Five Kage vs. Jigen!

The steel dome of the Raikage Building rang under the pounding rain. The Fourth Raikage, Ay, smashed the Granite Conference Table with one punch, sending shards of stone whizzing past Mei Terumī’s ear.

Uchiha Yu sat in the head seat, watching the Raikage fly into a rage without the slightest change in expression.

"A brat from Konoha dares order me around? Iwagakure invaded Kumogakure first, and you think we’ll call a truce just because you said so?" lightning release chakra erupted around Ay, and the ground cracked inch by inch beneath his roar. "There are no such words as surrender in Kumogakure’s dictionary!"

Sage Mode Chakra suddenly lit up at Uchiha Yu’s fingertips. Wood Release vines instantly wrapped around the Raikage’s limbs. "You don’t have to listen, but if you dare make any rash moves now, I’ll give Kumogakure a serious beating!"

"Brat! Don’t think I’ll go easy on you just because of Killer B!" Ay ground his molars. Just as he was about to continue, Tsunade suddenly slammed her palm down on the table.

Bang!

That slap was far more forceful than Ay’s. The entire long table turned directly into powder.

Tsunade glared furiously at the Raikage. "At a time like this, you’re still hung up on the past! The reason you went to war must have been Akatsuki stirring things up behind the scenes. If you keep fighting, what does that make you but idiots?"

Mei Terumī suddenly spoke up. "What does this have to do with Kirigakure? Why did you bring me here? What are you trying to do?"

Tsunade was somewhat surprised to hear Mei Terumī interrupt.

She had thought Kirigakure stood with Konoha.

Naturally, Uchiha Yu knew why Mei Terumī looked so sulky.

"Representative of Kirigakure." Uchiha Yu looked at Mei Terumī. "As far as Kirigakure is concerned, you couldn’t have sealed Isobu anyway. You didn’t have the ability, understand? Though you paid a heavy price, the Three-Tails never belonged to your village in the first place."

Mei Terumī could no longer suppress her rage. She rose to her feet as well and screamed, "Do you know how much Kirigakure lost because you attacked Isobu and caused the water level to rise?! It was worse than a war!"

Uchiha Yu shrugged. "What does that have to do with me? If Kirigakure chose to settle by the sea, the first thing you should have considered was natural disasters like tsunamis."

Mei Terumī clenched her fists. "Are you a natural disaster!?"

"No, but the Three-Tails is."

Mei Terumī gritted her teeth in fury, but when she thought of how Uchiha Yu had beaten Isobu, that turtle bastard, to death with brute force, she found herself unable to vent her anger.

Ōnoki, the little old man seated nearby, wore an expression dark enough to drip water. His blade-like gaze swept toward Ay, his voice low and filled with unquestionable fury. "My son and disciple were murdered! My granddaughter is missing! These blood debts must be answered for! The Eight-Tails’ traces were found at the scene. Kumogakure, you cannot escape responsibility! I demand an explanation!!!"

His words were filled with grief and hatred, echoing through the Conference Room and making everyone’s eardrums ache.

The moment Ay heard this, his already violent temper ignited completely. lightning release chakra surged wildly around him once more, crackling without end. He took a heavy step forward, collapsing the ground beneath his foot as he roared, "Old man, don’t slander us! Kumogakure will not tolerate such accusations from you!"

The atmosphere in the Conference Room instantly became taut with hostility. A world-shaking battle could erupt at any moment.

At that crucial moment, Uchiha Yu abruptly stood up, and a thunderous roar resounded through the entire hall!

"All of you, shut the hell up!"

In an instant, Sage Mode Chakra surged around him like a golden tide of fury, flooding the entire Conference Room!

In the blink of an eye, a towering phantom image of a Bodhisattva slowly emerged above Kumogakure. Its eyes were lowered, its compassion carrying majesty, while a gentle yet powerful radiance spread from its body and enveloped the entire village!

Every inch of the Bodhisattva’s outline radiated an overwhelming sense of oppression, like a towering divine mountain that crushed the breath from everyone’s lungs.

Uchiha Yu swept his cold gaze over Ōnoki and Ay, saying frostily, "Don’t push your luck! If I cripple both of you, neither of you will be able to save face afterward!"

He took a breath and continued, "I called you here today to negotiate a truce, not to watch you argue pointlessly! You’re acting like children. Is this useful?"

Ay gritted his teeth, his chest heaving violently as the flames of fury continued to burn in his heart. He truly wanted to rush forward and test himself against Uchiha Yu, to see exactly what level the other man’s strength had reached.

Ōnoki showed no weakness either. A faint glimmer of Dust Release flickered between his hands. Though small in stature, he radiated an air of absolute refusal to yield.

Tsunade stood to the side and shook her head helplessly. Without hesitation, she picked up Rasa, the hostage whose Chakra had been sealed, then gave Mei Terumī a look. With a light tap of their feet, the two women instantly leaped away, distancing themselves from the center of the coming storm.

The arena had been cleared for the three of them. Already burning with anger, the three men finally failed to restrain their fury.

A great battle was on the verge of erupting!

Ōnoki made the first move, forming Hand Seals at high speed as he shouted, "Earth Release: Fist of Stone!"

The ground suddenly trembled, and a giant fist made of hard rock burst from the earth. Carrying overwhelming force, it smashed rapidly toward Ay.

Rather than feeling fear, Ay’s fighting spirit grew even stronger at the sight.

The lightning release chakra around him became even more violent. "Heavy Bomber!"

With an angry roar, his body turned into a bolt of lightning and charged straight toward the stone fist at terrifying speed.

The lightning and stone fist collided in an instant, erupting with a deafening boom. The powerful impact shattered the surrounding ground, sending rocks flying and smoke and dust billowing everywhere.

Uchiha Yu watched the two men completely ignore his warning, and the anger in his heart flared up at once.

"They’re really treating me like I don’t exist!"

Fang Yu roared and rapidly changed his Hand Seals. Sage Mode Chakra gathered wildly around him. "Sage Art: Welcoming Approach: Thousand-Hand Kill!"

In an instant, the winds and clouds in the sky changed color, and the Bodhisattva phantom image raised a massive golden palm!

The palm covered the sky and blotted out the sun. The lines in its palm were clearly visible as it descended upon Ōnoki and Ay with rolling thunder and boundless force!

Noticing the ground suddenly darken and seeing the stunned gazes of the Anbu rushing over from afar, the two men instinctively raised their heads toward the enormous palm print rapidly expanding in the sky!

Ōnoki’s expression changed drastically. Knowing the terror of this attack, he did not dare relax for even a moment. His hands moved rapidly. "Earth Release: Golem Technique!" A thick layer of stone armor instantly formed before him. Countless hard rocks fit tightly together, their surfaces gleaming with a cold luster, as if they could withstand the fiercest attacks.

Ay did not dare underestimate it either. He pushed his Lightning Release Chakra Mode to its limit. Lightning flashed around his body and formed a high-intensity electric shield. Electricity surged madly around him with continuous crackling sounds, and his defenses appeared fully maxed out.

The enormous golden palm finally crashed down heavily, colliding violently with Ōnoki’s stone armor and Ay’s lightning shield!

For a moment, light exploded in every direction, and the roar made everyone’s eardrums ache. A powerful Havok spread outward from the point of collision, completely leveling the Raikage Building! A huge crater was slapped into the ground, and even the soil and rocks at its bottom were pulverized!

Yet to everyone’s surprise, Ōnoki and Ay had actually blocked that terrifyingly brilliant strike.

Ay panted heavily, but his eyes still held stubbornness and unwillingness as he shouted, "I thought you were something special. Is that all you’ve got?"

Ōnoki also wore an expression that said it was nothing much.

As soon as his words fell, Uchiha Yu snorted coldly in the sky, a glint of frost flashing in his eyes.

He formed Hand Seals once more. The gigantic golden palm slowly lifted, then the second palm came crashing down on the two men!

Then—

The third palm, the fourth palm, the fifteenth palm, the twenty-fourth palm, the thirty-sixth palm—massive palms descended continuously upon Ōnoki and Ay like raindrops.

When Uchiha Yu prepared to bring down the thirty-seventh palm, Ōnoki hurriedly shouted from below, "Stop, stop, stop! Stop fighting! Stop!"

Uchiha Yu then released Sage Mode. "Hmph. Why didn’t you say that earlier? Can we talk properly now?"

Ay crawled out of the crater, wiped the dirt and hot sweat from his forehead, and gritted out, "We can! We can talk now!"

The Conference Room had already become a field of ruins. A howling gale poured through it, stirring up the lingering smoke and dust.

Ōnoki slumped on the ground, pale as paper. Beads of sweat the size of soybeans rolled continuously down from his forehead, sliding over his wrinkled cheeks and soaking the dirt before him.

Ay was equally disheveled. His clothes were torn to rags in several places by the dirt and rocks hurled up by the Havok, exposing bleeding wounds. Sweat mixed with mud, leaving his face filthy.

Mei Terumī stood to the side, watching everything with a complicated expression. She sighed softly, and the anger in her heart quietly faded away.

Thinking back to the immense threat brought by Isobu, then looking at the current situation, she secretly felt fortunate that she had not become involved in this chaotic fight.

At least the Three-Tails’ crisis had been resolved. Kirigakure had temporarily escaped Isobu’s threat, allowing her tightly wound nerves to relax slightly. Whatever. At least I didn’t get beaten up. I’m better off than the Tsuchikage and Raikage.

Rasa had been casually placed to one side by Tsunade and scarcely dared breathe.

As the commander of a defeated army, he had already exhausted himself during his earlier battle with Tsunade. Now, witnessing the terrifying strength displayed by Uchiha Yu, his heart was filled with despair.

He could not help but think that if he had faced Uchiha Yu back then, he would likely have already lost his life. How could he possibly still be clinging to life now?

Uchiha Yu swept his gaze over the crowd. Seeing that everyone had finally calmed down from their earlier agitation, he slowly spoke. "I assume all of you have heard of Akatsuki. They are secretly planning a conspiracy capable of overturning the entire ninja world."

He paused slightly, and his expression grew even more solemn. "Akatsuki has been capturing Tailed Beasts everywhere, attempting to gather the power of every Tailed Beast. If their plan succeeds, the ninja world will fall into an abyss of no return."

Uchiha Yu took a deep breath and said slowly, "We must unite. The ninja villages of the Five Great Nations must set aside their past grievances and fight Akatsuki and the mastermind behind them together. As for their strength, I have fought some Akatsuki members before. Their methods are endless and bizarre, but they are not unbeatable."

"The difficult part is that there is another ruthless opponent besides Akatsuki."

"Even if Hashirama Senju were resurrected, he might not be able to do anything to that man! I was nearly killed by him recently. Against him, I wouldn’t even get a chance to bring down a third palm like that before being interrupted."

The five Kage present were all stunned by those words!

They had thought Uchiha Yu was already the strongest person in the ninja world today. Yet there was always someone stronger?

Ōnoki’s eyes widened. "There’s another expert!?"

"Yes, and it isn’t only Jigen. There are many, many more threats waiting for the future ninja world."

He sighed. "So if you still refuse to let go of your personal grudges and keep your eyes fixed only on the ground beneath your feet, then when your villages and the nations behind them become fertilizer for Otsutsuki aliens, don’t blame me for not warning you."

When Ōnoki heard Uchiha Yu say this, his face instantly turned red with anger. He glared at Uchiha Yu, his voice trembling faintly with rage. "Hmph! Did you fall under a genjutsu, boy? Did you have some nightmare? Only someone with a muddled mind would spout such alarmist nonsense here! Otsutsuki aliens? Utterly absurd! I’ve struggled through the ninja world for so many years, yet I’ve never heard anything so preposterous!"

Rather than getting angry, Uchiha Yu laughed. He shook his head slightly, pity in his eyes. "Ōnoki, you really are old, but why is your Mind’s Eye so narrow? Your brain doesn’t seem very sharp either. Fine, you don’t believe in Otsutsuki aliens. Then let me ask you this: where exactly did Chakra in the ninja world come from?"

His gaze was bright as he stared fixedly at Ōnoki. "Chakra just appeared out of nowhere, and ninjas can perform the corresponding ninjutsu by forming Hand Seals. Then there are those strange Kekkei Genkai. Can you explain any of that clearly? By normal logic, everything in this world has a root cause. Yet the birth and use of Chakra completely defy ordinary logic. Explain it. Can you explain it?"

Ōnoki opened his mouth, wanting to argue, only to find himself speechless for the moment.

He had always followed the established rules and understanding of the ninja world. Though he had questioned Chakra’s origins before, he had never considered anything so bizarre.

Now that Uchiha Yu had challenged him so directly, he found himself unable to respond.

Uchiha Yu continued, "This is so obvious that anyone who thinks a little can understand it. Chakra did not appear for no reason. There must be a deeper cause behind it, and that cause is connected to the Otsutsuki Clan. They came from the distant cosmos and possess powers and knowledge far beyond our imagination. They were the ones who brought Chakra to the ninja world, creating this seemingly prosperous but actually perilous situation."

"Wake up! Stop clinging to those outdated ideas. Before the real truth, your so-called experience cannot stand at all!"

"Chakra Studies no longer exists!"

Ōnoki’s brows twisted together, and a flicker of uncertainty passed through his eyes.

He understood that Uchiha Yu’s words were not entirely without reason, but accepting such a world-shattering notion all at once was truly difficult.

After a long silence, he slowly said, "Even if some of what you say makes sense, it is still only your speculation. Without conclusive proof, how can you expect me to believe you so easily?"

"Believe it or don’t, I don’t give a damn. If you had any brains, you could see that I have no need to fabricate some conspiracy. If I really wanted to cause trouble, why would I bother making up stories for you?"

"I’ll put it simply. Someone behind Akatsuki is stronger than everyone here—and I mean that person is far stronger than all of you combined, even with me included!"

"If we don’t join forces and Akatsuki picks us off one by one, then there’s only one road left for all of us: death."

Mei Terumī seemed to finally understand. "Then what exactly are we supposed to do? I’ll believe what you said for now, but if someone two levels stronger than all of us truly exists, what use is joining forces?"

Uchiha Yu raised his eyebrows at Mei Terumī. "That’s a good question!"

He glanced at Tsunade and continued, "The One-Tails and Three-Tails are dead. Their resurrection will take around three years. Since we know this battle revolves around collecting Tailed Beasts, then we should make our objective clear."

"That objective is to delay the Tailed Beasts’ rebirth indefinitely!"

"Three years after three years, make Akatsuki wait forever!"

"Until the moment opportunity arrives!"

At this point, Rasa finally could not restrain himself from speaking. "Then I want to ask this: if this Jigen you mentioned is truly so powerful, aren’t you afraid he’ll come kill us? If he kills insects like us, then everything you’ve said is nothing more than the thoughts of ants before death."

Uchiha Yu rolled his shoulders. "These past few days, I’ve figured something out."

He looked toward the distant mountains, recalling Jigen’s face.

"That guy probably cannot maintain a high-intensity combat state for long, and he probably cannot act frequently either."

"Otherwise, when I was about to kill the Three-Tails, he should have appeared to stop me."

The moment Uchiha Yu finished speaking, space suddenly twisted among the crowd!

Everyone jumped in fright and leaped backward!

Uchiha Yu’s eyes widened as he stared at the uninvited visitor, gritting his teeth as he introduced him. "This bastard is Jigen! Ōnoki! Didn’t you say you didn’t believe me? You take the lead!"

Before Ōnoki could react, Jigen raised an eyebrow and examined Uchiha Yu. "You really do know many things. However, there are also things you do not know. It doesn’t matter. After you die, everything will continue along its original course."

Uchiha Yu bared his teeth. "Quit trying to scare people! You have spatial transportation abilities. If you could truly maintain your strength, you would have teleported to the Konoha camp to hunt me down last time!"

Jigen tilted his head toward Uchiha Yu, and a black horn emerged from his head. "Your guess is correct. I cannot maintain it for long."

"However, before that, killing every one of you will not be a problem."

"Bullshit!"

The Raikage swung his fist in a full arc and charged toward Jigen!

"Lightning Release: Lariat!"

Jigen snorted coldly, took out a Black Receiver, and met his attack!

Seeing this, Uchiha Yu did not hurry to join the battle. Instead, he whispered urgently to Tsunade, "I’m going to get reinforcements! Activate the Strength of a Hundred Seal right away. Don’t hesitate!"

Naturally, Tsunade listened to Uchiha Yu.

But in the current ninja world, the Five Kage were already the strongest fighting force.

Where else could Uchiha Yu go for reinforcements?

Jiraiya?

Hadn’t Jiraiya said that before Jigen, he was as insignificant as a toad?

Then who could it be?