That night, all the young members of the Hyuga clan left Konoha.
The Hyuga moved swiftly. More importantly, thanks to the Byakugan, they could completely avoid Anbu's surveillance during this operation.
If the Aburame clan were still around, the Hyuga might have been exposed. But now, in Konoha, the Hyuga were the village's only "eyes." They decided what Konoha could and couldn't see.
The next day, the Chunin Exams continued as usual.
Inside the Hyuga compound, everyone remained on high alert, preparing for what was to come.
They knew there was no way to hide the disappearance of so many people from Anbu.
"Around noon, send someone to the Hokage's office to report that Kumogakure ninjas attacked us last night."
Hiashi's voice was low and firm. They couldn't delay this for too long.
At this moment, the Third Hokage was still at the exam venue. During this time, most of Konoha's affairs were handled by Danzo and the other two elders.
By noon, a Hyuga clan member arrived at the Hokage's office.
Right now, only Danzo, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu were there.
When the three elders saw a Hyuga representative, they were slightly puzzled.
"Danzo-sama, Lord Homura, the Hyuga clan was attacked by Kumogakure ninjas last night. All of our children have been kidnapped. Please send Anbu to help us track them down."
The moment he finished speaking, Danzo and the other two felt like their heads had exploded.
"What?"
"Kumogakure ninjas kidnapped all of your clan's children?"
"Do you think we're fools?"
Their minds buzzed in chaos. For a moment, they had no idea how to respond. Even Danzo was completely stunned.
What the hell is going on?
"Are the Hyuga planning a rebellion?"
Danzo's face twisted in fury.
"Danzo-sama, the Hyuga clan has no such intentions."
The Hyuga ninja's expression remained cold. He had come here fully prepared to die.
At this point, Danzo and the other two weren't just angry anymore.
They were afraid.
The Ino-Shika-Cho clans had been the first to leave, but they had valid reasons. That hadn't raised any alarms.
Plus, the families of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans are still in Konohagakure, so them leaving this time is just a normal mission.
As for the Inuzuka and Aburame clans, they also took their main forces with them, but they had valid reasons for doing so.
The commission letter from the Daimyo that the Aburame clan provided was also real.
And now, the Hyuga clan suddenly jumps out, claiming that all their children have been kidnapped?
So Kumogakure's ninjas specifically targeted the Hyuga clan for kidnapping? The first two times, they only took one person, but this time, they took everyone?
At this moment, the Hyuga clan's actions made the three of them realize that this was probably a massive conspiracy—a terrifying plan targeting Konohagakure.
Even though the other ninja clans hadn't completely withdrawn their people, their main forces had all left the village. This, too, was a form of intimidation for Konohagakure.
The message was clear: if you dare to attack anyone in the village, be prepared to be surrounded.
"Hyuga clan, you…!!"
Danzo's body trembled. Even a fool could now see that this was all part of a bigger plot.
But just then, two ninjas carrying an injured comrade rushed into the Hokage's office.
"Elder Danzo, Elder Homura… we found—"
"About 20 kilometers outside the village, we spotted a large number of pirates and ninjas. The Raikage of Kumogakure, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, and the Mizukage of Kirigakure are all there."
The three ninjas looked terrified, as if they had seen something unimaginable.
In reality, this situation was terrifying enough. The leaders of two ninja villages appearing so close to Konohagakure, along with the Tailed Beasts, which served as the ultimate weapons of the ninja world, was a direct threat.
On top of that, both villages had sent their elite forces—this was already the scale of a full-blown war.
"Twenty kilometers away… The enemy was that close, and you didn't notice anything?"
Hearing this, the injured ninja looked at the elders in disbelief. Their mission had only been to suppress pirate activity.
"Elders, we were only sent to deal with pirates. Our team was made up of Chunin and Genin—there weren't many Jonin with us."
"The enemy…"
The ninja delivering the message tried to explain.
Deliver intel? Against an enemy with that kind of overwhelming strength, they didn't even have the power to resist.
Ao, who stood beside Terumi Mei, had a Byakugan and was a top-level sensory ninja. Kumogakure's forces also had plenty of sensory ninjas.
How could a regular group of ninjas assigned to hunt down pirates possibly handle an elite unit like that?
Yes, there were cases where a Genin wasn't necessarily weaker than a Chunin, or a Chunin wasn't necessarily weaker than a Jonin.
But in this situation, Konohagakure's ninjas were facing an impossible battle. Their small squad had at most one Jonin, three Chunin, and two Genin.
This lineup was already overkill for dealing with pirates.
Yet even with that setup, against the elite forces of Kumogakure and Kirigakure, they had no chance of resisting—let alone escaping.
The enemy had an overwhelming advantage not just in numbers, but also in quality.
At that moment, the Hyuga ninja who heard the news was stunned.
He wasn't even sure if this was good news or bad news.
The good news was that no one would doubt the Hyuga clan's actions anymore.
The bad news was that not only had Kumogakure's ninjas arrived, but Kirigakure's ninjas had too—both villages' leaders were here.
"Elders, since Anbu can't send anyone to assist us, I'll take my leave now."
The Hyuga ninja excused himself. After hearing this news, even he felt like his brain had stopped working for a moment.
There was no way to think clearly. In this situation, how could anyone possibly stay calm and think things through?
As for the other clans?
The Ino-Shika-Cho trio had already gone into full battle mode. Along with them were Kakashi and Gai.
At the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth, tensions were already sky-high, with both sides ready to fight at any moment.
Meanwhile, at the Konohagakure camp, besides the Konoha shinobi, there were also many Sand ninja. Even Granny Chiyo from Sunagakure was among them.
"Shikaku, can you finally tell us what's going on? How did you know the enemy would attack from this direction?"
Akimichi Chouza and Yamanaka Inoichi looked serious. Iwagakure was clearly coming for blood, yet before this, they hadn't shown any signs of hostility at all.
And just like that, war had begun.
"I guessed," Shikaku said.
Besides the Konoha shinobi, there were also Sunagakure ninja present. Shikaku had simply pieced together all the clues he had seen.
"You all know what happened in the seas between the Land of Waves and the Land of Water. Because of the appearance of a Devil Fruit, a force has risen to oppose Shanks."
"And it's not just pirates involved. Kirigakure and Kumogakure are close to those waters, so they're definitely going to get involved too.
After all, a single Devil Fruit can turn an ordinary person into a jonin-level fighter in a short time. Who wouldn't want that?"
"But then, the information that started spreading again subtly pointed the blame toward Konoha.
If Shanks had a Devil Fruit, other villages—and even Konoha—wouldn't really care too much."
"But what if Konoha had a Devil Fruit?
Those pieces of intel might seem meaningless, but they planted a small possibility—that Konoha possessed a Devil Fruit.
And with the Chunin Exams happening, many villages had sent their shinobi to Konoha. Even the Kazekage of Sunagakure came in person.
When you connect all these dots, Konoha suddenly looks like a much bigger threat."
"So even if the chance is small, the other villages wouldn't dare to ignore it."
Nara Shikaku was the only one who, despite being in the middle of everything, could see the bigger picture.
This was Nara Shikaku's intelligence—almost like an omniscient perspective.
And once he saw the whole picture, finding a solution became easy.
In this battle that hadn't even started yet, Konoha's only ally was Sunagakure. That's why Shikaku led his team straight toward the Land of Wind.
By the time he reached the border, Sand ninja and Iwagakure ninja had already started small skirmishes. Both sides were holding back, trying not to escalate the fight.
This confirmed that everything Shikaku had predicted was correct.
"This is the simplest kind of strategy—no tricks, no underhanded tactics, just pure strategic maneuvering."
"Using Konoha as bait to shake the entire shinobi world.
We all know this is a setup, we all know it's a trap, but none of us dare to gamble on it."
"But they do. And that's the difference between the Five Great Nations and them."
Nara Shikaku sighed. In all his years, this was the first time he had seen such terrifying intelligence.
No tricks, no schemes—just one person using pure strategy to manipulate the entire Five Great Nations.
"You mean… Shanks?"
Kakashi spoke up. The only reason he came out here was because he had seen Orochimaru and knew that things in Konoha were about to get chaotic.
He hadn't expected the situation to be this serious.
"If it's not Shanks, then I don't think there's anyone else in the entire shinobi world who could pull this off."
"As a member of the Uzumaki clan, no one understands war and Konohagakure better than Shanks."
Shikaku spoke. The Uzumaki clan was once Konohagakure's closest ally, and this entire scheme, centered around Konohagakure, could likely only be orchestrated by the man who knew the village best.
At that moment, even someone as experienced as Chiyo felt an overwhelming pressure. The emperor of the seas looming over the five great nations—Four Emperors Shanks.
"This… all of this… was Red-Haired Shanks' doing?"
Chiyo's voice trembled, unsure if it was from fear or anger.
"No, technically speaking, Shanks didn't do anything. Everything… was done by the five great nations and their ninja villages."
Nara Shikaku folded his arms, head lowered, sweat already forming on his forehead.
Shanks—he had never seen someone with such strategic ability before. Even in the history of the ninja world, no one like this had ever existed.
"That guy… he didn't do anything, yet he saw through the five great nations and their villages completely. He understands human nature to an unimaginable degree."
"It's like he's standing above the flow of history, writing down everything that will happen downstream. We know it's his doing, yet we can't fight back."
As one of Konohagakure's sharpest minds, Shikaku could clearly feel the terrifying presence of Shanks.
He didn't take action, yet the entire ninja world was moving according to his will.
His grasp of politics, human nature, and strategy had reached an unfathomable level.
At that moment, under immense pressure, Shikaku's mind reached a new height he had never touched before.
And the most absurd part was—Shikaku could tell that Shanks truly hadn't done anything.
Because that was the reality. Shanks really hadn't done anything.
To put it simply, Shanks was on a completely different level—because in truth, he was still focused on the pirate world.
Meanwhile, the pirates led by Dark were operating on the first level.
White saw through the situation and spread information, creating the second level.
The ninja villages, using that second layer of information, formed their third layer of responses.
Shikaku, however, saw through the third layer and immediately jumped to the fourth. He realized there was another key influence above the third layer—Shanks himself.
Yet, despite being the most crucial factor, the craziest part was that Shanks had done nothing.
And that was what terrified Shikaku the most.
If Shanks had spent massive effort orchestrating everything, then by tracing his methods, they could find a way to break free from his control.
But he hadn't done anything.
It was like competing in a tournament, fighting all the way to the finals, only to realize… Shanks never even joined the competition.
In that case, there was no way to win.
No matter how smart you were, you couldn't break free.
"The only way out… is to follow Shanks' path. The answer lies at the end of that road."
"And what is at the end of that road?"
"The five great ninja villages exposing all their secrets to each other."
Shikaku looked around. This wasn't a decision he could make.
At that moment, Kakashi stepped forward.
"In that case, let's confront them head-on."
"Konohagakure's leadership won't allow it."
"I know."
Kakashi responded, his once-lazy gaze now filled with unwavering determination. Even his whole presence had changed.
A sharp aura burst from him.
He knew very well that the higher-ups of Konohagakure would never agree.
Shikaku and the others felt their hearts stop for a moment when they heard Kakashi's words.
"Kakashi… you…"
"Konohagakure is like an old tree—it's time for some pruning. And my blade hasn't rusted yet."
Kakashi pulled out a kunai from his cloak. It was a gift from his teacher, the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, when he had become a Jonin.
He placed the kunai in front of Shikaku. Under the gaze of the three clan heads, Kakashi's figure seemed to blur, as if the shadow of Minato had appeared once more—or perhaps, it was a fusion of Minato and the White Fang.
"Gentlemen, the winds from the Land of Wind are already blowing. The Will of Fire, long dormant, must burn again."
"..."
For over ten seconds, no one spoke.
Then, Shikaku placed his hand on the table, covering the kunai that symbolized the Fourth Hokage.
Right after him, Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Chouza placed their hands down as well.
"This time, it's for Konohagakure!"
"The Will of Fire must burn again!"
"…"
"I won't just stand by and watch, either. If you've all made up your minds, then I will support you."
Granny Chiyo stepped forward. Now that Sunagakure and Konohagakure were on the same side, protecting her village meant supporting Kakashi.
"Kakashi, the future of Konohagakure is in your hands."
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