265 Naruto: Snatching the Mangekyō

Uchiha Akira looked at the silent group before him and spoke up, "This is the current situation. If anyone has any thoughts, feel free to share."

However, the meeting room remained dead silent. The circumstances they were facing had already far exceeded their expectations.

The Ten-Tails Jinchuriki, the Otsutsuki Clan…

These things sounded like something out of a myth.

Especially during the previous battle—the way chakra pressure spread across the heavens and earth, the overwhelming force that radiated from it—it felt like the end of the world.

Before such absolute power, human schemes seemed utterly insignificant.

Their superior intellect told them that only overwhelming strength could counter this crisis!

Seeing the heavy silence in the room, Senju Tobirama knocked on the table and turned to Uchiha Akira.

"Fifth Hokage, I want to know—do you have any means of further increasing your strength?"

As soon as he spoke, all eyes in the room turned to Akira.

There was no doubt that, given the current situation, only greater power could resolve the crisis before them.

As things stood, Konoha's strength far surpassed the other four great shinobi villages. They were no real threat. The true enemies were Otsutsuki Kaguya and Otsutsuki Isshiki—existences that had to be dealt with at all costs.

As long as those two remained, Konoha would never know peace.

Uchiha Akira pondered for a moment before replying, "There is a way, but it won't yield results overnight. It will take time."

Senju Tobirama nodded. "As long as there is a way, that's enough to put my mind at ease."

The worst-case scenario would have been having no options at all.

If their enemies kept growing stronger while they remained stagnant, their downfall would be inevitable.

Hearing Akira's words, the tension in the room eased slightly.

Akira turned to Nara Shikaku and the others and said in a serious tone, "All departments must coordinate to handle post-battle reconstruction. If necessary, dispatch ninja teams to assist various cities in the Land of Fire."

"Understood, Lord Hokage." Nara Shikaku and the others immediately nodded solemnly.

Scanning the room, Akira continued, "Jounin Fugaku, Jounin Shisui, Lady Tsunade, Lord Second, and Miss Hikari—please stay behind. The rest of you are dismissed."

Once the others had left, Akira led the selected group to ShinTen Biotech, where a massive room awaited them.

"Is this the Ten-Tails' hand?" Senju Tobirama asked in astonishment as he gazed at the gigantic severed limb in the room.

There was no mistaking it—the energy emanating from it was identical to that of the Ten-Tails he had encountered before.

"That's right. This is a severed hand from the Ten-Tails, brought back by the Fifth Hokage after traveling to the ancient past," Tsunade explained.

"Come, little Tsuna, tell me everything in detail," Tobirama said, his interest piqued.

Tsunade nodded and began recounting the events in full.

After learning about Akira's actions in the past, Tobirama looked at him in shock.

"Fifth Hokage, even I must admit your boldness. If it were me, I might not have dared to take such a risk."

Akira shook his head. "The situation was dire at the time. No matter what, things couldn't have gotten any worse. I believe that, in my place, you would have done the same."

Tobirama shook his head slightly, then turned his attention back to the severed hand.

"Does your method for growing stronger still involve the Ten-Tails?"

"That's right," Akira confirmed. "Do you know about chakra fruits?"

Senju Tobirama naturally had no knowledge of such things.

Seeing Tobirama shake his head, Akira activated his Sharingan and transmitted all the information he had about the Otsutsuki Clan, the Ten-Tails, and the Divine Tree directly to him.

For a long while, Tobirama remained silent, absorbing the shocking revelations. When he finally spoke, his voice carried a trace of disbelief.

"So, the planet we live on is nothing more than a nursery for the Otsutsuki Clan?"

Akira nodded. "If Otsutsuki Kaguya's two sons hadn't turned against her, this world might have already been drained dry by the Divine Tree, reduced to a lifeless husk."

"In that case, all life on this planet owes a debt of gratitude to Otsutsuki Hagoromo and Otsutsuki Hamura. Without them, we wouldn't even exist," Akira sighed.

From Kaguya's perspective, her two sons were nothing but ungrateful traitors. But for the inhabitants of this world, they were saviors!

"That's true…" Tobirama mused. "Especially Hagoromo—the Sage of Six Paths. If he hadn't dispersed chakra among humanity, we might never have gained the power to resist."

At that moment, Uchiha Hikari steered the conversation back. "Are you planning to cultivate a Divine Tree to bear a chakra fruit and consume it, just like Otsutsuki Kaguya?"

"That's the idea. At present, there aren't many options left for increasing our strength," Akira admitted.

He turned to Hikari and asked, "Can your Ten-Tails transform into a Divine Tree?"

"It should be possible," Hikari replied, "but I can't guarantee that the Divine Tree formed from this fragment of the Ten-Tails will have the same properties as the original."

"That doesn't matter," Akira said, shaking his head. "Even if there are some differences, as long as it can bear fruit, it will be beneficial. It will strengthen us."

At this moment, Tsunade spoke up. "But according to what we know, the Divine Tree drains the energy of the planet to bear fruit—leading to its destruction. Have you considered that, Fifth Hokage?"

"Moreover, the Divine Tree doesn't bear fruit overnight."

"Of course. I've thought about both of these issues," Akira reassured her.

"And do you have a solution?" Tsunade asked curiously.

The others also turned to Akira, intrigued.

If the Divine Tree needed to absorb planetary energy to grow, there was no avoiding that issue.

But this world was their home. They couldn't afford to let it be drained dry.

Akira looked at them and said, "Wait a moment—I need to verify something first."

With that, he stepped toward the Ten-Tails' severed hand.

Placing his palm against it, he activated his technique.

Crack—Crack—Crack—

A deep rumbling echoed through the room as the severed hand began to change. Its five massive fingers transformed into thick tree roots, plunging into the ground.

A colossal tree sprouted from the wrist, growing at an astonishing rate. In mere moments, a towering tree over two hundred meters tall loomed before them.

This tree had only a thick, sturdy trunk—no branches—but massive dark green leaves covered its crown.

It looked exactly like a Divine Tree!

Akira had used Yin-Yang Release to stimulate the severed hand's life force, triggering its transformation into a Divine Tree.

Gazing at the towering tree before him, Akira thought to himself, "Now comes the true test of my theory."

Pressing his hand against the trunk, he calmed his mind and entered a meditative state.

In an instant, boundless natural energy, vast as an endless ocean, filled his senses.

Unmoved, Akira continued expanding his perception.

Minutes passed before he finally detected something—an energy unlike any he had felt before.

It was similar to natural energy, yet far more immense and profound—like the very essence of the planet itself.