"The ninja world's Shura of yesteryear, actually hidden away by you until now..."
"Third Hokage, under the guise of this joint Chunin Selection exam, you gathered the Kages of the five great ninja villages here. What exactly are your intentions?"
Third Raikage, seeing that Onoki looked utterly bewildered ever since Uchiha Madara appeared, gritted his teeth and questioned the silent Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen Sarutobi raised his eyelids, offering the Third Raikage a subtle apologetic look, and sighed softly.
"Alas..."
"Raikage-sama, I truly do not wish to conceal this."
"I only learned of this from that child Orochimaru before Elder Madara arrived."
"As for what Orochimaru intends to do..."
Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, slowly closed his eyes, and leaned back in his chair.
"I am old now, and it is time for me to retire."
"The affairs of Konoha will be handled entirely by my disciple, the Fourth Hokage, Orochimaru..."
The Third Raikage froze, his gaze immediately shifting to Orochimaru.
"Orochimaru..."
Orochimaru turned, offering the Third Raikage a smile, and nodded gently.
"Raikage-sama, and everyone else..."
"I know many of you have doubts about Konoha's actions this time, but I also believe that with the wisdom you possess as Kages, you must have some inkling."
"For certain reasons, I believe the ninja world needs to unite as one force, one..."
"A force centered around Konoha, united together."
"So..."
"Does anyone object?"
Uchiha Madara stepped forward at the opportune moment, his aura surging like a tempest.
He was anticipating, anticipating that after these Kages uttered a word of dissent, he would strike like lightning.
Having just acquired the Shikotsumyaku secret technique, Madara had yet to fuse a suitable heart!
The hearts of ordinary ninjas were beneath Madara's notice. While the power of a Kage was still a bit lacking, compared to the mediocre ninjas of the ninja world, Madara could grudgingly accept.
The Raikage's Raiton Chakra Mode, Onoki's Jinton, the Kazekage's Jinton...
Acquiring these abilities would grant Uchiha, who had lost his Rinnegan, more diverse combat methods.
As for the Third Mizukage's Hyoton and Hiruzen Sarutobi's Five Elemental Ninjutsu, it was a shame.
Orochimaru had forbidden him from killing those two.
"You..."
"Does your Konoha wish to flagrantly tear up the covenant signed by the First Hokages of yesteryear?"
The Third Raikage, spurred by Uchiha Madara's sudden burst of power, was instantly enveloped in lightning. Suppressing his inner anger and a hint of fear, he slammed his hand on the table and stood up abruptly.
A cruel sneer twisted Uchiha Madara's lips. His three-tomoe Sharingan began to spin, and he reached for the fan behind his back.
Orochimaru gently placed a hand on Uchiha Madara's shoulder, looking at the enraged Third Raikage with a smile that was not quite a smile.
"Oh?"
"The Raikage-sama, who always preferred to settle matters with his fists, now wishes to suppress Konoha with righteousness?"
"But if I recall correctly, it was always you who first broke the peace treaty established by the Five Kages."
"During the Second Hokage's tenure, wasn't it your Cloud Village that initiated an attack on Konoha?"
"Furthermore, when your Second Raikage actively invited the Second Hokage to re-sign the peace treaty, the ninjas of Cloud Village once again launched a rebellion, resulting in the death of Konoha's Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju..."
The Third Raikage's expression faltered. He had intended to explain that their Cloud Village had also suffered heavy losses under the attack of Kinkaku and Ginkaku.
However, Orochimaru's next words sent a chill down his spine.
"Moreover, my disciple, Kushina Uzumaki, was nearly abducted by ninjas from Cloud Village to become their Eight-Tails Jinchuriki."
"By rights, killing you outright now shouldn't be considered unreasonable, should it?"
Before Orochimaru's words had even finished, his figure vanished from his original position, abruptly appearing behind the Third Raikage.
The Third Raikage was startled, and his body immediately erupted with dazzling lightning. He instinctively swung a punch towards Orochimaru.
"Hmph!"
Orochimaru let out a cold snort. A jet-black Truth-Seeking Ball instantly materialized in his palm, and he pressed it onto the Third Raikage's arm, pinning half of his body to the conference table.
The Third Raikage's body, renowned as the strongest defense in the ninja world, was as fragile as a piece of thin paper beneath the Six Paths-level Yin-Yang Release black rod.
Not only was his defense instantly breached, but the lightning emanating from his body, obstructed by the power of Yin-Yang Release, flickered twice like a light bulb whose power had been cut off, and then extinguished instantly.
This was still Orochimaru, who had only used the basic power of Yin-Yang Release, as he intended to completely subdue the ninja world's forces.
If it had been a black rod formed by a Truth-Seeking Ball, the outcome...
It would likely be no different from Uchiha Obito after being struck by Kaguya Otsutsuki's All-Killing Ash Bones.
The Third Raikage was instantly defeated. Darui and Mabui, standing behind him, were greatly alarmed upon seeing this and immediately moved to rescue him.
"Stop!"
"Release the Raikage-sama!"
The two shouted in unison, intending to rescue their leader, and charged towards Orochimaru.
"Until Lord Orochimaru gets the answer he desires, you should calm yourselves!"
"Hyoton – Mind Freeze!"
Yuki no, sitting beside the Third Raikage, suddenly opened his eyes. Terrifying Hyoton chakra surged, instantly blocking Orochimaru and using his Ice Style to freeze Dotō, who possessed the Ketsuryugan bloodline limit, into a large block of ice.
Kaguya Jiroken, with a cruel smile, appeared behind Rashi simultaneously.
A bone blade materialized in his hand and was placed at Rashi's throat. Dozens of holes suddenly appeared in his chest clothing, pierced by bone spurs, and his skeleton was embedded into Rashi's body, forcibly connecting them.
"Lord Orochimaru said the ninja world must be unified!"
"You..."
"Don't you understand plain speech?"
Kaguya Jiroken's eyes glowed with fanaticism, ready to tear the old man before him to shreds with his bone spurs the moment Orochimaru gave the command.
The slightly weaker and slower-reacting Yagura Karatachi slowly relaxed his grip on his coral staff, sighing with a hint of regret.
The sudden coordinated attack by the Third Mizukage and the Kaguya clan leader on the Cloud Village ninjas greatly shocked everyone present.
Even their allies, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Uchiha Madara, had not expected the dignified Third Mizukage of the Mist Village to openly stand with Orochimaru.
That guy wielding bones, wasn't he from the Taketori clan, who, along with the extinct Kotsubaki clan of the Sengoku period, possessed the Kotsubaki bloodline and were the most fearless?
Why were they suddenly attacking the Cloud Village ninjas alongside Orochimaru?
Why were they unequivocally standing on Konoha's side?
Even if Konoha and the Mist Village had secretly formed an alliance, what was with the way they referred to that Lord Orochimaru?
"So, has the ninja world already been partially unified by Orochimaru?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the two standing like guards in front of Orochimaru, then at Uchiha Madara, who stood silently beside him, and a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
"This position of Hokage, I can finally stop holding onto it."
"Managing the entire ninja world, I don't have that much capability..."