Inside Konoha, the logistics department was still busily preparing.
Tsunade was incredibly busy, "Hurry up! ninja tools, food, and medicine must be sent to the front lines as soon as possible."
"Have the Hokage and the others replied? No? Keep probing and reporting."
"The supplies from the Land of Iron must keep up. If we're short-handed, we'll go help."
"Quick, quick, quick! This is war. Every second saved could save a life."
As a survivor who had experienced the Great Ninja War, Tsunade knew well the horrors of war. Even now, she still often saw Dan and Nawaki in her dreams.
Since war was unavoidable, then it should be ended in the shortest possible time.
"Tsunade-sama, we're setting off."
"Go, and be careful."
"Tsunade-senpai, I'm back."
"Hmm, it's good you're back. Huh?"
Tsunade turned her head and saw an irritating white-haired man standing behind her, she didn't know when he got there.
"Hiss…"
Tsunade rubbed her messy blonde hair. "Is there a problem at the front lines?"
"Not really, it's just that the war is over."
Tsunade breathed a sigh of relief. "So the war is over, I thought it was…"
"Wait!"
Tsunade exclaimed, "It's over?!"
Satoshi pulled out the surrender documents from Iwagakure, Kumogakure, and Sunagakure and waved them in front of Tsunade.
"Please inform everyone. A new peace agreement will be signed in a few days. I need to go study it. Our comrades are on their way back."
After speaking, Satoshi turned and left.
When Tsunade announced the news, Konoha erupted in excited cheers.
Konoha, under the leadership of the great Fifth Hokage Satoshi, had once again defeated those greedy invaders.
A few days later, Konoha's ninjas returned to the village, greeted by thunderous applause.
Heroes, all of them were heroes of Konoha.
To achieve victory in a war where they were surrounded by three villages, they must have endured a lot of hardship.
"Actually… the victory was entirely due to Hokage-sama's efforts."
"We didn't do much. Most of the time, we were just following him to clean up."
"You didn't do much, I did nothing."
Many ninjas were at a loss. They even wondered what they were doing.
Several times, they were too slow, and by the time they charged forward, they found the enemies had already been dealt with.
And the reserves preparing for war in the village also looked at each other, wide-eyed. Most of them were very young, so they were assigned to this position.
If they were needed on the battlefield, it would mean Konoha was in an extremely critical situation, with everyone mobilized for war.
Just yesterday, a senior had been telling them about the brutality of war, making them write their wills in advance, stating that once on the battlefield, they must be prepared to die.
Fortunately, the war was over.
The Ninja World seemed to have truly entered an unprecedented era of peace.
However, peace comes at a cost. Many ninjas from Konoha still died in battle.
A large number of villagers gathered before the memorial stone.
Rain washed over the newly carved names. Behind every newly carved name was a vibrant life.
The survivors stood in the rain, their black mourning clothes clinging to their bodies. Rainwater streamed down their cheeks, indistinguishable from tears.
After the sorrow, the living must ultimately carry on the will of the deceased and continue forward.
In the heavy rain, Jiraiya walked back from outside the village, holding his large black umbrella.
In a corner far from the crowd, he found Satoshi holding a small white flower.
"The cleanup work is mostly done."
"Thank you for your hard work, Jiraiya-sensei."
Jiraiya looked up at Satoshi's Rinnegan and remained silent for a long time.
"Sensei?"
"Those eyes of yours…"
Satoshi put on a pained expression.
Here we go again.
Jiraiya handed the large black umbrella to Satoshi and said, "I have something I need to take care of."
…
Mount Myōboku.
Jiraiya came before the Great Toad Sage. "Great Toad Sage, I have something to ask you."
Gamamaru slowly opened his eyes. "Oh, Jiraiya. What is it?"
Jiraiya looked up and said, "It's about the Child of Prophecy. You once said the Child of Prophecy was by my side."
He hesitated for a moment and said, "Just now, I suddenly felt that Satoshi might be the Child of Prophecy who can bring great change to the Ninja World."
"Satoshi? Who's that?"
Gamamaru yawned. The name sounded familiar, but he couldn't recall it.
Jiraiya said, "Satoshi, that white-haired youth, my newest student."
Gamamaru slapped his head, "Oh, it's him. I remember helping him in a fight a while ago."
"...What did you say?"
"That's not important."
Gamamaru seemed to remember something and said, "He has never appeared in my dreams."
"Jiraiya, he is not the Child of Prophecy."
Hearing this, Jiraiya sighed.
He wasn't, then.
More than half of his life had been spent searching for the Child of Prophecy. Life had given him hope repeatedly, only to disappoint him repeatedly.
How much longer would it take for him to find the true Child of Prophecy?!
"I understand."
Jiraiya waved his hand. "I'm leaving now."
Child of Prophecy, where are you exactly?
…
A few days later, still in the Land of Iron.
Not much time had passed since the last Five Kage Summit, but the situation had changed dramatically.
Konoha and Kirigakure sent their respective Kage Satoshi and Yagura.
From Kumogakure, A was still in bed, so his strategist Dodai came.
From Iwagakure, Ōnoki had lost his fighting spirit and found an excuse to stay home for his back, sending his son Kitsuchi instead.
As for Sunagakure… the diligent Ebizo and Chiyo were here again.
After the reshuffling of the Fourth Great Ninja War, the previously unremarkable Yagura stood much straighter.
So, you three were ganging up on me, huh?
And what happened? You look like fools, got hammered by my big brother, didn't you?
Sunagakure was blown up, Kumogakure became a water park. The troops Iwagakure had deployed were also completely wiped out.
Only my Kirigakure became the biggest winner.
While Yagura was gloating, Mifune cleared his throat. "Gentlemen, we are gathered here today for one purpose."
"To sign a brand new peace agreement…"
After some formalities, a complete agreement appeared on the conference table.
Article 1: All secret techniques of Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure must be permanently open to Konoha.
Article 2: The Kage of the three villages must be designated by Konoha and must forever obey Konoha's commands.
Article 3: When the three villages perform missions, if there is a conflict of interest with Konoha, they must voluntarily withdraw.
Article 10,782: The three villages shall, and must, pay a certain amount of war reparations.
"I've finished speaking. Who is in favor, and who is against?"
After reading these terms, let alone the three villages, even Mifune felt it was a bit… harsh.
If someone had presented these conditions to the Land of Iron, he would probably have fought them to the death.
Last time they negotiated, they blew up the conference room. In the end, no one paid compensation.
If they started fighting again today, there's no telling what kind of mess it would turn into.
Putting everything else aside, the condition that the Kage's selection must be approved by Konoha alone caused an uproar among the three villages.
"The Kage's selection must be approved by Konoha, and they must completely obey Konoha's commands?"
"Is this a Kage? This is simply Konoha's puppet."
"If that's the case, why don't you just take on our Kage positions directly?"
Fortunately, this time the representatives of the three villages appeared much calmer and did not foolishly challenge Satoshi to a one-on-one fight.
Satoshi slammed the table. "It's settled then. I don't mind the extra work."
"...We suddenly feel that obeying Konoha's orders isn't such a difficult thing to do."
The representative of the defeated almost cried out loud. These past few years, they'd grown increasingly tired of dealing with Konoha.
As for Satoshi, he was just saying that. He couldn't be bothered to manage that mess.
Mifune rubbed his temples. For some reason, he now suffered from a headache that started whenever he stood near Satoshi.
"Everyone, continue."