While Tomoki and Orochimaru were striving to reach the moon, the Ninja World began an unprecedented, large-scale invasion.
Land of Earth.
Days earlier, the Allied Shinobi Forces had reached the border. After organizing their troops, they charged into the Land of Earth with shouts and battle cries.
The fact that the Supreme Commander, Jiraiya, was severely injured and unconscious had no impact on the Allied Shinobi Forces' actions.
Where bandits pass, nothing is left; where soldiers pass, even less remains.
This was merely a description from Tomoki's previous life, a world without superhuman powers. Under the actions of the Allied Shinobi Forces, however, it was far worse.
Starting from the location of their command center, the Ninja of each Village systematically and purposefully encroached upon everything in the Land of Earth.
It was like a growing razor, harshly scraping across the Land of Earth.
Anything of value was swept clean.
Many nobles, stripped of every last coin, tied their remaining clothes into a rope and chose to hang themselves from trees outside.
Why not hang themselves from the rafters?
Kumogakure were bandits, true, but were the Ninja from other Villages good people?
To think they'd even leave the rafters for you was a pipe dream.
Even if they couldn't take it, they'd burn it down. Faced with an utterly invincible weakness, and having obtained the banner of justice,
the Ninja fully displayed all the malice inherent in human nature.
The only exception was the areas passed through by Konoha.
Konoha Ninja genuinely believed they were there to save the Land of Earth. They merely executed the nobles defined as war-mongers but did not take their wealth.
Even the Amegakure Ninja, who were initially somewhat indifferent, automatically awakened once they arrived in this land where they could do as they pleased.
Nagato merely watched everything quietly, with no intention of stopping the Amegakure Ninja.
What greatly intrigued Nagato was the change occurring in the Amegakure Ninja. Even though their appearances were exactly the same as before,
Nagato could feel that they had changed, transforming into a different kind of being.
This included the crying populace of the Land of Earth, who also became objects of Nagato's observation. The gaze of some of these individuals became incredibly familiar to Nagato.
It was only much later that Nagato understood: that was his own gaze, the gaze he had after believing he had transcended humanity and become a god.
Taking everything in, Nagato reached a superficial conclusion.
War changes humans, transforming them into a completely different kind of being than before, and this is true for all sides.
Nagato's observations continued, as did the plight of the Land of Earth.
Iwagakure had long prepared for war, even though the Shinobi Alliance's announcement had only recently been issued.
However, long before, Iwagakure had lost contact with their Tsuchikage and their troops.
It was as if everyone who had gone to Konoha had vanished.
Without intelligence, Iwagakure still reacted, entering a state of war preparedness.
When they heard the joint announcement from the Shinobi Alliance, Iwagakure was stunned.
The Ninja were divided into three factions.
One faction believed this was all a conspiracy by the united Ninja World against Iwagakure, and that Iwagakure should fight to the bitter end, even if it meant total annihilation.
Another faction believed that under the attack of all the Ninja Villages in the Ninja World, Iwagakure was already a name without substance. Rather than fighting to the death, it was better to surrender. The Village might be gone, but the people would remain.
A third faction believed they should immediately evacuate, flee overseas, and establish a new Iwagakure in the vast ocean.
In summary, they were divided into the Death-Fight Faction, the Surrender Faction, and the Escape Faction.
Each side had its own rationale and none could convince any of the others, leading to endless bickering.
Ultimately, even before the Allied Shinobi Forces arrived, Iwagakure split into three small Villages, even fighting amongst themselves to snatch Ninja.
This was the tragedy of having no successor. Once Ōnoki was captured, there was no one who could step forward to take charge and command the respect of everyone.
Among the three factions, the Surrender Faction was the strongest, as the Shinobi Alliance, after all, bore the banner of justice.
They would only target the war-mongering individuals in Iwagakure who sought to disrupt peace. The majority, who were merely caught up, would not suffer any harm if they abandoned resistance and accepted Shinobi Alliance control.
As for how to distinguish war-mongering individuals, it was very simple.
Anyone who, facing the Allied Shinobi Forces, this army of justice, did not obediently abandon resistance, accept control, and still thought of fighting back, was a war-mongering individual.
We, the Allied Shinobi Forces, are here to save the Land of Earth and Iwagakure. The reason we have such a massive Ninja force is not for war, but simply to protect ourselves.
Therefore, the Surrender Faction had the most members. However, as time went on, more and more Iwagakure Ninja withdrew from the Surrender Faction and joined the other two.
This was because the actions of the Allied Shinobi Forces within the Land of Earth had already been reported back to Iwagakure.
They were practically committing every atrocity imaginable, including burning, killing, and looting.
The reason it's
practically
is that the Allied Shinobi Forces didn't kill many people; in fact, the number was surprisingly low.
Perverts exist everywhere, but they are ultimately a minority.
Mostly, they plundered everything of value, and if they couldn't take it, they burned it down with the mindset of not benefiting their allies.
Ordinary people, facing a large Ninja army, dared to offer almost no resistance, only able to watch everything unfold.
And Ninja, facing ordinary people, possessed an inherent arrogance. When ordinary people were as docile as chicks, they didn't think of killing them.
However, even though the Ninja didn't act, many of these people chose to end their own lives.
Not just nobles, but even commoners, facing empty lands, were left with nothing but despair.
People starve to death if they don't eat; a very simple truth. It wasn't just that they had no grain themselves, but everyone around them also had no grain.
Many who had experienced the fear of hunger, to avoid facing that fear again, chose to go to the Pure Land while they still had some provisions in their stomachs.
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