Land of Iron, inside a luxurious mansion.
"Madara, have you noticed a group of powerful ninja appearing in the Land of Iron?"
Senju Hashirama suddenly sat up from the recliner, looking in a certain direction.
In his perception, there were dozens of Jōnin-level ninja there.
Although the two were not powerful sensory ninja like Senju Tobirama, it didn't mean their sensory abilities were weak.
"I noticed." Uchiha Madara rested his hands behind his head, his expression indifferent.
Just a group of slightly stronger ants.
He didn't know why Hashirama was making a fuss.
"Madara, let's go take a look together," Senju Hashirama said.
He wanted to know why so many Jōnin would appear in the neutral Land of Iron.
"Not going." Uchiha Madara refused directly.
What was there to see about a group of weaklings that could be crushed with one hand?
With that time, it was better to sunbathe.
Seeing his friend refuse, Senju Hashirama looked somewhat disappointed.
He could only reluctantly lie back down to sunbathe.
But soon he sat up again, a look of shock appearing on his face.
"Madara, another group of Jōnin has arrived!"
Uchiha Madara's eyes shifted; he was somewhat interested now.
A group of ants gathering might not be interesting, but two groups of ants were a bit interesting.
"Is this posture meant to take down the Land of Iron?"
He slowly sat up from the chair and said with interest.
"Madara, let's go over and take a look."
Seeing his friend interested, Senju Hashirama quickly struck while the iron was hot.
This time, Uchiha Madara did not refuse.
The two got up and hurried towards the location of the group of Jōnin.
...
In the woods.
"Raikage, why did you bring only this many people?"
The Third Mizukage looked at the meager dozens of Kumogakure ninja behind the Second Raikage, somewhat displeased.
Although the Land of Whirlpools was a small country, the Uzumaki clan's sealing jutsu was very powerful.
There might be some powerful trump cards.
Relying solely on these people, they probably couldn't take down the Land of Whirlpools in a short time.
If Konoha reacted, things would get troublesome!
"These are half of my Kumogakure's elites." The Second Raikage looked grim.
In the last war, Kumogakure had their pants beaten off; where would there be so many elite Jōnin?
These were elites scraped together from various departments.
If he hadn't set his sights on the Land of Whirlpools' sealing jutsu, he wouldn't have taken this risk.
If these elites were lost too, it would take at least ten years to recover.
The resources needed to train a Jōnin were very high.
Every death was a huge loss.
Seeing the Raikage like this, the Third Mizukage couldn't say much more.
Kumogakure suffered the greatest losses in the last war.
Being able to scrape together a dozen elite Jōnin now was already decent.
"Let's set off," the Second Raikage said.
He just wanted to blitz the Land of Whirlpools, grab the sealing jutsu, and run.
Wiping out the Uzumaki clan was too hard, he could only settle for the next best thing.
"Wait." The Third Mizukage stopped him from leaving. "Wait for one more person."
The Second Raikage frowned in displeasure: "You invited other ninja villages?"
Damn guy.
Didn't the document say only Kumogakure was invited?
If he had known this, he would have brought fewer people.
"I sent a document to Iwagakure in passing, I didn't expect the Tsuchikage to agree."
The Third Mizukage explained softly.
The Second Raikage's expression was strange; did the Mizukage lose his mind?
In the last war, the two countries fought to the death.
Both Kage perished together.
Kirigakure and Iwagakure had long since forged a blood feud.
Yet one dared to issue a cooperation invitation, and the other dared to accept it.
It felt like the deaths of the Second Mizukage and Second Tsuchikage were a joke.
The Second Mizukage noticed the Raikage's expression, and a hint of disdain appeared in the depths of his eyes.
A brute is just a brute.
There are no permanent enemies in this world, only permanent interests.
He told the Tsuchikage to jointly attack the Land of Whirlpools, and they would divide the sealing jutsu together after the war.
The Third Tsuchikage had absolutely no reason to refuse.
With three ninja villages attacking together, it would definitely make it impossible for the Uzumaki clansmen to escape.
They wouldn't even be able to ask Konoha for help.
Even if a fish that slipped through the net went to report the news.
By the time Konoha ninja arrived, the Land of Whirlpools would have long become ruins.
"Gentlemen, sorry to keep you waiting."
Soon, the Third Tsuchikage arrived leading a team of Iwagakure elites.
"Everyone is here, so let's set off."
The Third Mizukage had no intention of catching up on old times and directly called for everyone to leave.
Ōnoki didn't say anything and led his people to follow.
There were two people hiding in the dark, undiscovered by anyone.
"Madara, where are they going?" Senju Hashirama looked curious.
The Kage of the three villages—Kirigakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure—gathered together.
What exactly happened?
Could it be that someone convened a Five Kage Summit?
Uchiha Madara did not speak, falling into deep thought while looking in the direction everyone left.
"This direction... seems to be going to the Land of Whirlpools."
"Land of Whirlpools?" Senju Hashirama scratched his head. "The location of the Five Kage Summit is in the Land of Whirlpools?"
Why hadn't he heard any news before?
Uchiha Madara looked at the confused Hashirama with an expression like he was looking at a retard.
"They are going to attack the Land of Whirlpools, not to participate in some bullshit summit."
"What?!"
Senju Hashirama couldn't help but exclaim, his expression instantly turning ugly.
The Land of Whirlpools was an ally of Konoha Village.
How did these guys dare to attack the Land of Whirlpools?
"Madara, I need to go back to the village now and tell Renya about this!"
Senju Hashirama said as he was about to rush towards the direction of Konoha Village.
"It's too late." Uchiha Madara spoke to stop him. "By the time you bring people back, the Land of Whirlpools will have been conquered."
A group of elite Jōnin attacking a small country wouldn't take much time.
The number of people in the Uzumaki clan wasn't too large.
Having a dozen elite Jōnin in the clan would be considered decent.
Even if they were proficient in sealing jutsu, they were not the match for three ninja villages.
"Madara, can you go to the Land of Whirlpools with me!" Senju Hashirama looked imploring.
He knew his friend was right; there was no time.
But he couldn't just watch the Land of Whirlpools be destroyed.
He could only pin his hopes on Madara.
As long as Madara took action, these people would not be opponents at all.
Although the current Madara was not in his prime, dealing with these ninja was no problem at all.
An aged male lion is still a lion; no matter how strong ants are, they are still ants.
The only ones who could pose a threat to Madara were the three Kage.
The others were not worth worrying about.
"Alright." Uchiha Madara did not refuse.
"Thank you, Madara!" Senju Hashirama was moved to tears.
Now that Madara was willing to help the Land of Whirlpools, there was no need to worry about the Uzumaki clan encountering danger anymore.
The two stealthily followed behind.
This was the territory of the Land of Iron; fighting here would easily expose their identities.
The Land of Whirlpools was located on an isolated island.
Fighting there was most suitable; silencing them all afterwards would make everything fine.
As for the Uzumaki clansmen?
He could let Hashirama explain the situation and have them pretend they didn't see anything.
The three Kage walking in front had no idea that danger was imminent.