Land of Lightning, Raikage Office.
First Raikage A looked at the note in his hand and burst into laughter, looking up at the sky.
"Hahaha, Senju Hashirama is really dead!"
The spies sent out had returned with news: the death of Senju Hashirama was confirmed.
Now, Hidden Cloud Village would no longer need to hold back.
Among the various countries in the Ninja World, the one most eager to attack Konoha was undoubtedly the Land of Lightning.
The Land of Lightning itself was not weak in strength, and its national resources were extremely abundant.
Naturally, it looked down on other Villages and was only interested in Konoha, the richest in the Ninja World.
As long as they defeated Konoha, Kumogakure would gain more resources.
If it weren't for their fear of Senju Hashirama's immense strength, Kumogakure would have already launched a war against Konoha.
Now, having learned of Senju Hashirama's death, it was time for the Land of Lightning to initiate war.
First Raikage instructed the guards beside him: "Issue an order for all Ninja outside the Village to return. In three months, we will launch a war against Konoha."
A dark shadow in the corner nodded in satisfaction at this scene.
"Hehehe, the brutes from the Land of Lightning are so easy to fool."
It had spread the news throughout the Ninja World, but other Villages remained in a wait-and-see state; only Raikage was preparing to launch a war.
However, having someone take the lead in starting a war was enough.
By then, those wait-and-see Villages would definitely be unable to restrain themselves and would join this war.
The dark shadow re-merged into the ground, as if it had never appeared.
----------
Konoha Village, in the laboratory.
Renye wore a special gas mask, his eyes behind the lenses fixated on the vessel in his hand.
A dark purple liquid squirmed eerily in the glass container, faintly glowing as if it were alive.
He carefully picked up the dropper, held his breath, and drew out a drop of venom from the vessel.
As that drop of venom fell, the wooden floor let out a piercing 'sizzle' and emitted plumes of white smoke.
Visible corrosive marks rapidly spread, burning a sizable hole in the floor in the blink of an eye.
"Alas, it failed."
Renye shook his head helplessly and sighed.
Although this poison had astonishing power and very high lethality,
it had a fatal flaw: it didn't distinguish between friend and foe.
On a rapidly changing battlefield, even a slight mistake could harm himself and his comrades.
"No, this is too dangerous."
He muttered to himself, his voice echoing in the sealed laboratory.
This laboratory was one he had modified himself, specifically for researching poisons.
The thought of war about to break out made Renye clench his fists.
He wanted to develop a more perfect poison—one that was not only powerful but also precisely controllable, ideally able to spread silently in the air while he remained unharmed.
If he could develop such a poison, it would undoubtedly be extremely effective on the battlefield, capable of poisoning a large number of people to death.
Whether Genin, Chunin, or Jonin and Kage-level, all would surely die!
Thinking of this, a gleam of excitement flashed in Renye's eyes.
He put down the vessel in his hand and walked to a bookshelf filled with books and material, pulling out a thick ancient tome.
On its yellowed pages, various poisons and poison art formulas were densely recorded.
He flipped through it, formulating new plans in his mind, and occasionally jotted down inspirations in a notebook.
The laboratory returned to silence, with only the rustle of the pen tip across paper and the occasional clink of vessels.
Developing poisons was not as easy as imagined.
Each medicinal ingredient had different effects, and one had to understand their properties.
Renye ground various medicinal ingredients into powder, mixed them in different proportions, and then experimented with white mice.
A 1:1 ratio only caused the white mouse's pupils to constrict.
However, a 3:2 ratio caused it to die on the spot.
This subtle difference was precisely where the difficulty in poison development lay.
The stronger the toxicity, the harder the venom was to develop.
His experimental notes had already reached the third page, with dense annotations interspersed with splashed medicinal stains.
...
Time passed imperceptibly like this.
Renye saw that it was about time, closed his notebook, and left the laboratory.
He still had to go back and make dinner for Senju Tobirama.
If he remembered correctly, that Old Man hadn't eaten all day.
Renye prepared to make a little extra to take to Senju Tobirama.
These past two days, he had indeed been swamped.
If the war fully erupted, it would be fine, but this in-between period was the most tormenting.
Renye deeply realized the difficulty of being Hokage; before doing anything, one had to consider the overall interests of the Village.
"Who in their right mind would want to be Hokage?"
Renye scoffed at the position of Hokage, having to miserably sit in the office dealing with documents every day.
He, for one, had no ambition for the Hokage position whatsoever.
He also couldn't understand why Danzo Shimura wanted to be Hokage.
Was it just for the sake of so-called power?
In Renye's view, these things were superficial; only strong personal strength was the most important thing.
If one's strength was powerful, no one would oppose anything they did.
Because those who opposed would all be beaten to death...
Take Senju Hashirama as an example; he achieved peace in the Ninja World not through his personal charisma, but through his immense strength.
If he weren't strong, no one would have listened to him at all.
"Forget it, everyone has their own aspirations. Let's cook first."
Renye tied on an apron and entered the kitchen.
Everyone pursues different things, and he wouldn't force his ideas onto others.
After Renye finished cooking, he didn't eat immediately.
He planned to pack it up and take it to Senju Tobirama first, then eat when he returned.
"That Old Man must be starving, right?" Renye murmured softly.
----------
"Hokage-sama, did Shodai(1st)-sama really pass away?!"
In the Hokage Office, the clan heads couldn't help but exclaim upon hearing this news.
Although they had suspected it from the beginning, hearing Senju Tobirama admit it personally still made them feel incredulous.
How could that legendary man just die like that?
"My elder brother was severely wounded in his battle with Madara and never recovered..." Senju Tobirama explained.
Hearing this, the clan heads fell silent.
This made sense.
After all, everyone present was very clear about Uchiha Madara's strength.
They had all lived through that era.
The power of Madara and Hashirama was still vivid in their memories.
"I called you all here to discuss the upcoming war."
The clan heads sighed helplessly upon hearing this.
They knew all too well what Senju Hashirama's death meant.
It meant that the hard-won peace was about to be shattered again...
Other countries would not miss this excellent opportunity to attack the Land of Fire.
"Hokage, what do you want us to do?" Uchiha Tanaka asked.
Although he disliked Senju Tobirama, in the face of war, they still needed to unite and fight against the enemy together.
The other clan heads looked at Senju Tobirama upon hearing this.
Just then, the office door was suddenly pushed open.
Everyone instinctively turned to look, only to see Renye walk in carrying a food box.
"Uncle, I've brought you food."
P.S.: I'm not doing well, I'm so tired, sob sob.