Chapter 475 - Fourth Great Ninja War!!
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As the sun set in the west—
Kitazawa checked the time, then headed to Konoha Hospital.
After an afternoon of testing, he had already mastered Dual Kamui and the Tenseigan.
He soon arrived at Pain’s room.
He knocked, then entered.
"Kitazawa."
Konan immediately stood up when she saw him.
"Nagato, how’s your body?"
Kitazawa nodded to her and looked at Nagato in the hospital bed.
"Without the Gedo Statue, my body has been slowly recovering."
Pain took a breath, then couldn’t help asking, "Were you the one who took control of the Gedo Statue?"
Konan also looked at him curiously.
She knew something about the Gedo Statue—only the Rinnegan could summon it.
Kitazawa considered it for a moment and simply activated the Rinnegan.
"Rinnegan...?"
Pain’s eyes went wide.
Konan was also stunned.
"You... how do you have the Rinnegan?" Pain blurted out.
"I awakened it myself."
Kitazawa paused, then changed the topic. "I plan to have you both join the Anbu. Any objections?"
"I’m fine with that," Konan said as she recovered.
"The Anbu?" Nagato thought for a moment. "What do you want us to do?"
"Watch over the Ninja World and maintain peace," Kitazawa answered.
Nagato was taken aback, then nodded in agreement.
"You can start tomorrow," Kitazawa added. "Nagato, you can rest for a few more days."
"I’ll start by learning Edo Tensei."
Nagato nodded.
What he wanted most right now was to uncover the truth behind his parents’ deaths.
"That’s fine." Kitazawa thought briefly, then asked, "Any requirements for where you live?"
"None," Nagato said indifferently. "Anywhere is fine."
"Then stay in the Anbu dorms."
Kitazawa took out two keys and handed them over. "The room numbers are on the keys."
"Thank you."
Konan took one and glanced at it—
It was the same room she’d used before in the Anbu dormitory.
Her heart warmed.
"Kitazawa," Nagato said suddenly, "I hope you can protect the Hidden Rain Village."
"I’ll send Jiraiya there," Kitazawa replied after a moment of thought.
"Thank you."
Hearing Jiraiya’s name, Nagato immediately relaxed.
Kitazawa felt a faint sense of irony.
In the original story, Jiraiya had died in the Hidden Rain. Now he was returning there to protect it.
Fate truly was fickle.
"Then I’ll be going. See you tomorrow."
Kitazawa turned and left the ward.
As he walked, he considered how to handle the final spoils of this battle—the seven tailed beasts.
He had no interest in becoming the Ten-Tails’ Jinchuriki, so there was no need to feed all nine Tailed Beasts to the Gedo Statue.
With the system, his strength would eventually surpass that of any Ten-Tails’ Jinchuriki anyway.
"Should I distribute them..."
Kitazawa rubbed his chin.
To make real use of a Tailed Beast, it had to be sealed inside a Jinchuriki.
The first person who came to mind was Kakashi.
Without becoming a Jinchuriki, Kakashi wouldn’t be able to maintain Dual Mangekyo.
Next was Uchiha Sasuke.
Kitazawa had originally planned to give him Yin Kurama, but on second thought, that would be a waste and also a bit tough as only an Uzumaki can hold Kurama.
Sasuke couldn’t bond with the Yin half of Kurama the way Naruto had.
It would be better to simply give him another Tailed Beast to solve his chronic chakra shortage.
As for his future growth, that would depend on the Rinnegan.
Besides them, his own students could also become Jinchuriki.
A new day dawned.
After yesterday’s turmoil, the Village Hidden in the Leaves had settled back into calm. Yet across the shinobi world, the undercurrents only churned more fiercely.
For the other great villages, the ideal outcome would have been Akatsuki defeating Konoha, not the other way around. In that case, the Five Great Ninja Villages would share a common enemy and stand on the same front.
But with Konoha emerging victorious, the village now stood alone at the summit—and the other villages instantly felt a crushing sense of threat.
9:00 a.m.
Kitazawa stepped into the Hokage’s office right on time.
The moment he opened the door, he saw Konan.
Dressed in standard Anbu gear and wearing an Anbu mask, there was no sign she’d been a member of Akatsuki just the day before.
"Ki... Hokage-sama."
Konan removed her mask and walked over.
"When did you get here?" Kitazawa asked, mildly surprised.
"Half an hour ago," Konan replied.
"From now on, just start work at nine." Kitazawa paused, then added, "Your job is to stay with me and relay my orders."
"Yes, Hokage-sama," Konan answered coolly.
Kitazawa raised an eyebrow.
He’d originally wanted to tell her not to be so formal, but on second thought, as an Anbu, calling him "Hokage-sama" was appropriate. If anyone overheard her using his name directly, it could cause needless speculation.
"Any important documents today?" Kitazawa asked as he walked toward the Hokage’s desk.
"Yes." Konan followed him. "Kumogakure, Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure have all sent requests."
She stopped, picked up four folders from the desk, and held them out.
Kitazawa couldn’t help but smile.
He sat down and casually opened the document from Kumogakure first. The wording was long, but the meaning was simple: they were willing to pay a price to reclaim the Two-Tails and Eight-Tails.
He then skimmed through the letters from Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Kirigakure.
As expected, all of them were asking Konoha to return their Tailed Beasts.
"Go call Shikaku over," Kitazawa said once he finished reading.
"Understood." Konan put her mask back on and left the office.
The Hokage’s Secretariat was next door, so less than a minute later, Nara Shikaku knocked and entered.
"Have you seen these four documents?" Kitazawa asked.
Shikaku glanced at the desk and nodded.
Per Konoha’s current procedures, all paperwork went to the Secretariat first, which then sorted and forwarded the important items to the Hokage.
"Good. Help me draft the replies," Kitazawa said, handing him the documents.
"Hokage-sama," Shikaku said as he took them, "should we outline possible terms of exchange?"
"Of course." Kitazawa paused, then smiled. "But make the terms something they would never accept."
"...?" Shikaku’s expression tightened in confusion.
"You’re a smart man. You should understand," Kitazawa said lightly. "Konoha no longer needs to stand on equal footing with them."
Shikaku’s pupils trembled.
In that instant, he realized Kitazawa had no intention of returning the Tailed Beasts at all. He meant to force the Fourth Great Ninja War.
It was... unthinkable.
Ever since the founding of the Five Great Ninja Villages, no single village had ever declared war on the other four at once.
"I’ll make sure the task is completed," Shikaku said at once, snapping out of his shock.
From a clan’s standpoint, war was actually desirable to him. War could reshape Konoha’s structure and bring greater benefits.
If the Five Great Ninja Villages were unified under Konoha, the influence of the Ino–Shika–Chō trio would multiply several times over.
More importantly, in his eyes, this was a war they were guaranteed to win.
Akatsuki had managed to steal Tailed Beasts from all four other villages.
So why couldn’t Konoha—now stronger than Akatsuki itself—defeat those same villages?
On top of that, Akatsuki had joined Konoha.
At this point, Konoha truly stood at the pinnacle of the shinobi world.
The door closed behind Shikaku, and Konan slipped back into the room.
Kitazawa rubbed his chin.
Konoha’s strength was obvious to anyone. His concern lay elsewhere: even if Konoha refused to return the Tailed Beasts, the other four villages might still not dare to start a Fourth Great Ninja War.
He sank into thought.
It seemed he would need to step in personally and "turn" a few key figures.
If it really came down to a fight, he alone had the power to crush the entire shinobi world. But that wouldn’t maximize his gains—and more importantly, he’d miss out on valuable system missions.
Besides, he’d been teaching at the Academy for nearly six years now. His students needed a stage to prove themselves.
[Current Mission: Provoke the Fourth Great Ninja War and become the mastermind behind the shinobi world.]
[Mission Reward: Ōtsutsuki Clan bloodline concentration +30%.]
[Accept?]
Kitazawa let out a soft sound of surprise.
His Ōtsutsuki bloodline was already at 100%. So what would it mean to increase its "concentration" by another 30%?
He thought it over.
Most likely, it meant evolving from Ōtsutsuki Hamura’s level toward Ōtsutsuki Kaguya’s. After all, there was still a gap between the Ōtsutsuki on the moon and the ones who traversed the cosmos—though not an enormous one.
The reward alone hinted at the difficulty.
With his current power, provoking a Fourth Great Ninja War should be straightforward. Under normal circumstances, the reward would only be 10% or even 5%, not 30%.
In any case, he would only know the precise effect once the mission was complete.
After considering for a moment, Kitazawa picked up a pen.
Normally, "turning" anyone important wasn’t easy. At best, you might sway a few Genin or Chunin. Jonin was another matter entirely.
But for Kitazawa, that wasn’t much of a hurdle. He could even turn the other villages’ Kage.
He had the EMS.
If Obito could use his Mangekyo Sharingan to control the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, there was no reason Kitazawa couldn’t do the same.
As he thought, his pen moved, writing down the names of several key figures from the four other villages onto a scroll.
He planned to select a few of them and plant genjutsu suggestions, compelling them to take the initiative in starting the Fourth Great Ninja War.
That way, Konoha would have just cause.
Personally, Kitazawa didn’t care much for reputation. But Hiruzen and Jiraiya did, so he might as well hand them a reason they could accept.
In short, it was killing two birds with one stone.
"Konan." Kitazawa rolled up the scroll and said, "Have White Zetsu confirm the locations of these people."
"Mm." Konan took the scroll.
"And while you’re at it, call Kakashi over."
Upon hearing this, Konan turned and left again.
"Hokage-sama."
Not long after, Kakashi stepped into the office.
"Are you familiar with cloning technology?" Kitazawa asked, looking straight at him.
"I’ve heard of it," Kakashi answered honestly.
"If I cloned a Sharingan for you, would you want it?" Kitazawa asked, half-serious.
Kakashi froze.
He hadn’t expected Kitazawa to bring up something like cloning a Sharingan.
"This Sharingan was entrusted to me by Obito," Kakashi said after a long silence, declining. "If I cloned another one, it would go against his last wish."
"What was Obito’s intention in giving you that Sharingan?" Kitazawa asked again.
"To protect Rin and Konoha," Kakashi replied, sighing inwardly.
"If you had two Sharingan, your strength would increase greatly," Kitazawa continued. "You’d be able to protect Konoha even better."
"I’m not an Uchiha," Kakashi hesitated. "Having two Sharingan might not actually make me stronger."
"That’s basically a chakra issue," Kitazawa said after a pause. "I can make you a Jinchuriki."
"...Huh?"
Bewilderment flashed across Kakashi’s face.
Konoha’s Jinchuriki was Uzumaki Naruto. How could he possibly become one as well?
"Akatsuki captured seven Tailed Beasts. Choose one," Kitazawa said bluntly.
Kakashi’s heart skipped a beat.
So that was it.
He wasn’t going to return the Tailed Beasts to their original villages.
It was... unbelievably audacious.
But thinking of Kitazawa’s current strength—comparable to Senju Hashirama—it didn’t seem so strange. Hashirama had chosen to distribute the Tailed Beasts. That didn’t mean Kitazawa would do the same.
A vague realization surfaced in Kakashi’s mind.
He might be witnessing the moment the Five Great Ninja Villages were unified.
Kakashi fell silent, lost in thought.
There was no question: as hokage, Kitazawa was treating him with exceptional favor. Not only offering to clone a Sharingan for him, but also even granting him a Tailed Beast.
Jinchuriki were feared, but their importance was unquestionable.
"I also plan to establish a Hokage Guard," Kitazawa said suddenly.
Kakashi instinctively looked up, confused.
"Kirigakure has its Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist," Kitazawa said with a smile. "I plan to create Konoha’s own ’Seven Swordsmen’—only, the symbol won’t be swords. It’ll be Tailed Beasts."
Jinchuriki had a bad reputation for two main reasons.
First, the villages kept them hidden, shrouding Jinchuriki and Tailed Beasts in secrecy, which bred fear and misunderstanding.
Second, when Jinchuriki lost control and rampaged, the resulting destruction and casualties terrified the populace.
But now, both issues could be solved.
Kitazawa intended to form a Hokage Guard made up exclusively of Jinchuriki. On one hand, that would elevate their societal standing. On the other hand, Konoha could publicly declare that they would never lose control and that the Tailed Beasts were weapons to protect the village—passed down from one generation to the next.
In time, becoming a Jinchuriki would turn into a goal many aspired toward.
After all, it meant a dramatic rise in both power and status. Why wouldn’t people want that?
Of course, Kitazawa had another motive.
Aside from Kakashi, all the Jinchuriki would be his students.
Raising his students’ status was more than justified.
"I understand," Kakashi said quietly, drawing in a breath.
Compared to previous Hokages like Hiruzen and Tsunade, Kitazawa was clearly far bolder and more decisive.
Nine Jinchuriki forming the Hokage’s personal guard—the thought alone was staggering.
"I choose the Three-Tails," Kakashi said at length.
Kitazawa blinked, genuinely surprised.
In a sense, the Three-Tails was one of the causes of Rin Nohara’s death.
During the Third Shinobi World War, Hidden Mist shinobi had captured Rin and implanted the Three-Tails into her. Their plan was to send her back to Konoha and let the beast rampage, crippling the village.
To stop that, Rin had chosen to die by Kakashi’s hand.
"Very good," Kitazawa said, nodding. "Head to the Science Department today and cooperate with them on the cloning process."
Of course, that was only for show. There was no need for cloning at all. When the time came, he would simply transplant Obito’s other Sharingan directly into Kakashi.
"Yes, Hokage-sama." Kakashi bowed slightly, then turned and left.
Kitazawa rubbed the bridge of his nose.
Out of the nine Tailed Beasts, four Jinchuriki were already decided: Hatake Kakashi, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, and Fū.
He planned to give the Eight-Tails—second only to the Nine-Tails—to Sasuke.
Now his headache was how to distribute the remaining five. There simply weren’t enough.
He had far more students than Tailed Beasts.
Just then, Konan walked up behind him. Seeing him rub the bridge of his nose earlier, she reached out and gently began to massage his temples.
"Thank you," he murmured.
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