Konoha had entered the game.
The Five Kage Summit.
The formation of the Five-Village Allied Shinobi Force.
The fuse of the Second Shinobi World War.
Amegakure.
A massive conflict engulfing the entire ninja world.
The Konoha Sickle had returned once again.
This time, it had joined forces with Konoha Television and assembled a brand-new team.
They were returning to futures trading—
Ready to lead their beloved investors toward wealth once more.
Wave after wave of news spread across the ninja world.
It caused an enormous uproar.
Naturally, the first and most heavily affected force was the Sky Village.
Angkor Fortress.
"What the hell is happening?!"
"We only attacked Kumogakure!"
"Where did this Five-Village Allied Shinobi Force come from?!"
The leader of the Sky shinobi stared at the rapidly changing situation in the ninja world.
His mentality completely collapsed.
He lost control of his emotions and began roaring.
Only a few days earlier—
He had still been full of confidence.
He believed he was about to reach the peak of his life.
The Sky Village would certainly become the sixth great shinobi village of the ninja world.
And he—
Would become the sixth Kage!
The Sky shinobi had successfully attacked Kumogakure and burned the village to the ground.
Their might had shocked the entire ninja world!
Whether judged by achievements or strength—
The Sky Village had earned the right to call itself the sixth great shinobi village and become one of the players on the ninja world's chessboard.
After all—
The Sky Village had accomplished something even Konoha had never done.
From this day onward, who would dare raise their voice before the Sky Village?
Unfortunately—
Events had not proceeded as smoothly as the Sky shinobi leader expected.
Even though he had prepared extensively beforehand.
Back then—
The decision to choose Kumogakure as the target for establishing their prestige had been made after careful consideration.
If they wanted to establish their might, they had to attack one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages!
Second-rate villages were not worth attacking.
Among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Konoha was unquestionably the strongest.
To ensure the plan succeeded without the slightest risk, the Sky Village naturally would not choose Konoha as its target.
Sunagakure was the weakest.
Attacking it would not sufficiently demonstrate the Sky Village's strength.
Moreover, Sunagakure was Konoha's ally.
Kirigakure was located on an island far too distant from them.
The best target had to be selected from either Iwagakure or Kumogakure.
Between those two—
The Sky Village ultimately chose Kumogakure.
Kumogakure was Konoha's mortal enemy.
It had also been betrayed by its ally, Iwagakure, and had fallen into complete isolation.
At the same time, Kumogakure remained one of the stronger villages among the Five Great Shinobi Villages.
It was the perfect target for establishing prestige.
Once the aerial assault succeeded, Kumogakure would inevitably suffer severe damage.
Given the current political structure among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, the other four would never allow Kumogakure to recover easily.
Especially Konoha!
At that point, even if Kumogakure wanted revenge against the Sky Village, it would probably lack the strength to carry it out.
A shinobi village that successfully attacked Kumogakure and survived Kumogakure's furious retaliation—
Would that not qualify it as the sixth great shinobi village?
What a perfect plan!
But damn it!
How had the Sky Village become the enemy of the entire ninja world overnight?
It would have been understandable if Iwagakure had chosen to support Kumogakure.
After all—
The two villages had just formed another alliance.
Every force in the ninja world could see that Kumogakure and Iwagakure were merely performing for appearances and showing respect to their respective daimyō.
Still, for the sake of appearances, it made sense for Iwagakure to support Kumogakure.
The Sky Village possessed air superiority.
It could barely deal with the two villages.
Even if it could not defeat them—
It could still escape!
But what about Sunagakure and Kirigakure?
Weren't they supposed to be fighting Amegakure?!
Were they simply abandoning the Land of Rain?
Their daimyō issued more than a dozen orders every day!
They should hurry and eliminate those rebels in Amegakure!
Damn it!
And Konoha!
Why was Konoha joining the excitement?
They should continue selling supplies!
Didn't they want to make money?
The Sky Village had previously been one of Konoha's major customers.
Industrial goods.
Medical supplies.
Food.
The Sky Village bought all those resources from Konoha!
They even purchased Konoha's grenades by the crate!
And they had attacked Kumogakure!
Wasn't Kumogakure Konoha's mortal enemy?
Did Konoha no longer care about avenging its Second Hokage?
"What a disaster!"
The Sky shinobi leader threw his head back and roared toward the heavens.
He was almost ready to cry.
He truly could not understand.
"The Sky Village needs to avoid the spotlight for now."
After venting his frustration, the leader eventually accepted reality.
The Sky Village was powerful.
But he was not arrogant enough to believe it could fight all five great villages simultaneously.
He decided to disappear temporarily.
He would lead Angkor Fortress into some remote mountain wilderness and hide until the situation calmed down.
The Sky Village was still flying through the air!
As long as it truly wanted to hide, the excellent natural environment of the ninja world would make it almost impossible to locate.
The Sky shinobi leader was confident that no village could discover their whereabouts.
—
Compared with the previous Five Kage Summit, which had taken several months of slow preparation—
This summit was organized at astonishing speed.
Only a few days passed between Konoha's initial summons and the gathering of the Five-Village Allied Shinobi Force.
Almost all that time had been spent traveling.
Because the preparations were rushed, many arrangements remained incomplete.
Furthermore, each village had brought large numbers of personnel.
Uchiha Ren simply selected an open wilderness along the border of the Land of Fire as the meeting location.
Inside a temporary conference tent—
"Every last member of the Sky Village must die!"
"Even if the Sage of Six Paths himself comes, he cannot save them!"
"I said it!"
"…"
The Third Raikage's roar caused the teacup before him to rattle.
"Calm down, Raikage."
"Your blood pressure is already high enough for the medical-nin to open a betting pool."
The Third Kazekage, Mosa, spoke leisurely.
"Calm down?"
"You want me to calm down?!"
The Third Raikage's eyes widened in fury.
He shouted at Mosa, who could speak so comfortably because the disaster had not happened to him.
"All right."
"Enough."
"Internal conflict at a time like this will not help Kumogakure in the slightest."
Uchiha Ren spoke indifferently, indirectly rescuing Mosa from the argument.
The Third Raikage immediately fell silent.
Kumogakure had suffered repeated disasters.
Its strength had been severely weakened.
But this revenge had to be taken.
The problem was—
Forget revenge.
Kumogakure could not even locate the Sky Village.
Therefore, if they wanted to eliminate the Sky Village completely, they had to rely on Uchiha Ren and the so-called Five-Village Allied Shinobi Force.
Only by combining the strength of all five great villages would they have a chance to destroy the Sky Village and avenge Kumogakure's dead.
"Then what is your opinion, Hokage?"
The Third Raikage forced a smile onto his face.
"The Sky Village must be destroyed."
"There is no alternative."
"Think about it."
"It is already winter."
"You're at home with your wife, eating hot pot and singing songs."
"Then suddenly, the Sky Village launches an air raid!"
"Therefore—"
"Only a world without the Sky Village can be considered a good world."
"Their complete destruction is necessary."
Uchiha Ren stated his position directly.
Even without considering the Zero-Tails—
He still had to eliminate the Sky Village.
That damned aerial firepower was far too dangerous!
Uchiha Ren could never allow an enemy like that to remain hidden in the dark, constantly eyeing Konoha.
In the original Naruto timeline, the Sky Village had attacked Konoha.
Although the butterfly effect had changed the course of history, Uchiha Ren could not lower his guard.
"I agree."
Naturally, the Third Raikage fully supported Uchiha Ren's proposal.
Kumogakure and the Sky Village now shared an irreconcilable blood feud.
"Since the Hokage has already said so, I have no objections."
"The Sky Village is indeed far too dangerous."
After brief consideration, the Third Kazekage spoke.
"I support the Hokage's proposal."
Ōnoki followed immediately.
Every gaze then fell upon the Third Mizukage.
"Since everyone has agreed, Kirigakure naturally cannot remain absent."
"We should remove the Sky Village, this disaster threatening the ninja world."
Suitō had only come to observe and join the excitement.
Now that the situation was already so clear, he had no reason to oppose everyone alone.
The decision was made!
The Five-Village Allied Shinobi Force was established!
Uchiha Ren became the alliance commander without controversy.
Only one problem remained—
How could they find the Sky Village and destroy it?
Uchiha Ren had already sent Black Zetsu and White Zetsu to search for it.
However—
Black Zetsu had not yet sent any news.
The other four great villages also activated their intelligence networks to search throughout the ninja world.
—
Land of Fire.
Futures Trading Hall.
A massive screen stood at the center of the hall.
On it—
Hatake Sakumo was speaking confidently.
He had returned.
Back to where everything had begun—
Futures.
The ninja world was in chaos.
Prices were fluctuating rapidly.
It was the perfect time to make enormous profits through futures trading!
"The Konoha Sickle!"
"That fraud has appeared again!"
"He's even on television!"
"How is he still alive?!"
Hatake Sakumo's reputation was extraordinary.
Especially within the investment world.
Almost every speculator active in the futures market recognized him.
The familiar white hair.
The black mask covering his face.
The inspiring sales pitch.
Everything was exactly as they remembered!
"That bastard is definitely working with the market makers to harvest us again!"
"I heard the Konoha Sickle already harvested an enormous amount in the Land of Lightning!"
"I refuse to be fooled this time!"
One victim gritted his teeth.
He had suffered during the pig-iron futures incident.
Back then, he had lost more than half his fortune.
It had taken him several years to recover.
"You're right!"
"Damn it!"
"Do they think we're idiots?"
Another man spat thickly onto the floor and cursed.
Clearly, he was also one of Sakumo's victims.
The entire futures hall erupted in fury.
Everyone cursed Hatake Sakumo loudly.
Had security personnel not been watching nearby, they might have smashed the screen.
"Therefore…"
"After my careful analysis…"
"This will definitely rise."
"At least fivefold."
"If the war continues, it may even increase tenfold."
"And this…"
"This one should fall."
"…"
"A person must seize opportunities to earn money while they are alive."
"In the ninja world…"
"There have been certain malicious rumors about me."
"But I can proudly say—"
"There are definitely people who followed me and became rich!"
Hatake Sakumo's program had not even ended when some viewers lost control.
"All in!"
"Buy exactly what the Konoha Sickle recommended!"
"Idiot!"
"Do you want to be harvested again?"
"You don't understand anything!"
"This is called being greedy when others are fearful!"
"Which project led by the Konoha Sickle failed to make money at the beginning?"
"How many opportunities does a person get to change their destiny?"
"I refuse to continue living such an ordinary life!"
"That…"
"Actually sounds somewhat reasonable."
"Don't be fooled!"
"Don't buy anything!"
"Bastard!"
"Then why are you taking out your money?"
The futures hall instantly descended into chaos.
The boldest people went all-in immediately.
Some hesitated and invested a smaller amount.
Others refused firmly and mocked the buyers as idiots waiting to be harvested.
Within only one or two days—
News of the Konoha Sickle's return spread throughout the entire investment world.
But before long—
Those who had firmly refused to be fooled again watched Hatake Sakumo's recommended futures continue climbing.
They could no longer suppress their impulses.
Tentatively—
They climbed aboard.
The investors of the Land of Fire behaved this way.
So did those in the Land of Lightning.
And throughout the entire ninja world.
Moreover—
Although many people believed this was another carefully arranged trap created by the Konoha Sickle—
A trap still needed bait before anyone would enter it.
Since there were profits available—
Why couldn't they take the initial gains and escape before the trap closed?
How many opportunities to become rich appeared in a lifetime?
Going all-in was a form of wisdom!
—
Konoha.
"Lord Kakuzu!"
"Inviting Lord Sakumo back onto television was an absolutely brilliant move!"
"It is the greatest market operation I have ever witnessed in my career!"
"Lord Hatake Sakumo's reputation speaks for itself."
"The investors are taking the bait one after another!"
"The futures we control are rising like madness!"
"There's no need to sell yet."
"Let the investors taste a little profit."
"We need to coordinate with the little white-haired one."
"This time, we'll harvest them repeatedly, little by little."
Kakuzu's expression was filled with excitement.
Joy saturated his voice.
Even his small beady eyes had narrowed into thin lines.
Hatake Sakumo pushed the door open and entered with exhaustion covering his body.
He had just finished that day's broadcast.
"Little white-haired one, you worked hard."
"Come look at today's numbers."
"Isn't this line beautiful?"
"Hmph."
"I'm not looking."
Hatake Sakumo wore his usual dead-fish expression and spoke irritably.
Ever since appearing on television again—
His bounty had increased once more.
The futures prices were rising.
His bounty was also rising.
What a miserable existence.
"Have you memorized your script?"
"You're going on stage tomorrow."
Hatake Sakumo casually found a chair and sat down.
Then he looked toward Kakuzu, who remained immersed in excitement, and asked with concern.
This time—
Kakuzu was supposed to help him absorb some of the pressure!
"Don't worry."
"I memorized it long ago."
"But those investors only watch you."
"Whenever I appear, my viewership doesn't even reach one-fifth of yours."
"What a pity."
"I truly wish more investors would take the bait."
"I envy you so much."
Kakuzu wore an expression of regret.
He desperately wanted to pull more investors into the market.
Unfortunately—
His personal fame was far too low.
"Go to hell!"
"You're actually standing there making sarcastic remarks!"
"Not at all."
"I genuinely envy you."
Kakuzu looked completely innocent.
However, his tone carried an unmistakable trace of teasing.