But only a handful were truly wise.
Most of the shinobi, upon hearing Kaede's declaration, reacted with rage.
"Damn it! This traitor is getting too full of himself!"
"Hmph! Konoha belongs to all of us! Who gave you the right to dissolve it on your own?!"
"Exactly! A bunch of missing-nin and you still have the nerve to talk big?!"
…
Perhaps hearing that Kaede was about to leave gave them false courage.
These same people who had trembled in his presence now dared to mock his words from the safety of the crowd.
But none of them truly represented Konoha.
Those with real intelligence were busy worrying about the crisis ahead.
The name and ideology of the Hidden Leaf were forged through the strength of Hashirama and Kaede.
Their alliance gave birth to the shinobi village system across all nations.
It's been nearly sixty years since, and the shinobi system has taken deep root.
Konoha had endured three great ninja wars, each time becoming the primary target.
Why? Because Konoha's environment was simply too blessed, making other villages jealous.
Had things followed the natural course, Naruto—the ultimate wildcard—would've eventually brought lasting peace to the villages.
But today changed everything.
The Uchiha clan had left Konoha, and Kaede, as one of the village's founding clans, publicly declared its dissolution.
Konoha's ANBU network had collapsed. Its leadership had lost the people's trust. Two Kage-level powerhouses had been crushed by Kaede.
Hundreds of jōnin and chūnin had fallen at the hands of Kaede and his clansmen.
Now, Konoha—already in a weakened state—had lost even more of its strength.
And to top it off, it had just been stripped of its legitimacy as a village by one of its founders.
How could the other great villages possibly sit still?
In two to three days at most, the combined armies of the Four Great Nations would begin their march to the Land of Fire's borders.
…
Kaede smirked coldly as he listened to the chatter.
"Ignorance is bliss, I suppose," he murmured.
He placed a hand on Naoto's shoulder.
The other Uchiha, seeing this, remembered Kaede's instructions and quickly formed a chain, hand on shoulder, connecting them all.
"You all go ahead. I'll join you shortly."
With that, Kaede activated his dōjutsu, swapping Naoto and the others one by one to the location of the Elders.
"They're finally gone!"
Hiruzen, who had been standing tall with feigned righteousness just moments ago, now let out a deep breath of relief.
Koharu and Homura beamed with joy.
Yes—gone at last.
Now they could begin covering up the damage Kaede had done.
Even now, they were still clinging to dreams of restoring their authority.
How laughable.
"Hmm?"
But then, the trio's expressions darkened in unison.
The Uchiha were gone… but Kaede was still standing there.
"Ugh…!"
Suddenly, Kaede clutched his left eye in pain.
"Sending so many people such a long distance all at once… even Mangekyō can't take that kind of strain."
Blood trickled from between his fingers.
Thankfully, he had used the eye he took from Danzō. Otherwise, he might've burned himself out.
"What's going on?" Hiruzen muttered, confused.
Kaede hadn't left. Was he injured?
Koharu suddenly exclaimed in delight, "I get it!"
"After that long battle, his Sharingan must've reached its limit!"
"He didn't choose to stay—he's unable to leave after transporting the Uchiha!"
"Now's our chance! Kill him!"
Her words stirred a frenzy.
It made sense!
Kaede wasn't a god—how could he maintain peak form indefinitely?
Hiruzen's eyes lit up. He raised his hand and shouted, "Attack! Kill this traitor, Uchiha Kaede!"
True or not, this was a heaven-sent opportunity.
Hiruzen trembled with excitement.
If they could kill Kaede here, now, they'd win big.
With his space-time ability, they'd never get another chance if he escaped.
Hiruzen then barked, "Everyone—use Fire Style! Prevent jutsu interference!"
Hundreds of shinobi quickly formed hand seals.
Those slower or unfamiliar with fire jutsu could only watch and hope.
A barrage of Fire Style techniques blanketed Kaede's position.
Boom—boom—boom…!!
Explosions roared for a full minute.
A hundred-meter crater was blasted into the ground.
"Is he dead…?" Hiruzen muttered, staring at the center of the pit.
"Heh… you almost got me."
Kaede's icy voice rang out.
Everyone's expression changed.
He survived that?
As the smoke cleared, a fractured—but intact—Susanoo stood tall.
Kaede was inside, completely unharmed.
"Impossible!" Hiruzen screamed.
Even his Susanoo was cracked—how could he be unscathed?
"It's genjutsu! This must be a trick!"
"No one could survive that!"
"Damn Uchiha—how can he be this strong?! Is heaven blind?!"
…
Terror gripped the hearts of every shinobi watching.
Hundreds had attacked at once. How could a man resist that?
Kaede couldn't help but laugh.
As he laughed, the Susanoo began to fade.
He slowly rose into the air.
"Did you think I'd reached my limit?"
Looking down on them like insects, Kaede sneered.
"Yes, transporting my clan did cost me a lot of Mangekyō power. I'm weaker now by maybe 30 or 40 percent."
"But…"
He grinned wickedly. "Just because I'm weaker doesn't mean you fools are any stronger!"
He raised his palm.
A dense, black flame began condensing in his hand, warping the very air.
It was the energy he had absorbed using his right eye during the previous barrage.
Even with all that chakra, his dōjutsu couldn't absorb everything.
What he did absorb had shattered his second-stage Susanoo.
Now… he would return that power to them—enhanced and compressed.
His right eye also had another ability: to amplify the power it devoured.
The energy now condensed in his palm pulsed with terrifying force.
Hiruzen trembled with dread.
They couldn't block this.
They absolutely could not block this.
He looked around and roared, "Run! Get out of there—now!"
The shout snapped the stunned shinobi back to reality.
"AHH!!"
With cries of panic, they fled in every direction.
But Kaede's voice rang out once more.
"Since the time of Hashirama and Madara… the shinobi world seems to have forgotten something."
"That once… there were men who could challenge the entire ninja world on their own."
"No one is born atop the heavens. Not you. Not me. Not even Madara or Hashirama."
"But that empty throne in the sky… it's waited long enough."
After a pause, Kaede declared:
"From this moment on, I stand at the top!"
He flipped his hand.
The tiny, black flame—compressed to its limit—plunged toward Konoha like a falling meteor.
(End of Chapter)
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