"The Hyūga Clan demands war with Kumogakure!"
Hyūga Hiashi's declaration, delivered in his usual ironclad tone, sent a shiver through the room. Every jonin present felt the temperature drop.
The incident hinged on the Byakugan. The Hyūga Clan could never wash its hands of the matter, yet to call for open war so unequivocally—this was unprecedented in Konoha's decades-long history.
Kumogakure had hidden behind the banner of a peace delegation to steal the Byakugan. No one had seen it coming, and the sheer audacity filled the room with contempt.
If they could scheme for the Byakugan under the guise of peace today, what would stop them the next time they spoke the word "peace"?
Would they come for the Byakugan again? Or the Sharingan?
Or perhaps the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, just as they had fifteen years ago?
"I, Asuma Sarutobi, volunteer to fight Kumogakure!"
A second voice cut through the tension—vibrant, almost reckless, yet unmistakably young.
Compared to Hiashi's measured fury, Asuma's words burned with raw, teenage fire.
Seventeen years old, Asuma knew only one truth: if someone struck your family, you struck back harder.
How could you take a beating and do nothing?
And Kumogakure? What even were they?
If two or three hidden villages attacked at once, Konoha would have to think twice. But one village daring to challenge the Hidden Leaf head-on? They must have a death wish.
"I, Might Guy, volunteer to fight Kumogakure!"
Another shout rang out, echoing off the conference room walls.
The spiky-haired youth in the green jumpsuit didn't hesitate. Every eye turned to him.
Asuma and Might Guy flanked Kakashi, instinctively treating him as their anchor.
These three were the face of Konoha's next generation.
You could even say they embodied an entire era of the village.
"Good!"
"With the young blood of Konoha this fierce, this old man feels downright timid!"
"I, Danzō Shimura—"
"Demand war with Kumogakure!"
The black-robed elder on the dais slammed the table, a grin splitting his face.
Look at this, Hiruzen.
You're old. Your mind's stuck in the past. That tired philosophy of yours should have been buried long ago. This is the age of youth—and my age.
Every gaze swiveled to Danzō. The table still vibrated from the impact.
No one had expected the stoic elder to catch fire like this. It was… jarring.
"Danzō, are you seriously joining this circus?"
Utatane Koharu glared, incredulous. The man must have swallowed something foul today—going berserk alongside a pack of hot-blooded kids.
"Circus?!"
"Kumogakure schemed against our own. Am I supposed to roll out the red carpet and serve them tea?!"
"Elder Koharu, have you forgotten your place?!"
For the first time, the Konoha Council—once an unbreakable quartet—fractured in full view of every jonin in the room.
"My Aburame Clan demands war with Kumogakure."
A quieter voice, but no less resolute. Aburame Shirō, the clan's shadow, rarely spoke up.
"Why do I support this?"
No one had asked, yet he answered anyway.
"Because Konoha sits in the Land of Fire—the richest soil in the entire shinobi world. This time, they came for the Byakugan."
"What happens when they come for our land next?"
"Are we supposed to bow and bargain away our home?"
His words landed like stones in still water, rippling through every chest.
"My Inuzuka Clan!"
"My Kurama Clan!"
"My Gekkō Clan!"
"Demand war with Kumogakure!"
Before Shirō's echo faded, clan heads rose in waves, voices overlapping in a rising tide.
Until one man stood.
"My Nara Clan demands war with Kumogakure."
Nara Shikaku unfolded his tall frame, spiky ponytail swaying as he met the Third Hokage's eyes.
Jonin Commander. One-third of the Ino–Shika–Chō trio. Konoha's living chessboard. The Hokage's shadow strategist.
As Shikaku rose, two more followed.
"Yamanaka Clan—Inoichi Yamanaka."
"Akimichi Clan—Akimichi Chōza."
"Demand war with Kumogakure."
In that moment, more than half the village's ninja clans had drawn their line in the sand.
"You—!"
Koharu stared, speechless.
Was this still Konoha?
Were these the same jonin who once bowed and called her "Elder" with reverence?
Today every last one of them had lost their minds.
The war's end had been within reach!
"Then…"
Hiruzen Sarutobi rose slowly, eyes blazing as they swept the room. Such bloodlust had not filled these walls in decades.
His gaze flicked—almost imperceptibly—to the one man who had stayed silent.
Uchiha Fugaku.
It no longer mattered what the Uchiha patriarch thought.
"War."
The word rumbled like a lion's murmur—low, resonant, unstoppable. It was a shot of adrenaline straight into the heart of the Ninja World's fiercest tiger.
…Konoha Streets
Market
The last surviving Kumogakure ninja lasted less than twenty-four hours in the hospital before a fully armed squad dragged him out.
In broad daylight, they hauled him to the busiest square in the village and forced him to his knees on a hastily erected platform.
Ropes bit into his wrists. He trembled, sweat cutting channels through the grime on his face.
Villagers pressed closer, curiosity overriding fear.
A ninja with a sheathed blade at his hip glanced at the blistering sun, unrolled a prepared scroll, and began to read—slow, deliberate, every syllable a hammer blow.
"In the 51st year of Konoha, the Raikage of Kumogakure sent envoys to our village to forge a peace alliance."
"Our Konoha, weary of the Third Great Ninja War's toll and unwilling to see more innocent blood spilled, welcomed them with open arms. The Third Hokage, ever compassionate, extended every courtesy."
"Who could have foreseen Kumogakure's wolfish heart? Using the peace treaty as cover, they schemed in the dark—daring to covet the Hyūga Clan's Byakugan."
"By the grace of Konoha's White Fang's son and the Fourth Hokage's disciple, Kakashi Hatake, their vile plot was crushed."
"Kumogakure's betrayal of a peace treaty is without precedent in the shinobi world. They discard their honor like refuse in a latrine."
"During the First Great Ninja War, the Second Hokage, Lord Senju Tobirama, traveled to Kumogakure to forge an alliance—only to be ambushed and slain by their treachery."
"In Konoha's 36th year, Uzumaki Kushina, wife of the Fourth Hokage, was kidnapped by Kumogakure. Had the Fourth not arrived in time, her fate would have been unthinkable."
"Now they reach for the Byakugan once more. These acts prove Kumogakure is brazen yet cowardly—cunning, shameless, the dregs of the shinobi world!"
"For decades Konoha has stood unbroken. When have we ever swallowed such an insult?"
"This man is the last of the Cloud delegation. By order of the Hokage—"
"Execute him!"