Dead silence.
All of Iwagakure, including the half-destroyed conference room, fell into suffocating silence that lasted for dozens of seconds.
No one dared speak.
No one dared move.
Everyone stared blankly out the window at the "Susanoo-Clad Kurama" towering between heaven and earth like a creator god.
Their thoughts, their understanding, their common sense-all were shattered by a power beyond the limits of imagination!
Wood Release?
Wasn't that the divine power that belonged solely to the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju?
Why had it appeared in an Uchiha Clan Head?!
A combination of Susanoo and Sage Art: Wood Release: True Several Thousand Hands?!
How could these two powers, which should have been mortal enemies, merge so perfectly?!
A monster!
No!
Not even "monster" could describe this anymore!
This was a god!
A living god who possessed the power to create and destroy the world!
Inside the conference room.
Head Elder Ishikawa lay collapsed on the floor, his entire body trembling violently as a foul-smelling liquid slowly seeped from his crotch.
Not a trace of his earlier ambition or viciousness remained on his shriveled old face, only utter terror and regret, as though he had seen a ghost!
Just what kind of being had he provoked?!
The political maneuvering he took such pride in, the schemes he had so carefully planned, were as fragile as a childish joke before this towering god!
"I... I..."
Ishikawa's lips quivered as he tried to say something.
Was he going to beg for mercy? Or defend himself?
He didn't know.
His mind had gone completely blank.
"It seems no one has any objections."
Uchiha Gen'yō nodded in satisfaction at the sight.
He slowly raised his hand.
Outside the window, the enormous Buddha statue, powerful enough to destroy all of Iwagakure, simultaneously raised one of its thousand-plus arms.
That immense hand, blotting out the sky, slowly descended toward the Tsuchikage Building!
"No! Don't!"
"Spare us, Lord Gen'yō!"
"We were wrong! We'll never dare do it again!"
At the sight, the Iwagakure elders' last psychological defenses crumbled completely!
They screamed and wailed, scrambling across the floor on all fours, trying to escape the shadow of death.
However.
The enormous hand did not slam down as they had imagined.
It merely settled gently on the roof of the Tsuchikage Building, completely covering the damaged dome.
Then its five mountainlike fingers slowly curled inward.
They enclosed the entire conference room, along with everyone inside, within its palm.
Darkness descended instantly.
But with it came a gentle surge of Wood Release chakra, brimming with immense vitality.
Nourished by that chakra, the walls and ceiling smashed by Susanoo actually began to grow and repair themselves at a rate visible to the naked eye!
Within just a few breaths, the conference room, previously a complete wreck, returned to its original state.
It was as though everything that had just happened had been an illusion.
Only the glaring pool of blood on the floor and the Kumogakure envoy, who had passed out from pain while clutching his severed arm, proved just how real it had all been.
This godlike display of control terrified the elders even more than simple destruction!
Creating the world with a wave of his hand, destroying it with a turn of his palm!
This was the true bearing of a god!
"All right, the conference room is repaired now."
Uchiha Gen'yō's voice rang out again.
"We can continue our earlier discussion."
"Regarding the alliance between our Uchiha Clan and your village, I imagine no one objects now?"
"No! We wouldn't dare! We wouldn't dare!"
Head Elder Ishikawa was the first to react. He scrambled over to kneel before Gen'yō and kowtowed frantically, his forehead striking the hard stone tiles with repeated thuds.
"It is our greatest honor for Iwagakure to form an alliance with the great Uchiha Clan!"
"From this day forward, I, Ishikawa, and our Council of Elders will follow Lord Gen'yō's every command!"
"Yes, yes! We'll all do as Lord Gen'yō says!"
The other elders hurried to follow his example, kneeling on the floor and expressing their submission in the most abject manner.
Dignity? Power?
In the face of an absolute fear of death, they were all bullshit!
Just then.
Whoosh!
An elderly figure, radiating anxiety and unease, suddenly rushed in through the window.
It was none other than the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, who had just dealt with the unrest in the village and hurried back!
When he saw the bizarre scene in the conference room, he froze on the spot.
What was he looking at?
The members of the Council of Elders, usually so haughty that even he had to defer to them, were now all kneeling on the floor like lapdogs, worshipping a young man?
And a half-dead ninja in Kumogakure attire lay on the floor?
What... what on earth had happened?!
"Father!"
Upon seeing Ōnoki, Kitsuchi hurried forward and summarized everything that had just happened as quickly as he could.
After hearing Kitsuchi's account, Ōnoki swayed violently, nearly falling out of the air.
Cold sweat instantly drenched his back!
Susanoo-Clad Kurama?!
That madman!
He had actually brought something that existed only in myths and legends into reality?!
And right in the center of Iwagakure?!
As Ōnoki looked at Uchiha Gen'yō, whose expression remained as calm and unruffled as ever, he felt both lingering fear and relief.
Thank goodness!
Thank goodness he had made the wisest choice back then!
Otherwise, Iwagakure would probably already have become a gigantic crater like the one outside Konoha!
"Lord Gen'yō..."
Ōnoki took a deep breath, composed himself, and flew over to Gen'yō, bowing deeply before him.
"My failure to keep them in line allowed these shortsighted fools to offend you. I am willing to bear full responsibility. Please quell your anger!"
He knew very well that the only person who could appease this god's wrath now was him, the Tsuchikage.
"Lord Tsuchikage, you're being too serious."
Uchiha Gen'yō smiled and personally helped him straighten up.
"I'm not angry."
"Quite the opposite. I ought to thank them."
"They saved me the trouble of persuading you one by one."
He patted Ōnoki's shoulder, and his smile grew meaningful.
"But since they were so enthusiastic about helping me solve the problem..."
"I think, for the sake of our closer cooperation in the future, shouldn't Iwagakure's internal structure also be 'optimized' a little?"
Ōnoki's heart jolted!
He knew the real point had arrived!
After demonstrating absolute military might, Uchiha Gen'yō was finally going to demand his rightful reward!
"Please tell me what you have in mind!" Ōnoki adopted an exceedingly humble attitude.
"It's simple."
Uchiha Gen'yō's gaze swept over the elders still trembling on the floor.
"I think Iwagakure's Council of Elders has too many people and too many conflicting voices."
"A healthy village only needs one voice."
Though his words were tactful, their meaning made Ōnoki's pupils contract sharply!
Was he going to... abolish the Council of Elders entirely?!
This was an institution of power that had been passed down in Iwagakure for centuries!
"Of course, I'm a very democratic person."
Uchiha Gen'yō seemed to see through Ōnoki's concerns, and his smile grew even warmer.
"I've decided to retain the Council of Elders as an institution."
"However, from today onward, the appointment and dismissal of every member of the council, and whether any resolution passes..."
He paused, then spoke the words that made even Ōnoki's soul tremble, in an unquestionable, godlike tone.
"Will be up to me."
"Do you have any objections, Lord Tsuchikage?"