A dark and damp underground chamber.
Uchiha Obito curled up in the corner of a cold stone bed. His throat had become hoarse and dry from shouting for so long, burning with pain.
Days of fear, loneliness, and despair had drained nearly all of his strength. Even his newly awakened two tomoe Sharingan had lost its brilliance, leaving behind only emptiness and numbness.
Just then.
The invisible air inside the stone chamber seemed to ripple slightly as a hunched figure silently appeared before him.
The newcomer wore old black clothes. Deep wrinkles covered his aged face.
His dry hair drew little attention compared to his pair of pitch black eyes.
Although there was no fluctuation of ocular power from them, they still gave people a real sense of overwhelming pressure.
Like a frightened rabbit, Obito suddenly jumped off the stone bed.
Ignoring his weakness and injuries, he quickly retreated to the other side of the chamber, pressing his back tightly against the rough, icy wall.
His face was filled with fear and vigilance as he stared at the mysterious old man.
"Y... Who are you?! Where is this place?!"
Obito's voice was hoarse and trembling, carrying the sound of tears, yet he stubbornly refused to show weakness.
Uchiha Madara looked at the trembling yet stubborn boy before him.
His deep, raspy voice slowly echoed through the chamber.
Like the whisper of a demon, he once again began preaching his beliefs.
"...If you immerse yourself in false bonds, you will only suffer even greater pain in the end.
This world has long been beyond saving. Only within an eternal dream can true peace and happiness exist..."
But at this moment, all Obito wanted was to return to Konoha, return to his clan, and return to Kakashi and Rin...
Madara's extreme philosophy sounded like meaningless nonsense to him. It only made him feel even more frightened and disgusted.
"That's a lie! You're lying! I have my clan and my companions. They're the most important things to me!
I don't want to hear your nonsense! Let me out! I want to go home!"
Obito shouted back emotionally. Tears filled his eyes.
But he clenched his teeth tightly and refused to let them fall.
Madara looked at Obito, who completely rejected everything he said and still remained immersed in his childish dreams.
A trace of coldness and impatience flashed through his cloudy eyes, but even more obvious was the indifference of someone who believed everything was under his control.
He stopped preaching and remained silent for a moment.
Then he suddenly spoke in an unusually calm tone.
"If you wish so badly to return to that false cage... then go."
Obito froze, almost believing he had misheard.
"...What? Y... You're really letting me go?"
Madara did not answer. He merely raised his thin, withered hand.
Following his movement, the solid stone wall beside them let out a low grinding sound before slowly splitting apart, revealing a narrow passage leading outside, where a faint light shone through.
"Follow this path, and you can leave."
Madara's voice remained completely emotionless.
An overwhelming sense of joy and disbelief struck Obito's mind. He barely had time to think whether this might be another trap. His instinct to survive and his desperate desire to return home overwhelmed everything else.
He cautiously glanced at Madara. Seeing that the old man truly had no intention of stopping him...
He immediately rushed toward the passage with all the strength he had left, afraid Madara might change his mind. Stumbling forward, he disappeared into the faint light without looking back.
Uchiha Madara remained standing where he was, completely motionless, like an ancient statue that had existed forever.
His deep gaze followed Obito's disappearing figure.
His eyes held complicated emotions that were difficult to understand, carrying a trace of mockery, a trace of pity...
But even more than that, they held the strange anticipation of a farmer waiting for the seed he had planted to take root and sprout.
"The despair of reality...
Will soon reveal the truth of this world to you..."
"Only the eternal dream...
Can save this ninja world."
His low, raspy murmur slowly faded into the darkness as the stone chamber closed once again.
...
Northern Battlefield, Konoha Main Camp.
Completely different from the cold loneliness of the stone chamber, the atmosphere here was lively yet tense.
Konoha's leaders and elite ninja had gathered once again.
This time, however, everyone wore a different expression.
"The information has been confirmed!"
An intelligence ninja respectfully reported.
"Iwagakure and Kumogakure have almost simultaneously sent official documents requesting ceasefire negotiations!
Kumogakure has also proposed following the old tradition by holding a summit of the leaders of the Five Great Ninja Villages...
A Five Kage Summit, to discuss postwar matters and a peace agreement!"
A wave of quiet discussion immediately spread through the tent.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, took a deep drag from his pipe before slowly exhaling the smoke, his brows tightly knitted.
Setting down his pipe, he spoke in a deep voice.
"As expected.
Now that they have lost their Kage...
Both villages are leaderless and under tremendous internal pressure. A ceasefire is inevitable.
But this Five Kage Summit...
Kumogakure has certainly planned this well."
There was a trace of hesitation in his voice.
Having experienced three great ninja wars, Hiruzen Sarutobi understood the cruelty of war better than anyone, and he longed for genuine peace.
If ending the war through relatively peaceful negotiations and releasing the two Kage in exchange for a long lasting peace agreement for Konoha was possible...
Then in his eyes, it was not an unacceptable choice.
"Hmph! Hiruzen, what are you hesitating about now?"
Danzo immediately saw through Hiruzen's thoughts.
He instantly spoke in a cold voice, his single eye flashing with sharp, icy light.
"We are the victors. They are nothing more than defeated enemies. What right do they have to demand an equal meeting like the Five Kage Summit?
We should display the strength worthy of the winning nation!
Force them to sign the harshest treaty possible, punish them to the greatest extent, and ensure Konoha's absolute security for the next several decades, or even the next hundred years!"
Danzo's voice was firm and decisive, leaving no room for doubt.
In his eyes...
The other four great ninja villages...
Had no right to make demands or point fingers at Konoha.
"Release the Raikage and Tsuchikage? What a joke!
They are our greatest spoils of war. They are the swords hanging above Iwagakure's and Kumogakure's heads. How could we possibly return them so easily?"
"Danzo! Blindly acting tough will only plant even deeper seeds of hatred!"
Hiruzen naturally understood Danzo's reasoning, but he also had worries of his own.
Pressure was like a compressed spring. Sooner or later, it would rebound.
Hiruzen sighed, his tone becoming heavier.
"The purpose of war is peace, not endless conquest and oppression! What we need is lasting stability!"
"Lasting stability comes from absolute strength and deterrence, not softhearted mercy!"
Danzo refused to back down.
The two argued directly against one another, making the atmosphere inside the tent become increasingly tense.
The others, including Jiraiya and Tsunade, all wore thoughtful expressions.
Each of them had their own considerations, and for the moment, no agreement could be reached.
The war...
Had now been won.
But dealing with everything that came after the war...
Was even more complicated than the war itself.
How exactly should they handle it now?
Just then.
The Konoha White Fang, Hatake Sakumo, who had remained silent like a mountain of ice, slowly raised his head.
His sharp eyes did not look toward the arguing Third Hokage or Danzo.
Instead...
They passed over both of them.
And landed beside Tsunade.
There, Uchiha Chiya was casually leaning back in his chair.
His fingers lightly tapped the armrest as though he had no interest in the argument before him. There was even a faint smile on his lips.
Hatake Sakumo spoke in a deep voice, breaking the deadlock.
"Third Hokage, Danzo. Both of your opinions have their own merits.
But continuing to argue without reaching a conclusion is not a solution.
Perhaps we should hear Clan Head Chiya's opinion instead."
His voice was not loud.
Yet it instantly drew everyone's attention toward Uchiha Chiya.
That was right!
The person who had truly decided the outcome of this war was him.
The person with the absolute right to speak...
Was also him.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo both stopped arguing and looked toward Chiya at the same time.
Hiruzen's eyes were filled with inquiry.
Danzo's gaze was far more complicated, hiding deep caution.
Feeling everyone's attention, Uchiha Chiya slowly straightened his body.
The relaxed smile on his face widened, as though he had just heard something amusing.
"The Five Kage Summit? It sounds quite lively."
He chuckled softly as his eyes swept across everyone with a playful look that seemed to see through everything.
"Kumogakure went through all this trouble because they want their Raikage back, don't they? Iwagakure is probably thinking the same thing."
He paused.
"They want their people back? That's not impossible."
Under everyone's puzzled gazes, he casually continued.
"They can redeem them with money."
"Huh?"
The entire tent immediately erupted in confused voices.
Redeem them with money?
Everyone was stunned.
Even Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo.
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