Remote Five Kage Summit

The atmosphere in the Hokage's Office was on a knife's edge, the air as still as the moments before a storm.

Hiruzen Sarutobi stood behind his desk, hands braced against its surface. He leaned forward, his blazing gaze fixed on Shimura Danzō.

The two Hokage Advisors, Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, stood to one side. Their faces were equally grave, though neither spoke.

Shimura Danzō remained leaning on his cane, his lone eye lowered and his face expressionless, like a cold stone statue.

No matter how Hiruzen Sarutobi questioned him, he denied everything concerning the Death Paper, Naraka, and Nine Nether.

"Danzō!" Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice trembled with anger and disappointment.

"The Canopy Screen clearly showed you making a deal with Nine Nether and using that evil thing to murder a fellow shinobi of our village! How much longer will you keep making excuses?!"

Shimura Danzō slowly raised his head. His lone eye held no flicker of emotion, only its usual coldness and stubbornness. "Hiruzen, you've grown old! You're actually starting to believe something of unknown origin that spreads such wild claims?"

"It was nothing more than some sophisticated genjutsu or an enemy plot to turn us against each other. I've given everything to Konoha. How dare you slander me like this?"

"Slander?" Hiruzen Sarutobi forced down his anger, his voice dropping low.

"Fine. Even if what the Canopy Screen showed is true—about Minato, about that paper—if you hand over that evil thing, I can... I can swear on my name as Hokage that I won't pursue anything you've done in the past!"

It was an immense concession, almost a bargain struck with the Fourth Hokage's blood debt and Konoha's laws.

All to remove a terrifying weapon that could kill an enemy from thousands of miles away.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi in shock. But when they saw the exhaustion and resolve in his eyes, neither voiced an objection.

Yet a flash of irritation was all that crossed Danzō's lone eye.

"Absurd!" he spat coldly. "How can I hand over something that doesn't exist? Hiruzen, you've truly grown more muddleheaded with age!"

With that, he seemed unwilling to argue any further. Bristling as though he had been subjected to an unreasonable accusation, he slammed the tip of his distinctive cane against the floor.

Thud!

The dull sound echoed through the office.

At the instant the cane struck the floor, the jolt was so sharp that—

A slightly yellowed sheet of paper with rough edges, utterly ordinary at a glance, slipped soundlessly from Danzō's wide sleeve.

It floated down, turning in the air under every gaze in the office.

Slowly, it landed directly in front of the Lord Third's desk, on the brightest patch of floor beneath the lights.

The paper lay there, still.

The ink bearing the names [Kurihara Ranmaru, Minato Namikaze] seemed to blaze under the light.

Time seemed to freeze.

Shimura Danzō's body went rigid. For the first time, his impassive expression cracked.

His lone pupil contracted sharply as he stared at the paper on the floor in disbelief, as though he were seeing the one thing that could not possibly exist.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's pupils narrowed to pinpoints. His fingers whitened where he gripped the desk.

He slowly raised his head, shifting his gaze from the Death Paper to Shimura Danzō's face, now marked by shock and a moment's panic.

The office fell so quiet a pin could have been heard dropping. Only the faint wind beyond the window and Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura's sharp intakes of breath broke the silence.

Shimura Danzō opened his mouth as if to speak, but any explanation now would have sounded feeble and ridiculous.

Hiruzen Sarutobi said nothing. He merely straightened slowly and looked at the lifelong friend before him with utter grief, complete disappointment, and cold fury in his eyes.

In the end, Hiruzen Sarutobi waved a hand and let Shimura Danzō leave the Hokage's Office.

After all, the forces of Root under Shimura Danzō's command were too large. Acting rashly would only weaken Konoha further.

If the other great nations seized the chance to launch another war, Konoha could find itself in grave danger overnight.

On the way back, Shimura Danzō was utterly bewildered. He had no memory of Naraka or any "Death Paper." How had that thing fallen out of his sleeve?

Hyuga Xiu, of course, was behind it all again.

This time, Hyuga Xiu had needed only a piece of scrap paper bearing Danzō's handwriting to convince all of Konoha's leaders that what the Canopy Screen had shown was real.

It was a bargain almost too good to believe.

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the "Death Paper" on his desk, then tucked it into his robes.

Something so important would never leave him at ease if he stored it anywhere else. Only keeping it on his person brought him even a little peace of mind.

In Kumogakure, Fourth Raikage A destroyed half his office in a rage. This time, though, a trace of fear ran through his roar.

"Bastard!! What kind of power is that?! Huh?! Come out and fight me face-to-face, you cowardly scum!!!"

"Contact Konoha immediately! Tell them to hand over that bizarre 'Death Paper' at once!"

At the same time, the other three major shinobi villages sent envoys to Konoha, intent on making it surrender the "Death Paper."

And so, a remote Five Kage Summit convened in an office in Konoha.

At the center of the office, a chakra-powered optical projection technique cast four figures into view. Their images were hazy, but the authority they radiated was unmistakable.

Fourth Raikage A's muscular frame rose and fell slightly with anger, his fists clenched;

Ōnoki of Both Scales hovered in the air, his small body exerting an undeniable pressure;

Mei Terumi's beautiful face was cold as ice, her fingertips tapping absently against the armrest of her chair;

And Baki, representing Sunagakure, wore an equally grave expression, his gaze sharp.

Though they were only projections, the pressure they exerted and the accusation they brought seemed to cross the distance between them, weighing heavily on everyone in the Hokage's Office.

Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura stood behind the Lord Third, fine beads of cold sweat gathering on their foreheads.

"Hiruzen Sarutobi!" The Fourth Raikage's roar shattered the silence. His voice was somewhat distorted by the technique, but none of his fury was lost.

"I'll get straight to the point! That paper! That evil thing that can kill someone out of nowhere! Hand it over immediately so the Five Kage can seal it and keep it under joint guard! Otherwise..."

Ōnoki's deep voice followed, firm and unyielding. "Otherwise, we cannot stand by while Konoha holds a power so dangerous it could overturn the balance of the entire Shinobi World."

"Especially when it's in the hands of someone like Shimura Danzō."

"It threatens the very survival of every shinobi village. If necessary, we will take... extraordinary measures to eliminate this common threat."

He spoke the words "extraordinary measures" slowly and clearly. What he meant was unmistakable: war.

Mei Terumi parted her red lips. Her voice was soft and alluring, but it carried an icy edge. "Hehe, Lord Third, Konoha suffered through the Nine-Tails Incident and the tragic death of the Fourth Hokage. Then Itachi Uchiha wiped out the Uchiha clan. You've lost a great deal of strength."

"And now, with this scandal and internal threat coming to light, you must have your hands full. Why gamble Konoha's entire future for a criminal who deserves severe punishment and his dangerous 'toy'? Handing it over to settle this affair is the wisest choice."

As Konoha's ally, Baki made no direct threat, but his tone was just as firm. "The Kazekage is deeply concerned about this matter as well."

"Sunagakure also needs a clear guarantee. No shinobi can rest easy knowing such a power exists."

Their meaning was unmistakable: hand over the ominous "Death Paper," or the four great nations would join forces to wage war against a weakened Konoha in the name of "eliminating a common threat."

The pressure bore down like a mountain. It seemed the Fourth Shinobi World War might break out at any moment—all because of a piece of Hyuga Xiu's scrap paper.