This meeting...
There's just no way to continue.
Even Sarutobi Asuma could hardly bear it.
The son of the Third Hokage spoke up: "We all know the enemy is very strong, but can we stop saying he can destroy Konoha at any moment..."
"I just want you all to understand the severity of the problem."
Nara Shikaku scanned all the Jonin present and continued in a deep voice: "Akihara Kagura is an unprecedented enemy for us, and we never even imagined that the village's strongest force would become our enemy..."
Yes.
Akihara Kagura is an enemy Konoha never foresaw.
However, this is the reality, and now they must face someone who once protected them, whose strength was so great that the day after Tsunade's succession, all the ninjas in Konoha felt they no longer had to worry about war.
Because on Tsunade's first day in office...
Akihara Kagura single-handedly took down two major ninja villages.
Now...
It's their turn.
No...
It should be said...
It's the entire ninja world's turn.
"In addition to the offensive capabilities I mentioned..."
"Akihara Kagura also possesses other more troublesome abilities."
Seeing the Jonin present seemed a bit uncertain, Nara Shikaku sighed and continued: "For example, everyone knows he is skilled in the Flying Thunder God technique, which means it's very difficult for us to surround and kill him..."
"Of course..."
"This also means another thing..."
Nara Shikaku's mood grew heavy, and his voice became obscure: "If he wants to kill someone, it's a matter of an instant..."
"..."
The expressions of the Jonin changed again.
This meant that the enemy they were facing could not be dealt with simply by surrounding him. Many present were aware of the terrifying nature of the Flying Thunder God technique!
Once, the Fourth Hokage Minato, relying on this technique, could force other villages to issue orders that anyone who encountered the Yellow Flash was to abandon their mission without punishment!
Now...
They were facing a man more terrifying than the Yellow Flash!
"Moreover..."
Tsunade took over the conversation from Nara Shikaku, having to remind her subordinates: "According to information I received from Jiraiya and Orochimaru..."
"Akihara Kagura also possesses the Sage Body, an ability whose exact nature is unknown but should be comparable to that of the First Hokage. However, according to the information brought by Hatake Kakashi, Akihara Kagura's Sage Body might be even more terrifying than the First Hokage's..."
"In theory, the Sage Body possesses extremely powerful self-healing abilities without the need for hand seals; any injury will heal easily in a short time, stamina is extraordinarily abundant, and it contains chakra surpassing that of the tailed beasts, allowing the use of more powerful sage techniques than ninjutsu..."
"Moreover..."
"Akihara Kagura has also mastered several troublesome forbidden techniques."
"Or rather, given his talent for learning, he has likely mastered all the forbidden techniques recorded by the four major ninja villages."
As Tsunade mentioned this, she couldn't help but sigh: "Of course, to deal with us, he probably doesn't even need to use those forbidden techniques..."
"This is..."
"All the information we have gathered."
"Is there a way to persuade Lord Kagura to change his mind?"
A Jonin raised his hand with a naïve suggestion, but he quickly realized his mistake and lowered his head.
Tsunade glanced at that Jonin and said coldly: "If you have such an idea, you'd better consider how to defeat the enemy first..."
"This is beyond our ability to change."
Nara Shikaku shook his head and reminded them: "Akihara Kagura has spent his entire life to reach this point. To achieve his plan, he has laid out many schemes unimaginable to ordinary people. He won't easily abandon his plan..."
"Then how do we defeat such an opponent?"
A Jonin sighed and summarized the meeting: "We are facing an enemy with chakra levels surpassing a tailed beast, possessing more than five powerful Kekkei Genkai, capable of destroying Konoha with a wave of the hand, able to go anywhere at any time, and able to use any ninjutsu at will..."
How could they possibly fight against that?
Not only the Jonin attending the meeting but even Hokage Tsunade knew how slim their chances of defeating this enemy were...
To be honest...
Even Tsunade herself couldn't find a solution.
"Determination, willpower!"
A voice suddenly echoed in the meeting room.
Might Guy, the instructor of Konoha's Team 3, stood up, raised his fist, and encouraged with a determined expression: "We must rely on our resolve to protect the village and the world, and on our unyielding will to fight on forever!"
The Jonin felt that their colleague was somewhat ridiculous.
At a time like this...
What kind of joke was this?
Even though Tsunade and Nara Shikaku knew that Might Guy's words were correct, and that this indeed was the weapon to defeat Akihara Kagura, it still seemed a bit naive at this moment.
"Shall we continue?"
Nara Shikaku glanced at Tsunade, seeking her input on whether to continue discussing Akihara Kagura's reanimated ninjas and those defected subordinates.
Compared to Akihara Kagura...
The rest were also quite dangerous to the ninja world.
Just the three reanimated Hokage alone could destroy Konoha, not to mention over eighty elite Jonin-level dual Kekkei Genkai ninjas...
Tsunade could only gesture for Nara Shikaku to continue.
Nara Shikaku described as best he could the trouble posed by over eighty dual Kekkei Genkai ninjas from the Root and the danger of the three reanimated Hokage...
However...
The Jonin were already numb.
Because it was merely a question of whether the enemy wanted to destroy Konoha once or twice.
"Enough."
Tsunade looked at her distressed subordinates and said solemnly: "From now on, Konoha will enter a full state of war preparedness. I will hold a Five Kage Summit with the other great nations to discuss how to stop Akihara Kagura and mobilize our elite ninjas to participate..."
"If nothing unexpected happens…"
"Based on Akihara Kagura's past actions…"
"The Five Kage will most likely join forces to stop him from destroying the ninja world…"
After all...
Every major ninja village had suffered from Akihara Kagura's attacks.
Almost all the current Kage had been captured by Akihara Kagura.
Moreover...
There was also Hanzo of the Salamander, a veteran in the ninja world. The Five Kage and the Five Great Nations' ninja villages united in battle should pose no significant issue in stopping Akihara Kagura...
Meanwhile,
Akihara Kagura was contemplating how to escalate this war.
If the Five Great Nations thought they could defeat him with only a small group, that wouldn't work. He wouldn't be able to absorb enough chakra. Therefore, he needed the ninja world to understand that everyone must participate in this war as much as possible.
After all…
He wasn't that powerful yet.
Akihara Kagura was not yet capable of performing the strongest wood release to absorb chakra from the entire ninja world, nor could he absorb too much chakra in advance to prevent the Ten Tails' shell within him from reviving prematurely, which might even deter Black Zetsu from resurrecting Kaguya Otsutsuki.
In that case...
He would lose the superior he desired the most...
Currently, even Black Zetsu was somewhat sly, not fully trusting Akihara Kagura. It was still pondering if there was something else behind Akihara Kagura...
Primarily...
All historical records were fake!
But Black Zetsu did not doubt the age of historical relics.
Black Zetsu didn't doubt the wooden tags of the Hyuga clan or the bark of the Senju clan, all considered ancient relics.
These relics contained the secret stories of various great clans. When pieced together, they revealed the ancient history of the ninja world, which people of this era could not know.
There must be some secret behind this.
However, Black Zetsu did not believe Akihara Kagura was some alien enemy.
Because Black Zetsu had seen him since he was ten, watching him grow from ten to twenty-one.
Now...
It was an opportunity to test.
Black Zetsu wanted to find an opportunity to test if there was someone behind Akihara Kagura, or if Akihara Kagura was deceived like Madara Uchiha...
Valley of the End.
This place had become the new base of the Root.
The perimeter of the Valley of the End was filled with patrolling Root ninjas.
The enormous stone statues of Hashirama and Uchiha Madara still stand tall here, but now there is an additional colossal Gedo Statue quietly lying in the water of the Valley of the End.
Three reanimated Hokage are also standing outside, monitoring for anyone who might be spying. Hashirama gazes at the statues of himself and Uchiha Madara, still reminiscing about their battle many years ago.
As for the innermost area...
Only Akihara Kagura and Black Zetsu are present.
Akihara Kagura is sitting there, leisurely fishing with a rod.
Black Zetsu stands beside him, staring intently at the man who had both disrupted its plans and given it new hope, pondering what kind of story to fabricate.
"Black Zetsu."
Akihara Kagura lifted his fishing rod, saw the bait still intact, and slowly lowered the hook back into the water, proactively asking, "Why are you not speaking? Weren't you going to tell me all the secrets of ancient times? I am very curious about the history I have obtained and also about how to create a new world..."
"Yes."
Black Zetsu hurriedly nodded.
Now it had completely fallen out with Uchiha Madara, and Uchiha Madara was no match for Akihara Kagura. The future resurrection of the Ten-Tails also depended on Akihara Kagura.
But...
Where should it begin?
Making up a story is an art!
The story must be convincing enough to deceive Akihara Kagura, and even if it cannot probe the truth, it must guide Akihara Kagura to resurrect the Ten-Tails and gather the chakra of the Ninja World according to the predetermined plan!
"Let's start with the history of ancient times..."
Black Zetsu looked at Akihara Kagura's expression and directly debunked one thing: "First of all, all the records of the Senju clan's bark are false..."
Of course.
Black Zetsu did not entirely debunk it and continued with a story that was beneficial to itself: "The historical records of the Hyuga clan are true..."
"Hmm?"
Akihara Kagura frowned, then suddenly smiled and said, "Black Zetsu always likes to lie. Should I listen in reverse?"
"No!"
"The Senju clan's records are false!"
Black Zetsu shook its head hurriedly and said in a hoarse voice, "The Hyuga clan's records are indeed true, but they are merely the records of the descendants of Hamura Otsutsuki. They did not accurately record the story of Kaguya..."
"Let me tell you the real story..."
Black Zetsu's voice gradually deepened as it prepared to tell a very long story: "A long, long time ago, there was a race in this world called Otsutsuki. This race was born with long lifespans and powerful chakra. They lived by plundering the resources of other planets and even enjoyed the thrill of destroying life..."
"However..."
"A compassionate woman was born among this race."
"This woman was named Kaguya. She possessed a motherly nature and compassion that the Otsutsuki did not have. During her life of conquest with her clan, Kaguya realized that the emergence of life on each planet was a great miracle and that they should not be treated as mere playthings..."
"So, Kaguya chose to show mercy to humanity, hoping that the life on other planets could have the power to protect themselves. She dispersed her chakra..."
"But..."
"This was absolutely intolerable to the Otsutsuki clan."
"This clan would even kill weaker kin to gain stronger chakra and would never allow Kaguya to distribute her chakra..."
"Kaguya began to flee."
"Until..."
"Kaguya arrived in this world..."
"To resist enemies from beyond, Kaguya dispersed her chakra, creating new humans in this world and even giving birth to two children, hoping they would grow to protect this world together..."
"Some of the humans who received chakra, just like the ninjas of today, began to fight each other. Kaguya was never good at ruling the world, so she had to use the Infinite Tsukuyomi to stop the wars, punishing those ninjas to live their lives in beautiful dreams. When they woke up, they would become White Zetsu..."
"However, Kaguya never anticipated that her two children, inheriting her powerful strength, would also awaken the Otsutsuki clan's inner savagery and greed. They sought to seize Kaguya's rule and her power, believing they could defeat the unknown enemies from beyond..."
"After all, the two were her own children…"
"Kaguya was always poor with words and could not make her two children understand her good intentions. In the end, she had to concede defeat in regret and grievance, being sealed by her children..."
"Just as recorded in the history of the Hyuga clan..."
"To prevent their mother, Kaguya, from resurrecting and seeking revenge, the Sage of Six Paths divided the chakra of the Ten-Tails, thoroughly dispersing the chakra Kaguya left behind..."
"However, how could a mother blame her children?"
"Kaguya never cared about being sealed by her two children; she was just saddened by their greed and savagery..."
"A mother is the person who understands her children the best in the world."
"Before being sealed, Kaguya gave birth to me. If she could not be resurrected, then I would guide the ninja world to a new savior..."
"However..."
"The Sage of Six Paths killed all those in the ninja world who knew the true history, using his power to create new ninja and alter the history of the ninja world. He left this altered history on the Uchiha clan's stone tablet to prevent his mother's resurrection."
"..."
Akihara Kagura widened his eyes, seemingly deeply shocked by the story Black Zetsu had told. His brows furrowed tightly, and he raised a question that even Black Zetsu wanted to ask, throwing his own dilemma to Black Zetsu.
"Wait..."
"If that is the case..."
"The Sage of Six Paths killed all who knew the true history and recorded his fabricated history on the stone tablet, then what was the original history he intended to leave on the stone tablet?"
"Could it be the history recorded on the Senju clan's bark?"
~~~
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— Ending + Extra Chapters!
Read upto Chapter 348: End! + Extra Chapters of Sasuke's Rebirth where the world Akihara Kagura is not around. Thank you!