Kabuto spread his hands casually. "Old man, I trust that despite your age, your mind is still clear. This is an easy calculation, isn't it? If you let Naruto run unchecked, he really will plant the Uzumaki clan's banners across the entire world."
"Lord Tsuchikage..."
A guard's cautious voice came from outside the door.
"Get out! Without my orders, no one is allowed anywhere near here!"
Ōnoki roared irritably, though there was a barely noticeable tremor in his voice. He drew a deep breath and forcibly suppressed the fear in his heart. He had lived for seventy-nine years, endured three Shinobi World Wars, and witnessed the deaths of countless powerful figures, yet he had never felt as helpless as he did today.
It was not a fear of death, but the terror of being "abandoned by the times."
After a long while, under the masked man's piercing gaze, Ōnoki slowly spoke.
"I need to discuss this with the Raikage first. This is not a small decision."
Thunderbreak Valley, at the border between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth.
The rocks here had been struck by lightning year-round, giving them a charred, glassy texture. Gale-force winds howled through the gorge with sounds like wailing ghosts and howling wolves, as if the resentful spirits of countless fallen shinobi were roaring.
Fourth Raikage A stood bare-chested, his bronze muscles like cast metal and his pale yellow hair standing on end. He slammed a fist onto the table before him. The impossibly hard stone instantly filled with spiderweb cracks, then crumbled into powder.
"Ōnoki, have you lost your damn mind?!"
A waved his hands repeatedly, his roar drowning out the wind. "I'm out! Didn't you get beaten badly enough last time? If we really start a war with Konoha, there'll