Awaken the Tenseigan, Become the Mastermind of the Shinobi World

Hyuga Gakuya spoke with feigned disdain.

"Raikage, don't act so righteous and try to condemn me. In this chaotic world, everyone fights for their own beliefs. Those you call innocent might very well be seen as obstacles by others."

"You claim my hands are soaked in blood—but haven't you taken countless lives in battle yourself? Don't pretend to be so noble. You and I are nothing more than pawns in this brutal world."

"Of course... if you insist on blaming me for those deaths, then by all means, come take your revenge. Use whatever means you want—if you can kill me, go ahead and try."

Gakuya's words were sharp, every sentence stabbing directly into the Raikage's heart. And to be fair, Gakuya hadn't actually killed that many of their shinobi.

That was all Deidara's doing. What did that have to do with Hyuga Gakuya?

And in terms of raw strength—even if every remaining shinobi in that shattered Kumogakure rose against him, they wouldn't stand a chance.

Raikage's temple pulsed with fury as he heard Gakuya's contemptuous tone. His eyes widened, his body trembling with rage, looking ready to lunge forward and rip Gakuya apart.

"Hyuga Gakuya, you shameless bastard! You dare to brush off the bloodshed of war like it's nothing? Every fallen warrior had a family—people who cared about them! And you treat their lives like they were meaningless!"

His roar shook the entire chamber. His fists clenched so tightly the knuckles turned white.

"You're just trying to absolve yourself of guilt! Don't think a few slick words will hide what you've done. I, Raikage A, will never let you off so easily!"

Raikage's fury could no longer be contained. He panted heavily, glaring at Gakuya with eyes full of murderous intent.

...

Gaara looked between the enraged Raikage and the unbothered Gakuya, then calmly spoke.

"Raikage, now is not the time to argue among ourselves. Our focus should be on the common enemy before us."

Tsunade nodded in agreement.

"He's right. This isn't the moment to act on emotions. We need to unite every ounce of strength we can muster to face the crisis ahead. Hyuga Gakuya, I hope you'll back up your words with action."

Gakuya gave a slight nod.

"I will prove myself through my actions."

His reply offered Raikage a way out—he no longer pressed him as aggressively as before. After all, Gakuya was here to seek cooperation.

Raikage let out a cold snort. Though still fuming, he forcefully swallowed his anger and sat back down in silence.

Ōnoki cleared his throat lightly and said,

"In that case, we should move on and begin strategizing how to deal with Uchiha Obito and the others."

Everyone nodded, finally turning their attention to the matter at hand.

Gakuya was the first to speak, slowly explaining,

"The worst-case scenario has already occurred. Kisame and Sasuke have not returned to the Land of Rain."

"They've defected from the Akatsuki. The two of them are now working with Uchiha Obito and Yakushi Kabuto. Our enemies have grown stronger."

As Gakuya's words fell, the mood in the chamber grew darker. The weight of his message settled heavily over the room.

After a moment of silence, Gakuya produced a stack of documents.

"This is a list of the shinobi already resurrected using Edo Tensei. Please take a look. I gathered this intel earlier, and I estimate that over 80% of them have now been brought back."

Shizune stepped forward and distributed the intel to the five Kage.

As the five leaders at the pinnacle of the shinobi world looked over the names, their faces all darkened.

The list was a full page long.

Nearly every elite shinobi from the Five Great Nations in recent memory was on it. Not only that—even several former Kage were included.

And the Akatsuki's deceased members—all of them had been revived.

Each Kage was visibly shaken. Gaara spotted Chiyo's name. Tsunade found both Dan and her grandfather and granduncle among the dead. Raikage saw the names of many loyal subordinates who had perished in service.

Ōnoki, however, found a name that made his blood run cold: Uchiha Madara.

This list was far longer than the one in the original war. Gakuya had included others who never appeared before—like Sakumo Hatake—and even the First and Second Hokage: Hashirama and Tobirama Senju.

Ōnoki set the paper down with a heavy sigh, his voice hoarse.

"This is a catastrophe. Both Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama have been resurrected."

Mei clenched her teeth, her eyes burning with fury.

"That lunatic Kabuto... What is he planning?"

Tsunade fought to suppress the pain in her chest.

"Whatever he's planning, we cannot let him succeed."

The God of Shinobi and Uchiha Madara—did they really have the strength to defeat monsters like them?

Gakuya looked at their troubled expressions and continued.

"Yakushi Kabuto isn't capable of reviving them at full strength. If he did, he wouldn't be able to control them."

"My guess is that even if they've been revived, they're operating at thirty to forty percent of their original power."

That brought some relief to the others. Thirty or forty percent—even for shinobi gods—they should still be beatable.

Tsunade, however, quickly reminded everyone,

"Don't let your guard down. Even at thirty or forty percent, we can't assume victory is guaranteed."

"I'll bring out my grandfather's old battle records. Hopefully, we'll find some clues on how to defeat him."

"As for counter-strategies, we'll get to that in time. For now, I'll share what we know—they also have the Rinnegan and seven of the Tailed Beasts. All of them are still under their control, and that's an enormous threat."

Sensing the sinking morale, Tsunade added,

"That's true. But fortunately, we still have the Eight-Tails and Nine-Tails. Both are perfect jinchūriki. If we protect them, we still have a chance to win this war."

But Gakuya's expression grew even more serious.

"To be precise... they already have all the Tailed Beasts."

Everyone froze.

Raikage A suddenly stood up, eyes wide.

"What?! How is that possible?!"

Gakuya explained grimly,

"Chakra from the Tailed Beasts can be substituted. Didn't your village's Kinkaku and Ginkaku absorb some of the Nine-Tails' chakra?"

"And remember—Orochimaru once obtained a severed portion of the Eight-Tails. It was cultivated into a horned clone. I took that specimen, but now Kabuto has it."

"Besides, the Fourth Hokage still has the other half of the Nine-Tails sealed within him. The only reason he hasn't been summoned yet is because he once escaped Edo Tensei."

"If Obito wants that remaining half of the Nine-Tails... he can take it any time."

----------------

Pls Drop some Power Stones

Fanfic is finished on Patreon (237 chapters in total.) 

Patreon(.)com/Jixo (for only $4.50, read this entire fanfic)