"Please... he come back."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice, filled with endless bitterness and self-mockery, echoed like a death knell in the deathly Hokage's office, shattering the last glimmer of hope in everyone present.
"Teacher!"
The color drained from Tsunade's beautiful face. She staggered back a step, looking incredulously at her teacher, whom she had once revered like a god. Now he resembled an ordinary old man on his deathbed, frankly admitting the greatest mistake of his life.
"What nonsense are you spouting! We are Konoha! The number one village in the Shinobi World! How could we... how could we surrender?! What about the First Hokage's will? What about the Will of Fire?!"
" The Will of Fire?"
Utatane Koharu had been silent all along, suddenly let out a hysterical shriek. She pointed at the map of the Land of Lightning in the crystal ball, which had been reduced to scorched earth and whose landscape had been completely altered by twelve huge craters, her voice sharp and filled with despair.
"This is what happens when you defy him! Tell me, which hole can our Will of Fire fill?!"
" Koharu!" Mitokado Homura shouted sharply, but his face was also filled with fear and helplessness.
That's enough.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice, though hoarse, carried a calm that came after making a final decision. His cloudy gaze swept over everyone present. "This is not an order, this is a notification. Surrender is Konoha's only way to survive."
"I absolutely disagree!"
A chilling voice, like the flicking of a viper's tongue, rang out from the shadowy corner of the office.
Shimura Danzō slowly walked out, leaning on his cane. His right eye, wrapped in bandages, was fixed on Hiruzen Sarutobi, while his exposed left eye gleamed with ambition and madness.
" Sarutobi! Have you lost your mind?! Entrusting the fate of Konoha to a brat Uchiha, how can you face the Second Hokage?! The 'Root' ninja will never surrender to anyone!"
" Danzo, can't you see the situation?" Jiraiya's face was extremely grim. "He's no longer someone we can fight!"
"Hmph, a bunch of cowards!" Danzo, slamming his cane heavily on the ground. "The Root organization cultivates weapons to sacrifice for Konoha, not groveling dogs! Even if Konoha falls, the will of Root will live on forever in the darkness!"
Looking at Danzo, who remained obstinate, Hiruzen Sarutobi's eyes flashed with deep weariness and disgust.
He stopped arguing with this "best friend" with whom he had been entangled his entire life.
He simply stated a fact in a calm tone. " Danzo, you can choose not to surrender. Three days later, when his Divine Kingdom army is at the city gates, you can take your 'root' and go talk to his War Puppet Legion, capable of annihilating 30,000 men in an instant, about your 'will'."
"You..." Danzo's face instantly turned ashen.
He might not care about the lives of ordinary ninjas, but he couldn't care about his own! He knew better than anyone that in the face of such world-destroying power, his proud "Root" was nothing but a joke!
"I have made my decision." Hiruzen Sarutobi stopped looking at him and turned his gaze to the Hokage Rock weathered by time. "Send the order to deliver the official letter of credence to the Uchiha Divine Kingdom in my name. At the same time, prepare the procession for the audience."
" Jiraiya, Tsunade," Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice became somewhat hollow, "You two will come with me to the Moon Palace."
"What?!" Tsunade and Jiraiya were both shocked.
"This is the duty of a defeated man, and also my final words to my former disciple." Hiruzen Sarutobi closed his eyes, and two streams of turbid tears finally slid silently down from the corners of his wrinkled eyes.
A deathly silence fell over the office.
Danzo was Danzo's heavy breathing, fueled by extreme anger and resentment.
Meanwhile, in the Land of Wind and the Land of Water, the scenes are almost diametrically opposed.
Sunagakure, Kazekage's Office.
The Fourth Kazekage Rasa, looked at the top-secret intelligence that the Anbu had just delivered to him, concerning Konoha's decision to surrender. He let out a long sigh of relief, his back soaked with cold sweat as if he had been pulled out of water.
"Father, are we really going to the Moon Palace?" Young Temari asked softly, noticing the unprecedented solemnity on her father's face.
Rasa stroked his daughter's hair, a hint of lingering fear flashing in his eyes. "Go, of course we'll go. And we'll go as fast as we can, bringing the most generous gifts!"
He stood up and walked to the huge floor-to-ceiling window, gazing in the direction of Konoha in the distance, his voice trembling with a hint of relief.
" Temari, remember this. From this day forward, the rules of this world have changed."
" Uchiha Gen'yō used the corpses of 30,000 people from Kumogakure and the destruction of the entire Land of Lightning to teach the whole world a lesson."
The name of this class is --
"Obedience."
" Konoha has missed the best time to answer the question, so they can only submit a failing grade in the most humiliating way. But we, Sunagakure," a shrewd glint in Rasa's eyes, "Will submit a perfect score that satisfies him, even surprises him, before everyone else!"
Kirigakure.
The Fifth Mizukage Mei Terumi, stood atop the village's tallest tower, gazing at the shimmering sea.
Behind her stood the remaining members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist of the Mist and Elder Genji.
" Mizukage, both Sunagakure and Konoha have made their decisions, we..." Chōjūrō asked nervously, gripping his Hiramekarei.
Mei Terumi didn't turn around, but simply said, "Immediately prepare ships and select one thousand of the most outstanding women from the village, especially those with Kekkei Genkai."
"What?!" Everyone was shocked upon hearing this order.
" Mizukage, what are you doing...?"
Mei Terumi slowly turned around, her beautiful emerald green eyes devoid of their former allure, replaced only by a cold, unwavering resolve.
"Do you really think he wants us to 'explain' and just listen to a few words from us?"
"What he wants is our attitude, our sincerity, everything we have!"
Mei Terumi's gaze swept over everyone present, her voice becoming extremely solemn.
"You've all seen the fate of Kumogakure. They paid the price of war with their blood and their future. And we, the 'spectators,' must also pay a fair price for our inaction."
He was a greedy tyrant who devoured the entire world! But he was also the only god capable of ending this chaotic era!
"I will personally carry this 'sincerity' to the Moon Palace Kirigakure. This is our only chance to survive in this new era."
Mei Terumi's gaze pierced through time and space, as if she saw that figure sitting on the throne of the stars.
"Now, I only hope that the 'ticket' we've prepared will satisfy that god."
"After all, nobody knows if we anger him, and our Land of Water might be the next to disappear from the map."