Was Uchiha Ichiro really this powerful?!
The ninjas of the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water, now bereft of their Kage, swallowed hard. Looking at the First Mizukage, who had been smashed into a puddle, they lost all will to resist.
When an enemy was only a little stronger, people would rack their brains for a way to turn the tables.
But when an enemy was hundreds or thousands of times stronger, very few could muster the will to fight back.
Even when some attacked Watanabe Ichiro over their Kage's death, he showed his appreciation by flattening them with a slap apiece. He simply collected some [Impure World Reincarnation] materials as he withdrew his hand. They might have lacked strength, but their loyalty deserved recognition.
Their fate served as the perfect warning to the others. The blood covering the ground wore away every last trace of resistance among those present.
After an agonizing inner struggle, the future Second of the Land of Lightning and the future Third of the Land of Water led their leaderless ninjas in raising their hands to surrender.
The First Tsuchikage and First Kazekage, whose shields had absorbed enough damage to keep them from dying immediately, could only sigh helplessly. They lowered their heads, their faces grim, silently acknowledging defeat as they awaited Konoha's judgment.
With that battle, the four nations' challenge to Konoha vanished into thin air.
The bad news: Konoha had attacked the four nations during the first "Five Kage Summit," instantly bankrupting its international reputation.
The good news: from now on, there would only be Konoha. No other countries left!
Pull off this one job, and the Shinobi World belonged to Konoha!
Hell yeah!
Satisfied, Watanabe Ichiro dispelled his Complete Body Susanoo and slowly descended.
The Mangekyo ocular power he had redeemed through the system could not be replenished. Every bit used was gone for good, so he still needed to conserve it.
As for why he had activated Complete Body Susanoo for such a minor confrontation?
Looking cool was a lifelong commitment. How could showing off count as wasteful?
Having brought everyone to heel, Watanabe Ichiro made an inviting gesture and stepped aside, dumping the mess that followed onto Tobirama Senju behind him.
As always, he excelled at persuading people through "virtue," not talk-no-jutsu.
As for why Tobirama Senju was behind him, Watanabe Ichiro had mainly been worried that he might accidentally step on him while using Susanoo, or that someone might take him hostage-though that was highly unlikely. So he had brought Tobirama inside Susanoo with him the moment it appeared.
Tobirama Senju had initially looked stunned and disbelieving, but he quickly took it in stride.
On the surface, he appeared to be seriously analyzing the situation, yet the hands held behind his back kept casually feeling and rubbing different parts of Susanoo.
His passion for experimentation surged. He could hardly wait to pull the equipment out of his Sealing Scroll and start taking measurements right then and there.
The way he looked at it like a precious experimental specimen made Watanabe Ichiro consider tossing him out immediately.
"I trust you've all calmed down now. This time, we can have a proper discussion."
Pushed forward by Watanabe Ichiro to take charge, Tobirama Senju calmly ordered his subordinates to bring over the representatives of Lightning and Water and place the other ninjas under guard.
Meanwhile, the First Kage of Wind and Earth dragged their severely injured bodies over and sat on either side of Tobirama Senju.
The "Five Nations Conference" resumed, but this time, it was not five nations at the table. It was the victor, the defeated, and the spoils.
Although Watanabe Ichiro had boldly declared that he would inherit Madara Uchiha's will and unite the Shinobi World, Konoha's overall strength clearly could not support that ambition at present.
Beating everyone into submission was easy. Governing was difficult, and Konoha simply did not have enough capable people.
People with administrative talent were so scarce that Konoha did not even have enough for its own needs, let alone enough to rule the great nations as conquerors. Anyone sent out would likely never return.
As for cultural domination, who could Konoha's Will of Fire convince? Its own people were constantly at odds with one another. It could not even finish brainwashing them.
So no matter how he looked at it, the prerequisites for unification were not met. Watanabe Ichiro had only said it to frighten the four nations.
Still, if Watanabe Ichiro wanted to force unification, that would be easy enough. He now had the Mangekyo, so he could simply capture the nine tailed beasts and fire a few rounds of Tailed Beast Bombs at each country. Or he could put on the Rinnegan and make every country "feel pain." That would solve the problem of other nations invading at its root.
With no people left, there would be no countries, right?
But the casualties would be far too extreme. Watanabe Ichiro might have been a fun-seeker, but he was still human, at least. He was not that bloodthirsty.
If there was a way to unify everything with fewer casualties, Watanabe Ichiro would still consider that approach.
Then again, it depended on his mood. Ultimately, unification meant nothing to him. Whichever option offered more fun and more points was the better choice.
That urge to unify everything was merely an obsession carried over from his previous life, one that had existed ever since his man Ying Zheng swept across the six kingdoms.
Watanabe Ichiro stood behind Tobirama Senju, slacking off. Looking at his system points, he found himself torn again. Should he gamble on the wheel or redeem something from the shop? That was a tough one.
Looking at it from the other direction, what did Watanabe Ichiro lack right now?
In terms of strength, he had the Mangekyo to carry him and the Rinnegan in reserve. There should have been no one who could match him at this point in the timeline.
In terms of power, he had secured the position of Uchiha Clan Head. If he wanted to become Hokage, he only had to tell Tobirama Senju. Tobirama could not beat him anyway, and there were no irreconcilable differences between them.
As for anything else...
Watanabe Ichiro thought it over. There really did not seem to be anything he absolutely needed to buy from the shop. Fine, then. Time to be a gambling degenerate!
All these points are going on the wheel!
But I'll spin it after we get back. Looks like the people here have worked something out.
Tobirama Senju took control of the discussion.
The Land of Lightning and the Land of Water had rashly attacked everyone present, so they had to provide compensation. Konoha, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Wind would divide the spoils at a ratio of 4:3:3.
Part of the penalty could be paid up front, with the remainder paid off within three years at market lending rates.
By bringing the other two countries aboard the same ship, there was no need to worry that the two countries that had lost their Kage would go back on their word or simply give up and do nothing.
Tobirama Senju was certain that Wind and Earth, which had not suffered too badly this time, would be tempted by the riches Water and Lightning were being forced to bleed.
Let them fight like dogs among themselves. Konoha would enjoy at least ten years of peace.
As for the supplies the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water had brought, he simply confiscated them with a smile. When it came to benefits he could take directly, he left neither of the other two countries a single scrap.
As for the tailed beasts, Tobirama Senju wanted to take them all. With Watanabe Ichiro's Mangekyo awakened, controlling them would be a breeze.
But Watanabe Ichiro shook his head and told him to distribute the tailed beasts.
Three tailed beasts had not fled immediately and had remained where they were, allowing Watanabe Ichiro to capture them directly. That was just enough for one each among the three countries.
Konoha kept the strongest, the Nine-Tails.
Sunagakure received the One-Tail, Shukaku.
The Land of Earth received the Five-Tails, Kokuō.
Everyone was happy, except Black Zetsu.
Black Zetsu, whose goal was to gather the Mangekyo and the nine tailed beasts, suddenly found that his progress had dropped from 50% to 0%. He wanted to cry, but no tears came.
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