"Lord Tsuchikage, Konoha's Fifth Hokage has called the Third Five Kage Summit and invited us to attend!"
Iwagakure, the Tsuchikage Building.
Ōnoki showed no surprise at the ANBU's report, as though he had expected it all along.
During Minato Namikaze's tenure, Konoha had called the Second Five Kage Summit and warned the entire shinobi world, but they had refused to believe it.
They had even clung to the hope that the war would only target Konoha and that the Rock Shinobi could stay out of it.
Now Madara Uchiha really had returned to life, captured the Four-Tails and Five-Tails, and inflicted heavy losses on the Rock Shinobi.
Of course, this was no time for regrets.
"Tell Konoha we'll be there on time!"
"But the summit is being held in Konoha..."
"Do we have a choice? Konoha isn't the one who needs the Rock Shinobi now. We're the ones who need Lord Ghost God."
For the sake of his village, he would never accept the Infinite Tsukuyomi Plan.
The Rock Shinobi and the Land of Earth had struggled for decades, constantly fighting the other shinobi villages.
His teacher had died in battle, and countless heroes from his village had shed blood and tears on the battlefield. None of that had been for the sake of a false dream.
On a personal level, Ōnoki still wanted to kill Madara Uchiha.
He could not do it alone-his abilities had their limits-but he could work with Konoha and the Ghost God to shatter Madara Uchiha's years of planning.
Of course, Ōnoki could also choose to do nothing, sit back in Iwagakure, and wait for Kazan and Madara Uchiha to settle their fight.
If Konoha won, the Rock Shinobi could reap the benefits without lifting a finger. If the war was bloody enough, they might