Post-War Deliberations (2)

Tsunade focus from the unsolvable emotional question of "why didn't we act sooner" to a more practical tactical assessment.

Neji looked at Tsunade, a hint of admiration flashing in his blue-green eyes.

Tsunade is still the same Tsunade; she can remain rational in such a situation and grasp the key points.

"Obito's strength has been greatly reduced," Neji answered truthfully. "His spirit was severely damaged by Kotoamatsukami, his body was injured, two-thirds of the Ten-Tails' Chakra was stolen, and the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path is also in a weakened state. As long as Naruto is safe, the Eye of the Moon Plan ... is basically ruined."

Everyone present understood the implied meaning.

As long as the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is safe, Obito will be unable to gather the chakra of all nine Tailed Beast Chakra, revive the Complete Ten-Tails, become the true Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, reach the Six Paths Tier, or initiate the Eye of the Moon Plan.

Then, peace will naturally be restored to the Shinobi World.

Logically, that's perfectly correct.

But...

"Everyone saw you extract the Chakra of the Incomplete Ten-Tails at the scene," Kurotsuchi suddenly spoke. Her voice was still a little hoarse, and the blood at the corner of her mouth had dried, but her eyes remained defiant. "So, has your strength already surpassed that of Obito Uchiha?"

She paused, then asked a second, more pointed question:

"What ulterior motive do you have for being entangled with Orochimaru?"

The two questions, like two knives, pierce straight to the core.

The atmosphere in the meeting room became tense again.

Everyone looked at Neji, waiting for his answer.

Neji remained silent for three seconds.

Then he smiled.

The smile was faint, almost invisible, but a hint of impatience flashed in those bluish-green eyes.

He didn't originally intend to use his strength to intimidate people.

He originally wanted to explain things properly, to maintain a relatively peaceful situation, and to leave some room for Tsunade, Konoha, and his own future plans.

But there are always some people who can't distinguish between the two kings.

There are always people who think that they can still use old rules, old authority, and old ways of thinking to constrain someone who has already entered a new realm.

So let them experience it.

Neji slowly raised his head.

The Tenseigan opens.

There was no beam of cyan light shooting into the sky like before, no godlike pressure sweeping across the entire area. Only those eyes, which had been ordinary white, had turned cyan. Stars swirled deep within the pupils, and pale golden patterns appeared around the eye sockets.

But it was precisely this seemingly minor change that made everyone in the conference room feel suffocated.

It wasn't the oppression of Chakra, nor the intimidation of power, but a more fundamental fear, as if one's very being was being crushed.

It's like an ant seeing a dragon.

It's like a mortal seeing a god.

It's like a two-dimensional being suddenly understanding the concept of three dimensions.

Everyone—including Naruto, Sasuke, Tsunade, and A—felt their bodies grow heavy, their breathing become labored, and even their thoughts slowed. They wanted to look up, to meet Neji's eyes, but their necks felt as if they were being held down by an invisible force, unable to move an inch.

"If I were to really do something," Neji's voice rang out, calm but each word like a hammer blow to everyone's heart, "Who do you think... can stop me?"

His gaze swept over everyone in the conference room.

Cold sweat beaded on Ai's forehead, Gaara's sand completely solidified, Kurotsuchi's body began to tremble uncontrollably, Ao's face turned deathly pale, and even Tsunade felt an almost instinctive fear.

That is life's most primal reaction when faced with a higher level of existence.

Neji's gaze finally landed on Kurotsuchi.

"Furthermore," his voice grew even colder, "Lord Orochimaru's name is not something you can casually mention."

He paused, then spoke slowly and deliberately:

"Add an honorific title before mentioning it."

"Do you understand?"

The moment the last three words fell...

Boom--!!!

Kurotsuchi's body felt as if it had been struck by an invisible giant hammer. He was sent flying backward from his chair, crashing heavily into the conference room wall. Spiderweb-like cracks appeared on the wall's surface. Kurotsuchi groaned, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth again. He slid off the wall, kneeling on one knee, panting heavily.

Throughout the entire process, Neji didn't even lift a finger.

He simply looked at the Kurotsuchi, glancing at it with his bluish-green eyes.

The conference room was deathly silent.

Everyone looked at Kurotsuchi kneeling on the ground, at the young acting Tsuchikage who couldn't even put up a fight, and then at Neji, at the boy who was still sitting in the chair, seemingly doing nothing.

At that moment, everyone understood.

The gap in strength.

That's not the difference between Kage Level and Super-Kage Tier, not the difference between mortals and Tailed Beast, it's the difference between mortals and... some kind of being they can't comprehend.

Neji is that being.

Has his strength surpassed Obito's?

Nonsense.

What were his and Orochimaru's intentions?

Does it make sense?

When a person becomes this powerful, any of their "intentions" can only be accepted, tacitly approved, and... obeyed.

Neji slowly retracted his Tenseigan.

The emerald green light faded, and the eyes returned to their normal white. The suffocating pressure also disappeared, and the air in the conference room began to circulate again.

But the atmosphere had completely changed.

No one dared to ask any more questions, no one dared to question anything, and no one even dared to breathe loudly.

Watching this scene, Tsunade felt a complex sense of powerlessness welling up inside her. She knew that this meeting could no longer continue.

Meeting adjourned.

Tsunade stood up, her voice weary but still maintaining the dignity of Hokage.

"Representatives from each village should return to their posts to rest. Specific post-battle matters... will be discussed tomorrow."

She looked at Neji: "Neji, come with me to the Hokage Office."

Neji nodded and stood up.

He glanced around the room—A was still angry but suppressed, Gaara was silent, Kurotsuchi was helped up by Kitsuchi, Ao had his head down, Kakashi's eyes were complicated, Naruto still had his head down, Sasuke was staring intently at him...

Then, he turned and followed Tsunade out of the conference room.

The Hokage Office.

The moment the door closed, the noise and oppression outside were shut out. Only Tsunade and Neji remained in the office, sunlight streaming in through the window and casting bright dappled patterns on the floor.

Tsunade walked behind her desk, but didn't sit down. She turned around, looked at Neji, at this boy who had once been her subordinate, volunteered to become an undercover agent, and now returned in this manner, and stared at him for a long time.

"Neji," she finally spoke, her voice carrying a rare, almost vulnerable honesty, "Just how strong are you right now?"

Neji stood in the center of the office, his blue-green eyes calmly looking at Tsunade.

"It has reached that level," he said calmly, "The legendary strength of the Sage of Six Paths."

Even though she was mentally prepared, Tsunade was still so shocked by those words that she took a half-step back and braced herself against the edge of the desk.

The Sage of Six Paths.

Isn't that a legendary existence? Isn't that a mythical realm that all ninjas in the Shinobi World yearn for but none can reach?

Neji... has he already reached that point?

"Then why didn't you just finish off Obito?" Tsunade blurted out. "With your current strength, killing him should be a piece of cake, right?"

That's a very direct question.

Neji remained silent for a moment.

He can't tell the truth.

It cannot be said that he kept Obito so that Black Zetsu could continue his plan to revive Madara Uchiha; it cannot be said that he needed Obito and Madara to advance the plot and bring out Kaguya Ōtsutsuki; it cannot be said that his real goal was to join forces with Naruto and Sasuke to completely seal away the progenitor of Chakra and Black Zetsu after Kaguya's reappearance, thus solving the world's hidden dangers once and for all.

Those were all too complicated, far beyond Tsunade's comprehension.

So he chose to give a perfunctory answer.

"Obito's intangibility Ninjutsu," Neji said calmly, "Connects to a separate dimension. If he's determined to escape and hides in that dimension, I won't be able to find him."

This explanation sounds reasonable.

After all, Obito's intangibility ability was indeed troublesome, and Kamui Dimension was indeed independent of the real world.

Tsunade stared into Neji's eyes, trying to discern lies or concealments in those blue-green pupils. But all she saw was calm, an unfathomable calm.

She didn't realize it was just a perfunctory response.

Or rather, she preferred to believe it was true.

"Then..." Tsunade a deep breath and asked the next question, "Does the Shinobi World Allied Forces still need to prepare for war? Obito escaped, but he's still alive, and the Ten-Tails still has a third of its Chakra left. The Eye of the Moon Plan might still be possible..."

"The allied forces can disband," Neji interrupted her, his voice firm. "I will be staying in Konoha for the foreseeable future."

He paused, then added, "As for Obito's troubles... Naruto and Sasuke will still need to work together to resolve them. I will only intervene when I deem it necessary."

This answer completely baffled Tsunade.

Neji's strength far surpasses Obito's. He could have easily solved the problem once and for all, yet he chose not to, instead leaving the trouble for Naruto and Sasuke. Furthermore, now that the Allied Powers have disbanded, what if Obito attacks again? Neji intervene? When exactly does he mean by "the moment he deems necessary"?

But Tsunade to ask those questions.

Because she knew that asking would be pointless.

The Neji of today is no longer the Konoha she could Chunin with her Hokage status. This guy's strength is now undeniably the strongest in the Shinobi World; he can only be respected, not pushed. Before, she could use the village rules and the Hokage's authority to restrain him, but now... if pushed too far, the entire Konoha combined might not be enough to defeat him alone.

Tsunade felt a deep sense of powerlessness.

She looked at Neji, at those blue-green eyes, and could only nod in the end.

"I see."

These words were spoken softly, carrying a sense of resigned weariness.

Neji looked at Tsunade, at this once-powerful Hokage who was now almost suffocating under the weight of reality, and a slight thought stirred within him.

He wanted to say something, to comfort her, to tell her that everything would be alright...

But in the end, he said nothing.

Some things are better left unsaid.

Some roads you have to walk alone.

"Well then," Neji nodded slightly, "I'll take my leave now."

He turned and walked toward the office door.

He paused for a moment as his hand touched the doorknob, without turning around, and simply said softly:

"Lady Tsunade, take care."

Then, he Gate of Opening and went out.

The door closed gently behind me.

Tsunade stood there, staring at the closed door, the empty office, and the scene outside the window where Konoha was gradually coming back to life. She remained motionless for a long time.

Take care of yourself.

These two words sounded so light, yet so heavy.

In the corridor, Sasuke and Taka were waiting.

Suigetsu leaned against the wall and yawned, Jugo closed his eyes to rest, Karin looked at Sasuke nervously, and Sasuke himself, with his arms crossed, stared at Neji who came out of the Hokage Office with his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan, his eyes so cold they could freeze a person to death.

He had a lot of questions he wanted to ask.

Why are you holding Kotoamatsukami Crow? Why did you evolve the Tenseigan? Why didn't you kill Obito earlier? And was our cooperation even effective...?

But Neji didn't give him a chance to ask questions.

"Let's go back to the Sound Village Base first," Neji said casually as he walked up to Sasuke, his tone as natural as if he were saying, "The Tenten," "and then we'll stay in Konoha for a while."

After saying that, he raised his hand and placed it on Sasuke's shoulder.

Flying Thunder God Technique, activated.

The spatial ripples spread out, enveloping Neji, Sasuke, and the three members of Taka.

The next second, the five figures disappeared from the corridor of the Konoha Hokage Office Building.

The corridor became empty again, with only the gradually brightening morning light outside the window and the distant clamor of the ninja squad cleaning up the battlefield.

The war is temporarily over.