99: Desperate! Japan's Prime Minister decides to dance with the devil.

Twenty-four hours after the conclusion of Newton's speech.

The high-definition footage of those mathematical formulas and multi-dimensional ether models, composed of pure light and left hovering over Cambridge, had become the most valuable and most dangerous treasure on the global intelligence market.

Every nation and every organization wanted to be the first to crack it.

Geneva.

Over three hundred top physicists from seventeen countries around the world held the highest-specification physics conference in human history via encrypted video lines.

The result of the meeting was the joint establishment of a super-agency called the 'New Physics Frontier Project' (NPFP).

However, the first conclusion reached after the agency's establishment sent a chill down everyone's spine.

They couldn't decipher it.

When the news spread, the world was in an uproar.

MIT, Caltech, the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton... these institutions that once represented the pinnacle of human wisdom issued an unprecedented joint announcement.

A ten-million-dollar reward.

They were searching for any individual or team capable of making even a single step of effective analysis of Newton's theories.

The entire world had fallen into a massive intellectual panic because of an ancient figure from three hundred years ago... meanwhile.

Sakura Country, Tokyo, Nagatachō.

The 'Holy Grail War Countermeasure Headquarters'.

Inside the massive circular conference room, the atmosphere was so oppressive it was suffocating.

The Prime Minister, sitting at the head, and all the core members of his cabinet beside him, watched the main screen with grim expressions.

On the screen was the recording of Newton's speech at Cambridge.

Sakamoto Masao stood before the screen, expressionless.

He raised his hand and pressed a button on the remote.

The screen instantly went black.

The only light source in the conference room was a few dim emergency lights overhead.

Sakamoto Masao turned around to face the most powerful group of people in Sakura Country.

"Everyone, twenty-four hours have passed."

"Now, I will report on the latest global situation."

"America possesses the 'Protector of the Nation' Archer Roosevelt. The Master, Captain Evan Cross, is already in position. The integration of national power and transcendent power has been preliminarily completed."

"China possesses the mysterious transcendent codenamed 'Crow God,' with a combat assessment of A+. They have Saber Li Bai, the Azure Lotus Sword Immortal, whose Master is the Taoist leader Zhang Ruoxu. They also have Caster Furina, who currently has no Master."

"The Vatican possesses the 'Ruler' of this war, Ruler Jeanne d'Arc. Theoretically, she holds the final right of interpretation for the rules."

"Just now, John Bull also obtained their Servant."

Sakamoto Masao paused, his gaze sweeping across the face of every minister.

"A Rider who calls himself the 'God of Physics,' Isaac Newton."

"With a single speech, he sent physicists across the world back to their freshman year of university."

In the conference room, one could hear a pin drop.

Sakamoto Masao's voice rang out again, this time with an irrepressible sharpness.

"So, what about us?"

"What does our Sakura Country have?"

He slammed a button on the remote control.

On the pitch-black main screen, the tragic sight of Shinjuku Ward being razed to the ground instantly appeared.

That was the masterpiece left behind by Berserker Shuten-dōji.

"We have this."

The image switched.

On the outskirts of Hiroshima, a crater mountain range over a kilometer in diameter, smashed out by countless meteorite fragments, was clearly presented before everyone's eyes.

That was Assassin Uchiha Madara's 'greeting gift'.

"And this."

Sakamoto Masao's voice suddenly rose.

"We have suffered two consecutive transcendent disasters of the highest magnitude!"

"Shuten-dōji and Uchiha Madara!"

"We have lost thousands of Self-Defense Force members, tens of thousands of civilians have been killed or injured, and economic losses exceed five trillion yen!"

"And what have we gained?"

"A Berserker class that remains vacant to this day! A world-destroying demon circling over Sakura Country, liable to reappear at any moment!"

"Everyone!"

Sakamoto Masao took a step forward, both hands propped on the cold conference table, leaning his body forward like a beast about to devour its prey.

"The Americans are forcing us to open more of our financial markets!"

"The Chinese express 'regret' over our situation while deploying the most advanced monitoring networks in the East China Sea!"

"The Europeans treat us as a testing ground and a joke for transcendent powers!"

"What use is the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan that we were so proud of now?"

"Can the Eagle's carrier strike groups block meteorites falling from the sky?"

An obese Finance Minister was already covered in cold sweat.

He raised his hand tremblingly.

"Director Sakamoto, what you mean is..."

"My meaning is very clear."

Sakamoto Masao straightened up and said word by word.

"We must possess our own controllable Servant."

"At any cost!"

As the words fell, the conference room erupted.

"Cost? What cost? Where are we going to find a Servant?"

"Exactly! The birth of a Master is completely random; we can't control it at all!"

A refined-looking Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary wearing gold-rimmed glasses suddenly stood up.

"No, we have a target."

Everyone's eyes focused on him.

He took a deep breath and uttered that name.

"Uchiha Madara."

"We must find him and cooperate with him."

"Crazy! You're crazy!"

The Defense Minister slammed the table, stood up abruptly, and pointed at the Deputy Secretary's nose.

"That's Uchiha Madara! A complete warmonger! A lunatic who wants to destroy the world!"

"Didn't you read Kishimoto Masashi's interrogation report? Didn't you read that manga called 'naruto'?"

The Defense Minister's spit was practically flying into the other man's face.

"His ultimate goal is the 'Infinite Tsukuyomi'! To make all of humanity live in his world of illusions! You call this cooperation? This is like asking a tiger for its skin! No! It's dancing with the devil!"

"This is gambling with the entire future of Sakura Country!"

"Gambling?"

Gold-rimmed glasses sneered and adjusted his spectacles.

"Minister Matsumoto, do you think we have any other choice now?"

"We are already at the gambling table! It's just that we don't even have a decent card in our hands!"

"Our biggest risk right now is doing nothing! It's sitting here and watching helplessly as the next disaster falls on Kyoto or Osaka!"

"It's waiting for China and America to use their Servants to decide the fate of our Sakura Country!"

"Uchiha Madara is dangerous, but he also comes from our Sakura Country's culture! We understand him best! This understanding is our only advantage!"

"Instead of handing our fate to others, we should seize it ourselves!"

"You are going to drag the entire nation into the abyss!"

"You are a coward waiting for death!"

"Traitor!"

"Coward!"

The argument turned ugly.

The highest-level conference room was now like a chaotic vegetable market.

"Enough."

An old but authoritative voice rang out.

The Prime Minister, who had remained silent all along, finally spoke.

He didn't look at the arguing parties but instead cast his gaze toward the teacup in front of him, the rising steam blurring his expression.

The conference room instantly fell silent.

Everyone looked at him tensely, waiting for the final verdict.

After a long while, the Prime Minister finally looked up.

His eyes fell on Sakamoto Masao's face.

"Sakamoto-kun."

"Yes."

Sakamoto Masao stood at attention.

"What do you think?"

Sakamoto Masao didn't answer immediately.

His gaze circled the conference room, seeing fear, greed, ambition, and despair.

Finally, he spoke.

"Prime Minister, I am merely an executor."

"I only know that if we don't possess the power to flip the table, then next time, we won't even have the right to sit at the table."

The Prime Minister closed his eyes.

In the conference room, only the sound of heavy breathing remained.

A few seconds later, he opened his eyes again, and there was no longer any hesitation in his gaze.

"He is right."

"We can't wait any longer."

He looked at the Deputy Secretary who advocated cooperation and then at the red-faced Defense Minister.

"The risks, I am aware of them."

"But the nation has reached its most dangerous moment."

The Prime Minister stood up and walked to the main screen.

He reached out and lightly touched Uchiha Madara's cold face on the screen.

"Go find Uchiha Madara."

"Go talk to him."

"Tell him we can cooperate."

"Prime Minister! Please reconsider!" the Defense Minister let out a final wail.

The Prime Minister didn't turn back, his voice resolute.

"No matter what, he is a figure born from this land of ours."

"This connection is our only bargaining chip."

"The fate of a nation must ultimately be decided by its own people, even if he is a devil."

Having said that, he turned around, his majestic gaze locking onto Sakamoto Masao.

"Sakamoto-kun."

"You are in full charge of this matter."

Sakamoto Masao's body tensed into a straight line.

He lowered his head and bowed deeply.

"Yes."