As news of the events spread among ninjas, the chaos of the Konoha Chunin Exams quickly swept through the entire shinobi world. Konoha couldn't stop the ninjas from other villages from spreading the word about what had happened.
But… what happened was full of so many twists and turns that it far exceeded anyone's expectations.
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Hidden Stone Village
Onoki, the Third Tsuchikage, was no stranger to the Akatsuki. The old Tsuchikage sipped his tea slowly, flipping through the intelligence report sent by the Stone Village's ANBU. He read that the Akatsuki's leader, Pain, had appeared.
"Not bad…"
The Third Tsuchikage had hired the Akatsuki before, and he was quite satisfied with the strength Pain had displayed. "To defeat that old Third Hokage, plus Jiraiya and Tsunade all at once… that's not simple at all."
There was no doubt about it. Pain had crushed three Kage-level powerhouses.
But as the Third Tsuchikage continued to read, he suddenly spat out his tea. He didn't even care that his chest was soaked as he grabbed the report to read it more carefully. The deeper he read, the more serious his expression became.
According to the report, Konoha's rogue ninja Orochimaru had used the Impure World Reincarnation to revive the previous Hokages, just to deal with Pain. And that was only the beginning.
"Emiya Shirou… Lord…"
The Third Tsuchikage saw a familiar name and remembered the great man he had met in his youth—a man with selfless ideals. But now, Emiya Shirou had changed dramatically. He had become the shadow mastermind behind the mercenary organization, Akatsuki.
Compared to Shirou single-handedly taking down all four of Konoha's Hokages, the revelation that this same man was the mastermind behind Akatsuki's plan to create a weapon of mass destruction was even more shocking.
"Father," his son Kitsuchi said, leaning curiously over his shoulder. "Is this Emiya Shirou the same person from the stories you told me when I was a child?"
"Yes…" the Third Tsuchikage nodded, his expression grave as he recalled meeting Emiya Shirou forty years ago. Back then, even the Kage of three villages combined were powerless against him.
And back then, Shirou fought for peace. It seemed he was still fighting for peace now—just through a much more extreme path.
"From now on, do not hire the Akatsuki anymore," the Third Tsuchikage ordered with a sigh.
The Akatsuki's plan to create weapons of war did not align with the Stone Village's interests. As Tsuchikage, he could not allow Shirou's plan to succeed.
From now on, they would have to be enemies with the Akatsuki. As one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, they had a duty to uphold the established order. They couldn't allow anyone to stand above them, not even as equals.
"Speaking of which… he's really powerful," Kitsuchi noted, curious about another detail. "Even all four of Konoha's Hokages together couldn't defeat him…"
"Of course." Onoki frowned, his gaze heavy as he remembered the stories of the past. "Back then… even Uchiha Madara admitted defeat against him." The memory of Madara's loss to Emiya Shirou still struck deep fear into the old Tsuchikage's heart.
"I definitely couldn't beat Lord Emiya Shirou…" Onoki sighed, walking slowly to the window and looking out at the bustling village below. "Something big is about to happen in the ninja world."
"What should we do?" Kitsuchi asked, scratching his head. He threw out an unrealistic idea. "Unite with the other villages? They probably wouldn't agree, right?"
"Of course they wouldn't." Onoki gave his son a look that said he was an idiot. "After three Great Ninja Wars, the hands of the Five Great Nations are all stained with each other's blood. An alliance is impossible."
It was a troublesome issue. They knew they needed to do something, but after years of fighting each other, they didn't know what action to take.
The only thing they could do was quietly watch how things developed. By the time the ninja world's situation had rotted beyond repair, it would be too late to do anything about it.
"Keep a close watch on the Akatsuki's movements," the Third Tsuchikage said with another sigh, settling for the only thing he could do. "It would be best to find out more about their plan for the weapon."
"I heard that Deidara guy…" Kitsuchi began, mentioning Onoki's exiled student.
"Don't mention him!" Onoki waved his short arm angrily. He was still frustrated that his prized student had left without a word and joined the Akatsuki.
It was a betrayal no Kage could tolerate. Luckily, Onoki was generous enough not to put out a formal bounty on Deidara.
"He'll come back when he gets bored," Onoki muttered, feeling he knew his student well. He didn't think Deidara was a traitor, the Stone Village had never wronged him.
Even when Deidara nearly blew up the Tsuchikage office as a kid, Onoki had just made him live outside the village so his "art" wouldn't blow the whole place sky-high.
Onoki had been grooming Deidara as the next Tsuchikage. He didn't believe Deidara would stay with the Akatsuki forever. That group would fall apart sooner or later. When that happened, the homeless Deidara would surely return.
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Hidden Cloud Village
Compared to the Stone Village, the Cloud Village's reaction was unique. They weren't interested in Emiya Shirou being the true master of Akatsuki, nor were they focused on him defeating four Hokages.
No… they were interested in one of those Hokages.
"So even Minato lost, huh…"
The only thing that interested the Fourth Raikage was that the Fourth Hokage, Minato Namikaze, had lost. The Raikage and his sworn brother, Killer Bee, had lost to Minato during the Third Great Ninja War, and the rivalry was still fresh in his mind.
"That man's speed is impressive," the Raikage said, gripping an apple as he thought about Minato. "I'm probably faster now than he was back then, but I still wouldn't be sure of a win against him."
But Minato, who had defeated both him and his brother, had joined forces with the other Hokages—Hashirama, the God of Shinobi; Tobirama, the fastest ninja of his time; and Hiruzen, the "Professor"—and even then, they couldn't defeat Emiya Shirou.
It seemed he was no match for Shirou either.
"Lord Raikage," his secretary cautiously reminded him, "that man is an ancient figure. If he really is plotting something… should we keep track of the Akatsuki?"
"Keep an eye on them." The Fourth Raikage was rough, but he was also thoughtful.
He cared more about the Cloud Village's own internal strength. He believed that no matter what happened in the ninja world, no matter how many enemies appeared, as long as the Cloud Village focused on its own development and stability, it could handle any crisis.
In a way, the Cloud Village had learned its lessons from the wars. Whatever happened in other villages, as long as their own internal stability and strength increased, they didn't need to worry about the outside world. Their own power was all that mattered.
Perhaps because of this heavy focus on internal unity, the Cloud Village was exceptionally tight-knit. Since the days of the Gold and Silver Brothers, the village hadn't produced a missing-nin in years.
Of course, that was the limit of the Raikage's imagination.
He wasn't even born when Emiya Shirou was active in the ninja world. His father only remembered Shirou for his grand ideals, not for anything particularly interesting.
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Akatsuki
But no one was more affected by the news than the members of Akatsuki themselves. They were in disarray.
The Akatsuki no longer had the Rinnegan. They couldn't use the Phantom Body Technique for long-distance communication anymore. When they returned to base, they realized Pain was missing, and their new leader, Emiya Shirou, was a blind man who had lost his eyes.
Luckily, Emiya Shirou's reputation remained. At least for now, the members of Akatsuki wouldn't revolt.
This was especially true for Obito's spies within the organization: Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki.
While the rest of the ninja world buzzed about Orochimaru reviving the past Hokages only to lose to Shirou, Itachi was only concerned with whether his little brother had been hurt during the exams.
Kisame, on the other hand, was wondering exactly how much power Emiya Shirou had left.
Shirou didn't seem to care about their private thoughts. He sent them both to Konoha with a new mission: bring back Sasuke Uchiha while the village was still unstable.
"That kid, Sasuke Uchiha, is quite amazing," Shirou said. "You two will sneak into Konoha and bring him back."
"!!!" Itachi's expression changed.
"Is that really a good idea?" Kisame grinned, raising his doubts. "Isn't that kid your brother, Itachi? I thought there was some deep hatred between you two."
"If that kid joins Akatsuki," Kisame continued, baring his shark-like teeth in a laugh, "how are you going to keep your spot in the organization, Itachi?"
"Hmm?" Emiya Shirou, sitting in his wheelchair, tilted his head. His voice held a note of surprise. "So, you don't want to do the mission?"
"No, no!" Kisame immediately laughed and denied it.
"No," Itachi said, looking up at the blind Shirou.
He asked seriously, "At least tell us… what is the point of recruiting Sasuke to Akatsuki? Right now, he isn't really that amazing."
"Is that so?" Shirou seemed to understand. "Then let me be direct," he explained patiently. "A Mangekyo Sharingan that evolves into an Eternal Mangekyo, and beyond that, the Rinnegan. Is that reason enough?"
"Or perhaps I should be even blunter," Shirou continued calmly, the black veil covering his face hiding his expression. "In the future, only someone with the Rinnegan can lead Akatsuki. During the years I stayed in Konoha, I saw a certain talent in that Uchiha Sasuke—a trait that could allow him to take on Akatsuki's responsibilities one day."
"I know," he said, raising his head. "You're probably not happy with me naming him as my successor."
"But Itachi… you are always free to compete with your brother for that position."