Konoha's sudden changes only accelerated the four great ninja villages' joint assault on the Land of Whirlpools. They moved even faster, dispatching troops to strike UzUzushiogakure.
This battle emphasized one thing above all else: speed.
They had to end it quickly—seize the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques and withdraw immediately. Under no circumstances could they become embroiled in a large-scale confrontation with Konoha.
The time was not yet ripe.
Only after obtaining perfect Jinchūriki would they have the qualifications to face Konoha head-on.
Among the four villages, Kumogakure was the first to act. Leading the force was none other than the Raikage's aide, Tutai.
Standing on the deck, Tian CunZairo voiced a thought he had been mulling over.
"Tutai-sama, you mentioned before that Kinkaku and Ginkaku sealed the Six Paths' ninja tools using summoning seals—something outsiders can't cancel. But the Uzumaki clan's sealing techniques are the strongest in the ninja world today. Do you think they could undo those seals?"
Ever since experiencing how much the Thunder God Sword aided his cultivation, Tian CunZairo had set his sights on the Banana Fan.
The Thunder God Sword could only transform chakra into Lightning Release.
The Banana Fan, however, could convert chakra into all five elements—Wind, Fire, Lightning, Water, and Earth—regardless of the user's natural affinity. It was vastly superior.
Although he was born with only Lightning affinity, that was merely an innate tendency. Other attributes could still be cultivated through later training—harder, less efficient, and more draining, yes, but not impossible.
If he had a choice, he wanted to master all five chakra natures.
That made the Banana Fan invaluable.
At present, they lacked Edo Tensei and could not resurrect Kinkaku and Ginkaku to summon the Six Paths tools directly. But perhaps there was another way—through the summoning seals themselves.
Tutai remained silent, carefully weighing the feasibility of the idea.
After a long while, he asked,
"Do you still have any of Kinkaku and Ginkaku's body parts with you?"
He was clearly tempted.
Kinkaku and Ginkaku's remains were the only existing medium. If the Uzumaki clan could undo the seals, they would almost certainly need those remains—especially for a summoning-type seal.
"I kept their hearts," Tian CunZairo replied.
He produced two nutrient containers holding the hearts, then took out a blank sealing scroll. Stimulating the pre-inscribed sealing formula with chakra, he sealed the containers inside.
His home had no real security measures. Keeping valuables there never felt safe, so he carried them with him instead.
Fortunately, several plates of his armor were inscribed with storage seals, allowing him to store items—such as the one thousand high-quality explosive tags he had purchased at enormous cost before departure.
He had wanted to buy ten thousand, but the merchants enforced strict purchase limits.
As for the remaining heart, he planned to find an opportunity to befriend Kakuzu in the future. A superpowered tycoon like Kakuzu loved money—exactly the kind of person Tian CunZairo excelled at dealing with.
"We can try," Tutai said.
He accepted the scroll and tucked it into his clothes, deciding to test the idea.
If it failed, nothing would be lost.
But if it succeeded, they could recover all four Six Paths tools.
If those were used in this war, they could inflict devastating damage on the other villages.
Especially if the Uzumaki clan—naturally blessed with massive chakra reserves—were the ones wielding them.
And if the Uzumaki acted, they would also draw most of the hatred, reducing how much hostility the other villages directed toward Kumogakure.
"Also," Tutai added,
"the four allied forces' commanders will hold a meeting in the Land of Whirlpools. You'll come with me and observe. See the major figures of the other villages—those will likely be your future opponents."
He had suddenly remembered the scheduled meeting and gestured for Tian CunZairo to attend.
Although Tian CunZairo had formally apprenticed under the Third Raikage, his chakra talent was… painful to look at. His future combat achievements would be limited.
Tutai and the Third valued his mind, not his chakra.
Tutai intended to groom him as a successor—Kumogakure needed thinkers like him far more than it needed another brute.
Keeping him close would let him learn faster.
"A meeting?" Tian CunZairo was surprised.
"There was only a rough agreement before," Tutai replied with a grin,
"but Konoha's recent behavior has been far too aggressive. It may introduce variables."
That change, of course, stemmed from the intelligence they had fed to Shimura Danzō.
The core of ninja warfare was intelligence.
A single piece of information could produce an effect far greater than even a powerful shinobi—and yield much greater returns.
That wasn't to say strength was unimportant. Necessary combat power was still essential, if only to protect one's gains.
Both had to be pursued. Both had to be strong.
"Konoha's basically become the enemy of the entire ninja world now," Tian CunZairo said with a laugh.
He was more than happy to see this outcome.
If Konoha could be wiped out during the Second Shinobi World War, even better—the original storyline would collapse completely, and he would reap an enormous amount of Fate Power.
He needed Fate Power to drive his golden finger—not just to boost his comprehension and cultivation, but also to assist Kaguya's shadow in devouring chakra and growing stronger, until it could independently absorb and refine those imprint phantoms.
Fate Power came from altering—or outright shattering—the original plot.
The greater the change, the better.
Unfortunately, Konoha was absurdly strong.
Even in the future, despite the F4 repeatedly courting disaster, by the Fourth War it was still Konoha's one-man show. The other four villages were mere supporting cast.
By the final stage, they didn't even qualify for screen time.
Even the Edo Tensei resurrected dead were dominated by Konoha's monsters.
Its foundation was simply too deep. Too thick.
Tutai gazed out at the sea and sighed.
"The First Hokage wanted to create a one-superpower–many-strong balance, like a village ruled by its Kage. But conflicts between villages are far greater than those between clans within a single village. It was doomed to fail from the start.
"Even adding tailed beasts as deterrents didn't work—if anything, it backfired.
"It can only be said that neither the First nor the Second Hokage were true political architects. They were far too idealistic."
Tutai was an intelligence specialist—not just in external strategy, but in internal governance and logistics as well. He could see many problems others overlooked.
"The Second Hokage still accomplished quite a lot, though," Tian CunZairo said.
Tutai gave a cold laugh.
"That's because you've never been to the daimyo's court. The ninja academy and the ANBU system were both copied from the daimyo's structure.
"The court has schools dedicated to cultivating talent. The daimyo also maintains personnel to handle matters that can't see the light of day. The so-called Guardian Ninja are merely the overt force.
"From beginning to end, the daimyo never truly trusted us ninja. How could they possibly hand over all power and authority to the villages?"
Tutai felt no admiration for the Second Hokage in this regard. At heart, he was still just a shinobi—not a statesman. His talents lay elsewhere.
"So it was imitation," Tian CunZairo muttered in realization.
Everything suddenly made sense.
The daimyo's system had existed for thousands of years—possibly even predating Ōtsutsuki Kaguya's arrival. It was a refined structure passed down through ages.
The ninja village system, by contrast, was only decades old. How could it possibly surpass a system refined over millennia?
Of course they would imitate it.
Moreover, it was only logical that the daimyo possessed forces capable of checking the villages. Otherwise, the ninja would have long since hollowed them out—or staged a coup under the banner of supporting the sovereign.
As a great man from his previous life once said: political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Authority must be founded on force to remain stable.
Sure enough, the essence of a real world could never be fully conveyed by a single manga.
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