A New Storm in the Shinobi World—Our Stone Village Is About to Soar!

The night wind howled as it swept across the enormous charred meteor crater behind Iwagakure.

The severed White Zetsu arm that Obito had had mangled to pieces had long since been carefully collected by the medical unit in a specially made sealing container.

Ōnoki stood at the edge of the crater and peered down at the bottomless fissure, sucking in a sharp breath.

The old man touched his hardened bones, and an unprecedented sense of security rose within him.

Even that bizarre masked man capable of controlling the Nine-Tails had been beaten so badly by those two that he fled with his tail between his legs like a stray dog.

Ōnoki turned to look at the two young killing gods beside him, a brilliant gleam flashing through his clouded old eyes.

With Uchiha Yoru and Minato Namikaze, these two nuclear weapons, guarding their home...

Forget mere self-defense—if Iwagakure wanted to steamroll the entire Shinobi World right now, who the hell would dare say no?

An immense ambition, suppressed for decades, began growing wildly in the Tsuchikage's chest like weeds.

Half an hour later, in the top-secret conference room on the lowest floor of the Tsuchikage Building.

The massive dragon-sealing stone doors crashed shut, completely cutting off all sounds and sensory detection from outside.

The enormous rectangular stone table was surrounded by Iwagakure's absolute core fighting force.

Ōnoki, Kitsuchi, Fugaku Uchiha, and Minato Namikaze sat on either side.

Even Kakuzu, who had only recently been recruited, and Orochimaru, now dressed in a brand-new white lab coat, were present.

Yoru did not sit in the seat of honor.

One hand resting on the massive three-dimensional Shinobi World sand table before him, his blade-like gaze swept across everyone present.

"You've all surely received the reports about the battle in the back mountain just now."

Yoru lightly tapped a finger against the edge of the sand table, producing crisp tapping sounds.

"The Akatsuki Organization lurking in the shadows is far more dangerous than the armies openly maintained by the Five Great Nations. They're after every Tailed Beast."

"Still, they're nothing but clownish rats hiding in the dark. They won't stir up much trouble."

Yoru changed tack, his tone filled with undisguised arrogance and disdain.

"What I want to talk about is how the old shinobi village model has completely rotted away."

The moment those words fell, the air in the conference room froze.

Several elderly Iwagakure officials exchanged glances, none daring to speak rashly.

Ōnoki rubbed his callused hands together, forcibly suppressing the excitement in his heart as he asked tentatively.

"Brother Yoru, are you saying... we're going to massively expand our military overseas?"

"Expand the military? That's a low-end tactic from decades ago."

Yoru sneered and viciously planted a small red flag in the center of the Land of Fire on the sand table.

"What I want is an all-around dimensionality-reduction strike against the other four Great Nations!"

"I formally propose the full launch of the Stone Village Five-Year Modernized Military Plan!"

Yoru turned, his sharp gaze locking directly onto Orochimaru, who was sitting in the corner licking his lips.

"Orochimaru, how is the progress on your Scientific Ninja Tools mass-production line?"

Orochimaru adjusted the newly fitted gold-rimmed glasses on his nose, a trace of fanaticism flashing through his golden slit pupils.

"Lord Yoru, the first-generation Chakra Microbattery prototype passed its limit tests perfectly last night."

As he spoke, Orochimaru pulled a strangely shaped black repeating crossbow from within his oversized white coat as though performing a magic trick.

"As long as it is loaded with this specially made miniature Explosive Tag magazine..."

Orochimaru stroked the cold metal barrel, smiling like a fox that had successfully stolen some meat.

"Even a genin fresh out of the Ninja Academy can unleash terrifying firepower comparable to a B-rank Fire Release in a single second."

Hiss—!

Kitsuchi and several Iwagakure jonin stared at the pitch-black weapon and collectively sucked in a breath.

"Do you understand?"

Yoru pressed both hands against the edge of the sand table, and the oppressive aura pouring off him made the entire secret chamber feel cramped.

"Other villages' shinobi are still desperately practicing hand seals and shuriken throwing."

"Our Stone Village's basic troops will head out with a Gatling Explosive Tag Gun in every hand, plus Full-Coverage Chakra-Powered Armor."

Yoru tapped the table, enunciating every word as he painted a picture of warfare that would overturn all common sense in the Shinobi World.

"No need to risk your lives in taijutsu combat. Keep your distance and scour the battlefield with overwhelming firepower!"

Kitsuchi slapped his thigh in excitement, making the teacup in front of him jump as tea spilled across the table.

"Holy shit! This is way too damn lavish! I wouldn't even dare dream of fighting like this!"

Yoru ignored Kitsuchi's loss of composure and turned his gaze toward Minato Namikaze, who had been silently listening.

"Brother Minato, you'll take command of the mobile assault forces."

Minato put away his usual gentle smile of a friendly older neighbor, his expression becoming as chillingly sharp as a blade.

"No problem. What do you need me to do?"

"Simplify the spatial coordinate principles behind the Flying Thunder God Technique and combine them with the Uzumaki Clan's finest sealing techniques."

Yoru's finger swept heavily across several strategic chokepoints on the sand table.

"Build a large-scale spacetime teleportation array capable of point-to-point transport."

"I want Iwagakure's steel tide to be able to airdrop into any corner of the Shinobi World within half an hour, ignoring all terrain barriers!"

A cold strategic gleam shone in Yoru's eyes.

"A lightning war—strike without declaration, descend like divine soldiers from the sky, and catch them completely off guard!"

Minato's azure eyes lit up at once, his mind already frantically calculating the feasibility of such a terrifying tactic.

"Leave it to me." Minato nodded solemnly. "Within three months, I can have the core framework of the teleportation array built."

Having settled the armaments and tactics, Yoru finally turned his gaze toward Kakuzu, who was hugging an account book and furiously working an abacus.

"Military strength alone isn't enough. In the end, war is all about money."

Yoru looked at the miser who recognized money but not people, a devilish smile curling across his lips.

"God of Wealth, how is your economic warfare setup coming along?"

Kakuzu stopped flicking his abacus beads and raised his head, pulling an eerie sneer across his stitched face.

"Don't worry, boss. I haven't been idle these past few months."

Kakuzu's withered fingers flipped through the thick ledger, which recorded the financial lifelines of black markets throughout the Shinobi World.

"I've already secretly mobilized funds to short the food and iron ore markets of several small client nations surrounding Leaf Village."

"At your word, I can raise prices at the borders of the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind tenfold whenever you want!"

Kakuzu's eyes gleamed with extreme greed for money and power.

"No military pay, no supply deliveries."

"If those poor bastard shinobi can't even fill their stomachs, what will they use to withstand Stone Village's artillery fire?"

Technological superiority.

Lightning strikes.

Economic monopoly.

As this merciless combination landed, the air in the conference room seemed to ignite completely.

Fugaku clenched his fists, feeling his blood boil in reverse throughout his body.

This was true conquest of the world!

Thinking back to his days in Leaf Village, fighting over trivial authority in the police force had been nothing more than the joke of a frog at the bottom of a well!

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"

Ōnoki leapt directly out of his chair in excitement, even kicking his beloved cane aside.

The old man's face was flushed, his entire body trembling faintly from overwhelming excitement, and even his eyes had begun to glisten.

"Leaf Village's higher-ups are still haggling over commissions for a few C-rank missions."

Ōnoki braced both hands against the table and stared fixedly at the sand table, as though he could already see Iwagakure's banner planted across all Five Great Nations.

"While we already have our hands wrapped tightly around the main artery of the entire Shinobi World!"

"Brother Yoru, go do whatever you need to do!"

Ōnoki turned around and slapped his chest, roaring with domineering force.

"All resources in the entire village are yours to use as you please! Whoever dares refuse to cooperate, this old man will be the first to kill them with Dust Release!"

Every high-ranking official in the conference room had changed.

There was no longer any suspicion or testing from when they had first accepted rogue shinobi—only absolute worship like that of fanatical believers.

Uchiha Yoru, a man absurdly young, was leading them toward a glorious new era that their predecessors had never even dared imagine.

Yoru said nothing. He merely turned around slowly.

He stretched his long legs and calmly walked toward the enormous floor-to-ceiling window of the conference room.

Outside lay Iwagakure's endless expanse of sturdy stone buildings and the boundless wilderness of the Land of Earth.

The sunset on the horizon was crimson as blood, as if heralding the end of a decayed old era.

He slowly raised his right hand and abruptly clenched his fingers, as though intending to crush the vast world in his palm.

Yoru tilted his head slightly, his dark eyes reflecting the blood-red dying sun.

He looked at Minato, Ōnoki, and the gathered higher-ups behind him, a proud smile of supreme confidence curling across his lips.

"The wind has risen. The era of the Five Great Nations dividing the world is about to end. There will be only one overlord in the Shinobi World—and that is Stone Village!"