Several hours later.
In the ruined hideout of Orochimaru located in the Land of Water, he himself lay silently on the ground as if truly dead.
The one responsible for this outcome—the caster of the Impure World Reincarnation—had already passed on. After a brief period of commotion, the place fell into eternal silence.
Yet the Impure World Reincarnation jutsu wouldn't cease just because its caster had died. Closer to the inner portion of the recent battlefield, although the Third Hokage remained motionless, the mutilated reincarnated body of the Second Hokage slowly started to recover itself.
Meanwhile, at the ongoing Kage Summit in the Land of Iron.
With multiple ninja villages suffering attacks and consecutively losing their Tailed Beasts, such an unexpected event was significant enough to bring together leaders with differing views and mutual hostilities to discuss countermeasures—of course, due to Kumo's status having declined, the acting Mizukage clearly attended merely to fill a seat.
What's more, this acting Mizukage was in fact an infiltrator—her real name was Terumi Mei.
Terumi Mei's actions were extremely audacious. Leaving aside the Tailed Beast she previously captured within Mist, she had just attacked Sunagakure not long ago. Now here she was, sitting face to face with Granny Chiyo without batting an eyelid… Fortunately, few survivors remained from Sunagakure. The intelligence entrusted by the late Fourth Kazekage, Sasori of the Red Sand, mainly concerned Rasa and Haseo; otherwise Granny Chiyo would have exploded right there.
From the intentional capture of Tailed Beasts, one could easily deduce that the Ninjutsu World had fallen into [The Conspiracy]. The intentions of these hidden enemies remained unclear for now, but one fact stood evident—these enemies possessed overwhelming strength, simultaneously attacking each major ninja village and achieving their objectives.
The so-called dominance and might of the Five Great Ninja Villages proved utterly useless, reducing each to a laughingstock… Current confirmed reports indicated Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure had all completely lost their Tailed Beasts.
"The main intruders attacking each village seem to be their own rogue ninjas..."
"Two individuals invaded Suna, one being Rasa, who previously staged a rebellion."
"Iwa also seems to have involved a local-born bomber named Deidara."
"And those who infiltrated our Kumo came from Konoha's Uchiha clan. But strangely, Konoha itself hasn't been targeted like the rest… The Fifth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, how do you explain this? We now have reasonable grounds to suspect these events are part of Konoha's conspiracy."
Scarcely had the discussion begun when the hotheaded Raikage started directly accusing Konoha. Yet his accusations weren't baseless—those who penetrated Kumogakure and caused widespread destruction indeed originated from Konoha rather than their own renegade shinobi.
Minato Namikaze explained, "the war only just ended recently; surely you understand Konoha's capabilities well enough. We lack both the power to invade every ninja village simultaneously and any motive to capture Tailed Beasts."
"Well, not necessarily. I've recently heard that the Fourth Hokage has become active again, and after his reappearance, turmoil erupted in the Ninja World... Isn't that quite a coincidence?" The Third Tsuchikage countered.
Blaming Haseo for all this wasn't unreasonable. After all, everyone had just ended the war and was trying to recover, yet as soon as someone reemerged, the entire world went haywire.
Granny Chiyo lowered her gaze, maintaining a serene and composed demeanor as if observing her own breath. She knew this matter had nothing to do with Haseo from Konoha—but she remained silent anyway.
They had come here ostensibly to confront a crisis and discuss strategies, but right from the start of the Kage Summit, someone began scapegoating Konoha. Whatever—just criticize first, talk later.
They'd never really been on the same side to begin with—too much bad blood, too many old grudges. Who were we kidding? Like they'd ever work together willingly?
This summit itself was born out of necessity. The enemy moved too quickly, information was scarce, and the damage was tremendous. That's why they were forced to gather here for discussions.
Terumi Mei remained silent. She didn't participate in the condemnation of Konoha—not only because Mist's low status led others to overlook her, but also because she truly had little to add.
Even with the Land of Iron acting as mediator, accusations continued unabated among the villages—dredging up old grievances like they were airing decades-old laundry.
After another short while, Terumi Mei slightly lifted her eyebrows and finally sat upright.
"It seems we overestimated you all… Even though you've been gathered together, it appears your opinions still can't align. The positions of each Kage are simply too opposed.
Sure, we didn't just win 'cause you're all fighting among yourselves—but yeah, this little show tells us just how strong your resistance'll be."
Terumi Mei's words instantly plunged the meeting into complete silence.
At this moment, for some inexplicable reason, she suddenly recalled her experiences back in Mist. Capturing Mist's tailed beasts had almost entirely been her solo effort, since the village had already fallen into extreme disarray—the Two Jinchuriki had left long ago, leaving her opportunities to strike one by one.
What impressed her most was the Three-Tails' Jinchuriki with the shark-faced appearance—he wasn't well known, but surprisingly possessed formidable combat strength and tenacity. If all ninja were like him, their plan would definitely become much more difficult.
The other delegates froze for a second before it dawned on them—they had a traitor among them. Several village headmen and leaders abruptly rose to their feet, preparing to launch an attack on Terumi Mei.
"A bit late for that. My reinforcements have arrived."
Terumi Mei didn't even attempt to dodge. She wasn't stupid enough to recklessly place herself in mortal danger without cause.
With a thunderous boom, the ceiling above the meeting room suddenly exploded inward, and then a man with long black hair burst through.
To be safe and prevent the Five Great Ninja Villages from staging a joint resistance against the upcoming plan, it was necessary to eliminate their leaders first. For the Kage, you could call it a forced case of "one must fall so the many may live." Without their Kage, the villages would become headless chickens, no longer capable of carrying out any dangerous acts of resistance.
The First Hokage, who had come from the Land of Water to the Land of Iron, was about to greet everyone when suddenly, before he could even make that move, he abruptly felt his chakra and life energy surge outward. Immediately afterward, a humanoid figure forcefully emerged from behind him.
Another sudden twist left everyone stunned.
After appearing, that figure let out a hoarse laugh. Then reality itself rippled around them. A figure dressed in blue armor with a head of white hair suddenly appeared, grabbed the person's shadow, and vanished instantly.
After a moment of shock, everyone simultaneously spoke out the identity of that person:
"Orochimaru."
Even in the nude, they'd still recognize that bastard.
"I guess we got played," said Hashirama Senju.
So, how did he survive after having the Nine-Tails extracted? And how could he casually show up right in front of the highest authorities in the world? What a bizarre masterpiece!
Orochimaru suddenly appeared… then just as suddenly disappeared.
His escape looked truly stylish—he read the First Hokage's moves perfectly.
That guy's one sly snake alright.
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