Kaito had only scratched the surface of the Heart of Mukade's true capabilities.
At present, he had mastered less than one-tenth of its potential.
By injecting an enormous amount of Dragon Vein chakra into it, he could indeed open a gate that connected two worlds.
However...
That gate remained open for less than a minute.
The only reason he had managed to stay in the future world for an entire week was because he had continuously used ROOM to suppress both the Heart of Mukade and the Dragon Vein chakra flowing through it.
Otherwise...
The moment that chakra leaked away, the temporal "travel mark" attached to himself, Nawaki, and Yugao would've disappeared completely.
"...This won't do."
Kaito frowned.
"If things continue like this..."
"Doesn't that mean traveling between worlds will always depend on Mukade's heart?"
For perhaps the first time in a long while...
He felt genuinely frustrated.
In countless fields, his technology had already surpassed the current era by decades.
Yet when it came to dimensional travel...
He had reached a dead end.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through his mind.
"...Wait."
"Kaguya."
"Do you know about a treasure called Karasuki?"
He remembered the time-travel artifact used by Ōtsutsuki Urashiki in another timeline.
Silence.
Looking down, Kaito glanced at the tiny black Karma mark hidden on the back of his right hand.
Normally...
A thin layer of slime concealed it completely from view.
"I don't."
Kaguya answered honestly.
"It should be one of the Ōtsutsuki Clan's treasures."
"If I knew where such a treasure was..."
"Do you really think I would've ended up like this?"
"..."
"You're hopeless."
"Waaah..."
Unable to get any useful information from Kaguya...
Kaito could only continue analyzing the mechanics of dimensional travel himself.
Traveling through time required attaching a special marker to one's body.
A marker...
Wait.
Wasn't that exactly what the Dragon Vein chakra, after passing through Mukade's heart, left inside his body?
If that was the case...
Then instead of relying directly on Mukade's heart...
He could transform Mukade into an unconscious biological puppet.
Then install an artificial mechanism that functioned like a machine...
A switch.
From that day onward...
While the Third Stage of Konoha's Chunin Exams was held...
And eventually concluded...
Kaito shut himself inside Loulan's laboratory.
His entire focus became integrating machinery with Mukade's heart.
At the same time...
He carefully preserved portions of the original heart tissue.
If the main heart were ever destroyed completely...
He didn't want to lose the ability to travel between worlds forever.
Meanwhile...
His shadow clone remained in Konoha, dutifully playing the role of an ordinary genin and accepting missions.
His true body...
Never left the laboratory.
Half a year passed.
Finally...
Kaito succeeded.
He completed a stable interdimensional gateway.
One that could now be activated whenever he wished.
Almost at the same moment...
History took another dramatic turn.
Sunagakure declared war.
Fire Country — Hokage Office
Upon receiving the report...
Hiruzen Sarutobi immediately stood up.
"...As expected."
"The Third Kazekage really has disappeared."
Ever since the previous Chunin Exams...
Sand shinobi stationed along the borders—and even those who had participated in the tournament—
Had secretly been gathering information about one particular individual.
The missing Third Kazekage.
"Damn it..."
"They're actually using Loulan as an excuse..."
"They're accusing Konoha of assassinating the Third Kazekage and stealing his body."
"What utter nonsense!"
He turned toward the man standing before his desk.
"Sakumo!"
"Sir!"
Standing there was the White Fang himself—
Sakumo Hatake, now fully matured.
"Lead the ANBU immediately."
"Deploy to the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind."
"Warn Sunagakure one last time."
"If they continue their advance after that..."
Hiruzen slowly closed his eyes.
"...Then we fight."
"Understood!"
With that order...
Tension between the two nations officially reached its breaking point.
The Shinobi World Begins to Burn
One declaration of war...
Was enough to shake the entire ninja world.
The first nation to react...
Was Kumogakure.
"War?"
"Good."
"Then let's fight."
The Third Raikage had wanted an excuse for war for a very long time.
Only fear of interference from Kirigakure...
And lingering conflicts with Iwagakure...
Had restrained him.
Now...
The opportunity had finally arrived.
He immediately submitted a formal request to the Daimyo of the Land of Lightning.
The Daimyo, after examining recent economic reports, came to a simple conclusion.
Konoha's economy had become too dominant.
Trade throughout the continent had become increasingly unbalanced.
War...
Would restore equilibrium.
There was another reason as well.
He had set his sights on Loulan's scientific technology.
The Third Raikage objected.
"Loulan still has the Omnipotent Minister."
"If we provoke him..."
"No number of shinobi will be enough."
Publicly...
He rejected the proposal.
Privately...
He had a different plan.
The Omnipotent Minister hadn't appeared for a very long time.
If he could secretly infiltrate Loulan...
Capture the Queen...
Then the entire nation might fall into his hands.
Ironically...
Sunagakure had arrived at exactly the same conclusion.
Unfortunately for the Sand Village...
The moment they declared war on Konoha...
Disaster struck.
Kirigakure declared war on Sunagakure.
At almost the same time...
Kirigakure also declared war on Konoha.
Then...
Iwagakure moved.
Ōnoki had wanted another war for years.
Now he finally had his chance.
With the Third Kazekage gone...
Sunagakure suddenly found itself facing enemies on three fronts.
Fortunately...
Every major nation had also declared war against Konoha.
The balance became strangely symmetrical.
The battle lines formed quickly.
Iwagakure declared war on:KonohaSunagakureKumogakureKumogakure declared war on:KonohaIwagakureKirigakure declared war on:KonohaSunagakureSunagakure declared war on:KonohaIwagakureKirigakureAnd Konoha...
Found itself...
Once again...
Surrounded by four great nations.
Thus...
Year 42 of Konoha.
The Third Shinobi World War officially began.
Fortunately...
Konoha had anticipated conflict months earlier.
Many exceptionally talented academy students from the third, fourth, and fifth years had already been allowed to graduate ahead of schedule.
Their reserve of genin remained healthy.
Even after war had been declared...
Actual large-scale invasions would not begin immediately.
Every nation needed time.
Time to transport supplies.
Time to relocate industries.
Time to stabilize their wartime economies.
Time to establish forward camps.
Time to gather intelligence.
Time to move entire armies.
A declaration of war merely meant one thing.
From that moment onward...
Whenever shinobi from hostile nations meet...
They were expected to fight.
Loulan appeared calm.
Construction slowed.
Trade outside the city diminished.
Citizens continued living peacefully.
The soldiers showed no signs of panic.
But beneath that peaceful surface...
The kingdom had already entered a state of war.
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