Show of Force

"You bastard!" The Fourth Raikage’s face twisted with rage, as if he were about to rise and attack. The other shinobi also looked displeased. Aside from a few Akatsuki subordinates and those from Kirigakure, everyone was itching to make a move.

Yota sighed and lightly snapped his fingers. At once, everyone present sat quietly in their chairs like wooden posts.

"You know this is a Genjutsu Space, yet you still want to fight? Seriously, do you people even have brains?"

In truth, they had already tried countless methods and failed to break the genjutsu affecting them. Some had even suspected that Yota had used some sort of space-time ninjutsu and that they were still in the real world, which was why they had considered attacking.

Unfortunately, with a snap of Yota’s fingers, they immediately lost all ability to resist. They now fully believed that this was a Genjutsu Space.

"Good. Now that you’ve calmed down, listen to my explanation." Smiling, Yota began to describe his proud creation—the current Genjutsu Space.

"What did you say? How is that possible?"

"A Second World where all rules are exactly the same as reality? Where people can communicate freely regardless of distance?"

"Ninjutsu practiced here has the same effects as in the real world?"

"Memories can be transferred, and even Chakra can be shared!?"

"All research results here can be used in the real world? You can even create instruments that theoretically exist out of nothing?"

"Time can be distorted according to one’s capacity, up to tenfold?"

After everyone had heard Yota’s introduction to the Genjutsu Space, he snapped his fingers again and released their restraints. The entire meeting room instantly erupted into chaos.

"Whether you believe it is up to you. I’ve already given you notice."

Yota spoke to them without the slightest concern. "This is an opportunity for everyone in the world, and an unstoppable tide of the times. Those who go against it will only be crushed to dust beneath the wheels of the new era."

"I’m informing you now only because I don’t want the world to become overly chaotic as a result. But if, even after my warning, you still can’t adapt to this new era, then that only proves you are unfit to be leaders."

"Three-legged toads may be hard to find, but there are plenty of people who want to be leaders. If you can’t do it, someone else will naturally take your place."

"Even the so-called Five Great Shinobi Villages have only existed for a few decades. If they are overthrown, what would be so strange about that?"

"Kid, what exactly are you trying to do?" Ōnoki frowned, unable to hold himself back any longer. As the oldest conservative and hardliner among all the shinobi villages, he was instinctively afraid of such change.

"What do you gain from this? Aren’t you afraid of starting a Ninja World War?"

Yota shot him a cold smile. "A world war? With the Genjutsu Space monitoring everything, from now on, I’m afraid you’ll only be able to wage war inside the Genjutsu Space!"

"As for what I want? Naturally, I want all of you to come to our Akatsuki meeting room whenever you have matters to deal with, and settle them through negotiation!"

"In other words—every Kage-level shinobi must join Akatsuki from now on!"

The moment Yota finished speaking, the room exploded into an uproar.

"Bastard, does Akatsuki want to rule the world?"

"I’d rather die than join an organization like this!"

"Ridiculous. Do you think this is child’s play? As if everything can be settled through discussion."

"You only have a genjutsu. I advise you to restrain yourself!"

"If you tell me the secret of this genjutsu, I can let you hold a high position in our shinobi village!"

Of course, the people from Kumogakure, Kirigakure, and Konoha kept their mouths shut. Those three shinobi villages had all been beaten into submission, especially Kirigakure, which had now become a subordinate of Akatsuki.

Mei Terumī felt somewhat fortunate instead. She did not believe Yota was speaking nonsense, and if everything he said was true, then Yota, who controlled the Genjutsu Space, was undoubtedly the uncrowned king of the Naruto World.

Though the crowd below was shouting fiercely, they were really only probing him. Hadn’t even Iwagakure and Sunagakure sent only their lowest-ranking and weakest shinobi to speak? That meant they were leaving themselves room to retreat.

And why probe him at all? What if the one controlling this Genjutsu Space was a lunatic? Like Hashirama Senju?

Nothing in their earlier conversation suggested that, but there was no harm in testing him.

In truth, as long as Yota had even a little sense, with the Genjutsu Space in his hands, he could easily determine the rise and fall of the Five Great Shinobi Villages through the distribution of benefits. All he had to do was grant one village slightly greater access, and that village could develop at a tremendous pace.

But Yota also knew perfectly well that these shinobi villages feared power but held no gratitude. Hadn’t Hashirama Senju treated them well enough? Yet the moment he died, these people had immediately attacked Konoha!

So Yota was prepared to give them a show of force.

As the master of the Genjutsu Space and its highest authority, Yota would have had no problem directly giving everyone inside a serving of Kotoamatsukami.

But controlling everyone with Kotoamatsukami would have been far too deranged. And if he only acted against individuals, doing so in front of everyone would inevitably alarm the other shinobi.

Fortunately, aside from direct mental control, the Genjutsu Space still possessed methods of inflicting direct mental damage.

Thus, everyone saw Yota lightly snap his fingers again. The shinobi who had been shouting the loudest suddenly went blank-eyed, then collapsed headfirst onto the floor.

"What did you do?"

"What happened?"

This time, those calm masterminds could no longer sit still. Ōnoki had originally wanted to float up, but his face turned red with effort, and all he managed was to step down from his chair and stand up, somehow looking even shorter.

Rasa’s face was also filled with shock and fury. Meanwhile, Konoha and Kumogakure both wore expressions of just as expected.

Those two villages knew exactly how ruthless Yota could be. He had uprooted Konoha’s Root completely, while Kumogakure had lost who knew how many shinobi because of him—nearly a third of its fighting force had been killed.

Since the founding of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Yota had undoubtedly been the shinobi responsible for the most slaughter. How could someone like that be intimidated by a few words?

"It’s nothing much. I merely accelerated their subjective sense of time without limit." Yota smiled. "Roughly speaking, one microsecond is equivalent to several hundred years. I can’t calculate it clearly myself, anyway."

Accelerating one’s subjective sense of time might not sound frightening, but if only that sense was accelerated without matching reaction speed or mobility, one would feel as though one’s entire body had become a wooden sculpture. Moving even a single millimeter would take thousands or tens of thousands of years!

It was like locking someone in a room without any information—even an ordinary person could not endure that for three days. If one had to live unable to move one’s entire body and unable to receive any useful information from the outside world for years, even the most mentally resilient shinobi would collapse and become a vegetable.