale.
Crack!
In the next second, the screens of all five television sets mounted on the wall shattered violently under the impact of Heiyan's solidified killing intent.
"Attack!"
Meanwhile, Onoki shouted fiercely.
Boom! BOOM! Bboom! Bboom! Bboom!
More than ten powerful chakra signatures instantly erupted inside the venue—the battle had begun!
Among everyone present, the first to make a move was… Tsunade.
"Haaa!"
With a loud shout, she rushed ahead of all her enemies and slammed her palm forcefully onto the ground. A massive Wood Release chakra surged into the underground from her palm and spread out in all directions at an extremely fast speed.
Rumble.
The ground beneath their feet shook violently as countless trees sprouted from deep beneath the earth, growing rapidly until they visibly formed into a thick forest, about to completely engulf the lobby of the venue.
[Wood Release: Nativity of a Sea of Trees!]
Tsunade's Wood Release technique was one of the strongest area-control Ninjutsu techniques—perfectly suited for use in enclosed spaces like this.
Amplified by her Sage Transformation, this technique had reached an utterly terrifying level of power.
"Get out of here!"
Seeing countless tree roots rushing toward him, Onoki couldn't help changing expression as memories surfaced of the invincible First Hokage.
The Third Tsuchikage quickly formed hand seals and cast the Super Lightweight Rock Technique, dramatically reducing his body weight as he soared into the air.
Whoosh!
He flew straight out through the window from the upper part of the venue.
Nearby, the Third Raikage instantly activated his Lightning Release Chakra Mode. Grabbing hold of the female kunoichi guard beside him, he launched himself skyward like a cannonball, actually smashing straight through the ceiling and flying outside.
Others also displayed their unique skills. Colorful jutsu erupted within the hall—magnet, lava, and boil techniques bursting forth along with other Kekkei Genkai, unleashing mighty powers that carved violent paths through the encroaching forest.
However, not everyone was as fortunate to escape.
Mizukage Yagura Karatachi's two jonin bodyguards and over a hundred samurai stationed by the Land of Iron inside the conference hall were all ensnared by Tsunade's Wood Release. No matter how hard they struggled, they couldn't break free.
Only Musashi and his subordinate Mifune barely escaped at the last second, slicing through the trees with perfectly synchronized Iai Beheadings—one right after another.
Worth noting was the sword used by Musashi, which bore a tomoe pattern on its hilt. Its overall design looked surprisingly similar to Heiyan's Murakumo Sword.
That's because it was indeed a Kusanagi Sword, a national treasure kept inside the Land of Iron's treasure vault.
Outside the conference hall,
After the kages of the Four Great Ninja Villages emerged, each took a position at one of the four cardinal directions—north, south, east, and west. They simultaneously began forming hand seals, and soon, an enormous sealing barrier rose from underground.
The four kages had rehearsed this beforehand. Once the sealing barrier was completed, even someone as powerful as Heiyan would have to sacrifice at least half his life to break free.
But in the very next moment—
[Boom!]
The conference hall's dome burst open like a pot lid flying off in a thunderous explosion. Then, a crimson thundercloud erupted upward from the opening.
Heiyan and his two companions stood atop the swirling crimson thundercloud. Aiming directly at the weak, incomplete section of the barrier, they broke through swiftly and fled southwest.
"Quickly, chase them down! We can't let them escape like this!"
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