The next day, four Kage-level powerhouses gathered once again at the same place. They sat around together, a heavy silence hanging in the air.
There was no need for words—anyone could read the gloom and anxiety on their faces.
Just yesterday, they had learned that the Land of Rain had declared war on Konoha. Yet only a day later, the Land of Rain had already been crushed.
To them, this news was nothing short of shocking. It cast a long shadow over their hearts.
According to the intel reports, only one man had taken action—Madara Uchiha.
Against him, Hanzo of the Salamander had been like a helpless child, unable to even last a full minute.
After that, the Rain Shinobi forces suffered a catastrophic defeat. The might of a fully manifested Susanoo shattered them completely.
The sheer brutality and brevity of the battle exceeded all expectations, and gave the four Kage-level leaders a deeper, more sobering understanding of Konoha's power.
"Damn it!"
Ōnoki stood up angrily and slammed his fist onto the table.
"Wasn't Madara Uchiha already dead?! Why is he back in the world of the living, meddling with us?!"
To Ōnoki, Madara had always been a nightmare.
Back when he first learned that Madara had been killed by Hashirama Senju, he had felt genuine relief.
But now, that name—long since thought to have vanished into the river of history—had resurfaced, reviving his nightmare and bringing back an oppressive sense of unease.
"Probably one of the Second Hokage's forbidden techniques."
Shamon, the Second Kazekage and a master puppeteer, also had a deep understanding of poisons.
He speculated,
"Didn't the intel say Madara inhaled Hanzo's poison gas without the slightest reaction? I don't believe he's reached that level naturally. That's no longer human."
Shamon's words sent everyone into a thoughtful silence.
They began to consider: if Madara truly had been resurrected through some forbidden technique, how could they possibly counter such a monstrous enemy?
"The First and Second Hokage, and Madara Uchiha—all of them were already dead. The most likely explanation is that Hikaru Uchiha^1 used some forbidden jutsu to summon them back."
"In that case, shouldn't we just take out the caster?" the Third Raikage said grimly, his eyes flashing with a sharp light. It was clear he already had a plan forming in his mind.
The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, let out a dry chuckle, but his expression was tinged with bitterness.
"Easy for you to say. Let me tell you all—during the battle in the Land of Whirlpools, not a single shinobi from Kirigakure made it out alive."
"And at that time, Hikaru Uchiha was just a kid. Do you understand what that means?"
Yagura's words plunged the group into silence once again.
They were forced to acknowledge the obvious: if they couldn't even defeat Hikaru Uchiha, then everything else was just delusion.
But defeating him… was an even greater delusion.
The atmosphere grew more suffocating with each passing second, the weight on their shoulders etched into their grim expressions.
Then, suddenly, the Third Raikage spoke again.
"I have a plan… one that might settle this in one strike."
Though his voice was not loud, it rang clearly in everyone's ears.
All eyes immediately turned toward him, expressions of curiosity and anticipation surfacing.
Time flowed quietly. A month slipped by before anyone even realized it.
In that short span of time, the Land of Fire had swiftly and decisively annexed the Land of Rain, steamrolling through it with unstoppable force.
Anyone who dared stand in the path of the Land of Fire was crushed by Madara Uchiha's overwhelming power.
The Land of Rain was completely erased from the stage of history, lost to the past.
The news shook the remaining nations. In the face of such power, they all announced their intent to participate in the upcoming Chūnin Exams, willing to gamble their nations on the outcome.
At that moment, inside the Hokage Office in Konoha, Hikaru was holding the stack of application forms in one hand, deep in thought.
His eyes lingered on two names in particular: Sakumo Hatake and Izuna Uchiha.
'Sakumo Hatake… Your "White Fang" title rings so loud across the shinobi world. Is it really appropriate for you to participate in the Chūnin Exams?' Hikaru muttered internally.
After all, Sakumo Hatake had already made quite the name for himself across the ninja world in recent years. It felt absurd for him to join an exam for promotion to Chūnin.
Then his gaze shifted to the second name—Izuna Uchiha.
'Izuna Uchiha, you're something else too. What, you died before Konoha was even founded and now you're back as a Genin? Seriously?'
With a small sigh, he checked off four more names on the applications.
'At least I'm being cautious. Just a few teenage girls with strong abilities. What's the big deal? They're all officially registered Konoha Genin anyway.'
These four girls had been traveling the shinobi world with Hikaru for years, and naturally hadn't had time to formally rank up.
As a result, they were still considered Genin under Konoha's system.
For this Chūnin Exam, Hikaru had decided that rankings would be determined through one-on-one duels.
The advantages were obvious: it would save time and reduce unnecessary complications.
But Hikaru had more strategic intentions—this format would also eliminate the possibility of other nations forming alliances against Konoha.
With solo battles, every nation's shinobi would have to fight independently, destroying any chance for coordinated teamwork or strategy.
That meant the chance of the four nations joining forces would drop significantly—giving Konoha the upper hand.
Even though Hikaru didn't believe anyone could beat his four powerful girls, he still went with this approach.
After all, if something works well and costs nothing, why not do it?
Truthfully, he had planned this all along—using this format to pressure the other nations into participation.
If the four nations were willing to show up, it would mean they still had a chance of accepting the idea of peaceful unification.
That's why he'd deliberately left a full month's time—so they could carefully weigh the pros and cons and make a choice.
This arrangement was meant to give each nation space to make an informed decision about whether to participate in the exams—and whether to embrace Konoha's vision of unity.
If they couldn't accept it, a month was plenty of time to mobilize troops—and then it could all be settled at once.
Rather than allowing others to probe Konoha's capabilities, the Rain incident served Hikaru's plan perfectly.
Through it, he had made Konoha's resolve to unify the shinobi world unmistakably clear—a final warning to the others.
As these thoughts circled in his mind, Hikaru suddenly sensed an odd fluctuation just beyond the edge of Konoha.
He raised an eyebrow and reached out with his sensory perception.
At that exact moment, a massive surge of chakra suddenly converged—and then shot straight toward the Hokage Building.