What did you say? The Daimyo of the Land of Earth abdicated?
In the Hokage's office, Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly stood up from his seat. The sudden movement knocked over a teacup on the table, spilling scalding tea all over the floor, but he was completely unaware.
Opposite him, an Anbu Ninja in charge of intelligence knelt on one knee, his head bowed low, his voice trembling with fear. "Reporting to the Third Hokage, the news is absolutely true! Three days ago, the Daimyo of the Land of Earth held an abdication ceremony in the capital, surrendering all sovereignty, land, and army of the Land of Earth to Uchiha Gen'yō! And bestowing upon him the title of Duke of Divine Might!"
boom!
This news struck like a thunderbolt from the heavens, hitting the three highest-ranking officials in Konoha in the office hard on the head.
The once sharp-tongued face of Utatane Koharu Duke of Divine Might, was now completely drained of color. She slumped into a chair, her lips trembling, muttering to herself, "That's a title reserved for the founding monarch of the Land of Earth. He Uchiha Gen'yō, became the legitimate ruler of a great nation?"
"This is impossible! This is absolutely impossible!" Mitokado Homura waved his arms excitedly, his old face flushed red. "Has that old man Ōnoki gone mad? He's the Third Tsuchikage! How could he do something so stupid as to dig his own grave? Handing over the entire country to someone else?"
"Foolish thing?" Hiruzen Sarutobi a bitter laugh, a laugh filled with endless sorrow and regret.
He slumped back into his chair, feeling as if all his strength had been drained away.
The pipe slipped from his hand and fell onto the carpet; he didn't even have the strength to pick it up.
No, Yan. It's not Ōnoki's gone mad, it's us. Hiruzen Sarutobi slowly closed his eyes, his wrinkled face contorted with pain.
He seemed to see the cold look in Uchiha Gen'yō's eyes when he led his entire clan away from Konoha five years ago.
He seemed to hear Uchiha Gen'yō's divine pronouncement as he Danzo in front of the entire world above Konoha.
Each scene, each incident, was like a poisoned dagger, stabbing viciously into his heart.
Regret. Endless regret, like the most ferocious venomous snake, frantically gnawed at his internal organs.
If he hadn't listened to Danzo's slander and hadn't condoned the suppression and surveillance of the Uchiha clan, if he had shown even a little courage and chosen to trust and accept them, would the man who established Divine Kingdom, mass-produced divine weapons, and was revered as the Duke of Divine Might by a great nation still be Uchiha of Konoha? Would the Amaterasu First Military Factory, capable of making the entire Shinobi World tremble, have been built in the back mountains of Konoha?
"We pushed him out ourselves." Hiruzen Sarutobi's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing together. "We treated him as a threat, a cancer, and tried every means to ostracize and scheme against him. But what about Ōnoki? That old fox Ōnoki saw things more clearly than we did! He knew that against such power, resistance would only lead to death! So he chose to kneel! He knelt, and that's why he preserved Iwagakure, and even managed to ride the coattails of the Divine Kingdom!"
And what about us? What have we gained? Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly opened his eyes, his bloodshot pupils fixed on the two advisors. "We've lost the Uchiha, lost the strongest Kekkei Genkai! We've lost the trust of the Land of Fire, lost the support of the Daimyo! We watched helplessly as he built a vast empire that we couldn't even look up to! And we're like three hyenas guarding a pile of rotting flesh, waiting to die!"
These words left Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura speechless, their faces turning pale and then red.
They knew it all too well. They regretted it too.
Konoha's finances are now on the verge of collapse. With the Konoha Military Police Force gone, the village's security is in chaos. There's a lack of top-tier fighters, and they don't even dare to take on a decent S-rank mission anymore.
With this shift in power, Konoha today is probably not even a strong ant compared to the Uchiha Divine Kingdom.
"Third Hokage!" Just as the atmosphere in the office was about to explode with tension, the Anbu who had been kneeling in the corner and had previously suggested contacting Akatsuki spoke again, his voice hoarse but firm, "Things aren't over yet! Uchiha Gen'yō's biggest weakness right now is that floating city that requires a massive amount of energy to support it! If we destroy it, the Divine Kingdom will fall from the sky!"
Pain, the leader of the Akatsuki, possessed the Rinnegan, and his Chibaku Tensei might be the only power capable of accomplishing this!
"Shut up!" Hiruzen Sarutobi like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, and shouted angrily, "Cooperating with an S-rank missing-nin organization? Do you want to destroy the last shred of Konoha's dignity?"
"Face?" Utatane Koharu laughed shrilly, a laugh that sounded like crying. " Hiruzen, do we still have any face? Our face was torn to shreds the day Uchiha Gen'yō left, stepping over Danzo's corpse, and thrown on the ground to be trampled on!"
Now, what we need is not face, but survival! Mitokado Homura also stood up, his eyes sinister, "As long as we can destroy the foundation of the Uchiha, any price is worth paying!"
You... Hiruzen Sarutobi trembled with rage.
Just then, a messenger ninja rushed in in a panic, forgetting to even knock on the door.
Lord Hokage! Something terrible has happened! Delegations from the Land of Wind, the Land of Water, the Land of Grass, and more than a dozen other small countries have bypassed us and sent people directly to the Uchiha Sacred Land Divine Kingdom Alliance!
What?
This news became the final straw that broke the camel's back.
I've been completely isolated.
Konoha, once the largest village in the Shinobi World, was completely abandoned by the entire world like a plague after Uchiha Gen'yō established his Divine Kingdom.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's body swayed violently, and he instinctively looked at the empty seat by the wall.
That was the spot that once belonged to Danzo.
An unprecedented sense of powerlessness and despair welled up inside me.
Hiruzen Sarutobi's lips moved silently, as if he were muttering to himself.
Danzo, old friend. Perhaps this time, you are right.
To protect this great tree, some roots do indeed need to be stained with the dirtiest soil, even if it means making a deal with the devil.
His eyes changed completely at that moment.
What was burning within was no longer the gentle Will of Fire, but a dark flame mixed with madness, jealousy, and a desire for destruction!