Hiroki did not reject the Third's opinion.
Although the Third's question was practically a public announcement that he was the next candidate for Hokage, Hiroki still did not think he was particularly skilled at making such decisions.
Matters of strategy should be handled by those who understood strategy.
As a programmer, Hiroki knew very well that blindly giving orders and meddling in things would never end well.
After all, different fields were like different mountains. The Third had shown him respect today, so he could not fail to return that respect.
Thus, after a brief period of preparation, the three Kage, the elite ninja forces already assembled in the Land of Rain, and Hiroki's group immediately set out.
Land of Water—
Within an underground cavern, the air was damp and murky. The massive body of the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path stood silently in the darkness.
Uchiha Madara had his eyes closed as he made his final preparations.
"Ahh~ The enemy's here~! Should we ambush them?" The spiral-faced White Zetsu still wore a playful grin.
"Hmph—so they've come."
A supremely contemptuous sneer curled across Madara's lips.
Everything was exactly as he had expected.
"But it does not matter. Even if they did not come, I would have gone after them myself."
After all, this was his funeral.
How could a ninja die in such an ordinary fashion!? How could a ninja vanish from the world in a muddled haze like Hashirama?
He did not want to die!
His promise with Hashirama had yet to be fulfilled! Hashirama had abandoned their ideals, abandoned their convictions—but he had not!
He was still alive!
"What did Sunagakure say? Will they send reinforcements?" Madara asked quietly.
"How could they possibly send reinforcements for you—besides, hadn't you already decided to make that boy Sasori