Inside the Land of Iron's council chamber, the air had frozen solid like a block of ice.
The Five Kage's seats were arranged in a semicircle, with Mifune seated at the center as moderator. Hyuga Xiao stood in the middle of the hall, ramrod straight, his pale blue glowing eyes calmly sweeping over every face present.
Raikage A's fists clenched with a crackle. Veins bulged beneath his bronze skin. He stared Xiao down as though he wanted to devour the Hyuga Branch House brat alive.
"Evidence?" The Raikage's voice rumbled like thunder. "You want evidence? Then I'll give you evidence!"
He took out a palm-sized crystal ball and slammed it onto the table. Chakra flowed into it, ripples spread across its surface, and a clear image was projected—
In the image, the altar at the Land of Demons' sealing site shattered, and purple-black Mōryō monsters surged out like a tidal wave. At the edge of the altar, a blurry figure pressed a hand against the sealing core. That posture, that outline—it was unmistakably Hyuga Xiao!
More importantly, the "Xiao" in the image wore a strange smile, as if admiring his own handiwork.
"This is a residual chakra memory recovered from the scene by our Hidden Cloud Intelligence Division after the Land of Demons incident!" The Raikage's voice resounded through the council chamber. "Hyuga Xiao, not only did you trespass into another nation's forbidden grounds, you released the ancient monster Mōryō and endangered the entire Shinobi World! You bear full responsibility for the sacrifice of Miroku, the shrine maiden of the Land of Demons!"
The image continued. Mōryō's tentacles swept through villages as civilians screamed and fled, while the Land of Demons' forces were driven back again and again. The scene finally froze on the moment Miroku sacrificed her life to