One day later, at Konoha Hospital.
On the hospital bed, Pakura still slept. Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and her green hair spilled across the pillow like a calm beauty.
Heiyan had watched over her all night, and now sat beside the bed with his eyes closed, catching some rest.
Recalling everything that had happened these past few days, he couldn't help but frown.
After all, being targeted by Madara Uchiha was definitely not a good sign. Although they'd narrowly managed to kill one of Madara's clones this time, Heiyan wasn't entirely sure whether the enemy would return soon.
The only thing he could be certain about was that Madara had not yet awakened the Rinnegan.
He remembered clearly: in the original timeline, when Madara neared death, he awakened the Rinnegan, summoned the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path to extend his life, then sought out young Nagato and secretly transferred his Rinnegan to him.
Later, near the end of the Second Great Ninja World War—approximately Konoha Year 37—Jiraiya discovered Nagato possessing the Rinnegan and took him as his disciple.
And now, it was already Konoha Year 31.
By that calculation, Madara's awakening of the Rinnegan would probably occur within the next two or three years.
Once that happened, if Madara came after him for his life...
Just thinking about it sent a deep sense of danger surging through Heiyan's heart.
Since awakening the Sage Transformation, he'd grown immensely stronger—but against someone like Madara, it was still nowhere close to being enough.
He knew all too well that in the ninja world, the power gap between individuals could sometimes be as vast as heaven and earth—or dust beneath the clouds.
In the world of ninjas,
In general, ninja were divided into three ranks based on their strength: Genin, Chunin, and Jonin.
Even the village Kage belonged to the Jonin class.
However, the position of Kage was always held by the strongest shinobi in the village. Their powers usually stood in a unique tier of their own, hence the term "Kage-level experts."
Even among the Kage themselves, the differences in strength could sometimes rival the entire leap from Genin to Kage!
To Heiyan, even the most basic classification of Kage-level experts could be further divided into four tiers: Kage, Transcendent Kage, Pinnacle of the Ninja World, and Six Paths Tier.
At his peak, Madara Uchiha, just like Hashirama Senju, had stood atop the entire ninja world as a mythic figure.
Now, even as an elderly man whose physical condition had declined, Madara still remained above the Transcendent Kage level. Once he awakened the Rinnegan, his power would not only restore him to the top of the ninja world—he would even brush up against the threshold of Six Paths Tier.
In contrast,
Heiyan currently stood at the Kage level.
If he wanted to stand a chance against Madara anytime soon, he needed at least the strength of the Transcendent Kage level.
Looks like there's only one option left.
Senjutsu!
That word shot through Heiyan's mind like lightning.
So then—where could he learn senjutsu?
As far as he knew,
Among the Three Great Sages' Lands, Mount Myoboku had always maintained close ties with Konoha. In the original timeline, the Sage of Six Paths, Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze, and Naruto Uzumaki had all studied senjutsu there.
Second place was Ryuchi Cave. To reach there, however, one would need Orochimaru's guidance.
Lastly, there was Shikkotsu Forest—the most mysterious of them all.
Heiyan speculated that Hashirama Senju, who possessed the Sage Transformation like himself, most likely inherited his Sage Art from the lineage of Shikkotsu Forest. Tsunade probably had a good idea about it.
However, considering her current mental state, now was probably not a good time to ask her about it...
As Heiyan furrowed his brow in thought,
Swoosh!
An Anbu ninja suddenly appeared in the hospital room.
"Lord Hei," he spoke cautiously, "the Third Hokage has summoned you to a council meeting at the Hokage Tower."
He barely finished speaking when he realized something was off.
He was clearly a Jonin, yet he'd instinctively referred to a Chunin with such formal honorifics—it felt strange.
It could only be because Heiyan's reputation was too prominent and his strength too overwhelming.
"I understand."
Heiyan opened his eyes, nodded slightly, and then instructed the nurse to take good care of Pakura before leaving Konoha Hospital together with the Anbu.
Five minutes later.
Hokage Tower, third floor.
Next to the Hokage office was a large meeting room.
Creak!
As the Anbu pushed open the door, Heiyan walked inside. Instantly, dozens of gazes focused sharply on him all at once.
Unfazed, Heiyan kept his face neutral and looked forward.
At the far end of the long rectangular conference table sat the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi, placing his Hokage hat on the table while puffing slowly on his pipe.
Behind Hiruzen stood his childhood teammates and current Konoha advisory elders—Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane.
Additionally, Danzo, the advisor to the Hokage, had arrived as well. For reasons unknown, Danzo appeared unusually weakened today.
Beside Sarutobi Hiruzen were his three outstanding apprentices: Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya.
However, all three seemed off in their own ways.
Jiraiya had just been discharged from the hospital, wrapped in bandages and leaning on crutches, appearing listless.
Tsunade had lost her last remaining family member and was deeply devastated, looking dazed and lost.
Orochimaru wore a grim expression. When Heiyan entered, he exchanged a meaningful glance with Danzo, both seeing unusual emotions flicker in each other's eyes.
That blue-haired woman—who had so easily crushed them with overwhelming power—had actually been defeated by Heiyan.
This made both men feel disbelief—and great difficulty accepting it.
Seated on both sides of the long conference table were the heads of all major ninja clans in Konoha.
Uchiha, Hyuga, Yamanaka, Akimichi, Nara, Inuzuka, Aburame...
Among them, Heiyan immediately recognized two familiar faces: Fugaku Uchiha and Hiashi Hyuga. Both looked mentally exhausted. After all, one had fallen victim to Madara's genjutsu and the other suffered mental damage from Black Zetsu's assault; neither had fully recovered yet.
Besides these individuals,
Heiyan noticed an elderly woman with a kind face sitting quietly in a corner of the meeting room.
She wore a white kimono, had light brown long hair, and bore a purple diamond-shaped mark on her forehead.
Their gazes locked.
The old woman offered Heiyan a warm smile—her gaze brimming with curiosity and an air of quiet mystery.
Heiyan slightly nodded in response.
She was the wife of the First Hokage and the world's first jinchuriki of the Nine-Tails, Mito Uzumaki.
Even Heiyan, with his extraordinary sensor ability, sensed a terrifying power sleeping within her body—
Naturally, it was the Nine-Tails.
At this moment—
"Is everyone here? Then let's begin."
Hiruzen Sarutobi spoke.
Then, several members of the Anbu, led by Sakumo Hatake, entered the meeting room, handing out copies of the report to everyone present.
These documents contained full details of the battle that took place at the Valley of the End.
This attack was Leaf Village's first enemy assault since the end of the last Great Ninja World War over a decade ago.
It began with an attack on the village's police force headquarters, then escalated to the Valley of the End beyond the village walls. Eventually, it caused significant casualties, triggering enormous panic and chaos.
The enemy was a mysterious woman named Nagare.
As the high-ranking elders of Leaf Village read through the documents, their expressions gradually turned horrified.
They had been briefed on some intelligence before, but until now—and until reading Sakumo Hatake's report—they hadn't known the full extent of what happened.
[Mangekyo Sharingan] capable of summoning the Three-Tails, [Wood Release] Ninjutsu of the First Hokage, and [Susanoo] standing dozens of meters tall...
Each one alone would have been shocking—but she had them all at once.
Even more unbelievable was that such a terrifying enemy had been defeated by Heiyan.
How in the world did he pull that off?
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