"How dare you say that about me!" the Second Mizukage, Gengetsu Hozuki, furiously snapped at the Second Tsuchikage, then forcibly silenced him. "The one who died in battle should shut up!"
"You..." the Second Tsuchikage was so angry he had a headache. After all, he had been the one to withdraw. The moment Shirou had sensed his battle plan, it had already failed. In a real fight, he would have been dead. He was only standing here thanks to Shirou's soft heart.
"Next... just two left," Shirou said, satisfied with his gains. His gaze shifted towards the Second Kazekage, Shamon, and the Second Mizukage, Gengetsu.
"To be honest, we are definitely not your opponent," Gengetsu Hozuki immediately raised his hands in surrender, completely unbothered by the fact that he'd been slacking off the entire battle. "I might as well give up, to avoid ending up like that bandaged fellow!"
Shirou's eyelid twitched. The Mizukage had surrendered so fast he didn't even have time to accept the quest to defeat him. Fortunately, the Second Kazekage, Shamon, was a more honorable man. Shirou quickly accepted the request to quell the war and focused his attention on him.
"Surrendering would be too much of a loss of face for a Kage," the Kazekage muttered, glancing disapprovingly at the Mizukage.
"Then you can keep fighting!" Gengetsu retorted without a shred of courtesy.
The Kazekage just shook his head. He looked at Shirou and bowed respectfully. "Before this battle even began, the Sand Village was already willing to accept your wish for peace."
It was obvious. Without the Tsuchikage, they had no hope of victory. In this artificially created bad weather, the Kazekage's sand manipulation was useless. After all, their fighting styles actually countered each other. The possibility of defeating Shirou was minimal. It was better to just let the Tsuchikage take the hit to his pride and preserve their own.
"Is the war... going to end?" someone finally asked.
Although the Cloud and Konoha hadn't given an answer, with the other three villages choosing peace, it would be pretty tactless for them to continue, especially since they were the ones who wanted peace in the first place.
"It's just the end of the first war," Madara Uchiha couldn't help but pour some cold water on the celebration. He glanced at the cheering ninjas, then at the Tsuchikage and Mizukage, who were already busy blaming each other. "The next war is not that far away."
"I am satisfied just to see the end," Shirou sighed, as if genuinely worried about the future. The peace ceremony that followed was surprisingly solemn.
[SSS-Rank Request: Quell the First Shinobi World War... Request completed. Reward: SSS-Rank Chakra (about 1000 Kakashis).]
The reward was a bit thin, but at least he'd managed to accept the quest in time. If the Kazekage had spoken a second later, the whole thing might have vanished. That would have been terrible.
The only remaining problem was the Cloud and Konoha. The future Third Raikage quickly agreed to peace.
Konoha's situation, however, was more troublesome.
Although Sarutobi Sasuke wanted to accept, he couldn't make the final decision. The best he could do was order a retreat to the border.
But he needn't have worried. News soon reached Tobirama in the Cloud Village.
He and the Second Raikage received the message together.
There was also some... unhappy news.
The future Third Raikage wanted to seriously reconsider the alliance, because in this ceremony that decided the peace of the world, Konoha's performance had been... unsatisfactory. Their use of the great medical ninja Emiya Shirou was, to put it mildly, "unethical."
"Unethical," the Second Raikage's expression soured. In the Cloud Village, that was a severe accusation. A Cloud ninja deemed unethical would be completely isolated.
Hiruzen and the others looked awkward. They were so used to Shirou's kindness that they hadn't seen anything wrong with using it. Now, they were being called out. And according to the report, the scene of the gambling duel had been a PR disaster.
All the other villages had announced they wouldn't use Shirou's neutral camp for ninja activities. Only Konoha had remained silent, getting chewed out by everyone. Konoha's reputation had tanked, from "messenger of peace" to infamous manipulator.
Under these circumstances, no one could stand to stay. Even the Cloud Village didn't want them.
The Second Raikage, though, was still loyal. Out of respect for the Firsts' wishes, he completed the alliance ceremony.
But it was a very unhappy affair.
The Cloud ninjas were dead set against it. And then, as if on cue, the Gold and Silver Brothers launched a coup, using the treasured tools of the Sage to severely injure the Second Raikage.
Tobirama was also ambushed and had to lead his Hokage Guard in a miserable retreat.
This wasn't entirely surprising. The Gold and Silver Brothers, descendants of the Sage, had always been a problem. They'd once tried to eat the Nine-Tails from the inside out.
A ruthless pair like that wouldn't submit easily. This was their best chance, and the coup was a complete success. The only small problem was that Tobirama had escaped. But he'd been reluctant to part with his guards, a weakness the brothers immediately exploited, leading their elite troops in hot pursuit.
"This can't go on," Danzo muttered. He'd dodged the first wave of assassinations and wasn't seriously injured. The others, however, were. Tobirama had been on the verge of death.
"The enemy is catching up," Tobirama touched the ground, sensing their approach. "About twenty elites." It was impossible for all of them to escape. Along the way, his reanimated pawns had been useless, only drawing mockery from the rebels. Morale was at an all-time low.
"I will summon Lord Emiya," Tobirama said, subconsciously reaching for his trump card. "First, heal everyone's injuries. His combat power is also sufficient."
"Are we going to use Lord Emiya to fight again?" Hiruzen reminded him with some embarrassment. "Lord Tobirama, he has never liked conflict. And if the rumors are true, our use of him has already caused... dissatisfaction."
"That's not dissatisfaction! It's a humiliation to Konoha!" Akimichi Torifu boomed, unable to hide his anger.
Tobirama was silent.
"I will cover everyone's retreat!" Torifu declared. "We just need a bait. I'll be the bait! Other villages respect Lord Emiya. Only we, who have received so much from him, keep using him! If we rely on him again, do you know what the world will say about Konoha? They will only confirm one fact: among all the villages, only Konoha is unethical!"
Tobirama remained silent. This was a great humiliation for him as Hokage. Konoha's diplomatic future was in shambles.
"Actually, Lord Emiya himself wouldn't think so," Danzo frowned. "Many things were done by him on his own initiative. Even for the sake of Konoha..."
"Then I can also die for Konoha's honor!" Torifu's face was exceptionally serious. "Living in humiliation is harder to bear than death! I don't want the village established by the First Hokage to become a laughingstock! I can imagine the humiliation my father's generation suffered before that gambling duel. That is a stain we can never wash away!"
He clenched his fist, about to turn and walk away. "If possible, don't let Konoha be shamed again, Lord Hokage!"
This was the Akimichi way. Timid and afraid of pain, but once their stubborn nature was awakened, they would face death for their honor.
"Torifu!" Hiruzen quickly stopped him. "Lord Tobirama, let me go. It's just to lure the enemy away. I'm stronger than Torifu, stronger than everyone here."
"Hiruzen!" Torifu looked at his companion in shock.
"Is that what you all think?" Tobirama raised his head, looking at everyone. Hiruzen was firm, Torifu resolute. Only Danzo seemed uneasy.
"Why don't we let Lord Emiya make the choice?" he suggested. "If he is willing..."
"Danzo!" Hiruzen frowned, not understanding his friend's thinking. "It's not about whether he's willing! It's precisely because we've always known he would help that we've been using him with a clear conscience. That's why we're being criticized! We can't continue like this."
"Monkey," Tobirama suddenly said, looking up at Hiruzen. "You take them and go. From today onwards, you are the Third Hokage of Konoha."
"Lord Tobirama!" Hiruzen stared in disbelief.
"In the future, you must support each other," Tobirama glanced at Danzo, then back at Hiruzen. "What Konoha needs now is unity. The future depends on you all."
"Lord Tobirama," Danzo was also in disbelief.
Why choose Monkey? My strength, with the cursed seal, is not much weaker than his!
"You all go," Tobirama waved them away, preparing to meet his death. He had to use the cursed seal Shirou had given him, even though he'd promised not to use it in a battle between ninjas.
No peace for my soul?
He didn't care. The seal on his arm began to flow. "Ninjutsu: Summoning Technique!" He had to do this first, unsure if he'd have the strength later to release the Edo Tensei.
Poof!
A puff of smoke, and Shirou's figure appeared, a look of surprise on his face. "This is..."