Land of Iron, Five Kage Summit.
Outside, the wind and snow howled, but inside the highest conference room, the meeting devolved into mutual accusations.
The mighty Kage, at the summit, were now just blaming each other.
"Hokage, you sure are arrogant! Do you think Konoha can step on us just because you have Wood Release and Mangekyo now? This isn't the era of Hashirama, and we're not who we used to be!"
"Then bring it on!"
Tsunade's dominant attitude made Onoki suspicious.
The summit was more about probing Konoha's current strength than anything else. Was their Wood Release as strong as Hashirama's, or just a diluted version?
"Akatsuki is destroying peace. What do the Hokage and Mizukage think?"
Onoki, sly as ever, smiled falsely, clearly aligning with the Cloud while worrying inwardly.
The alliance between Konoha and the Mist was obvious, with the Sand close to Konoha as well!
Tsunade smiled, fingers laced under her chin.
"Konoha longs for peace. If Akatsuki comes, Konoha and the Mist will make them understand the might of the Five Great Ninja Villages."
Her fingers, painted red, snapped crisply, making Onoki freeze up.
Tsunade looked at the old man playfully—testing each other, as expected.
The Five Great Villages' power dynamics had shifted. Konoha had declined, but with new Wood Release and Mangekyo users, they had regained strength.
Ninja villages don't settle things with civility but with fists!
Onoki laughed dryly but cursed inwardly—damn these young people for bullying an old man.
If only Stone had one or two geniuses, he wouldn't have to endure this.
Boom!
The Raikage smashed his desk, glaring.
"Kumogakure will not back down! Akatsuki is the enemy of the entire ninja world!"
He might act brash, but he was sharp enough to steer the conversation back to Akatsuki.
"Oh? Seems I came at the wrong time."
Suddenly, a figure wrapped in plants appeared in the center of the U-shaped table, laughing mockingly.
White Zetsu's clone!
Akatsuki had appeared at the summit. The Kage's bodyguards instantly positioned themselves to protect their leaders.
"Akatsuki!"
Raikage A roared in fury—his village's Two-Tails and Eight-Tails had been captured.
Especially his brother!
"Damn you! Give Killer Bee back!"
Crash!
Lightning flashed as Raikage A grabbed White Zetsu by the throat.
"If you hurt Killer Bee, I'll never forgive you!"
But White Zetsu, unfazed, grinned maliciously.
"You mean the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki? He's probably downstairs right now."
Another crash shook the room—it was clear an attack had begun.
One of the Raikage's bodyguards, the sensor ninja C, cried,
"Raikage-sama, I sense Killer Bee's chakra below!"
Crack!
Raikage A crushed White Zetsu's neck and, without waiting, broke through the wall,
"Lead the way! I'll save Killer Bee myself!"
The Cloud's bodyguards immediately followed.
Back in the conference room, everyone was stunned.
Onoki looked at the lifeless White Zetsu, cursing,
"That idiot! How could he kill the enemy?"
"No! Something's wrong!" Ao from the Mist said gravely,
"That chakra isn't right!"
At that moment, an armored samurai burst in,
"General Mifune, it's bad! Akatsuki has summoned enemies with Edo Tensei. They're attacking!"
What!
Now everyone understood—they were facing enemies resurrected with Edo Tensei.
All eyes turned to Tsunade.
Her painted fingernails clenched into a fist, smile gone.
"Edo Tensei... Looks like Akatsuki is more dangerous than we thought. Orochimaru had warned us his forbidden technique was stolen."
Akatsuki's intel just kept coming.
After Sasuke killed Orochimaru, Kabuto took over his research and was then captured by Zetsu. All that knowledge now belonged to Obito.
"So, the Raikage will be facing a resurrected Killer Bee under enemy control?"
Gaara said grimly.
He was lucky to have survived having his beast extracted, but not everyone would be.
"Oh? Aside from the Raikage, you're all still here."
Suddenly, in a swirl of space, Masked Obito appeared, taunting everyone.
"Akatsuki!"
"The mysterious man!"
Just as everyone was about to react, their faces changed in shock.
"No! Something is absorbing our chakra!"
White spores began to emerge from their bodies, like cotton candy.
"That's—just now—Akatsuki's..."
Mei Terumi realized—the spores were from the White Zetsu killed earlier.
The Spore Technique—the spores cannot be detected before activation, then grow rapidly, draining the chakra and feeding it to others.
Chaos erupted, but all present were experienced ninjas.
Each used their methods to remove the spores: Stone's ninja spat out a clay giant to swallow the Zetsu; Gaara's sand crushed it.
Meanwhile, none of Konoha's ninjas were affected.
Shirou and Hikari sat calmly behind Tsunade.
"Tch."
Mei Terumi snorted, dissolving the creature with acidic mist.
With the sudden turn of events, Masked Man now revealed both a Mangekyo and a Rinnegan, staring at Uchiha Shirou.
"This place is surrounded by my Edo Tensei army. I want you to return what you stole from me!"
Such a grand display—just for a corpse girl.
Shirou scoffed,
"All this, just for a woman? And a corpse at that!"
"Shut up!"
Hearing him mention Rin, Obito's expression darkened, then twisted into a cold smile.
It seemed ridiculous, but Shirou only sighed—this was just like a Uchiha.
Sasuke was reckless, too. Why not wait and ambush after the summit, instead of attacking head-on?
Obito, unfazed, sat on the high wooden platform, sneering at Shirou.
"You call Akatsuki a terrorist group? You have no idea how angry that makes me! Everything Akatsuki does is for peace!"
"The Five Great Ninja Villages wage endless wars, using small countries as their battlegrounds. The world lives in pain..."
Suddenly, he became passionate,
"We're gathering the Tailed Beasts to create the ultimate weapon, to make the world tremble, so no one dares start wars again! That's the peace the ninja world needs!"
After his speech, Shirou frowned—this guy was unhinged after losing Rin.
Kankuro scoffed,
"What nonsense! What right does your evil Akatsuki have to bring peace?"
"How could we entrust the world to you?"
As everyone voiced their anger, Obito's eyes were full of mockery.
"You Five Kage speak of peace, but bring only disaster. Now you blame others."
Obito coldly dismissed their arguments.
Suddenly, the usually quiet Hikari spoke up,
"If Akatsuki truly seeks peace, why not give your ultimate weapon to Lord Shirou? That's his dream too."
"You claim to champion peace, but Lord Shirou has worked for it all his life. With such a weapon, even fewer would die."
To her, helping Shirou achieve his dream meant she could stay by his side.
Obito was surprised—he didn't even know who she was but sneered anyway.
As Hikari was about to speak again, Shirou smiled, patting her hand, and taunted Obito,
"It's pointless to reason with someone like him. The clan raised him, gave him a home, and ninja training, and never let him starve or abused him. Yet he slaughtered them all and now preaches about peace. Isn't that right, Uchiha Obito?"
"What?! Uchiha Obito?"
A strange name echoed. Onoki, Gaara, Mei, and their guards were all shocked.
They searched their memories but found nothing.
Who was Uchiha Obito?
Though he died as a hero in the Third War, so many heroes had fallen that everyone had forgotten him—let alone a mere Uchiha.
But behind the mask, Obito's eyes shook—he was thinking of Rin. He stared at Shirou, knowing his secret was out.
His rage boiled over.
He lifted his head, Mangekyo and Rinnegan shining,
"Fine! Anyone who doesn't want to die, leave now. Gather your ninja—I'll flatten the world! But Konoha—especially you, Uchiha Shirou! Give Rin back or this will be your grave!"
Boom!
Obito erupted with terrifying power.
He was here for one thing: to kill Shirou and reclaim Rin.
"Leave me here? Just with a few Edo Tensei corpses?"
Shirou scoffed, sensing Onoki's scheming—he wanted to use this to gather intel on Konoha.
"Or do you think your 100,000 White Zetsu, grown from First Hokage's cells, can conquer the world?"
Tsunade also scoffed, revealing Akatsuki's true power to the other villages.
The 100,000 White Zetsu army was a real threat to them all.
Let Akatsuki wear everyone down, and then seize the opportunity to unify the world!