"Everyone, there's no need to despair."
Just as everyone in Kumogakure had lost all hope, Shinichi slowly spoke. "I have no intention of destroying Kumogakure. I merely wanted to prove to you that I, Hatake Shinichi, have the power to do so."
"Y-you... what exactly do you want?"
With the Fourth Raikage gravely injured and unconscious, and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer B, utterly demoralized, a dark-skinned man with long bangs covering one eye gritted his teeth and stepped forward. "Kumogakure never did anything to provoke you, did we?" he demanded loudly.
He was none other than Darui, the Fourth Raikage's bodyguard.
He was also the man who would one day succeed him as the Fifth Raikage.
His courage in stepping forward under such desperate circumstances made Shinichi think more highly of him.
"That's right. Kumogakure has never provoked me."
Shinichi nodded, then smiled mockingly. "But this great Fourth Raikage of yours seems to have a few screws loose. He actually dared to snub me, so I came here today to teach you all a lesson you won't forget."
"Your name is Darui, right? I'll remember you."
There was clear appreciation in his gaze as he looked at Darui and said evenly, "A word of advice: hurry up and have someone patch up that brain-dead Raikage. While you're at it, tell him I'm giving him one last chance to reconsider his answer. If he insists on being stubborn, you can become the next Raikage, before that idiot gets Kumogakure destroyed."
"Remember, you have only three days. I'll be waiting for Kumogakure's answer."
After leaving them with those final words, Shinichi dismissed his Susanoo and vanished soundlessly from midair.
Both the Nativity of a World of Trees surrounding Kumogakure and the Tengai Shinsei hanging over it like an executioner's blade disappeared without