As ti passed, incidents of "monsters attacking civilians" began to appear one after another across the ninja world.
---
Land of Fire, Konohagakure.
"Hokage-sama, all unidentified creatures responsible for the disturbance have been dealt with."
"What about the damage?"
"Only so civilians were injured or killed. At the ti of the incident, Jōnin Hatake Kakashi and Might Guy happened to be dining nearby and rushed to the scene imdiately. Not long after, reinforcent units arrived, and the cleanup was completed smoothly. Only a very small number of combat personnel suffered minor injuries."
The elderly man, dressed in the Hokage's robes with a pipe clenched between his lips, relaxed his expression slightly before issuing his orders in a firm, unquestionable tone.
"All civilian compensation is to be distributed at double the standard rate. Any houses damaged during the fighting are to be rebuilt imdiately—send people to take care of it at once."
"Yes!"
As soon as the words fell, the ANBU ninja kneeling on one knee—wearing an animal mask—vanished in an instant.
Imdiately afterward, knocking sounded at the door, as if the old man inside wasn't ant to have even a mont of rest.
"Enter."
"Hokage-sama, several more cases of 'monsters attacking civilians' have occurred within the Land of Fire. They're requesting that we dispatch personnel to handle the situation."
The old man frowned slightly and took a silent puff from his pipe. "The people we sent to investigate earlier—have they returned yet?"
"Not yet. However, they've already sent back the intelligence gathered so far."
The old man took the translated coded report and began reading.
Gradually, displeasure surfaced on his face and slamd on the desk.
Bang!
"They've been investigating for so many days, and this is all they send back to brush off?"
"These unidentified creatures are appearing all over the ninja world, attacking civilians—and today it even happened inside Konoha itself! So many villagers were killed or injured. What am I supposed to tell them?!"
"With this? With nothing but 'unknown,' 'don't know,' 'unclear,' and 'uncertain' written all over this report?! Huh?!"
"Send more manpower imdiately. I want to know exactly what these 'monsters' are, how they appeared, and whether this is coincidence or human-made…"
"Don't co back to report until it's been thoroughly investigated!"
The reporting ninja didn't even dare breathe loudly, responding repeatedly. As he was about to leave, he hesitated for a mont before asking, "Then… should we dispatch people to the various regions requesting assistance?"
"Prioritize missions that have already been officially registered. After that, allocate personnel based on proximity and threat level. Mobilize every available idle hand in the village."
"Yes, Hokage-sama."
Sarutobi Hiruzen had no real choice.
With limited manpower, they could only prioritize places that could still be saved—those nearby, those that had registered missions and paid…
As for the rest, there was little he could do.
Everything would have to wait until the truth was uncovered.
If they could find the source of these unidentified creatures, things would be much easier…
"Sigh… troubled tis indeed."
Sarutobi Hiruzen stood up and looked out the window, feeling as though he had aged even more.
In truth, Konoha's response was already swift and humane.
Compared to them, the other major ninja villages had suffered far greater losses.
---
Land of Lightning, Kumogakure.
The burly, imposing Raikage issued his orders without hesitation.
"Send out every person who can still move. Kill every last one of those freaks!"
"If necessary, take Bee with you. I don't care what those things are or who's behind them—I only want results."
The man reporting wiped cold sweat from his brow. "But if we send everyone out, the village's defensive strength will be greatly reduced—"
"Hmph!"
Before he could finish, the Raikage cut him off. "With stationed here, who would dare co and seek death?!"
"Y-Yes…"
---
Land of Earth, Iwagakure.
"Tsuchikage-sama, are we really going to remain inactive? Civilian casualties have been rising day by day."
Ōnoki, dressed like a small, elderly man, wore a puzzled expression.
Could it be that he had guessed wrong?
These unidentified creatures that appeared so suddenly—were they really not so sche cooked up by the other ninja villages?
He had spent days "fishing," yet failed to draw out any mastermind behind the scenes.
To be safe, he should have waited a few more days.
But just as his subordinate said, his continued cold indifference had already stirred dissatisfaction among many people in private.
If he kept sitting still, he feared the fish wouldn't be caught—but public resentnt would erupt first.
With no other choice, Ōnoki suppressed the doubts in his heart and issued a new order.
"Have Kurotsuchi—no, have Huangtu lead a team into action. Prioritize rescuing people. If they encounter a situation they can't handle, retreat imdiately. Any suspicious or abnormal findings must be reported to at once."
"Yes, Tsuchikage-sama!"
Hearing that the Tsuchikage had finally changed his mind, the subordinate left happily.
Ōnoki wasn't angry at all.
After all, those who didn't sit in his position could never truly understand his thoughts or decisions.
If this was an enemy's plot, what would happen if he sent out most of the village's forces and the enemy suddenly attacked the village?
No matter how small that possibility was, as Tsuchikage, he had to consider it.
Being cautious—wasn't a bad thing.
---
Land of Wind, Sunagakure.
"Everyone, I believe that for Sunagakure, this incident is both a crisis and an opportunity!"
At the eting, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, spoke passionately, the ambition in his eyes completely undisguised.
The Land of Wind was simply too poor.
So poor that he—one of the Five Kage—had to refine gold dust every single day just to exchange it for money to fund the village's operations.
Among all the Kage throughout history, none had lived more miserably than him.
His greatest wish was to make Sunagakure wealthy and powerful, to free himself from the title of a re "tool Kage," and to stop living like a laborer extracting gold sand day in and day out.
In the past, he had seen no opportunity.
But now, things were different.
Others only saw the danger posed by these unidentified creatures.
He alone saw opportunity—saw the coming transformation of the world.
Bang!
Rasa slamd both hands onto the table. "I propose the imdiate establishnt of a new departnt. Concentrate all remaining resources to capture and research these new lifeforms!"
"Attempt to enslave them—convert them!"
"We've already found ways to utilize the power of the Tailed Beasts. Why can't we make use of other forms of power?"
"Even if we take ten thousand steps back—if all we gain is a new direction for creating puppets, it would still greatly enhance our military strength!"
There was one thing Rasa didn't say out loud.
If the plan didn't go smoothly, he could even accept cooperating with the other side—if that 'other side' truly existed and possessed intelligence comparable to humans.
After all, most of the Land of Wind was nothing but worthless desert.
He didn't care.
Before long, the majority of attendees were persuaded by Rasa.
A vote was held.
Motion passed.
---
Land of Water, Kirigakure.
"Lady i, you can't go!"
"There's no need to persuade further. With Elder Yagura—no, with Ao—no, with Gen'yūshi stationed here, things will be fine even without ."
"But… but you're the Mizukage! How can you personally do sothing like this?"
The stunning, mature i Terumi pushed the door open indifferently. "If I can't even protect my own people, then what kind of Mizukage am I? Tell Elder Gen'yūshi—if sothing happens to , choose another Mizukage. I'm only an acting Mizukage anyway."
"Ah… th-this…"
For various reasons, Kirigakure had declined severely.
Even though the internal strife had largely subsided, the ss left behind couldn't be cleaned up so easily—it would take years just to catch their breath.
As a result, Kirigakure now had very limited manpower that could actually be mobilized.
So when large-scale "monster attacks" began occurring, Kirigakure's response could only be described as stretched to the breaking point.
Left with no alternatives, the Mizukage herself chose to enter the fray.
---
The Five Great Ninja Villages.
Five Kage.
Each made what they believed to be the best possible decision.
And with that—
the curtain rose on a brand-new chapter of the ninja world.
Reviews
All reviews (0)