Fate's Choice: Livestream at the Start Summoning Billions of Ravens

Tokyo, Cabinet Information Research Office, an interrogation room without any windows.

Masashi Kishimoto sat in a cold metal chair, his arm connected to the sensors of a lie detector.

The investigator opposite him remained expressionless, repeating the same question he had asked at least twenty times.

"Mr. Kishimoto, please explain again the source of inspiration for Madara Uchiha."

Masashi Kishimoto wearily pushed up his glasses.

"As I said, it's just a fictional character, a combination of mythology, historical figures, and dramatic conflict, with no real-world prototype."

"Purely fictional?"

The investigator's voice rose a few decibels.

"A completely fictional character summoned a meteorite in reality, nearly destroying Hiroshima?"

"I don't know! I really don't know!"

Masashi Kishimoto's voice carried a hint of collapse.

"I'm just a comic book artist!"

In the adjacent monitoring room, several senior officials frowned as they looked at the steady polygraph waveform on the screen and the conclusion of "no signs of deception" given by the micro-expression analysis system.

The background check was also spotless; Masashi Kishimoto was just an ordinary, successful manga artist with simple social connections and nothing suspicious about him.

"It seems it really has nothing to do with him."

An official sighed.

Finally, after being detained for thirty-six hours, Masashi Kishimoto was released.

He was warned not to leave Tokyo, not to give any interviews, and to report his whereabouts daily.

……

While the Japanese government was in a state of chaos, the Chinese internet across the ocean was a sea of ​​joy.

The shock of the Hiroshima attack, after a brief period of astonishment, was quickly deconstructed by Chinese netizens into an online frenzy, triggered by the sudden popularity of a couplet.

This picture was made in a very simple, even somewhat rough, way, but its content accurately hit everyone's funny bone.

The image is divided into two parts, top and bottom.

The upper half depicts Archer Roosevelt standing atop the ruins of Wall Street, with countless stock tickers at zero behind him. He sits in a wheelchair, his posture composed. To the left is a large inscription: "First line: Emperor Wu of America burned Wall Street."

The lower half depicts Assassin Uchiha Madara hovering above the dome of the Hiroshima atomic bomb wreckage site, with a massive meteorite casting an apocalyptic shadow in the sky. To the right is a large inscription: "Second line: A Japanese anime god descends from the heavens with a meteorite."

In the very center of the picture is a more eye-catching horizontal inscription: Our own ancestors are still the most reliable.

This picture perfectly hit everyone's funny bone and made them want to complain, causing the comment section to explode instantly.

"Hahahaha! Who made this picture? Come out and claim the Nobel Peace Prize!"

"Absolutely amazing! This is an epic summary! It's so insightful!"

"Hahaha, I hereby declare that the arena for this Holy Grail War can be divided into an 'Abstract Group' and a 'Normal Group'."

"Emperor Meiwu: If you don't manage your money, your money won't manage you; I'll manage it for you directly. Madara: If you don't maintain peace, people won't have peace; I'll bring peace to you directly. Li Bai: Drinking, writing poetry, do not disturb. Funina: Eating melon seeds, acting cute, eating melon seeds. Joan of Arc: ???"

"The summary upstairs is brilliant! Look at Roosevelt and Madara Uchiha, one promoted economic revolution, the other physical peace. Then look at our Li Bai and Fulina, one is clearly indifferent to worldly affairs, the difference is obvious!"

"I think Funina is the best. She only took a phone, but she even left a Mora as money. How polite!"

This online frenzy has somewhat diluted the tension and fear that had arisen from the arrival of Madara Uchiha.

In their banter and jokes, people seem to have found a way to alleviate the unease brought about by supernatural powers.

The meme "our own ancestors are still the most reliable" quickly evolved into a common consensus among Chinese netizens when discussing the Holy Grail War, becoming a unique cultural phenomenon.

……

America, the Pentagon.

The atmosphere in the top-secret meeting room was even more tense than before.

Defense Secretary Mark Thompson stood in the main seat, his face ashen. Behind him, two video clips were playing silently on a huge screen.

One scene shows Madara Uchiha standing in the sky above Hiroshima, single-handedly blocking a saturation missile attack, and then summoning a meteor.

Another scene shows Joan of Arc activating her Noble Phantasm to withstand the falling meteor and protect the entire city.

Those present included the CIA director, the FBI director, the heads of several major military-industrial complexes, and top representatives from Wall Street.

The faces of everyone were filled with undisguised shock.

Thompson and others only turned off the screen by hand after the video finished playing.

"Everyone, did you see that?"

"This is the current intensity of the Holy Grail War."

"One can summon meteorites, the other can withstand meteorites."

Thompson slammed his fingers on the table.

"And we haven't even chosen a Master for our 'Guardians of the Nation' yet!"

"We left him hanging, letting him reshape the country according to his own ideas! Now, we must immediately, right now, completely bind this force to the state apparatus!"

Thompson's words broke the silence.

The Wall Street representative immediately spoke up: "I still insist that the Master must be one of ours! Only in this way can we guarantee..."

"Do you guarantee your stock price?"

The CIA director coldly interrupted him.

"Roosevelt has already wiped out seven tech giants, and next up is Wall Street! Do you think he'd care about a puppet you've chosen?"

The representative of the military-industrial complex also said in a solemn voice: "It must be soldiers! Only soldiers understand obedience and discipline! We cannot entrust the fate of the nation to a businessman!"

"A soldier? Does he take your orders, or General Thompson's orders?"

The FBI director countered with a question.

It looks like a new round of arguments is about to begin.

"Quiet down!"

Thompson growled.

Just then, an assistant to the CIA director walked over quickly and handed him a tablet computer.

The bureau chief glanced at it, and his expression instantly became even more serious.

He looked up at Thompson.

"General, we have just received urgent intelligence."

"Mossad and MI6 have jointly dispatched their top agents to secretly infiltrate the country."

"The objective is unclear, but its appearance at this time speaks volumes about its intentions."

This news caused the temperature in the conference room to plummet.

Everyone understood what this meant.

England and Israel also want a piece of the pie.

They might want to get in touch with Roosevelt before America officially selects a Master, or even... plant their own people.

A sense of urgency instantly overwhelmed the internal disagreements.

General Thompson seized the opportunity and immediately interrupted everyone's thoughts.

"Now is not the time to argue!"

"I have a compromise solution."

All eyes were on Thompson.

"The choice of Master must be a soldier, without a doubt. Loyalty and obedience are paramount."

Thompson's gaze swept over the military industry representative, who nodded in satisfaction.

"However," Thompson changed the subject, "in order to prevent him from being influenced by any faction, this person's background must be absolutely clean and have no connection with any of you here."

"He must have enough prestige in the military to command respect, but his rank cannot be too high. A captain or major is enough to prevent him from building his own private power too quickly."

This plan has everyone pondering.

Military status ensured controllability.

The background is clean, eliminating the possibility of any single party controlling the situation.

Having sufficient prestige but not a high military rank is a perfect balance.

It seems... acceptable.

Seeing that the crowd was wavering, Thompson immediately gestured to his assistant behind him.

The assistant distributed a pre-prepared top-secret file to everyone present.

There was only one name on the file folder.

Evan Cross.

Everyone opened the file.

The first page features a photo of Kroos.

A 35-year-old white male, with a resolute face and sharp eyes, a typical soldier.

"Evan Cross, 35 years old, Army Captain."

Thompson's voice rang out from the side, introducing himself to everyone.

"West Point honors graduate, former Delta Force tactical commander."

"During his mission in Afghanistan, he disobeyed orders to 'eliminate threats' and chose to prioritize rescuing trapped civilians, which caused flaws in the mission and resulted in his demotion. He is now a combat instructor at West Point."

"A perfect resume, recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, and numerous awards."

"My family background is clean. My ancestors for three generations were ordinary middle-class people. We were only sons and had no bad records or political leanings."

Thompson concluded.

"He is a standard, pure, America hero."

At the conference table, all the delegates silently flipped through the files.

Cross's resume was so clean that they couldn't find any flaws to attack him for.

Ironically, that record of "disobeying orders" became the most attractive quality he possessed to various factions.

The military believes that he is a soldier at heart and will ultimately obey orders.

The CIA and FBI believe that a person with a history of "disobedience" is more easily "guided" by external factors.

Wall Street and the military-industrial complex believe that a hero who is detached from the center of power and treated "unfairly" is most easily lured by interests and promises.

Everyone saw what they wanted to see in this file.

Everyone feels that they will have the opportunity to turn this person into their pawn in the future.

Finally, everyone closed the file and looked at Thompson.

No one raised any further objections.

The conference room screen lit up again, and the face of the current president appeared on the screen.

He clearly knew everything in advance.

"I agree with this nomination."

The president's words brought the debate to a close.

"Execute immediately."