When they saw the fleshless skull in Jin's hand, everyone in the room was stunned for a full half minute.
"You, you killed A-sama…?"
Dodai was the first to regain his composure, pointing at Jin, his voice trembling.
"Is there any need to be so surprised? He came to kill me in the first place. Isn't it normal that I killed him instead?"
Jin casually tossed the head back.
Dodai instinctively reached out and caught it.
He nearly fainted on the spot.
The expressions of the other Kumogakure's envoys were similar.
They had completely lost their composure and didn't know what to do.
"What exactly is going on here?"
Tsunade also recovered from her shock, her eyebrows slightly furrowed as she asked.
"Let them tell you."
Taking advantage of Dodai's mental confusion, a faint red light emanated from Jin's eyes.
He instantly controlled him using his Genjutsu.
Then he made Dodai explain the entire story from beginning to end clearly.
The more Tsunade listened, the darker her expression became.
They say you can let something slide once, maybe twice, but not a third time.
'These bastards from Kumogakure really push their luck when given an inch.'
'We haven't even settled the accounts of their attempts to kidnap Kushina and extort Konoha.'
'And they dare to try again!?'
'And that old bastard Danzo too.'
'He really got off too easily!'
'Before, Jin often mocked that old bastard as the [Heavenly King of Internal Conflict].'
'It seems he wasn't wrong at all.'
Tsunade felt her fists hardening!
'If I didn't fight back now, wouldn't I become a coward like that old bastard Sarutobi?!'
'But Konoha's remaining combat strength is only two thousand now...'
However, reality often doesn't allow you to do as you wish.
During the Second Great Ninja War, when Konoha's strength was at its peak and they could clearly fight, Hiruzen, as the Hokage, was always cowardly.
And now, Tsunade, the new Hokage, wants to fight.
But Konoha doesn't have the capacity to fight.
Less than three thousand combat-ready personnel.
Not to mention the other Great Ninja Villages, even among the smaller villages, slightly stronger ones like Amegakure or Kusagakure probably have more Ninjas than that.
The Five Great Ninja Villages go without saying.
Damn, in the original Third Great Ninja War, Iwagakure sent ten thousand Ninjas to hunt down the Third Raikage.
Both sides were wiped out, and it still didn't hurt Iwagakure's power.
Calculating it, Konoha now doesn't even have one-third of Iwagakure's military strength.
"No problem~ Wait for me a moment… I'll go call for reinforcements."
Jin waved his hand, indicating Tsunade didn't need to worry, and turned to leave the office.
"Are you going to call those strangely-looking people again?"
Tsunade asked curiously.
"Although their top-tier combat power is slightly inferior, their overall combat strength is only stronger, not weaker."
Jin replied with a faint smile.
Not only the Big Mom Pirates, but Jin also planned to call in Hancock's Kuja Pirates.
After all, he provided them with a place to live… he should collect some rent.
It's just a pity that both the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning are too far from the sea.
And there are no Sea Kings in the Naruto World.
Otherwise, he could give those guys in the Land of Lightning a little taste of Sea King shock.
...
The Kumogakure's envoy team led by Dodai was expelled by Tsunade.
She didn't do anything to them.
After all, the rule of not killing envoys during war was universal in this world too.
As they walked out of Konoha's main gate, Dodai looked at the head wrapped in silk cloth in his arms and muttered with a trembling voice:
"War is coming."
'With Raikage-sama's fiery temper, seeing his son in this state, he'd be damned if he could swallow this anger.'
How can everyone has a temper as good as the Konoha Council?
"There's no need to worry, right, Dodai-sama? In Konoha's current state, dealing with them should be a piece of cake for us Kumogakure, isn't it?"
Another Kumogakure's Ninja walking beside him said, puzzled.
The fierce civil war between the conservative faction led by Hiruzen and the coup faction led by Tsunade, which left Konoha severely weakened, was now known throughout the Ninja World.
To be honest, even if Kumogakure didn't take action, several surrounding Ninja Villages were eyeing them covetously.
After all, the Land of Fire is the wealthiest of the Five Great Nations, right?
When they're weak, not trying to take a bite out of them would be a disservice to oneself.
Therefore, even if A hadn't died, seeing Konoha weakened to this extent, the entirely hawkish Kumogakure wouldn't let this golden opportunity slip.
"If Konoha had no confidence, would Uchiha Jin dare to bring out A-sama's head?"
Dodai felt things couldn't possibly be that simple.
If he were from Konoha, at a time like this, he would try everything to avoid war.
Even paying some compensation wouldn't matter.
But what did Jin do?
The complete opposite.
He didn't hide or conceal it at all.
He directly brought out the head of their Kumogakure Crown Prince, saying, "Hurry back and prepare… I'm waiting for you to attack."
If he had no confidence, would he dare to do that?
"Our Kumogakure has nearly thirty thousand troops. Thirty thousand against three thousand, the advantage is ours. Moreover, Third Raikage-sama is a peak Kage-level powerhouse hailed as the [Strongest Raikage in History]. Dodai-sama, aren't you being overly worried?"
Another Kumogakure's Jonin walking on the right interjected.
"It's not that I'm overly worried, but Uchiha Jin is truly someone who cannot be judged by common sense."
The frown on Dodai's face hadn't relaxed since he left the Hokage's office.
"Not to mention anything else, just expelling nearly a million original Konoha inhabitants and then somehow bringing in another million people to live there… this kind of solution, have any of you ever seen it before?"
Hearing Dodai's words, the several Kumogakure's Ninjas following him were momentarily at a loss for how to respond.
He wasn't wrong.
When they heard about this back in the Land of Lightning, they were all dumbfounded too.
'Damn, there's such an operation?'
'And where did that million people come from?'
"Ah, forget it. Discussing it here is useless. We'd better hurry back and report to Raikage-sama to prepare for war."
Dodai shook his head and led his subordinates to accelerate their journey to the Land of Lightning.
That's right, no matter how much Dodai analyzed here, it was useless.
Because this war was absolutely inevitable.
With Third Raikage's explosive temper, since his son's head was chopped off, it would be a miracle if he could endure it!
...
Amegakure, Land of Rain.
Inside the central iron tower that originally served as Hanzo's base.
"War is coming again?"
The elderly Madara, connected to the Gedo Statue via tubes behind him, showed a rather surprised expression after listening to White Zetsu's report.
To be honest, there weren't many things left in this world that could surprise him.
But this time was an exception.
After all, it had only been three short years since the end of the Second Great Ninja War.
And yet, another war was about to start.
'Indeed, only the Infinite Tsukuyomi can achieve true peace!'
"Yes, the Third Raikage's son conspired with Shimura Danzo to assassinate that kid Uchiha Jin. He was killed instead, and his head was sent to the Third Raikage. That old man's temper, as you probably know, Madara-sama, how could he possibly tolerate it?"
One of the White Zetsu snickered:
"It's said he even plans to have the Two-Tails' Jinchuriki participate in the war… It's a little girl who seems to be only six or seven years old, but she's said to have quite a talent for being a Jinchuriki and can already control the Two-Tails' power relatively proficiently."
The elderly Madara remained silent for a moment before speaking slowly:
"Kumogakure didn't participate in the Second Great Ninja War, so their strength is at its peak. Meanwhile, Konoha is severely weakened. It's not strange for Kumogakure to choose this time to act. The death of that boy named 'A' is just a trigger."
"Hehe~ Kumogakure has nearly thirty thousand combatants, while Konoha, after last month's internal strife, has less than three thousand deployable troops. I really can't think of any way for Konoha to win."
Tobi interjected with a laugh.
"I'm more interested in where that kid Uchiha Jin got that million people. To actually have such a method..."
Jin's move of completely replacing the population with a clean sweep had even impressed the Konoha Dancing King.
He himself had left Konoha because his clan didn't support him.
A problem that even he, the great Uchiha Madara, couldn't solve, was resolved by this kid in such a way.
When the elderly Madara heard about this, his remaining eye nearly popped out.
'Good thing I didn't choose this kid as my 'agent' after death.'
'He's too cunning.'
'It's indeed better to choose someone with a simpler mind who's easier to control.'
"No need to interfere too much with the war. You just keep a close watch on that boy named 'Obito'."
After pondering for a moment, the elderly Madara ordered.
…
"War is coming again!?"
Meanwhile, at the Konoha's Ninja Academy, Obito, the target of Madara's interest, was shocked and dumbfounded upon hearing the news that Kumogakure was gathering a large army and advancing towards Konoha Village.
The Second Great Ninja War wasn't even over when he enrolled.
And now, before he's even graduated, the Third Great Ninja War is coming!?
Obito felt that by the time he graduated, the Fourth Great Ninja War might have already started.
"Don't worry, the Fourth Hokage-sama said that those under 12 don't have to go to the battlefield."
Shizune walked over to join the conversation.
Unlike Hiruzen, who would rather send a 12-year-old Kakashi and Obito to the front lines than take action himself, after confirming the impending war with Kumogakure, the first order Tsunade issued was to strictly forbid Ninjas under the age of 12 from going to the battlefield.
It must be said, this is how a normal person acts.
However, it seems that towards the end of the original Third Great Ninja War, the four-year-old Itachi also went to the battlefield.
Well, that's really incredible.
Sending a four-year-old kid, who probably can't even walk steadily, to the battlefield.
Even during the Warring States Period of Hashirama and Uchiha, they probably weren't as intense as those Konoha Council in pushing children.