The Iwagakure ninjas who were rushing back to the Land of Earth were all shocked when they heard the news of the Uchiha Imperial City's destruction.
Immediately after, they were gloating and laughing heartily.
"Hiromi must be having a breakdown now!"
"Tens of thousands of people have died, and the ninjas following him are dead too!"
"The Uchiha clan only has dozens of people left, how pitiful!"
"Who told him to leave the city? Serves him right!"
"Hahaha!"
Only Onoki's face was terrifyingly ugly.
"Dad, why aren't you happy?" Kitsuchi asked with a silly grin.
Ōnoki shot him a gloomy look, filled with irritation.
Hiromi had already stated that the next time he came, he would destroy the Land of Earth. Now that this event had occurred to further anger him, it was even less likely that he would spare the Land of Earth.
A fierce expression appeared on Ōnoki's face. "Go to the Land of Lightning."
"Why?"
Kitsuchi didn't understand and vehemently opposed the idea. His daughter, Kurotsuchi, and his wife were still in Iwagakure.
"Under these circumstances, it's impossible to get them out."
Ōnoki had initially headed to the Land of Earth specifically to bring people away. He had intended to use the Land of Earth as an example to declare Hiromi's tyranny and cruelty to all the small nations of the world, and then unite all the world's forces to kill Hiromi.
After the Fifth Great Ninja War ended, he would return. By then, Iwagakure would be the only one of the Five Great Ninja Villages with a Kage, making it easy to dominate the entire world.
The Daimyo... he could even take that position himself.
But under the current circumstances, that was impossible.
The Uchiha Imperial City had been destroyed, and Hiromi would certainly spare no cost to destroy the Land of Earth, focusing the eyes of the entire world upon himself to prevent anyone from moving against the remaining Uchiha clan.
The Land of Earth was already Hiromi's outlet for his rage and a tool for his intimidation. He needed to intimidate the whole world, to make his terror known, so that no one would dare to touch the Uchiha again. Therefore, going there was just a death sentence.
Now that a figure capable of opposing Hiromi had emerged, uniting the whole world to kill Hiromi was no longer realistic. If they really did that, they would become the bird that sticks its head out, becoming the target of the other party's kill.
Given this, it would be better to occupy Kumogakure. Eight-Tails of Kumogakure had been killed by Hiromi, Two-Tails had been captured by a third party, and their strongest fighters had all been wiped out years ago.
Kumogakure was now like an old man guarding a treasure. If they didn't act now, when would they?
By then, Hiromi would be fighting them, while Iwagakure and Kumogakure fought their own battles, they wouldn't interfere with each other. He just needed to sit back and wait for them to mutually exhaust each other, then find an opportunity to wipe them all out, and he could still dominate the world.
But the Iwagakure ninjas couldn't understand this. All they saw was that Ōnoki wanted them to abandon their families.
Iwagakure had always been known for its large numbers. Therefore, they hadn't just left behind one wife and one child in the village, but five or even six children. Thus, they all vehemently opposed it.
This made Ōnoki very irritable, and he could only try to appease the rioting Iwagakure ninjas.
Ōnoki sat on the ground, trying to think carefully about how to appease and control them so they would head to the Land of Lightning to occupy Kumogakure.
Just then, a flash of golden light appeared in the sky, and the violent Chakra fluctuations caused his pupils to constrict sharply.
He looked up, staring at the flash of golden light in the high sky, gritting his teeth.
"Hiromi!"
The Iwagakure ninjas who had been gloating over Hiromi's misfortune saw their smug expressions turn deathly pale in that instant. Their legs couldn't help but tremble, and their pupils dilated in terror until their entire bodies stiffened.
Boom!
The ground shook, and a shocking heatwave rushed towards them.
Before they could even recover their wits, a terrifying high temperature surged from beneath their feet, as if some high-temperature monster were rampaging wildly underground. The ground began to bulge.
Ōnoki's pupils contracted sharply.
As expected, the destruction of the Uchiha Imperial City had enraged Hiromi. He didn't even say a word before intending to wipe them all out. But Iwagakure isn't that easy to wipe out.
"Cooperation Ninjutsu!"
Ōnoki shouted, causing the terrified and desperate Iwagakure ninjas to subconsciously form hand seals. By the time they regained their senses, the seals were already complete.
Earth Release: Multiple Earth Style Wall!
Thick walls rose from beneath their feet, blocking the terrifying volcano that was about to erupt from the ground.
Ōnoki knew this was only a momentary reprieve, so he immediately ordered the Iwagakure ninjas who could use Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique to apply it to the others, intending to evacuate quickly.
But just two seconds later, he sensed that something was wrong.
The lava beneath their feet... it was too quiet!
He didn't believe that simple Earth Release could suppress Lava Release, even if it was a Cooperation Ninjutsu.
He felt extreme unease regarding the unknown.
Suddenly, he looked around sharply. He saw that, with them at the center, a radius of a thousand meters was surrounded by a cluster of volcanoes.
This wasn't a big deal. Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique could easily allow them to fly out, and even if there were attacks, his Dust Release could block them.
But the lava spewing from the volcanic eruptions was condensing in the air into spheres radiating white light. This white light reminded him of the scene five years ago when he first saw Hiromi.
Golden light, as brilliant and dazzling as the rising sun, and then... the terror of annihilating everything.
The S-rank Takigakure rogue ninja Kakuzu had died under that very technique without any chance to resist.
In an instant, he came to his senses and looked at the white light spheres surrounding them from all directions—there were at least a hundred of them, which made his face turn deathly pale.
He hurriedly turned his head to look at Hiromi, his expression urgent. "Hiromi! Iwagakure surrenders!"
His words were fast, but what was faster than him was the light. Before the Iwagakure ninjas had even realized the danger, the white light covered the entire world.
Ōnoki resisted fiercely, abandoning Kitsuchi, and tried to fly away alone, while continuously using Dust Release. But facing this white light that filled the world, he simply couldn't eliminate it all, feeling filled with powerlessness and despair.
"Hiromi!!!"
"Polar Day: World Extinction." Hiromi whispered coldly in his heart.
Finally, amidst Ōnoki's shrill roar, the white light covered everything.
A few seconds later, the white light gradually faded, revealing a pitch-black world.
Pitch-black earth, pitch-black trees, pitch-black people.
With a gentle breeze, the earth, trees, and people instantly crumbled, scattering with the wind and dyeing the blue sky black.
[Mission "So You Call Yourselves Kage?" Complete. You have obtained the Nine-Tomoe Rinnegan.]
The eyes covered by the white light instantly surged with terrifying ocular power. Hiromi's eyes uncontrollably manifested ripple-patterned Rinnegan. Upon those Rinnegan, tomoe appeared one by one.
At this moment, his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan and Rinnegan had fused. His eyes were now just the Nine-Tomoe Rinne Sharingan.
His ability, Shinkō Sanrei...
Hiromi reached out his hand, and he saw the black ashes in the air condensing on his hand, taking the form of Ōnoki.
With a single thought, Ōnoki instantly crumbled, turning into black ash and disappearing.
"The true creation of all things..."
Hiromi murmured, closing his left eye, as if observing his right eye with his right eye.
"Izanagi, the number of times it can be activated is... nine?"
"One hour each time?"
Hiromi narrowed his eyes.
The next second, he looked towards the Land of Earth. Everything in the air condensed rapidly beneath his feet, turning into a terrifying explosive force, sending him soaring into the sky as he headed towards the Land of Earth.