Naruto: Sasuke Uchiha Returns from Soul Society

"Since this shadow is disobedient, let's just replace it with another one."

The daimyo of the Land of Lightning's voice rang out coldly: "We are daimyo! We are the masters of this country!"

“Pick out one who is obedient enough, and execute all the disobedient ones.”

“I agree.” The daimyo of the Land of Water immediately chimed in, a hint of flattery on his face. “I’ve long felt that Mei Terumi is unreliable. She’s so young, and apart from being pretty, she has absolutely no sense of responsibility.”

"Now it seems, he really is an ungrateful wretch."

"Let's do it that way!"

The Fire Country Daimyo, as if grasping at a straw, saw hope rekindled in his eyes: "Since Kakashi is disobedient, then dismiss him!"

"Konoha is so big, I refuse to believe we can't find a single obedient dog!"

Even his great name has become so pathetic.

These "subordinates" don't even want to save face for themselves?

He immediately summoned his attendants, picked up a pen himself, and wrote a strongly worded decree to remove him from office.

"Pass down the order! Immediately dismiss Kakashi Hatake from his position as Hokage! And select a new Hokage from among the Jonin!"

"Tell them, whoever is willing to take this position will be the next Hokage! I don't care who he is, as long as he's willing to send troops!"

The order was swiftly relayed back to Konoha.

But reality once again delivered a resounding slap to this once-proud and influential figure.

Faced with this "one-step rise to the top" order that could drive any ninja mad, Konoha Village actually...

No one responded.

This usually effective tactic proved useless this time. After someone took the lead, smart people were unwilling to get involved.

After Kakashi voluntarily stepped down, none of Konoha's Inuzuka, Sarutobi, or Aburame were willing to take over this mess.

Nobody's a fool.

Kakashi's words when he stepped down had already spread throughout the entire Jonin community.

Even he chose to back down, so who would dare to provoke that Uchiha fiend at this critical juncture?

What terrified the daimyo even more was...

Those elite Jonin who should have obeyed him, such as Might Guy and Sarutobi Asuma, all chose to disappear after receiving the order.

Some claimed to be ill, some went out on long-term missions, and some simply didn't bother to find a reason and shut themselves away from visitors.

The entire high-level combat power of Konoha seemed to have evaporated overnight.

"They've rebelled! They've all rebelled..."

The daimyo of the Land of Fire slumped into his chair, only now finally coming to his senses.

This was not just Kakashi's act of disobeying orders, but the entire Hidden Leaf Village's rebellion against him as their daimyo.

They're a family; they'd already secretly conspired together.

The situation in the Land of Water was exactly the same. When faced with the dismissal order, Mei Terumi simply smiled coldly and threw it into the trash can without even bothering to respond.

But even so.

Despite the pressure of power and the drive for profit, some low-ranking ninjas who had no choice but to obey orders, as well as ninjas from small countries who depended on large countries for survival, were forcibly driven onto the battlefield.

They actually managed to get them to field an army of over 50,000 men.

The Land of Iron, the Tower of Three Wolves.

The emergency meeting of the five daimyo continued, but this time, there was an extra layer of fervent determination in the air.

"Forty-eight thousand people..." The daimyo of the Land of Fire sat in the main seat, his face full of a smug smile.

"Although those self-righteous elite Jonin have all become cowards, there are still more obedient tools in this world."

He glanced around at the other four dignitaries at the round table, his voice trembling slightly with excitement.

"With this army in hand, what can a mere Uchiha Sasuke do, even if he has three heads and six arms?"

"More than 40,000 ninjas..." The Daimyo of the Land of Wind gently shook his feather fan, his tone tinged with emotion. "Even if each of them spat once, it would be enough to drown that arrogant brat, wouldn't it?"

The Konoha special jonin standing behind the Fire Country daimyo moved his lips upon hearing this, as if he wanted to say something.

He wanted to remind the Daimyo that Uchiha Sasuke was a monster who could easily suppress even tailed beasts. Would simply increasing the number of tailed beasts really be effective?

But seeing Daimyo's manic state, immersed in the illusion of power, he wisely kept quiet.

Pouring cold water on things at this point might just get you thrown in the water yourself.

"We can't be so optimistic," the daimyo of the Land of Lightning, who had been silent all along, suddenly spoke up.

"I've been reviewing the intelligence that Tsuchida sent back before he died these past few days." He threw a scroll on the table, his voice grave. "That Uchiha Sasuke seems to possess an extremely terrifying ability."

"A power that can completely render those weaker than him powerless to fight without even lifting a finger, simply by using his aura."

“If this is true…” He looked at everyone present and said, word by word, “then even if we gather 40,000 people, or even 400,000 people, in front of that guy, we are nothing more than a flock of lambs to the slaughter.”

"Quantity means nothing to him."

These words extinguished the enthusiasm that had just been ignited in the meeting room.

The daimyo of the Land of Earth and the Land of Water looked at each other in bewilderment.

"What...what should we do?" The daimyo of the Land of Water panicked. "If that guy really has such sorcery, then wouldn't we be..."

"What's the panic!" The daimyo of the Land of Fire slammed his hand on the table. "Of course I know all that you're talking about."

"Since I dared to launch this attack, I naturally came prepared."

“Those small fry are certainly not enough.” His gaze turned cold. “To deal with monsters, you naturally need guys who are monsters themselves.”

"Come out, Obito." The Daimyo of the Land of Fire called out softly to the empty conference table above.

The moment the words fell.

Without warning, the space in the center of the conference table began to twist and rotate.

A pitch-black vortex appeared out of thin air, and then a figure wearing a black robe with red clouds emerged from the center of the vortex.

"Greetings, esteemed lords." Obito bowed slightly, but his voice betrayed no respect. "With your support, Sasuke Uchiha won't be so difficult to deal with."

The daimyo present were all taken aback by this sudden turn of events, and the guards behind them instinctively drew their weapons.

"Step back!" The Fire Country Daimyo dismissed the guards, pointed at Obito, and proudly introduced him to everyone, "This is my newly recruited capable lieutenant, who possesses the same Uchiha bloodline as Sasuke."

"His abilities are quite outstanding."

"A member of the Uchiha clan?" The Daimyo of the Land of Lightning narrowed his eyes, scrutinizing Obito warily. "What kind of support do you want?"

“It’s simple.” Obito raised his head, a grin spreading across his face. “I need a corpse.”

"A corpse?" The assembled dignitaries were taken aback.

"Or rather, body cells," Obito added. "The corpses of those historically renowned powerhouses in the ninja villages you all control, or even just a few remaining cells."

"As long as I have these things..." He spread his five fingers, and chakra condensed in his palm.

"Even those legends that have long since died, I can pull them back from the abyss of the Pure Land."

"Let them return to this world in immortal form, to continue serving you."

"what?!"

"To bring the dead back to life?!"

These words instantly ignited the entire conference room.

An unprecedentedly bright light instantly shone in the eyes of the several luminaries.

It was a thirst for power, and even more so, a greed for this technique that could break the boundaries between life and death.

"You mean..." The Daimyo of the Land of Wind's breathing became rapid. He suddenly stood up, leaned forward, and stared intently at Obito, "Even powerful figures who have been dead for many years can be used by us?"

Unlike other resource-rich great countries, the Land of Wind is located in a desert with a harsh environment.

Not only were resources scarce, but even ninja talent was in short supply.

The untimely deaths of successive Kazekage have kept Sunagakure among the weakest of the Five Great Ninja Villages.

If it were truly possible to resurrect those powerful figures from the past...

Wouldn't the strength of the Wind Kingdom double overnight?!

“Of course.” Obito nodded, his tone full of temptation. “Whether it’s the Third Kazekage, who is known as the strongest Kazekage, or the powerful figures of past generations who possess Magnet Release bloodline limit... as long as I can find their corpses, I can bring them back to life.”

"Great! Excellent!" The daimyo of the Land of Wind was so excited his hands were trembling. "I agree! You can have as many corpses as you want!"

"Just their corpses?" The daimyo of the Land of Lightning was also tempted. "What a cheap request."

"I'll agree to this condition as long as you can kill Uchiha Sasuke!"

"I agree too!"

"Me too!"

Faced with the enormous temptation of "resurrecting a powerful figure," the other two daimyo did not hesitate at all and nodded in agreement.

After all, to them, a dead person's corpse is nothing more than a pile of useless rotten flesh.

Being able to make use of waste and exchange it for powerful combat strength, this deal is simply too good to pass up.

"Heh heh..." Looking at the group of daimyo who were blinded by greed, Obito grinned and revealed a sinister smile.

"Then, it's a pleasure to cooperate with you."

..........

The meeting ended, and night fell.

Inside a dark cave hidden in the belly of a mountain.

Space distorted, and Obito's figure emerged from it.

"They actually convinced those idiots." Zetsu's figure slowly emerged from the shadows, a sinister smile on his half-face. "Using the daimyo's greed and fear to make them willingly offer up the corpses of powerful figures, that was a brilliant move."

“Those guys will swarm like flies if you give them even a little something sweet.”

Obito revealed his scarred face, his expression cold. "They have no idea that the corpses they handed over will eventually become their own graves."