"This is just proof."
Neiki waved the remote control in his hand toward the surrounding Konoha ninjas, a slight smile on his face.
The remote had three red buttons.
Just now, as the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived with Konoha reinforcents, Neiki had pressed the first button in front of everyone.
Even from this distance, they could all see the massive flas and hear the booming explosion from the village.
"This proves that I indeed have sothing in my grasp, and you have to obey."
As Neiki's words fell, the atmosphere grew chaotic. Everyone, including the Third Hokage, displayed extre grimness.
"Neiki! Do you know what you're doing?!"
"Put that thing down, put it down now!!"
"Do you even deserve to be a ninja? Why hurt so many innocent Konoha civilians?"
So cursed, so pleaded, so tried to distract Neiki, so tried to surprise him, while others, worried about family and friends, wanted to return to evacuate the villagers. The scene was noisy, but no one dared to act rashly.
"Don't send ssages, don't do anything unnecessary, don't make this unpleasant for everyone," Neiki warned, glancing around at everyone.
The commotion imdiately ceased when he touched the second button, as if everyone feared provoking the madman.
So, with Neiki at the center, over thirty people gathered in the forest, and only the starlight and the wind moved between them.
"Put down the remote and return to Konoha to face judgnt, Neiki!" Hiruzen Sarutobi urged, his voice laced with disappointnt and anger.
"Is that your negotiating attitude?" Neiki's face turned cold. Did this old man understand the situation?
There shouldn't be many people in the Hokage building apart from the guarding Anbu. The number of civilian casualties from the explosion wouldn't compare to the Uchiha rebellion earlier today. Apart from the direct blast and the collapse of the building, the explosive tags hidden in the walls or ground wouldn't pose much threat to the ninjas. The biggest loss would be the docunts and archives in the building.
But as Neiki said, the first explosion proved that he had arrangents in Konoha.
Two buttons remained unpressed on the remote. The first was the Hokage building, so what would the second be?
The busiest ninja hospital or the ninja academy serving as a temporary shelter?
After the Uchiha rebellion and the Nine-Tails incident, the people of Konoha, who had just cald down, would start panicking again.
"Could Neiki be bluffing?" Hiruzen asked Shikaku in a low voice, staring at the remote.
"It's likely…" Shikaku could only make this judgnt with limited information.
They didn't know how Neiki had planted those explosive tags in the Hokage building, but Shikaku guessed it was likely a pre-planned escape asure before the rebellion.
Judging by Neiki's age and inco, he couldn't have planted too many explosive tags. The cost and manufacturing of explosive tags were high, and without the resources of an entire ninja village, tens of thousands of explosive tags would be the limit for soone of Neiki's strength.
The thunderous explosion in the Hokage building likely used up all of Neiki's stockpile. The remaining two buttons on the remote seed more like a bluff.
But could Konoha afford to bet on that?
Bet that the remaining buttons were just a bluff?
Seeing the hesitation on Hiruzen's face, Shikaku shook his head.
Compared to the potential loss of lives and property in Konoha if the buttons were pressed, the hatred towards Neiki and the necessity to capture him paled in comparison.
This was sothing that everyone present, including Shikaku, could easily weigh.
"Is there really… no way?" Kakashi's voice was unsteady.
He hadn't expected Neiki to have such a trump card. He thought Neiki would be taken down once Konoha's reinforcents arrived. But who would have thought that while they were waiting for reinforcents, Neiki was waiting too?
Neiki didn't bring out the remote when he t Kakashi because he didn't see Kakashi as having the authority to negotiate with him. He waited for the Hokage, who had the authority and capability to et his demands.
There was still a way… Shikaku's eyes flickered.
Both possible solutions were directly controlling Neiki or destroying the remote before he could press the button.
In the shadows, sothing seed to be moving.
Neiki noticed it, glancing at the bushes, then smirked.
"The shadow of the Nara clan…"
Shikaku's heart sank.
Byakugan…
Neiki shook his head and casually pressed the second button in front of everyone.
Boom—
Another explosion echoed from the village.
"Didn't I say not to do anything unnecessary?"
Neiki's casual tone was like changing the channel on TV.
For a mont, everyone fell silent, staring in shock at the direction of the rising flas.
This explosion was even louder than the previous one, making it impossible to tell how many might have died.
"It's the Inuzuka clan compound!" soone identified the explosion site.
"—Bastard!!"
A ninja from the Inuzuka clan drew his sword, roaring and charging at Neiki, but his comrades held him back.
"Rember, bla the Nara clan for this ss," Neiki pointed at the Nara ninja who had stepped out of the shadows, reminding the Inuzuka ninja.
"You… die!" The Inuzuka ninja showed signs of going berserk.
The explosion in the Inuzuka compound caught everyone off guard. The skill required to plant explosive tags in such a sensory-focused clan was terrifying.
Realizing their compounds might also be rigged, and many ninjas looked grim.
"Hokage-sama, there's only one button left on that remote…" Kakashi reminded.
The ninjas around him started to regain their senses.
To them, this last button was almost certainly a bluff. The previous explosions likely used up all of Neiki's stockpile. How could he have more?
Yes… Neiki had only one thing left to threaten them, and it was likely a bluff…
Licking their lips, so began to show fierce expressions.
Sensing their rising aggression, Neiki raised an eyebrow and said, "Ah?" and then pressed the last button on the remote without hesitation.
Another explosion rocked the village.
There was no ti to mourn the victims; almost every Konoha ninja drew swords, ready to tear Neiki apart.
But in the next second, they saw Neiki toss the remote aside and calmly pull out an identical one from behind him.
Everyone, including Shikaku, froze.
…There's another one?
Neiki fiddled with the remote, seemingly pleased with the expressions around him. He smiled and said:
"I'll repeat this one last ti."
"Don't send ssages."
"Don't do anything unnecessary."
"Don't make this unpleasant for everyone."
Seeing no one respond, he nodded:
"Good, now we can finally communicate normally."
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