The Ruins of the Conference Room and the Trembling of the Great Clans

Baishi's figure vanished into the blinding sunlight beyond the doorway, but the terrifying presence he had left behind still pressed heavily upon everyone in the Meeting Room like the pressure of the deep sea.

The chaotic uproar lasted only a moment.

After the medical ninja hurriedly carried away Mitokado Homura, who was coughing blood and completely unconscious, on a stretcher, the Meeting Room that symbolized Konoha's center of power was once again consumed by an even more suffocating silence.

Sunlight slanted in through the massive hole blasted through the wall, illuminating every speck of dust drifting through the air like a silent golden blizzard.

Amid the wreckage, the heads of Konoha's major ninja clans stood or sat in various poses, but their expressions were astonishingly identical—pale, rigid, and... terrified deep within their eyes.

No one dared to speak first.

That declaration—"My words are Konoha's will"—had been branded deeply into their souls.

"What a pain..."

At last, Shikaku Nara's distinctive voice, tinged with laziness and helplessness, broke the dead silence.

He rested his chin on one hand, but his eyes no longer held their usual annoyance toward troublesome matters. They were graver than ever. His gaze swept over the Iron Birch Wood conference table, now completely cracked and caved in at its center, as though he could glimpse an old era falling apart through its web-like fractures.

"Shikaku..."

Choza Akimichi lowered his voice. The man known for his boldness still had lingering fear written across his face. "That Chakra just now... was a Tailed Beast, wasn't it? It had to be a Tailed Beast!"

Yamanaka Inoichi looked equally grim. He gently pressed a hand to his temple, as though desperately trying to soothe the lingering pain from the mental shock. "Not just that... There was another presence, one extremely similar to