Compared to the other ninja villages, Kirigakure was undoubtedly the weakest right now. Even though Terumi Mei understood Konohagakure's situation, she couldn't act immediately.
At this moment, she just wanted to drag the Fourth Mizukage out and beat his corpse again. If it weren't for him, Kirigakure wouldn't have fallen into such a miserable state.
She knew there were probably secrets she wasn't aware of, but that didn't matter. As the leader of the village, if you couldn't fulfill your duty, then death was the only outcome.
For a Kage, incompetence was an even greater crime than betrayal.
"The only one left in Kirigakure now is me. The ninja world is ultimately ruled by strength. I haven't reached my limit yet. If I don't have the power to threaten those people, then even if I go, it won't make any difference."
"My limit… I'm still far from reaching it."
After Chojuro left, Terumi Mei stood alone, staring at the lifeless village. No matter how she looked at it, it felt like a graveyard.
And she had to give everything she had to pull the people buried in this grave back to life.
If she failed, she would be the last Mizukage of Kirigakure.
Lost in thought, she heard footsteps behind her. An old man approached, accompanied by two ninjas.
"If you want to go, then go. This village still has me watching over it."
The old man spoke.
It was Genji, an elder of Kirigakure. His status was almost equal to that of the Mizukage. In fact, Terumi Mei had only been able to become Mizukage with his approval.
In Genji's eyes, there was no one left in Kirigakure who could take on the responsibility.
Terumi Mei was the best choice.
"Elder Genji."
Terumi Mei understood—there were some things she simply had to do.
"Don't worry. As long as I'm here, nothing will happen to the village.
The only thing I can do now is stay here."
Genji was too old, nearly ninety years old now. He had lived since the Warring States and had once seen the legendary strength of Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara with his own eyes.
But in less than a hundred years, the Senju clan had disappeared, and the Uchiha clan had been wiped out.
He had lived too long and seen too much.
"Elder Genji, was it really Konohagakure who did this?"
"If I said no, what would you do?"
Genji's voice carried the weight of age as he stood beside Terumi Mei, looking at the dying village.
At least the village still had a chance to recover. It wouldn't be buried along with an old man like him.
"I would still go."
Terumi Mei's answer was firm.
"We'll be waiting for your return, Mizukage-sama."
Genji was satisfied with her response.
She was already a qualified Kage—no, more than that, she was outstanding.
Strength, intelligence, and most importantly, the will to lead.
If a Kage couldn't even make their own decisions, how could they guide a village forward?
Genji couldn't do much anymore. All he could do was use his influence to keep Kirigakure stable.
But at nearly ninety years old, how much longer could he hold the village together?
Meanwhile—Kumogakure.
Kumogakure had always been different from the other ninja villages.
Unlike the rest, they had fully embraced militarization.
Whether in combat strength or scientific research, they were among the best of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
But what Kirigakure considered "top-tier" was completely different from Konohagakure's standards.
Konohagakure focused entirely on producing geniuses. They built their strength by stacking up top-tier talents.
Kumogakure, on the other hand, didn't have as many geniuses.
What made them strong was their solid mid-tier force. They built their power by relying on their large numbers of skilled fighters.
Top-tier geniuses? Even if you put the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer Bee, together, they could only barely hold off the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, back then.
That was the difference between Kumogakure and Konohagakure.
The same was true for research. Kumogakure built up their knowledge over time through collective effort.
Meanwhile, Konohagakure had enough leftover research from Orochimaru alone to last them for decades.
With such a strong mid-tier foundation, Kumogakure developed a unique trait—their leader, the Raikage, didn't need to think too much.
"A, I've reassigned our forces to Konohagakure, but just in case, Raikage-sama and Killer Bee-sama will need to head to Konohagakure personally."
Raikage sat at the head of the table, his expression serious as he listened to Mabui's report.
He nodded and said, "Alright. So why are we going to Konohagakure?"
"…"
"Raikage-sama, can you focus? This is serious. There's a good chance Konohagakure is planning something against us. We need to check it out."
"At this point, even if we step in, we can't stop what's happening. The only thing we can do is put direct pressure on Konohagakure."
"Besides, the other villages will likely do the same. They'll all head to Konohagakure."
Mabui explained again.
Everyone had only recently realized what Konohagakure was trying to do.
Kumogakure wasn't exactly innocent either, but compared to Konohagakure, their actions were small-scale and low-profile.
Kumogakure had kidnapped Jinchuriki and important figures from other villages before.
But even their multiple attempts to kidnap people from Konohagakure had failed.
And what was Konohagakure doing now?
Were they trying to take over the entire ninja world?
They used Shanks to draw attention and then used the Chunin Exams to form secret alliances with other villages, plotting in the shadows.
"What about the Devil Fruits?"
Raikage asked again.
They had sent their ninjas to get involved in Shanks' affairs for the Devil Fruits.
If they were heading to Konohagakure now, what would happen to the Devil Fruits?
"Raikage-sama, don't you get it? Shanks never had a Devil Fruit. The Devil Fruits were probably from Konohagakure all along."
Mabui explained desperately.
She was starting to think Raikage had trained his brain into pure muscle.
This wasn't something they could afford to gamble on.
But Raikage's questions didn't really matter.
Mabui had already sent intel through the "Heavenly Transfer Jutsu" to their naval forces.
By now, their forces should have already started moving toward Konohagakure.
"I see… So Konohagakure took the Uzumaki clan's legacy for themselves. That means Shanks never had the Devil Fruits—they were in Konohagakure's hands the whole time."
"…"
Raikage suddenly realized the truth, and the others finally sighed in relief.
At least he was catching on, even if his conclusion wasn't exactly what they had explained.
But then, something clicked in Mabui's mind.
She looked at Raikage in surprise.
Was he… actually a genius?
The Devil Fruit rumors only started after Shanks appeared.
And when Dark showed up later, it proved Devil Fruits were real.
Which meant Shanks wasn't lying.
But if he knew about them, why didn't he have one himself?
"Konohagakure took the Uzumaki clan's legacy for themselves. They swallowed up everything from the Land of Whirlpools. And because of the Devil Fruits, they probably chose not to save the Land of Whirlpools back then. That's exactly the kind of thing Konohagakure would do."
Mabui suddenly understood.
Now, everything made perfect sense.
Shanks exposed the existence of Devil Fruits.
Konohagakure panicked, afraid people would start digging too deep and trace them back.
So they made a move to shift all the attention onto Shanks.
They might even be planning to use this as an excuse to get rid of him.
Is this the reason? Since Shanks was from the Uzumaki clan, he knew too much. There was no way Konohagakure would let him live.
"Let's move out. This time, Raikage-sama and Killer Bee-sama will lead the team. C will be on standby at the Land of Fire's border, and the rest will stay in the village."
"I'll contact you directly if anything comes up."
Mabui spoke.
"Do as Mabui said."
Raikage, sitting at the main seat, waved his hand, giving the final order.
"Yes!"
Everyone responded in unison.
This time, Kumogakure was sending out real firepower—even the Jinchuriki, who were usually kept as a deterrent, were joining the mission.
Raikage and Jinchuriki Killer Bee were both strong, and together, they were even stronger.
Kirigakure was deploying battle power meant for war, and at this point, it was clear that Kumogakure was preparing for an all-out conflict.
Meanwhile, in the Land of Earth, Tsuchikage Oonoki remained calm. He had seen a lot in his time. Plus, with his age, he had built connections with people from different ninja villages over the years.
"Tsuchikage-sama, we've received news from Sunagakure.
Elder Chiyo says that Sunagakure has no cooperation with Konohagakure and knows nothing about the Devil Fruit."
"Got it. Tell Chiyo not to worry—I won't believe baseless rumors. Head to Sunagakure again."
After Oonoki spoke, the messenger ninja set off once more.
Around Oonoki stood a group of elite ninjas from Iwagakure. They were already on the move.
Oonoki always stayed steady—whether there was an actual problem or not, he would secure Sunagakure first. If they had nothing to do with it, then they should just stay put in their village.
"Tsuchikage-sama, gathering everyone else will take at least three days. We have plenty of time."
"We'll reach the border first. From there, we'll infiltrate while the main force remains on standby at the border."
Oonoki spoke. He wasn't just familiar with Chiyo—he also knew many people in Konohagakure.
Everything happening recently seemed to be connected to this Shanks guy. But then again, who was the Uzumaki clan most closely tied to? Konohagakure.
And with someone like Danzo in the picture, how could Oonoki feel at ease? If he just sat back and did nothing, Danzo might as well nail his coffin shut in a matter of time.
As for Sunagakure, Chiyo was already leading a team out.
"This could very well be a scheme by the other three villages against us and Konohagakure."
"No... That's not possible, right?"
Baki stuttered upon hearing Chiyo's words.
"I hope it's not. If Konohagakure really has Devil Fruits and is willing to share them with us, forming an alliance between Sunagakure and Konohagakure would give us the power to stand against the other three villages."
Chiyo said.
That was the key point. No matter how this played out, things wouldn't end well for either Konohagakure or Sunagakure. The best-case scenario would be that Konohagakure truly possessed Devil Fruits—fruits that could turn ordinary people into elite jonin-level fighters in no time.
If they didn't… then things would get really bad.
It was simple: when someone suspects you of developing nuclear weapons, the best response isn't to say, "We're not researching them"—it's to say, "We've already built them."
That was exactly what Chiyo was thinking. She actually hoped that Konohagakure had Devil Fruits—and the more, the better.
Otherwise, they were just being dragged into the mess for nothing, getting beaten down alongside Konohagakure without any benefit.
At this moment, the entire ninja world was in motion.
Not just one major ninja village—many smaller ones, and even rogue ninjas, were starting to move toward Konohagakure.
Roshi, the Four-Tails Jinchuriki who had already left Iwagakure, stepped out from the mountains. Meanwhile, the Six-Tails Jinchuriki from the Land of Water quietly sailed away on a small boat.
Tsunade looked at the now-empty gambling table, then got up and left the casino. The wind lifted her robe as Shizune followed behind, holding the little pig.
The last gamblers had also left.
As the sun set, Tsunade and Shizune's shadows stretched long on the ground. They strolled through the streets at a slow, steady pace, as if they were just taking a walk.
At the entrance of the casino, a group of tough-looking enforcers watched them from a distance. The last gambler, the big spender, had also left.
As Tsunade and Shizune disappeared down the street, the enforcers turned their attention to the casino owner.
From behind the bar counter, wisps of white smoke curled into the air as a chair slowly turned around. The casino owner, a muscular middle-aged man, sat there. Even with a coat draped over him, his solid build was obvious.
"Boss Ross, all the gamblers are gone."
The enforcers looked at their boss. Without gamblers, how was the casino supposed to operate?
"They haven't left. They've just moved to a different table."
Ross crossed his hands, the gemstones on his rings glinting in the light. But his gaze wasn't on the expensive jewelry.
"A different table?"
"Yeah. A much bigger one."
Ross slowly stood up and took a deep drag from his cigar.
On the other side of town, Shizune looked at Tsunade in confusion.
"Tsunade-sama, this is already the tenth casino, and there's not a single gambler. Maybe we should stop looking."
"You don't think they all quit gambling, do you?"
Shizune mumbled.
"Quit gambling? There's no way. They've just found a bigger table to play at."
"A bigger casino? Where?"
Shizune sighed in relief. If Tsunade-sama knew where to go, then they could head straight there instead of wandering around. She was exhausted.
Tsunade hesitated for a moment.
At the same time, Ross flicked his cigar to the ground and crushed it under his foot.
Tsunade turned her back to Shizune.
Ross looked at his men.
"That table is in the New World!"
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