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Zephyr's Observation Haki could sense Hiruzen's heartbeat.
Even Smoker, whose Observation Haki wasn't top-tier, could sense it and curiously glanced at Hiruzen.
'There's a Pokémon that can travel through time?'
This was the first time Zephyr had heard of such a thing, but he wasn't too surprised.
After all, knowing Dak's past feats, time travel wasn't all that surprising.
Zephyr was curious about the Pokémon capable of such a feat. It sounded more powerful than the five deities worshipped in the Temple of Origins, seemingly only second to the "Underworld King."
Speaking of which, there had been a dispute in the engineering department during the statue construction.
The argument was over the inscriptions on the "Creation God" and "Underworld King" monuments.
Initially, the Temple of Origins recorded that the "Underworld King" Giratina created Pokémon Island.
However, in the Temple of Genesis, it was recorded that the "Creation God" Dak created Pokémon Island.
The engineering department even initiated a "Pokémon Battle" over this, a 50 vs 50 wild battle where trainers and Pokémon brawled until no one knew who was on whose side.
Dak eventually mediated the battle.
The final record was changed to: "The 'Creation God' Dak created the 'Underworld King' Giratina, who then created Pokémon Island."
Now it seemed another statue would be added to the Temple of Origins.
Zephyr thought to himself, but in a few days, he would realize it wasn't just one statue but two.
In the blink of an eye.
Dak reappeared in the same spot, but this time, a massive blue creature, about seven to eight hundred meters tall, floated in the sky behind him.
"'Time God' Dialga, Giratina's second brother, who controls the power of time."
Dak introduced to Zephyr.
The latter nodded, took a few more glances, but didn't show much expression. Not only him, but even Smoker and the other Marines just stared a bit longer, their eyes filled with curiosity.
After all, they had seen Giratina's giant form before, so they were more accepting of Dialga's giant form.
However, the people of Konoha were not the same.
Countless people were frightened to the point of collapsing, and Hiruzen even dropped his pipe.
Currently, the common understanding of giant creatures in the ninja world was the nine-tailed beasts and the leaders of the three summoning beast sanctuaries.
The Nine-Tails stood at about 70 meters tall.
This made the seven to eight hundred meter tall Dialga a terrifying existence for the people of Konoha.
Even veterans like Hiruzen and Danzo, who had lived through the era of Hashirama, were shocked.
Hashirama's "True Several Thousand Hands" was about 800 to 1000 meters tall, grabbing the Nine-Tails like a chick.
But who was that?
The God of Shinobi.
Acknowledged as the "strongest" man in the ninja world, who could single-handedly handle all nine tailed beasts.
Even from a god's-eye view, including characters like Sage Madara, Sage Naruto, and Kaguya, Hashirama would still rank in the top ten in ninja world history.
Now, the pressure Dialga brought to Konoha exceeded that of Hashirama.
Because Konoha now mostly consisted of the new generation. The veterans from the Bronze Age were just Konoha's Four Elders. Most people had no concept of Hashirama's power; some who hadn't studied history might even think Sarutobi Hiruzen was stronger.
But one thing was common now.
Regardless of how these people estimated Dialga's strength, the conclusion was "unbeatable."
Despair filled Konoha.
"Dialga, you can go back now."
Dak spoke to Dialga.
This commanding act made Hiruzen swallow hard, fearing that this giant might suddenly go berserk and destroy Konoha.
"Buzz."
Dialga responded and instantly disappeared.
As if it had never been there.
"Phew... that scared me!"
Naruto's voice broke the daze of those present.
The little guy had fallen off Arcanine's back and was being held by the Pokémon in its mouth.
"What was that just now?"
Hiruzen picked up his pipe from the ground, wiped it, and spoke with a newfound respect in his voice.
"Dialga, one of my Pokémon partners. It was the one who took me back to the past."
"You mean, that Pokémon... can follow you into the past?"
Sweat uncontrollably dripped from Hiruzen's forehead.
Unbelievable.
The Nine-Tails incident had already cost Konoha dearly. If Dialga had joined the battlefield against Konoha, the village might have been erased from history.
'I must not provoke these people.'
Hiruzen had made his decision, his eyes filled with solemnity.
He was now almost certain that Dak's claim of coming from another world was true, and that their military power far surpassed theirs, making them unbeatable.
Although the ninja world seemed peaceful among the five villages, it didn't mean Sarutobi Hiruzen was at ease.
Not to mention the mysterious organization "Akatsuki" gathering many rogue ninjas in the shadows.
The key issue was that Konoha's current strength was too weak!
Bronze Age.
Konoha's Four Elders were still around, but each was fearful of death and reluctant to act, pushing responsibilities away.
Silver Age.
Sakumo died, Tsunade and Jiraiya left the village, and Orochimaru defected.
Golden Age.
The Fourth Hokage Minato died, the previous Nine-Tails Jinchūriki Kushina died, and the Uchiha clan was massacred.
Platinum Age.
The most notable figures were two: the deceased genius Shisui and the late-blooming Might Guy, whose true strength remained unknown, only seen as a strong jonin.
Below them were jonin like Kakashi and Asuma, with decent average strength but not as outstanding as previous ages.
Following them was Naruto's generation, still about ten years from maturity.
In short, the ninja world was at its most peaceful but also Konoha's weakest era.
If the Fourth Shinobi War broke out now, Konoha's top combatants would be few: Konoha's Four Elders and Might Guy.
Tsunade's hemophobia would keep her from the battlefield, and Jiraiya couldn't be contacted.
This was the reality of Konoha.
With such strength, how could they oppose these outsiders, let alone guard against other villages' ambitions?
The more Hiruzen analyzed the situation, the more he sweated.
'Why did these people come to Konoha, why not the other four villages?'
This thought emerged.
But half a year later, recalling this moment, Hiruzen would wish he could slap himself, grateful he didn't drive the Pokémon Alliance away.
"This isn't a good place to talk. How about we go to my office?"
Hiruzen composed himself and signaled the surrounding Anbu to disperse.
The next moment, the Anbu members vanished, running swiftly.
"Oh, sure, no problem."
Dak nodded and grinned.
This was the effect he wanted. The effort of using Conqueror's Haki and Dialga's help had paid off.
"And you, sir?"
Hiruzen turned to Zephyr.
They were the same age, both sixty-four.
But Hiruzen felt a sense of kinship with Zephyr, perhaps due to Zephyr's righteous aura, or his resemblance to Jiraiya, his favorite disciple.
"Anything you need to discuss, talk to him. He's our highest authority."
Zephyr shook his head.
He didn't plan to participate in these talks, leaving such matters to Sengoku and Tsuru for decades.
"Grandpa, let me show you my home and the ninja school. You're picking me up tomorrow, right?"
Naruto tugged at Zephyr's pants expectantly.
"Alright, let's go."
Zephyr nodded, already planning to do so.
He wanted to check Naruto's living conditions and help pack essentials.
After all, Naruto would soon be living with Zephyr on Pokémon Island.
"And these soldiers?"
Hiruzen gestured towards Smoker and the Marines with their Pokémon.
"Smoker, take everyone back."
"Yes."
Smoker nodded.
He didn't want to stay here either, needing to prepare dinner for Weezing.
Konoha was boring, disappointing Smoker about "other worlds," making him prideful of their own vibrant world.
He hoped future new worlds would be more interesting and unique.
"Let's go."
"Yes!" Using his Smoke-Smoke Fruit powers, Smoker created a large smoke gate, opened it with a pocket token, and led the Marines and Pokémon through, vanishing from Konoha's sight.
'Kekkei Genkai?'
Hiruzen frowned.
He initially thought the Pokémon were the main combat power of the army, but now it seemed the humans were exceptional too.
This realization increased the pressure on Hiruzen.
(End of Chapter)