Aoki returned to consciousness from the chat group's mental space, gazing at the familiar Hokage's Office before him, and promptly claimed the chat group's rewards. The Fourth Hokage Gathering had concluded successfully, and the three abilities—Heavenly Hand Power, King of Hell, and Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack—were now entirely his.
As the gathering smoothly ended, the cross-world chat feature was officially activated, and the Hokage Chat Group was about to undergo an upgrade. Once the upgrade was complete, a new gathering would commence, unlocking brand-new features. Reading the chat group's notification, Aoki was filled with surprise—he had never imagined the chat group could be upgraded.
Before Aoki could ponder further, the chat group interface in his mind turned gray, and a progress bar slowly appeared, inching forward at a sluggish pace. Watching this tortoise-like progress, Aoki sighed helplessly; no one could say when the next Hokage Gathering would be held. However, his attention was soon captured by the newly unlocked features in his mind, especially the Hokage cross-world chat function.
Group Owner Aoki was the first to initiate a conversation in the chat box: "Hey, the new feature is activated. Can everyone see it?"
At the same time, in several other worlds, as everyone was contemplating the Devil Fruit abilities they had just acquired, the chat group's light screen appeared before their eyes.
Senju Hashirama exclaimed first: "Wow! This feature is incredible! Madara, I can see you! Can you see me?"
Madara Uchiha's message followed closely: "I see it. This feature is quite practical—it even has a private chat function! Hashirama, check the message I sent you!"
Senju Hashirama grew even more delighted: "Huh? I can even chat with Madara privately. This feature is amazing!"
Senju Tobirama chimed in appropriately: "Suddenly, I feel like with our combined strength, wouldn't teaming up be a bit too unfair?"
Tsunade, Glasses Tsunade, Minato, and Obito all chimed in: "Agreed!"
Kakashi also replied to Obito: "Received!"
As Aoki familiarized himself with the cross-world chat operations, only Hashirama and Madara, that pair of bickering rivals, remained actively chatting in the group. Their sudden and frequent interactions left everyone else in silence. Aoki also took the opportunity to chat with everyone briefly. The cross-world chat function made communication among the Hokages incredibly convenient, eliminating the need to wait for each gathering to exchange messages.
Suddenly, Aoki remembered the chat group upgrade and hurriedly announced the news to everyone.
Group Owner Aoki: "Everyone! The Hokage Chat Group is currently upgrading. The next gathering will only begin after the upgrade is complete! During this time, everyone should focus fully on developing their respective worlds' national power!"
After Aoki's announcement, the previously lively chat group instantly fell silent.
A moment later, Senju Hashirama's message popped up: "Hahaha, doesn't this give us more time to catch up?"
Madara Uchiha replied arrogantly: "Hmph, Hashirama, try your best to keep up if you dare!"
Obito seized the chance to encourage Hatake Kakashi: "Kakashi, seize this opportunity and hurry to catch up!"
Kakashi readily agreed: "Don't worry!"
Tsunade declared fiercely, "Hmph! This time I absolutely won't be stuck in the bottom three again!"
Minato said gently, "I'll give it my all too! Let's all do our best together!"
Glasses Tsunade chimed in, "Count me in!"
Senju Tobirama spoke with a hint of arrogance, "Hmph! You're all still talking, but I've already started taking action!"
Tobirama's confident statement created a sense of urgency among the Hokage from various worlds. This Second Hokage, known for his cold demeanor, never missed a chance to mock everyone as soon as he took action. The Hokage quickly exited the chat interface, returning to their respective worlds to continue strengthening Konoha, and Aoki was no exception.
His first task was to familiarize himself with the three god-level Ninjutsu rewarded by the Chat Group.
"Heavenly Hand Power!"
With a single thought from Aoki, this ability activated instantly. A small black spatial gate appeared in the air—a special ability that could be used without hand seals. Gazing at the spatial gate before him, Aoki couldn't help but marvel; it truly lived up to its name as a god-level Ninjutsu.
Additionally, the King of Hell possessed the special ability to interrogate souls. Originally, this ability required the Rinne Sharingan to activate, but now, with the three god-level Ninjutsu rewarded by the Chat Group, he could use them all at will.
Since Heavenly Hand Power had already been activated, Aoki stepped directly into the spatial gate, eager to test the other two abilities, especially Kaguya's strongest attack technique—the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack.
However, as soon as Aoki activated Heavenly Hand Power to open the space, most of the Chakra in his body was instantly drained. The consumption rate was terrifying; even in his current state, he could hardly bear it, and his expression changed abruptly.
"Damn it! This consumption is outrageous!"
If not for his Sage Body, his Chakra would have been completely depleted by now. Even so, most of the Chakra in his body had been consumed. Aoki finally understood why it was said in the original story that this was a Ninjutsu only Kaguya Otsutsuki could wield flexibly.
In Boruto, Sasuke once used Heavenly Hand Power with a single Rinnegan, but the immense Chakra and Eye Power consumption caused the tomoe in her eye to temporarily disappear.
Nevertheless, having successfully opened Heavenly Hand Power, Aoki could feel the stagnation of the surrounding space, while his own space completed an instant teleportation. Just like Kaguya's Heavenly Hand Power, there were five independent spaces here: lava, ice, supergravity, desert, and strong acid, along with a core mountainous space connecting all the others. Each space corresponded to a unique Ninjutsu.
After exploring the space for a while, Aoki exited the Heavenly Hand Power space, satisfied. He had also practiced the Eighty Gods Vacuum Attack within the space, but due to insufficient Chakra, its power was greatly diminished. Even with his utmost effort, he couldn't unleash the earth-shaking, space-distorting might it was known for.
After familiarizing himself with the three rewarded Ninjutsu, Aoki was generally very satisfied. The only drawback was the staggering Chakra consumption of these techniques; everything else was impeccable.
"Sigh~ Looks like I still need to keep improving my strength!"
Without the Sage Body, he wouldn't even have the qualifications to activate Heavenly Hand Power. His current strength hadn't yet reached its peak, and he knew deep down that he would eventually have to confront Kaguya Otsutsuki head-on.
Thinking of Kaguya Otsutsuki, Aoki couldn't help but look up at the night sky, his gaze falling upon the bright moon.
On the moon at this moment, the descendants of Hamura Otsutsuki had already split into two major factions, all due to Hamura's final wish—one faction advocated for the destruction of the Ninja World, secretly amassing strength and brewing turmoil; the other still adhered to the ideals of peace, completely unaware of the impending crisis.
Meanwhile, in the deep mountain cemetery of the Ninja World, the lingering soul of Madara Uchiha was seething with rage.
"No matter what you're plotting, Fourth Hokage, I will never let you ruin my plans again! Act now!"
The elderly Madara Uchiha slammed the latest intelligence report onto the table, his expression icy, betraying no emotion.
A youthful figure was led into the room by White Zetsu. White Zetsu fawned, "This is the candidate we carefully selected! He is absolutely the perfect vessel for you!"
Hearing White Zetsu's confident words, Madara's gaze fell upon the youth, meeting his eyes burning with hatred. The youth's Three Tomoe Sharingan was already activated, and from the look of it, awakening the Mangekyo Sharingan was only a matter of time. Madara Uchiha was quite satisfied with this.
"Excellent! From today onward, you are 'Madara Uchiha.'"
The youth merely nodded in silence, and Madara paid it no mind. As long as this youth could carry out his subsequent plans for him, everything else was irrelevant.
"Good! Now that the candidate is decided, it's time for us to move out! To Kirigakure! That's the most suitable place to execute our plans!"
With those words, Madara, who had been relying on the Outer Path Statue to sustain his life, resolutely severed the statue's energy supply. Beside him, Black Zetsu understood clearly—their plan was about to officially begin.
Soon, the three of them, relying on their extraordinary abilities, infiltrated the Hidden Mist Village unnoticed.
At the same time, in the Mizukage's office of Kirigakure, Yagura had already succeeded as the Fourth Mizukage.
Yet, at this moment, Yagura felt no joy at all. Glancing at the compensation list sent by Konoha before him, he only needed one look to feel his scalp tingle.
"How can Kirigakure possibly produce so many resources? Konoha is pushing Kirigakure to the brink!"
The demands on the list amounted to astronomical figures, and the severely defeated Kirigakure simply lacked the capacity to bear them. Even if they barely managed to scrape them together, it would directly threaten Kirigakure's survival. As things stood, Kirigakure was no match for Konoha—they couldn't even contend with Konoha's Uchiha Clan alone.
Unable to fight and unable to pay, Yagura was tangled in distress when the office door was suddenly shoved open. Anger surged in Yagura's heart as he looked up displeasedly toward the entrance and shouted sharply:
"Who allowed you to enter without permission? Get out!"