In just a few days, this earth-shattering news spread like wildfire across the other hidden villages.
At first, the Four Kage found it hard to believe. Some even suspected it was a rumor or a miscommunication.
But after each of them dispatched their own Anbu operatives to investigate the forest that had been wiped out by Hikaru, they were all forced to confront a brutal, shocking reality.
The once lush, dense forest was now nothing but an empty, barren plain—without even the faintest trace left behind.
This discovery plunged the Four Kage into heavy silence.
They realized that the Fifth Hokage, Hikaru, possessed strength far beyond what they had previously imagined. His power had reached an unfathomable and unpredictable level.
And within that silence brewed a mixture of fury, unwillingness, and deep fear.
Fury at Hikaru's arrogance and threats. Resentment at their own nation's weakness and inability to resist. And fear—fear of such an overwhelmingly powerful and uncontrollable force.
Only now did they truly understand: the current balance among the Five Great Nations wasn't because each nation was equally strong—
But because Hashirama Senju, the founder of the shinobi village system, had been merciful.
And now? Not everyone was like Hashirama Senju.
A storm of a new era was sweeping toward them, and they faced an unprecedented crisis.
Faced with this pressing situation, the Four Kage agreed to meet in secret to discuss how to respond to the threat posed by Konoha and Hikaru.
Ōnoki, the Third Tsuchikage, was the first to arrive at the meeting place. Ever since hearing the news that Madara Uchiha had returned to Konoha, he had been riddled with anxiety.
And now, this incident with Hikaru was the final straw, pushing him into a state of restless panic.
Luckily, he didn't have to wait long—soon, the other three Kage arrived one after another.
At this meeting, a new face drew everyone's attention: the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi.
As the newly appointed leader of Kirigakure, Yagura originally had no desire to be enemies with Konoha.
After all, the Third Mizukage and many Kirigakure shinobi had died at Hikaru's hands.
He understood well just how terrifying that man was—and what it meant to go against him.
But this time, he had no choice.
Because it wasn't about him opposing Konoha—this time, Konoha was declaring opposition to them.
The meeting began, and as expected, the hot-tempered Third Raikage was the first to erupt:
"Who does that little brat think he is?! Daring to threaten us like that? Why don't we join forces and—"
Before he could finish, Ōnoki interrupted with a sarcastic tone.
"So brave, huh? You gonna take on Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju yourself? Can you even handle that? No? Then shut it."
Ōnoki's blunt words left the Third Raikage speechless. An awkward silence filled the room.
What Ōnoki said wasn't wrong. They were gathered here precisely because no single village could handle such monsters on their own.
Although the Raikage had a short temper, he wasn't a fool. He knew Ōnoki was speaking the truth.
Still, his pride wouldn't allow him to take it lying down.
So he pushed back, albeit begrudgingly.
"Then what do you propose we do? Sit back and wait for that brat to take us down one by one?"
Ōnoki sighed. "All I'm saying is—if any of you have a trump card, now's the time to lay it out. I like to think I've got a bit of skill. If my Dust Release hits that brat, I'm confident I can kill him in one shot."
Hearing this, the Third Raikage fell silent.
Just as he was weighing his options, an Anbu member suddenly burst in with a report.
The mood in the room shifted immediately.
"The Land of Rain has declared war on Konoha, Sunagakure, and the Land of Iron?!"
Shamon, the Second Kazekage, widened his eyes and read the intel aloud in disbelief.
Here they were, the great powers of the world, holding an emergency meeting to strategize against Konoha—
And Rain went ahead and declared war? Bold move.
The other Kage all wore strange expressions, silently lighting a stick of incense for the leader of the Land of Rain in their hearts.
Especially Yagura, who had once personally opposed Hikaru as a Kage of a rival village. He knew Rain's actions were nothing short of suicidal.
Ōnoki stifled a chuckle. "Well, at the very least, this move from the Land of Rain helps us."
The Third Raikage nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It gives us a chance to see what cards Konoha is holding."
Though he didn't say it aloud, what he feared most… was that those cards might shatter their confidence entirely.
In any case, this surprise development put the meeting on hold.
Now, they all waited to see how Konoha would respond to the Land of Rain.
Meanwhile, back in Konoha, Hikaru and the others stared at the intelligence in disbelief.
"What—he really went through with it?" Hikaru said in astonishment.
"Even if he's clueless about you and Hashirama's power, didn't that battle a few years ago where I annihilated Kirigakure give him enough of a warning?"
His confusion was clear as day.
Just like in the story he knew, Hanzo of the Salamander—for reasons unknown—still declared war.
Worse, the report confirmed they had already defeated the Land of Iron and were now advancing toward Konoha.
Hashirama gave a bitter smile. "If you're gonna rant, leave me out of it."
That earned a round of laughter from the group.
Then Madara Uchiha spoke coldly: "Hmph. In that case, let me go. I want to see how he dances."
Hikaru nodded. Honestly, hadn't he used Edo Tensei just to slack off anyway?
So he was quite satisfied with Madara's enthusiasm.
"Good. Let Madara handle it," Hikaru said.
"This time, don't wipe them out entirely. We still need someone to spread Konoha's reputation."
The reason he said that was simple—he suspected Hanzo dared to provoke them precisely because Hikaru had completely wiped out Kirigakure before, making the story sound almost too unbelievable.
Hanzo probably didn't believe in the legend of the "Twin Gods of the Shinobi World." He likely thought the tales about Hikaru were exaggerated.
If he had truly understood that Hikaru had wiped out Kirigakure with a single move years ago, even ten lives wouldn't be enough to give him the courage to declare war on Konoha.
Madara gave a slight nod, clearly in agreement.
With Madara handling it, there was no doubt it would be taken care of.
So after a bit of casual chatter, everyone dispersed.
Leaving only Izuna Uchiha, who stared helplessly at the mountain of reports on the desk.