At the Chūnin Exam venue, nearly a hundred thousand spectators were still not over the shocking battle scene they had just witnessed.
No one expected the power of the ninja to reach a level akin to gods and demons, capable of changing the world.
The once vast Forest of Death had already disappeared under the aftermath of the great battle.
At this moment, Tsunade watched this scene, especially the Third Hokage's unregretful appearance at his death, and couldn't help but shake her head slightly.
"Daimyo First Hokage, reality has proven that your peace ideology was wrong!"
At this moment, Uchiha Yoru looked indifferently at the First Hokage, without a hint of subtlety, while Tsunade, standing beside him, glared at him.
But Hashirama just gave an awkward smile, "It seems so. After all, after Madara and I left, by what you all say, the ninja wars are still ongoing."
Although Hashirama still had his usual enthusiastic and straightforward demeanor, the loss in his eyes couldn't be hidden. After all, this was the goal he had pursued all his life, and now reality told him it was wrong.
"Hmph!"
Madara, standing beside him, snorted coldly. After all, it was because of this ideology that Hashirama had stabbed him, a grudge he still remembered.
At this moment, Tsunade sighed, looking at the vast lands affected by the war, and then clapped her hands loudly.
"Wood Release: Advent of a World of Flowering Trees!"
Instantly, the ground trembled, and countless trees and vines sprung up like bamboo shoots after a rain.
In an instant!
At the Chūnin Exam venue, the ninjas swallowed their saliva in shock. With one Wood Release technique, the Forest of Death was restored!
"Haha, Little Tsuna, your Wood Release technique is not bad."
Seeing Tsunade's Wood Release, Hashirama couldn't help but laugh heartily. He felt like he had a successor now.
A thick tree branch carried them to the top of the venue.
At this moment, looking at the First Hokage, Second Hokage, and Uchiha Madara, the Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, had a pale face, his pupils still echoing deep fear.
And the usually impulsive Fourth Raikage, A, now had a face ashen with anger, unable to utter a word.
"Prepare to seal the Reanimation."
Just as Tsunade was about to order the sealing of the Reanimated bodies, Uchiha Yoru smiled indifferently and waved his hand to stop it.
"Reanimation can be undone by the caster."
At this moment, Uchiha Yoru's Mangekyō Sharingan glanced over everyone, finally resting on the Third Hokage. This look made Uchiha Madara secretly relieved.
If he were truly sealed, he would be unwilling, perhaps exposing some of his tricks. Fortunately, this youngster knew that the caster of Reanimation could undo it.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen's pupils trembled, turning into the Mangekyō Sharingan, and he began to form hand signs in a dazed state. As he completed the seals, a beam of light emerged from the bodies of the First Hokage Senju Hashirama, Second Hokage Senju Tobirama, and Uchiha Madara.
Simultaneously, their skin began to crumble into pieces, and Hiruzen also broke free from the illusion, collapsing to the ground in despair.
"Grandpa!"
Tears welled up in Tsunade's eyes as she watched her disappearing loved ones.
Meanwhile, Uchiha Yoru, who had walked to the platform of the Five Kage, looked down at everyone with an imposing presence, simultaneously dissolving all protective barriers.
"From now on, I, Uchiha Yoru, declare! The position of the Daimyō is inferior to that of the Kage, equivalent to an advisor! From today, the Land of Fires Daimyō's residence and the Land of Water's Daimyō's residence will be relocated to Konoha!"
Boom!
Uchiha Yoru's command completely trampled the dignity of the Daimyos, shocking countless people, and filled the Daimyos' mansions with fear and dread.
Once, the Daimyos' mansions almost stood above the ninja villages, but now, they have fallen to a position even beneath the Kages of these villages.
At this moment, a group of high officials and nobles stepped forward, led by Kakuyoku Fubuki and others, who respectfully knelt before Uchiha Yoru.
"Snow Village's Daimyo Kakuyoku Fubuki, along with his ministers, kneels in submission!"
At this moment, everyone understood Uchiha Yoru's ambition; he intended to move the Daimyos of the Land of Fire and the Land of Water here, effectively usurping their power.
The Daimyos, once powerful, were now mere puppets under his control. The so-called Daimyo of the Land of Snow made it clear to everyone that the Daimyos were merely his subjects, with no prestigious status to speak of.
Moreover, it was made clear to everyone that the Land of Snow would be annexed into his territory from this day forward.
The people of the Daimyos' mansions turned ashen, realizing that they could no longer resist, especially after witnessing the earth-shattering, godlike power that had just been displayed.
Everyone finally understood that in these years, Kakuyoku Fubuki, the runaway princess, was actually gathering a wave of talented administrators, and had secretly cultivated a group of them.
Behind Kakuyoku Fubuki, among the dense crowd, were many familiar faces, mostly retired ninjas from the Mist and Konoha villages due to injuries, and some younger ones lacking in ninja talent.
So, if the Daimyos obeyed, they would be nothing more than ceremonial advisors; if they didn't obey...
Everyone fell silent, especially the ninjas and Daimyos' envoys from other countries. The Raikage, A, and the Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, were particularly shocked as they looked at Uchiha Yoru.
"You! You actually intend to abolish the existence of the Daimyos!"
But wherever Uchiha Yoru's Mangekyō Sharingan gazed, all the resentment and anger had to be suppressed.
"This chaotic, war-torn world of ninja must change! The Daimyos' mansions, the Kages of the ninja villages, and the many armed forces... A country with so many voices is bound to be chaotic!"
"From now on! I declare that only one voice shall reign in the Land of Fire, the Land of Water, the Land of Snow, and the Land of Wind!"
Boom!
Uchiha Yoru's domineering voice echoed in the sky, and everyone looked at this ambitious and awe-inspiring man with fear.
"Land of Wind! You!"
Ōnoki spoke in horror, but Uchiha Yoru's lips curved into a smile, "The Land of Wind invaded the Land of Fire, sparking a war. From the moment the war began, the Land of Wind lost its reason to exist."
Among the fading figures of the Edo Tensei, Uchiha Madara rarely showed a look of admiration, "Young one, you've done well."
Uchiha Madara then turned to look at the Senju brothers, Hashirama and Tobirama, with a mocking smile, "It seems that whether in family struggles or in ideology, the Uchiha have won!"
Hashirama's expression turned grave as he looked at Uchiha Yoru, who declared the end of the era of the Daimyos' rule, "It seems another war is about to break out in the shinobi world."
"War?" Madara's lips curled into a scornful smile, "Hashirama, war has never ceased. This junior is young, and once he unifies the ninja world, he might maintain peace for fifty or sixty years."
"A brief peace, then!" Hashirama murmured to himself. History had already proven his peace ideology wrong; within just fifty years of his departure, three great wars had swept through the shinobi world.
Compared to that, Uchiha Yoru instigated a great ninja war but managed to maintain peace for fifty to sixty years. On closer calculation, one ninja war in exchange for at least fifty years of peace seems like a good deal.
Beside him, Tobirama's face was ashen. He never saw such grandeur in so-called ninja world peace. What he saw was the decline of the Senju clan of Konoha, all caused by his own hands.
Now Uchiha has actually taken control of Konoha!
"Evil Uchiha, the ninja world will only bring war because of you, and Konoha will once again enter the flames of war because of you!"
Hiruzen coughed up blood in his weakness, his face still showing a hint of madness.
"Temporary peace? Lord First Hokage, are you talking about the fragile and brief nature of life?"
Just then, a familiar hoarse laugh emerged beside everyone. Orochimaru's figure slowly rose from the ground, licking his lips with his tongue, his snake-like eyes full of strangeness.
"The battle just now was spectacular."
It turns out Orochimaru had arrived earlier, even hiding in the dark to watch the battle, but he showed himself after the First Hokage spoke.
"Orochimaru!"
The weakened Hiruzen, upon seeing Orochimaru's familiar figure, couldn't help but show a complex expression.
The First Hokage, however, felt the mocking look in the eyes of his snake-like junior and showed a puzzled look, "Junior, what do you mean?"
Orochimaru's hoarse laugh said: "If ninjas can have power like gods, why can't they have the immortal lifespan of gods in legend?"
"Orochimaru, you! You actually researched forbidden techniques, you are unrepentant…"
Hiruzen instantly understood something. He resentfully glared at Uchiha Yoru, fearing that if this man developed a technique to extend lifespan, Konoha might never escape the evil control of the Uchiha.
"As a teacher of ninja techniques, you are too narrow-minded, self-proclaiming as just. But my research on evil forbidden techniques, aren't they all left by the village? Even by your teacher, the Second Hokage…"
At this moment, Orochimaru looked at his former teacher Hiruzen, who was so pale and powerless in his final moments, a tear involuntarily fell from his eye.
However, at this time, Hiruzen was too weak to speak, continuously coughing up fresh blood, completely out of anger.
The Second Hokage Tobirama squinted his eyes, staring at his snake-like junior.
"Haha, forget it Tobirama, we are already dead, and moreover, this junior's pursuit is also a concept of peace, perhaps his direction is stronger than mine."
Perhaps due to the reincarnation of Ashura and Indra's chakra, the impact on Hashirama and Madara was significantly reduced.
Especially Hashirama, who laughed openly. His path had already proven everything. While he was alive, under the deterrence of his immense power, there was peace.
But as soon as he left, war immediately began.
Therefore, he does not think Uchiha Yoru's peace concept is wrong, just that it is based on their experiences.
If Uchiha Yoru lives a few more years, the ninja world will have peace for a few more years, just like in his time.
If the descendants trained can maintain this power, they will also continue the peace.
"Big brother!"
Tobirama snorted coldly in dissatisfaction, remembering this youngster stepping on his skull with an arrogant look.
"Tsk."
At this moment, Uchiha Madara coldly looked at Hashirama, "It was all because you didn't listen to me in the beginning. If we had unified the ninja world, there wouldn't be so many problems now."
"But no matter, let this youngster make his move for now. Once his plan succeeds, the ninja world will achieve true, everlasting peace, not just a temporary one."
Under the Impure World Reincarnation technique, the souls of the three individuals visibly began to depart with the beam of light, while Tsunade watched her loved ones with tearful eyes.
"Hey, hey, brat, make sure you take good care of little Tsuna, and don't let her lose all the family's fortune."
What was supposed to be a touching scene turned comedic with Hashirama's parting words, causing Tsunade to break down and stare with wide eyes.
"This! This is!"
Shocked, Terumī Mei exclaimed, seeing three corpses revealing their true faces. Might Guy, upon seeing this, exclaimed, "They are the elite ninja of the Sarutobi clan."
"No! These three elite ninja!" As Tsunade frowned upon realizing something was amiss, the three lifeless bodies began to move and suddenly turned into a large tree, igniting fury in Tsunade's eyes.
"How dare they! They injected my grandfather's Wood Release cells into these bodies!"
Clearly, to harness the power of these three legendary ninjas, Hiruzen, who performed this Impure World Reincarnation technique, not only chose elite ninja as sacrifices but also injected them with Wood Release cells.
Injecting the Wood Release cells meant the end was predetermined, but the elite ninja's bodies could still hold on for a while, making use of this opportunity to perform the Impure World Reincarnation.
This was also key to why these three legendary ninjas were able to exhibit such terrifying strength.
"Old man, you..."
Jiraiya appeared behind the Third Hokage, Hiruzen, at some point.
But then, Uchiha Yoru coldly said, "You, who claim to be righteous, are doing evil things just like Danzo, the epitome of hypocrisy."
With a fierce swing of the Kusanagi Sword, a streak of light flashed, and under the watchful eyes of many, the symbol of the Konoha, the Hokage Rock with the Third Hokage's face, suddenly shattered.
The statue symbolizing the Third Hokage was directly marked with an 'X'. Seeing this, Hiruzen's face turned red with anger, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
"Evil..."
With regret, Hiruzen slowly closed his eyes, realizing in his last moments that he had failed to eliminate Uchiha and had sacrificed his family's honor.
Watching the Third Hokage, Hiruzen, close his eyes in unwillingness, it was clear that even in his final moments, he failed to recognize his mistakes.
The older he got, the more obstinate he became, especially Hiruzen, who had lost his sense of reality.
Finally, Jiraiya sighed deeply, looking at Uchiha Yoru and said solemnly, "Old man, I will personally take care of his burial."
Jiraiya had just returned from the Sarutobi clan, unsure of what to say at this moment.
The plan to annihilate the clan was a slight modification of the original Uchiha clan annihilation plan, uncertain whether to call it karma or retribution.
Meanwhile, the Fourth Raikage A and the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki exchanged a heavy look, knowing that both sides must form an alliance, a stronger one, or they would not be able to withstand the next war initiated by Uchiha Yoru.
The turmoil in the Konoha gradually settled down, and this time the elite ninja from the Sand Village couldn't even make it to the village center and were intercepted.