Upon witnessing the scene before him, Kaede quickly understood what had happened.
"So I've been set up… Looks like someone's trying to sabotage the negotiations."
His gaze turned outward. In the next instant, golden chakra erupted from his body, enveloping the surface of his Hokage robe. He raised his right hand, bringing his index and middle fingers together. A thin, straight beam of golden light gathered at his fingertips, pure chakra, and suddenly extended outward.
Zing!!
Kaede swung his hand.
In the blink of an eye, the golden beam sliced through the upper portion of the tower, splitting the floor in half down the middle. The severed halves collapsed downward.
The deafening crash instantly drew the attention of every fighting shinobi.
"Hokage-sama?!"
The Konoha ninja turned to see Kaede, stunned and in disbelief. But the vast, overwhelming chakra surging from his body erased any doubts. No one could fake that kind of power.
"Stand down."
Kaede's voice was calm.
Whoosh! Whoosh!!
The Konoha shinobi quickly obeyed, halting their attacks and retreating to the side.
At the same time, Onoki's expression shifted as he realized something and shouted, "Everyone, stop!"
Whoosh!
The Iwa-nin also retreated swiftly.
With both sides withdrawing, only one group remained in motion, the so-called "Konoha shinobi" who had suddenly charged in mid-negotiation.
That group now stood frozen.
"The Hokage…?"
"…Abort the mission! Fall back!!"
One of them panicked, shouted the order, and bolted for the distance.
The rest quickly followed, scattering in all directions.
"We've all been played…"
Onoki's face darkened.
Even though it had been Konoha's side that was infiltrated, he'd still been dragged into the scheme. Had the enemy's plan succeeded, Iwagakure and Konoha might've been pushed into another full-scale war.
The Third Great Ninja War had only recently ended, and the economic toll had been enormous. Another war could have devastating consequences.
Onoki rose into the air, white light once again blooming in his palm.
"Don't kill them all."
Kaede glanced at Onoki. Then, in a flash, he appeared behind one of the fleeing ninja, grabbed the man by the neck, and dragged him back effortlessly.
At the same moment, Onoki gave a low shout and swept his Dust Release forward. All the enemy shinobi caught in the beam of white light disintegrated into dust in an instant.
Thud!
Kaede tossed the captured ninja in front of Yuhi Makoto and said, "Restrain him. Bring him back for interrogation."
"Yes, sir," Shinku replied immediately.
Only then did Kaede turn back to Onoki, who was preparing to chase the remaining few escapees.
"No need to go after them, Tsuchikage. Let's get back to the negotiations."
"You're just going to let them go?"
Onoki stopped mid-flight and looked back.
Kaede's gaze turned toward the horizon, his eyes briefly gleaming with depth.
"Let them go? Of course not… But I'm in a bit of a hurry, so how about you leave that to me."
"…?"
Onoki frowned, confused.
Just as he was about to speak again, his expression changed dramatically. He sensed a terrifying surge of chakra erupting from Kaede's palm, condensing into a golden beam.
In the next instant,
Kaede gripped the chakra blade without emotion and casually swept it toward the fleeing enemies in the distance.
"Totsuka Sword!"
Zing!!
From Kaede's hand, a golden light sliced outward across the land like a sword strike from the heavens, disappearing into the far-off horizon.
Those fleeing shinobi near the distant mountains were all pierced by the golden light, their bodies freezing in place.
Silence fell.
As if nothing had happened.
But the next second, a straight, diagonal line suddenly appeared at the base of the mountain range ahead. It extended cleanly from one end of the ridge to the other.
Then, before the eyes of dozens of stunned Iwa-nin, the upper halves of two mountain peaks began sliding down the angled cut, separating cleanly from the base and crashing to the earth.
RUMBLE!!!
A thunderous shockwave, like a massive earthquake, rippled through the land, sending waves rolling across the lake and shaking the entire tower, which cracked and groaned under the force.
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, let out a creaking sound from his jaw, as if it had become dislocated. His eyes bulged wide, his mouth hung open in disbelief, unable to speak a single word.
The Konoha shinobi were just as dumbfounded.
Several seconds passed.
Yuhi Makoto finally raised his hand to his forehead and muttered, "That was… a bit much, wasn't it, Hokage-sama? You didn't really have to cut down the mountains…"
Sizzle.
Kaede flicked his right hand, and the golden chakra, like flames, dissipated. The sage-mode cloak around his body faded away, reverting him to his normal appearance.
He turned to Onoki.
"Alright, let's finalize the agreement. Do you have any further objections, Tsuchikage?"
Onoki: "..."
=============
About a minute later,
Kaede activated Flying Thunder God and returned to Konoha.
He'd suspected that Obito Uchiha or Nagato might've staged the incident to lure him away, so he returned quickly. But his fears were unfounded.
Konoha remained safe and sound.
Ultimately,
Konoha and Iwagakure signed a treaty. Iwagakure withdrew from the former territory of the Land of Rain and paid a "stationing fee." This decision greatly weakened Onoki's political standing within his village, but he still gritted his teeth and carried out the agreement.
Following an investigation, Konoha identified the saboteurs as hired mercenaries. Evidence pointed toward Kumogakure, but the Cloud Village denied any involvement, claiming they'd been framed.
Kaede suspected it was orchestrated by Obito Uchiha but couldn't find conclusive proof.
Over the next month,
Konoha forces took control of the region formerly held by Iwagakure. The Land of Fire officially absorbed the Land of Rain into its territory.
During this time, neither Obito nor Nagato made any moves. Even Konoha's special investigation teams failed to uncover any traces of the Akatsuki.
It was as if the entire organization had vanished into the depths of the underground world.
Kaede didn't dwell too much on it.
Because after that, all his focus shifted toward training and research, preparing for the final breakthrough to the Six Paths level.
==========
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