Ōnoki hovered in midair, a heavy weight settling in his heart despite his small stature.
The Land of Earth's army of nearly ten thousand still held the advantage.
But Tsunade, Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo, Uchiha Feiquan, and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki were all here.
Konoha's strongest fighters had gathered in one place.
At his side, only Roshi was Kage level. The rest were merely ordinary elite ninja.
Could they win?
Perhaps, but it would be a pyrrhic victory.
If he lost most of his ten thousand men, what would he have left to defend the Land of Earth, even if he won?
And how could he be sure Tsunade was lying about Sunagakure, Kirigakure, and the Land of Lightning being wiped out?
A's corpse already lay before him.
Even the Third Raikage was dead. What was there left to doubt?
He could not afford that gamble.
He was the Tsuchikage. He had to answer for the men of the Land of Earth.
Ōnoki clenched his fists, relaxed them, then clenched and relaxed them again.
His gaze lingered on Tsunade's face for a long time.
She simply stood there, neither rushing nor mocking him, waiting for his answer.
At last, Ōnoki spoke.
His voice was far hoarser than before, with the peculiar dry rasp of an old man on the verge of conceding defeat.
"Tsunade, a few words aren't enough to make me submit."
"I am still the Third Tsuchikage. If you want me to kneel, you must at least let me see for myself why I should."
He paused, his voice sinking lower.
"If you defeat me yourself, Iwagakure will submit to you."
"Otherwise, even if it costs the lives of all these ten thousand men, I will never bow."
The corner of Tsunade's mouth lifted.
She had expected him to say