◉◉◉◉◉
After the brutal battle in the Rain Village, Jiraiya finished laying Yahiko's body to rest.
He returned once more into the rain-slicked alleys of Amegakure searching for any trace of Nagato or Konan.
But there was nothing.
The village felt… different.
Quieter.
And the eerie end of that last fight, along with the sudden disappearance of Neji, made the veteran ninja's instincts scream.
He didn't linger. Whatever had happened here was far bigger than Akatsuki. He needed to return to the Leaf.
The world had changed again, and this time, it was something worse than Pain.
A new power had risen in the D-Organization, and its leader, Nian, wielded strength that dwarfed Akatsuki's ambitions.
And if Nagato had truly fallen… that meant only one thing:
War was inevitable.
---
The D-Organization's Base Orochimaru's Former Lair
Kabuto stood in the center of the vast chamber, his serpentine pupils glinting beneath the dim lights
The fusion with Orochimaru's essence was nearly complete—his body leaner, stronger, scales tracing along his neck.
Dozens of pale-white Zetsu clones lined the walls, motionless and waiting.
Behind him, Neji observed silently while Black Zetsu watched from the shadows.
Kabuto adjusted his glasses and muttered, "Using White Zetsu as sacrifices for Edo Tensei… extravagant as always."
He said it under his breath, but Neji didn't care.
With a gesture, the ritual began.
Rows of sealing scripts flared. The clones trembled as soul after soul was bound into them.
A moment later, the underground lab was filled with the reanimated the once-dead shinobi of past wars, now standing in perfect, silent formation.
But before they could even speak, dark seals bloomed across their foreheads.
Neji raised a single hand, and every one of them froze in place.
The corpses were instantly mummified in white binding tags, sealed upright like tombstones.
Neji checked his system interface. The familiar cascade of experience points rolled in.
Level 57 → 58.
He smirked under his mask. So sealing gives experience, not destruction… good to know.
---
Kabuto wiped the sweat from his brow, staring uneasily at Neji. "Why… why summon them if you won't use them? You're wasting potential."
Neji ignored him.
"Distribute the defective ones," he ordered coolly. "Send them to each of the Five Great Nations."
Kabuto blinked. "What?"
"Consider them a greeting gift."
The puppets moved immediately, obeying their unseen code. Each one picked up a wrapped Edo Tensei unit and departed through shadowed tunnels.
By the time Kabuto found his words again, the vast chamber was empty.
He turned back and Neji was staring at him.
"Well?" the masked man said softly. "Keep going."
Kabuto hesitated. "You mean… continue?"
"Of course. Draw more."
It wasn't a request.
Kabuto's chakra flared again as he performed another round of the summoning, a hundred-fold summon.
Each cycle drained his reserves, but the system's "Boss" just watched with calm amusement while harvesting the results.
Kabuto's hands trembled, but he dared not stop.
The air filled with glowing seals and pale bodies. For every Edo he created, Neji sealed them instantly turning the process into an endless loop of experience farming.
---
Meanwhile, chaos swept through the Five Great Nations.
The Land of Lightning.
A platoon of undead shinobi, their armor still bearing Cloud's insignia, marched toward the Raikage's tower. Each one carried the faces of dead comrades.
Battle cries turned into gasps of recognition and then horror.
The Land of Earth.
The Tsuchikage's own mentor reappeared on the frontlines, smiling sadly as he fought his former pupil.
The Land of Water.
The Mizukage faced fallen swordsmen of the Mist—once heroes, now puppets.
The Land of Wind and Fire was spared the brunt, but scouts reported similar incursions near their borders.
And everyone quickly realized something these were not full-power revivals. They were probes.
Test runs.
---
The emotional chaos was almost as destructive as the attacks themselves.
Some wept. Some begged their resurrected comrades to return to their senses.
Others laughed bitterly, calling it the cruelest genjutsu they'd ever seen.
The Kage, however, saw the truth: If this enemy could raise these shinobi, they could raise stronger ones too.
S-rank criminals. Legendary warlords. Even the dead Kage themselves.
That was the real threat.
Konoha and Sunagakure quickly deployed sealing units. After all, Edo Tensei was a Leaf technique and they knew how to counter it.
But the other villages… they weren't so lucky.
By the time the dust settled, the entire ninja world was trembling.
---
Each hidden village convened an emergency meeting.
Arguments erupted instantly over whether to ally, to attack, or to isolate.
Until the latest Leaf intelligence arrived.
Detailed maps. Chakra readings. Footage from Jiraiya's encounter in Amegakure.
And one line written in code beneath it all:
> "The D-Organization has declared its existence."
The room fell silent.
Within hours, every Kage had agreed.
A Five Kage Summit was to be held immediately.
The location: The Land of Iron.
The agenda: Alliance against Akatsuki and against the D-Organization's immortal army.
Time was running out.
Every intelligence report hinted that the enemy was perfecting Edo Tensei preparing to resurrect even stronger shinobi.
If that happened, no single village would survive alone.
The Fourth Great Ninja War was no longer a rumor.
It had already begun to breathe.
◉◉◉◉◉
~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
◉◉◉◉◉
For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access Patreon normally)
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!