A/N:- If you have spare change; then sign up on my pa treon to read up to advance chapters of this series. Also, don't forget to check out my new series, 'The Pride of Favonius'. Also, there is a new early access series called 'The Rogue Demon of the Shinobi World' on my pa treon. It will be available to the rest after mid-december.

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"Fourth Shinobi War?"

All the clan leaders stand up from their seats, stunned by the shocking revelation.

Cough… cough…

Tsunade coughs to calm them down. She gestures to Minato to continue.

"The possibility of Fourth Shinobi War is still a speculation…" Minato's words slightly ease the worry in their heart.

"However, Konoha and its allies should still prepare for the worst-case scenario."

Minato rolls the scroll and sits back.

Chitter… chatter…

The various clan leaders discuss the possibility of war among themselves. Minato and Tsunade close their eyes and calmly think of the situation. After discussing for a while, Hiashi Hyuga turns to the Tsunade.

"Hokage-sama, before this discussion reaches any conclusion, we would like to know more about the enemy. Konoha, Suna, and Kiri had an army of elite shinobis ready to deploy at any moment. Whereas Akatsuki is just an organization consisting of ten elite shinobis and Kabuto is just a single person with control over a few shinobis of the Land of Sound. Unless these people unite the small shinobi nations, they hardly stand a chance against the combined might of three shinobi nations." Hiashi voices the question that most clan heads are eager to get an answer to.

Hmm…

"Edo Tensei!" Minato voices out a word.

Silence… Utter silence spreads throughout the entire meeting hall.

"Orochimaru improved the forbidden jutsu of the Second Hokage. During the demon war, Kabuto seems to have improved this jutsu a step further. From our evaluation, the improved Edo Tensei can retain most of their peak strength and Kabuto seems to be capable of completely controlling their actions."

Minato recounts the previous encounter of Konoha 12 with the reincarnated Third Raikage.

Shock spread throughout the faces of the clan leader.

"No wonder… no wonder… there were multiple cases of grave robbery in the previous few years. At this rate, this Kabuto might have gathered the remains of almost all well-known shinobis." A chill spread through everyone's back.

The emotional and sentimental burden of fighting against their long-dead friends and family.

The clan leaders clutch their fists in anger.

"We can't allow that bastard to tarnish the honor of our friends and family.

Suddenly,

Whoosh…

A shadow appears in the meeting room, startling everyone presents in the hall. The shadow stands beside Minato and hands over a scroll to him. Minato grabs the scroll and unfurls it. His expression turns ugly. He passes the scroll to Tsunade.

Tsunade glances at the scroll, and her expression also turns foul. She turns towards Minato, who nods his head.

"EVERYONE!" Tsunade raises her voice to get everyone's attention.

"We have the latest intel regarding the Akatsuki!"

Swoosh…

Tsunade throws the scroll to the center of the table.

"Recently, in these past two years, the hidden members of the Akatsuki have surfaced again. They have captured multiple shinobis throughout the different nations."

The clan leaders attentively listen to her explanation.

"One and a half years ago, Yugito Nii of the Kumogakure was captured alive during a mission. A few days later, Kumo declared her MIA. Then, a year ago, Akatsuki targeted the resurrected three-tails. Kiri suffered multiple casualties and the members of the Akatsuki captured the new jinchuruki. Eleven months ago, just a month after the previous incident; Iwagakure confirmed the kidnapping of Four-tails.

Three months later, six members of Akatsuki broke through the encirclement of a hundred elite Iwagakure shinobis. They successfully captured the Jinchuriki of Five-tails and escaped. Onoki was quick to suppress the news, but our spies were able to dig it out…"

The expression of clan leaders turns grim.

"… Two months later, after the end of the chunnin exam; two Akatsuki members attacked an entourage from Takigakure. They wiped out all the members of the entourage. Later, Takigakure revealed that the Seven-tails jinchuruki was within the group. And now…"

Tsunade turns to the scroll in the center of the table.

"Yesterday, the rogue jinchuruki of Six-tails was kidnapped right under the nose of Kiri shinobis. Kiri suffered yet another loss. As our ally, it's an immense blow to our man force."

The faces of clan leaders turn pale.

"If the rumors regarding the forbidden jutsu of the tailed beast are correct, then the Akatsuki is very close to achieving it. If they capture the remaining three tailed beasts, then not even the combined forces of Five Great Nations will stand a chance against them."

The clan leaders recall a piece of information from history where a certain clan managed to capture eight-tailed beasts in the past. Using their powers and the help of an ancient relic, the clan almost managed to unify the entire shinobi world. In the end, the combined powers of all other clans prevented the tragedy. After the catastrophe, the greed of the clans took over. This led to the start of the Warring period of shinobi history. However, all records of that ambitious clan, including their name, were wiped out from the annals of history.

The meeting lasts for another hour. In the end,

"There is still a month before the start of the Konoha's annual sports festival. The festival will last for seven days. On the seventh day, we will hold a meeting with the important members of Suna and Kiri and will formulate a strategy and assess preparation for the possible upcoming war."

The meeting concludes. Only Tsunade, Minato, Jiraiya, and Sakumo are left behind in the meeting room.

Phew…

Tsunade heaves a sigh of relief. She turns to Jiraiya and asks him.

"Still no intel on Pain?"

Jiraiya shakes his head.

"It has been three years since Nagato disappeared from the shinobi world. Despite my efforts, I was unable to track his trace. It's like he disappeared into thin air." Jiraiya shakes his head.

"Even the members of In-Yō are unable to locate him." Minato shakes his head. Tsunade bites her lower lip in frustration.

"Akatsuki has captured six-tailed beasts as of the current moment. Their next target will be Konoha and Kumogakure. Konoha has one-tails and nine-tails residing in it, so the scale of the attack might be even bigger than the previous attacks. Akatsuki won't spare any effort in taking us down." Jiraiya clicks his tongue in frustration.

"If only he was here…" Tsunade's thoughts linger for a while as she mutters to herself.

The room turns silent as everyone is lost in their thoughts.

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Later in the Konoha Hospital,

Izumi is resting on a bed with multiple flowers around her. Almost half of the Yamanaka flower shop is present in her room.

"Get well soon, Sensei!" Yakumo decorates a bouquet of yellow roses and daisies.

"You girls should also take care." Izumi waves her hand to Yakumo as she leaves the room.

A few moments later,

Itachi and Ayaka enter the room. There is a dark expression on Itachi's face.

"Itachi… I…" Izumi stutters as she fails to respond.

"I… I… am sorry!" Her eyes turn teary.

Sigh…

Itachi sighs helplessly and embraces her in a hug.

"I am not mad at you for breaking our promise. You had no other choice. I am just… I am just mad at myself for my inability to help you."

They both hug each other for a while. After a few moments,

Cough… cough…

Ayaka coughs slightly to get their attention.

"I am still here, y'know!"

AH!

Izumi's face turns red in embarrassment and Itachi turns his head in another direction to avoid Ayaka's gaze.

Haha…

Sound of laughter and giggles sound from outside the room as the Uchiha family enters the room.

Whoosh…

Itachi immediately distances himself from Izumi like a spring. This leads to another series of laughter from the group.

"Ara… Itachi! It has been three years already. When will I get the fortune to become a Grandaunt?" Fumiko chuckles and teases Itachi.

"Aunt… I… Izumi… we…" Itachi is flustered by Fumiko's teasing.

Haha…

The group breaks out into a fit of yet another laughter.

"Alright! Alright! Give her a break y'all. She still needs to recover." Aiko comes to Itachi's rescue.

Itachi silently thanks Aiko in his mind.

'… Shisui and Yugao are already expecting. So, Itachi, you better not make us wait longer!' She smiles at Itachi.

Itachi's expression freezes. He walks beside his father and uncle, who gently pats his back with an expression of.

'We all have been through this, son. You have to manage it on your own.'

While the group was chattering among themselves, Ayaka takes out a small crystalline vial from her pocket. There is a glowing cyan color fluid in the vial. She hands it over to Izumi.

"Izumi Nii-san, this is a medicine from Shikkotsu Forest. Big Sister Tsunade uses this to recover from the loss of life force while using her Creation Rebirth technique. I hope this will help you recover from your previous life-force loss."

"Ayaka… this…" A smile blooms on Izumi's face as she accepts this.

'Grandmother… mother… I finally have a loving family.' She gulps down the content of the vial.

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Deep into Death Valley near the chaotic spatial rifts,

Fwoosh…

A gigantic rift in space opens up. A figure covered in black robes slowly steps into the shinobi world.

"This seems to be the place; I was looking for."

Hmm…

The figure raises his head and stares in a direction. A few seconds later, another figure in purple robes appears in front of him.

"Go back to where you came from. You don't belong in this place!"

Purple kaleidoscopic patterns revolve in the eyes of the newly arrived figure.

"That's what I should say to you prince *#@#*"

The black-clothed figure cracks his mouth open. The face of the purple-robed figure crumbles.

"No, you!"