"Is… is that a god?"
"The Third Hokage… got killed."
"This… he was that weak?"
"So my father's death… really had a scheme behind it?"
Sasuke, Naruto, Hinata, Neji, Shikamaru—every child in the crowd took a blow to the soul.
Hiruzen had always stood on the Academy podium and told them—
The Leaf's greatest secret art: the Will of Fire.
That he was the Professor, the ninjutsu genius.
That he was the strongest Hokage in history, the man who carried Konoha to the top of the shinobi world.
And yet…
This was it?
Where was this "strongest Hokage"?
He'd just been crushed—completely—by Uchiha Ren.
At that moment, three of Ren's shadow clones—each maintaining the Three Directions Seal—vanished into white smoke.
The green pyramid barrier dissolved on its own.
Ren glanced at the dismembered body on the ground, then calmly sheathed Murakumogiri and rolled his shoulders.
"I'll give you this—at least as Hokage, you had some backbone."
Then he looked over at Fugaku, who was still standing there like he'd been struck by lightning.
"Give Sarutobi a burial."
Fugaku snapped back to reality and nodded quickly.
"Understood!"
Ren's gaze drifted across the clan heads—Hyūga Hiashi, Akimichi Chōza, Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, Aburame Shibi…
His tone was flat, like he was stating the weather.
"Have the clans clean up. Wake the ANBU who were knocked out."
He paused, eyes cold.
"The shinobi world is about to go berserk."
"Yes!"
"Understood!"
"…Yes."
One after another, the clan heads lowered their gaze.
It wasn't worship.
It was survival.
To old foxes like them, the Will of Fire was just a slogan.
The only law that mattered was simple—
Whoever's fist is bigger writes the rules.
Right now, Ren's fist was the biggest fist in Konoha.
He had slaughtered the entire high command—Danzō, Koharu, Homura… and now Hiruzen.
Winner takes all.
From this moment on…
Konoha was no longer "Konoha."
It was the Uchiha's Konoha.
And if they were honest?
Many of them felt… relieved.
For years, Hiruzen's faction had squeezed the clans one by one—first Senju, then Uchiha, and if the Uchiha fell, the rest would've been next.
Ren's counterstrike wasn't just revenge.
To them…
It was a warning that saved everyone else's neck.
The Year Konoha Bled
Konoha Year 55.
The strongest village in the world suffered the worst internal war in its history.
The Leaf's leadership attempted to erase the Uchiha.
Instead, they were erased.
They had called Uchiha Ren an "Elite Jōnin (taijutsu specialist)."
A harmless piece on the board.
But he was a hidden boss—ten years of silent preparation… and one night of violence.
He:
slaughtered Danzō and wiped out Root's elites,
butchered the Sarutobi clan's shinobi,
executed Koharu and Homura,
and finally killed the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, in public.
A coup.
A dynasty shift.
A new age, written in blood.
When the news hit the wider world…
the entire shinobi world convulsed.
At first, nobody believed it.
Second reaction?
Terror.
Because Konoha was Konoha.
Hiruzen was Hiruzen.
And if even he could be killed like that—
what did that say about the rest of them?
But fear quickly turned into something uglier.
Greed.
Because with Konoha's high command wiped out, its overall strength had dropped sharply.
To the other villages…
Konoha looked weak.
A wounded giant.
And in the shinobi world, there's only one rule when you see weakness—
Eat.
Cloud Village
The Land of Lightning's military fortress—violent, aggressive, proud.
In recent years, Cloud's forces were the most intact among the Five Great Nations.
Many shinobi believed Cloud was only missing one thing to claim the title of "Number One"—
a decisive war that crushed Konoha.
High in the central mountain range—
BOOM!
Two men, wrapped in lightning chakra, smashed fists together. The shockwave roared through the air.
"Hah!"
The Fourth Raikage—A—laughed wildly.
"Killer B! Again!"
"Idiot! Moron! I'm done!"
B leapt back, shaking out his aching hand, face full of helpless resignation.
A laughed even harder, then withdrew his Lightning Release aura.
At that moment—
"Raikage!"
His secretary, Mabui, came sprinting in, face pale and voice tight.
"Something huge happened."
A's grin sharpened.
"Oh? The world's moving again?"
Mabui swallowed, then forced the words out.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen… Shimura Danzō… Koharu Utatane… Homura Mitokado…"
She looked like she still couldn't believe it.
"They were all killed by a Uchiha. The man's name is Uchiha Ren."
A and B froze.
"…What?" A's voice dropped.
B's usual swagger vanished.
Mabui continued, voice trembling.
"Konoha has changed hands. It's… the Uchiha's Konoha now."
Silence.
Then A's mouth curled into a slow, savage smile.
"…A chance."
He stared into the distance like he could already see Konoha burning.
"A once-in-a-thousand-years chance."
"Mabui—call the high command."
"We move."
Mabui's eyes widened.
"Raikage… you mean—?"
A's smile turned feral.
"Exactly."
"Hiruzen died at the perfect time."
"It's time the title of 'Number One' changes hands."
Stone Village
The Third Tsuchikage's office.
Ōnoki hovered above his chair, staring at the intelligence report in his hand.
The words on it were absurd.
Yet every line was detailed.
Verified.
And terrifying.
Behind him, Kurotsuchi and Stone's commanders—Yellow Earth, Akatsuchi, and others—stood stiff as statues.
No one dared breathe too loudly.
After a long silence, Ōnoki's eyes narrowed.
"Mobilize."
His voice was low, cold, and final.
"As one of the Five Great Villages…"
"We will 'seek justice' for Konoha's fallen leadership."
The commanders' eyes flashed.
They understood immediately.
"Justice" was the excuse.
Invading Konoha was the goal.
A wounded Konoha was the best Konoha.
And the best time to strike…
was now.
Sand Village
The Fourth Kazekage's office.
Rasa threw his head back and laughed like a madman.
"Hiruzen… Danzō… Koharu… Homura…"
"You old dogs…"
"So you can die."
He squeezed his fist so hard his knuckles whitened.
Sand had been humiliated again and again across every war.
He hated Konoha with a hatred that never cooled.
Before, he could only curse and swallow it, because Konoha was too strong.
But now?
Now he smelled blood.
He licked his lips.
"We take a chunk out of Konoha."
"While it's sick—"
"We kill it."
Mist Village
Mist had been locked in madness for years under the Bloody Mist era.
Even after the Third Great War, the village had been crippled—internally and politically.
When Mei Terumī and Ao exposed the Fourth Mizukage's condition and ended the Bloody Mist policies, Mist stabilized—but it was still weak.
Its wounds hadn't healed.
In the elders' council chamber, the old guard argued excitedly:
"This is a chance!"
"We're rebuilding—if we take resources from Konoha, Mist recovers faster!"
"Konoha's high command is dead—this is the weakest Konoha in history!"
At the head of the room, an elder with a cane sat in silence, eyes cold and practical.
Then he tapped the cane once.
Thunk.
And looked toward the woman with emerald eyes.
"Mei."
"What do you think?"
Mei's lips pressed together.
She didn't like it.
But she saw Mist's reality too.
If Mist stayed passive, it would fall behind forever.
Before she could answer—
the elder's gaze sharpened.
"I understand."
"This time…"
"I'll lead personally."
"Mist needs to show the world it still has fangs."
Mei went quiet, then nodded.
"…Understood."
A Day Later
As if they had rehearsed it together—
Cloud, Stone, Sand, and Mist all issued public condemnations.
They stood on the highest moral podium, declaring:
Uchiha's actions violated peace.
Violated the post–Third Great War agreements.
Violated "the spirit of stability."
And to "seek justice" for the murdered Konoha leadership…
they announced, one after another:
They would soon send troops to the Land of Fire.
They demanded the Uchiha give an explanation.
They demanded Konoha "return to order."
They demanded—
a surrender, dressed up as diplomacy.
The moment those statements spread—
the shinobi world exploded.
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