As Qi's voice faded, the air in the conference hall, which had become clamorous due to the power struggle, seemed to be instantly gripped by an invisible hand.

All the noise vanished.

The lightning surging around Raikage A and the light of Dust Release emerging beside Ōnoki both quietly faded at this moment.

The gazes of the five Kage, like iron filings attracted to a magnet, refocused on this excessively young Uzukage.

He had said that no one present was suitable to serve as the commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces.

Such an arrogant assertion seemed incredibly self-evident at this moment.

Because their appearance just a moment ago, arguing until they were red in the face for selfish interests, was the most irrefutable evidence of that statement.

"Then, what is your proposal?"

Raikage A's voice was low, suppressing anger, but it also carried a hint of anticipation he himself had not even noticed.

He wanted to see how this man, who had played them all in the palm of his hand, would ultimately bring this to a close.

Qi's gaze swept calmly over everyone, his Eternal Mangekyō Sharingan as profound as the universe.

"The choice of commander is indeed a problem."

"Strength, seniority, prestige, resources. These were the focus of everyone's argument just now, and they are all indispensable conditions."

"But they are not the core."

Qi extended a finger.

"I believe that there is only one standard that determines the direction of the future war and who is qualified to stand at the highest point to issue orders."

He paused, then uttered a word that no one present had ever thought of.

"Contribution."

"Contribution?" Ōnoki's brows furrowed even deeper; this word made him feel unfamiliar.

The Shinobi World believed in power, in fists, and in the efficiency of killing. Something like contribution was too ethereal.

"That's right, contribution."

Qi's voice was clear and powerful.

"Facing the impending world-ending crisis, no village can remain aloof. Empty talk of leadership is meaningless; only those who can bring substantive, irreplaceable help to this war, and who can fundamentally improve the overall survival rate and win rate of the Allied Shinobi Forces, are qualified to discuss command."

"This is my proposal."

Hiruzen Sarutobi's complexion turned even more ashen; he sensed an ominous premonition from this word.

Raikage A's eyes were full of vigilance; he intuitively felt that the other party's true purpose was about to be revealed.

Qi did not keep them in suspense any longer; he gently raised his hand and issued an order to the air behind him.

"Activate Protocol One."

As his voice fell, the huge light screen behind him lit up again.

This time, no text or images appeared on the light screen; instead, it was divided into dozens of real-time dynamic screens of varying sizes.

In the screens, there were raging seas, lush forests, bustling streets, and even a desert filled with yellow sand.

"This is..."

Mei Terumī's pupils dilated slightly; she recognized one of the screens, which showed an uninhabited island between the Land of Water and the Land of Fire that was shrouded in dense fog all year round.

"As you can see, these are real-time images transmitted back from over one hundred high-altitude reconnaissance units deployed by us within a three-hundred-kilometer radius around the Land of Whirlpools."

Qi's voice sounded calmly, as if he were introducing a trivial gadget.

"They can monitor everything in this area around the clock, without any blind spots. The wind, rain, people, beasts, ships, and even the trajectory of a single bird cannot escape."

He changed the subject and looked at the gloomy-faced Raikage A.

"Your Excellency Raikage, you should still remember. Not long ago, how your village's fleet was monitored by us the entire time without you noticing."

Raikage A's fists clenched tightly, and that sense of humiliation welled up in his heart again.

Qi ignored him and continued.

"The foundation of this system is a brand-new real-time communication technology. It does not require summoning animals or messengers; as long as you are within the signal coverage area and hold a terminal, you can conduct delay-free, encrypted voice and information transmission."

"Its significance, I think everyone here knows better than I do. Leading in intelligence means absolute strategic initiative."

"Today, on behalf of the Land of Whirlpools, I provide this technology to the future Allied Shinobi Forces for free."

"The Land of Whirlpools will be responsible for the deployment of all reconnaissance units and the construction of communication base stations. We will equip every squad of the Allied Shinobi Forces with a set of portable communication terminals. From now on, no soldier in the Allied Shinobi Forces will ever fight alone again. The command headquarters can grasp the situation of any battlefield at any time and transmit orders to anyone's ears in the first instance."

Silence.

Dead silence.

In Ōnoki's cloudy old eyes, raging waves were stirred up.

As an expert in aerial combat, he understood the terror of this system better than anyone. It meant that the advantage of the sky would no longer be enjoyed exclusively by Hidden Stone Village. Any flying unit would be brought into the enemy's field of vision the moment it took off.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's body trembled slightly.

He thought of the Anbu that Konoha was proud of, and of those intelligence networks lurking in various countries. In front of such an Omni-Directional Defense System, his hard work of the past few decades had become a joke.

In Rasa's eyes, greed and desire flickered.

Sunagakure was located in the desert with harsh conditions; when Ninjas performed missions, they often fell into danger due to poor communication. With this system, Sunagakure's survival capability would achieve a qualitative leap.

This was the first "contribution."

An "irresistible" contribution that was enough to change the form of war in the Shinobi World.

"Of course, having intelligence alone is far from enough."

Qi's voice pulled everyone's thoughts back from their shock.

"The enemy we are facing has the ability to resurrect the dead. Impure World Reincarnation, this forbidden technique developed by the Second Hokage, will bring us huge trouble on the future battlefield."

He looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who subconsciously avoided his gaze.

"Traditional Sealing Technique is too inefficient and requires the Ninja to be in close proximity to perform it. Facing a massive army of Impure World Reincarnation, that is tantamount to suicide."

"Therefore, the R&D Department of the Land of Whirlpools, after analyzing all the data provided by Mr. Orochimaru, has developed a brand-new counter-technique targeting the core principles of Impure World Reincarnation."

Qi issued an order again.

"Activate Protocol Two."

The screen on the light curtain switched, showing a closed laboratory.

A Ninja who had been brought back by Impure World Reincarnation, with dull eyes, was standing in the center of the laboratory.

Opposite him, a researcher from the Land of Whirlpools formed a few simple hand seals and then pressed their hand to the ground.

"God-Sealing Annihilation, activate."

A ripple of Chakra that was almost invisible to the naked eye instantly spread out, centered on the researcher's palm.

In the next second, an astonishing scene occurred.

The body of the Ninja brought back by Impure World Reincarnation trembled violently; the dust and paper charms covering his body began to peel off, and a glimmer of life returned to his eyes.

He looked down at his hands, then at the researcher opposite him, a look of confusion and relief appearing on his face.

Just two seconds later, his body turned into a ball of light, his soul ascended to heaven, leaving behind only the long-dead corpse that had served as the sacrifice, which fell to the ground.

"God-Sealing Annihilation."

Qi's voice was like the judgment of a god.

"Its principle is not sealing, but'severing'."

"It can spread over a large area on the battlefield like a virus, automatically searching for and severing the Chakra link between the caster and the resurrected. Once the link is severed, the bound soul will be automatically liberated, and the Impure World Reincarnation technique will be broken without a fight."

"This is a wide-area, intelligent, and almost cost-free Sealing Technique. The Land of Whirlpools is willing to provide all the scroll techniques of this jutsu to the Allied Shinobi Forces for free and is responsible for training the first batch of sealing squad members who can skillfully use it."

If the communication system was a dimensionality-reducing strike in terms of strategy.

Then "God-Sealing Annihilation" was a fatal, bottom-up blow to the enemy's core tactics.

It meant that Uchiha Madara's Impure World Reincarnation army, which was enough to make anyone feel despair, would no longer be an invincible threat.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's breathing became incredibly heavy; he watched the soul turning into light on the screen, his eyes filled with disbelief.

The problem he had spent his whole life trying to solve had been solved by the other party so easily.

The Konoha he protected and the path he persisted in seemed so backward and ridiculous at this moment.

The atmosphere in the conference hall had changed from shock to awe.

Everyone realized that what they were witnessing was the dawn of a new era.

An era led by technology rather than brute force.

"Finally, there is the third thing."

Qi's voice drew everyone's attention back again.

"War is about logistics. The physical strength of soldiers is the most basic and critical factor in determining the outcome of a war."

He took out a small porcelain bottle from his arms and poured out a black pill.

The pill was only the size of a fingernail and emitted a faint medicinal fragrance.

"military rations pill. The most basic supply in the Shinobi World. I think you all know its effects very well."

"And this one in my hand is a product improved by the R&D Department of the Land of Whirlpools, which I call the 'Enhanced military rations pill'."

"Its volume is only one-third of a traditional military rations pill. But its effect is three times that of a traditional military rations pill. One pill is enough to support a Jonin to engage in twelve hours of high-intensity combat."

"Most importantly, its raw materials all come from seaweed and minerals unique to the waters of the Land of Whirlpools. It can be mass-produced."

Qi waved his hand, and five pills flew precisely in front of the five Kage.

Rasa was the first to reach out and pick up the pill.

He gently rubbed it with his fingers, feeling the vast energy contained within, and then held it to his nose to smell it. As a Kazekage who had worried about resources all year round, he understood the value of this little pill better than anyone.

It meant that his Ninjas could survive longer in the harsh desert environment.

It meant that the pressure on the fragile logistics supply line of the Sunagakure would be reduced by two-thirds.

It meant that countless lives that should have died due to exhaustion would be able to survive.

This was not just a pill.

This was life.

It was the lifeblood of an army.

The real-time communication system determined how far the Allied Shinobi Forces could "see."

The Sealing Technique that countered Impure World Reincarnation determined how thick the Allied Shinobi Forces' "shield" was.

The mass-producible super military rations pill determined how long the Allied Shinobi Forces could "fight."

These three things were all core lifeblood factors that determined the direction of the war.

And only the Land of Whirlpools could provide these three things.

Qi laid all of this out on the table as a "contribution," without reservation.

He did not say another word; he just sat down calmly and picked up the cup of tea in front of him that had long since cooled.

He did not need to use words to persuade anyone anymore.

These irresistible "contributions" were the most powerful weapons and the most irrefutable reasons.

Like three insurmountable mountains, they pressed down on the hearts of the five Kage, making all their selfishness, calculations, and unwillingness seem small and ridiculous.

The conference hall fell into a long silence.

No one spoke; only heavy breathing rose and fell in the empty room.

The expressions on the faces of the five Kage were different.

Shock, horror, awe, unwillingness, and finally... powerlessness.

They knew that this struggle for the commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces was over.

It had already ended from the moment Qi proposed the standard of "contribution" and brought out these three things.

In the end, it was Raikage A who broke this dead silence.

He slowly stood up, his huge figure casting a shadow.

He glanced at the breathtaking images on the light screen, then at the small pill on the table, and finally, his gaze fell on the young figure calmly drinking tea.

In his eyes, there was no more anger or unwillingness, only a pure recognition of absolute strength.

"I agree."

Raikage A's voice was hoarse and heavy; every word seemed to be squeezed out from between his teeth.

"The Uzukage, who holds the core technology, shall serve as the Chief of Staff of the Allied Shinobi Forces, responsible for the strategic planning and technical coordination of the entire army."

"Kumogakure has no objections."