A political earthquake erupted in the Land of Fire—and the news spread across the shinobi world like wildfire. No one had expected it, but the Lands of Earth and Wind soon followed suit, abolishing the shinobi village system as well.
At the Akatsuki base—
"Why did the Lands of Wind, Fire, and Earth all experience such massive coups at the same time?" Tendo Pain, controlled by Nagato, looked around at the assembled members of Akatsuki.
Some were present in the flesh, others were hazy, flickering projections—faces indistinct. This was the "Astral Projection Jutsu," a remote communication jutsu developed by Nagato using the Rinnegan. Through the rings worn by each member, the jutsu allowed quick and efficient group meetings.
"I don't know. I only care about money. What happens to the shinobi world has nothing to do with me," said a tall man with a green headband and piercing emerald eyes.
That man was none other than the legendary bounty hunter and Takigakure rogue ninja—Kakuzu.
Life had been relatively smooth for Kakuzu in recent years. Sure, inflation had reduced the value of paper money, but he didn't care. He simply enjoyed stacking more and more bills. In his worldview, nothing held more value than cold, hard cash.
Kakuzu's partner, Hidan, was a scythe-wielding punk with slicked-back hair. Good-looking, sure—but he had the brain of a rock. Right now, he looked thoroughly disinterested.
"This is good for us, isn't it, Leader?" Deidara spoke up. "The more chaos in the shinobi world, the better it is for us to carry out our plans."
"Our organization is still in the accumulation phase. We don't have enough combat power yet," said Tendo Pain.
"Is that so?" Deidara cocked his head, glancing around with an almost smug glow. "Because it seems to me that we've got more than enough firepower."
He wasn't exactly wrong. Each of the Akatsuki members was infamous and terrifying in their own right. Together, they could probably sweep through the Five Great Shinobi Nations with ease.
Yes—Deidara was that confident.
Pain gave him a long, heavy stare.
"You all still don't know the full battle report from Konoha, do you?"
The group exchanged puzzled glances. Akatsuki's intelligence network was handled entirely by White Zetsu. If he didn't say anything, they remained in the dark—only aware of the information that had gone public.
Especially Uchiha Itachi. Ever since the coup in the Land of Fire, he had been visibly uneasy. The abolishment of Konoha made him question everything he'd done. If the village no longer existed, then what was the point of killing his parents, his clan—everything he'd sacrificed?
That was when Black Zetsu spoke:
"During the joint Chūnin Exams held by Konoha and Sunagakure, Orochimaru ambushed the Third Hokage. At the same time, Uchiha Sasuke and a branch member of the Hyūga clan, Hyūga Neji, wiped out the entire Hyūga clan."
"Afterward, Sasuke used the One-Tail to bombard Konoha indiscriminately. More than half of the village's population was killed in the attack."
"Then Sasuke killed the remaining Konoha leadership—including Shimura Danzō. The daimyō of the Land of Fire immediately announced the dissolution of the shinobi village system and declared Sasuke a national hero who had helped eliminate 'Konoha's reactionary forces.' He was appointed as the new shōgun."
"Hyūga Neji became a deputy minister. Even Orochimaru was granted a post—the Director of the Land of Fire's Supreme Scientific Institute."
"In short, the ones who destroyed Konoha... have now been rebranded as champions of the nation. Sasuke even publicly declared that he had abandoned the narrow ideology of the shinobi village and was willing to sacrifice his village for the sake of national stability."
The moment those words fell, everyone turned to look at Uchiha Itachi.
Deidara couldn't help but snicker first.
"Now that's what I call brotherly love. One massacres his clan, the other slaughters his village. All in the name of justice!"
Everyone present knew it—Sasuke's actions were clearly revenge. An eye for an eye. If Itachi had destroyed the Uchiha clan for the village, then Sasuke had destroyed the village for the nation.
Could Itachi accept that?
Of course not.
To him, Konoha was the heart of the Land of Fire. Without it, the nation had no reason to exist. Now, to Itachi, the Land of Fire was nothing but a defenseless cake—sweet, soft, and ripe for anyone to take a bite.
But then Black Zetsu continued, shattering even that delusion:
"The daimyō now commands power that far surpasses what Konoha ever had. Hatake Kakashi led the Ino-Shika-Chō clans and voluntarily surrendered. Later, the Aburame, Inuzuka, and even several civilian ninja families joined him and pledged loyalty to the daimyō."
"The Land of Fire already had new military institutions prepared to replace Konoha. It's likely the daimyō had been planning this for years, just waiting for the right moment to strike."
Sasori suddenly chimed in, "Konoha's been cutting off its own limbs these past years—infighting, weakening itself. If I were the daimyō, I wouldn't pass up such a perfect opportunity either."
Itachi's expression remained unreadable, but his palms were clenched so tightly that his nails had broken through the skin.
Black Zetsu turned his gaze toward him.
"One more thing—it concerns you. Uchiha Sasuke, acting as clan head, has formally removed your name from the Uchiha registry."
He said it casually, almost as an afterthought. But in the shinobi world, where surnames were more than just names—they were legacy—being stripped of yours meant being erased.
Unbothered by the psychological blow dealt to Itachi, Black Zetsu pressed on:
"In the Land of Earth, the Third Tsuchikage overthrew the government, executed the daimyō and all the nobles, and declared himself the new ruler. The Land of Wind followed a similar path. Its daimyō absorbed Sunagakure into a new military system."
Three of the Five Great Nations had undergone sweeping transformations. It wasn't just the more dim-witted members of Akatsuki who were stunned—even Black Zetsu, an ancient being, was caught off guard.
For over a thousand years, ninja had never tried to overthrow the rule of ordinary people—not like this. So why had rebellion erupted overnight?
Black Zetsu couldn't figure it out. He had noticed the worsening state of the world—natural disasters, civil unrest—but he didn't care. All that mattered was resurrecting his mother. As long as nothing got in the way of that, the world could burn.
But clearly, the emergence of monsters like Sasuke and Neji was an uncontrollable variable. According to the White Zetsu spies stationed near Konoha, Kakashi led a faction of Konoha ninja in defecting to the daimyō's side, while the Third Hokage and Jiraiya tried to resist. In the end, even combined, they were easily crushed by Sasuke.
They fled, only to be toyed with by Neji like a cat playing with mice. That alone said everything about the terrifying power the two now wielded.
And then there was the mysterious daimyō of the Land of Fire. Powerful. Commanding. Black Zetsu suspected the destruction of Konoha had been orchestrated entirely by him—Sasuke and Neji were just pawns.
The situation had spiraled out of control. For someone who had schemed for millennia, Black Zetsu couldn't help but panic. He was finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel—now was not the time for everything to fall apart.
But still, he had to tread carefully. He couldn't ignore Nagato. Not if he still wanted to collect the Tailed Beasts. There was no getting around him.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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