Land of Earth, Iwagakure.
After finishing a grueling day of official duties, Ōnoki slowly made his way back to his residence in Iwagakure. His already short frame seemed even more stooped. If not for the heavy thoughts repeatedly searing through his aged body, he would not have been incapable of feeling the slightest bit sleepy at this moment.
Minato Namikaze had been revived.
The news hammered relentlessly at his nerves. Konoha, the "number one village" that had once seemed strong on the outside but weak within after the Nine-Tails Rebellion, a village he had secretly mocked, was now regaining its former deterrence.
Once upon a time, Ōnoki had watched Konoha's "weakness" with cold eyes. The Three Sannin had scattered without a trace, the Fourth Hokage and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had both perished, only a handful of the Uchiha Clan remained after their massacre, and the Konoha White Fang had taken his own life...
That had forced old Hiruzen Sarutobi to become Hokage again. At the time, Konoha's top-tier combat power had suffered a severe gap, while its younger generation had yet to grow. On the chessboard of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, its weight had once become so slight that Ōnoki had considered crossing it off his list of primary opponents.
But what about now? Tsunade had returned to oversee medical affairs and part of the administration, while Jiraiya had become the Fifth Hokage and brought the village into perfect order.
Even more terrifying was that rising star—Uzumaki Naruto. By the time Ōnoki had truly focused on that name for the first time, Naruto had already become a "perfect Jinchuriki" with complete mastery over Kurama's power. On top of that, he had mastered the long-lost Flying Thunder God Technique. An "infinite nuclear bomb" capable of teleporting instantly, nearly impossible to