"...Sorry for making you worry."
"I wasn't trying to abandon everything. There was just a problem with this technique..."
"Never mind. Let's talk once we're back. We still have plenty to do, and we need to reassure our guests from the other four nations. We are the organizers, after all."
The master of forbidden techniques, Tobirama Senju, had suffered a rare failure over a communication problem with his technique and awkwardly changed the subject.
Just thinking about what came next gave Tobirama Senju a headache.
This Five Kage Summit had been a spectacular failure.
Hashirama Senju had died in battle, several Tailed Beasts had escaped, some delegations had suffered heavy casualties, and some of the supplies they had brought had been destroyed.
The delegates needed to be reassured, the Tailed Beasts recaptured, and concessions made in the negotiations that followed.
And Konoha, as the host, would have to shoulder almost all those losses alone.
The only silver lining was that Watanabe Ichiro had awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan, which could restore some of their bargaining power.
Tobirama Senju pulled himself together, gave his wounds some basic treatment, and stored Hashirama Senju's body in a scroll he carried. He then sealed away, one by one, the Tailed Beasts Watanabe Ichiro had controlled with his Mangekyō Sharingan and began discussing the next steps with the other four nations.
"Tobirama Senju, you owe us an explanation. We brought so many supplies here, and more than half were lost in this upheaval. How does Konoha intend to compensate us?"
Ay, the First Raikage, whose nation ranked among the strongest of the four overall, was the first to press him.
The shinobi of the Raikage's village had always emphasized physical conditioning, so the elite shinobi they had brought had suffered almost no casualties in the chaos. Their nation had retained the most fighting strength.
"Please remain calm, everyone. Konoha will provide an explanation and appropriate compensation. After today's repeated upheavals, and with no way of knowing whether [Black Zetsu] will return, I'm sure you all need time to rest and recover as well. Why don't we discuss this another day?"
Tobirama Senju resorted to stalling, using the mysterious [Black Zetsu], the instigator of everything, as his excuse.
"Oh? How do we know this [Black Zetsu] wasn't part of a show staged by Konoha? You'll give us an explanation today."
The First Raikage kept pressing. He knew perfectly well that the chance of it being staged was practically zero, but he refused to let the accusation go.
Madara Uchiha's death had already been confirmed at the summit, and now Hashirama Senju had been killed by [Black Zetsu] too. With Konoha's strongest fighters dead, this was its weakest moment-the perfect time to tear off a chunk.
With so few cards left in Konoha's hand, forcing Tobirama Senju to make concessions might even net them some fertile land as compensation.
Honestly, the Land of Fire had it all-money, land, people. It was enough to make anyone green with envy!
They had to fleece it for all they could while it was weak.
And if they dared to go a little further...
He exchanged glances with the Kazekage, Tsuchikage, and Mizukage, and each saw the ambition in the others' eyes.
Rather than wool, they wanted the sheep's meat.
The Land of Fire had the most favorable terrain, the best land, and the largest population on the continent. If they could seize this chance to carve it up among themselves...
Five nations becoming four sounded rather nice, didn't it?
If all four of our nations joined forces and slaughtered these elites from the Land of Fire here, dealing with the small fry left in Konoha would be child's play.
The First Raikage's breathing quickened as his blood surged, a flicker of killing intent appearing in his eyes.
Strike while they're weak and finish them off!
What were the odds of wiping them all out here?
Tobirama Senju's breathing was unsteady. Who knew why he'd suddenly gone mad and charged into the middle of the Tailed Beasts earlier? Whatever the reason, he certainly wasn't at his best.
Even if they let him escape with Flying Thunder God, he could save only himself at most. Every subordinate he'd brought would die here.
That white-haired kid behind him was supposedly Madara Uchiha's chosen successor as clan head. He looked awfully young, and his personality was pure Uchiha. He seemed easy enough to handle.
At the Five Kage Summit earlier, he'd been the lowest-ranking of Konoha's three representatives, yet he'd spoken up first and drawn everyone's ire. Clearly, he wasn't too bright and had been used as someone else's weapon.
He didn't look very old. No matter how talented he was, at that age he could have three tomoe at most. How strong could he possibly be?
Could one kid really turn the tables?
Watanabe Ichiro had no idea what the First Raikage before him was thinking, but watching the points the man kept earning him on the system panel, he doubted the Raikage had anything nice to say about him in his head.
Watanabe Ichiro had figured this was Tobirama Senju's show. He could let Tobirama handle things while he idled in the background.
Like any gamer stuck waiting through an unskippable cutscene, he was sorting through his System Inventory.
His inventory contained:
A pile of materials for [Impure World Reincarnation].
A pile of Military Rations Pills in assorted flavors. They actually tasted pretty good, and they had none of the side effects of ordinary Military Rations Pills-only beneficial effects. Watanabe Ichiro usually ate them on long-distance missions. The system really did produce nothing but quality goods.
A pair of Rinnegan. He had won them in an earlier draw and planned to implant them when the right opportunity arose.
Various foods and cooking ingredients. The ingredients had been stored by Watanabe Ichiro, his older-brother card, while the delicacies had been bought elsewhere in the Shinobi World during outings in disposable disguises.
And... a rock?
Oh, right. This was the Stone Tablet from the Uchiha Clan Compound. He had put it away after Black Zetsu altered it, and to this day, Black Zetsu still thought the Shinobi World was haunted.
Having finished organizing his System Inventory, Watanabe Ichiro looked at his replenished points and found himself struggling to choose.
Should he gamble them on the wheel, or carefully pick out something from the Shop?
There was no denying that his luck last time had left Watanabe Ichiro itching to gamble.
While he hesitated, a thread of bone-chilling killing intent dragged his attention back to reality.
What happened?
Hadn't Tobirama Senju handled it?
He swept his gaze over the eager expressions of the Kage and understood.
In the world of Naruto, fists had always done the talking. Even Naruto Uzumaki, with his talk-no-jutsu maxed out, first beat his enemies into the ground with assorted [Rasengan] before properly discussing "reason" with them.
And right now, Konoha's fists clearly weren't strong enough.
That was simple. Watanabe Ichiro might not be much good at talk-no-jutsu, but winning people over with the "virtue" of his fists was his specialty.
"You want an explanation... Our Uchiha clan's former head, Madara Uchiha, had one-"
"The Shinobi World is calling for unity, calling for peace."
"All worlds united as one-that is the ultimate form of the will of fire."
"Unfortunately, our Second Hokage, Lord Hashirama, was a softhearted god. He didn't want to bring peace through bloodshed."
"But today, he died in battle!"
Smiling, Watanabe Ichiro closed his eyes. When he opened them again, a pair of Mangekyō Sharingan with black circular patterns against red appeared before everyone.
"And unfortunately for you, I have perfectly inherited Lord Madara Uchiha's will!"
"All under heaven, long divided, must unite; long united, must divide. And the Shinobi World has been divided for far too long. Why not unite it in my lifetime!"
A red skeleton rose from the ground, towering like a giant. Fierce muscles and sinews rapidly grew over its frame, followed by imposing battle armor of an archaic design.
Standing within his Susanoo, Watanabe Ichiro spoke calmly-
"Is that explanation satisfactory, gentlemen?"
Before you continue