Sunagakure was the first to provoke war against Konoha, and also the first to surrender.
It belonged to the type that was weak yet loved to stir things up—panicking the moment it was released, and begging for mercy the instant its throat was seized.
When news of Sunagakure's plea for peace with Konoha spread through various channels, many naïve people across the major ninja villages believed that this war was about to end.
But they were wrong. Those who understood the situation all knew that the war would not end—on the contrary, it was only just beginning.
The Third Great Ninja War would slowly enter its second stage, the most chaotic and the most brutal stage.
The elderly yet shrewd Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, would never allow himself to be driven by hatred. Everything he did was for the sake of obtaining the greatest benefit at the smallest possible cost.
Hatred was merely a tool used to incite those below; profit was the true foundation that allowed a village to grow and prosper.
There was only a minor accident in the plan: Konoha had produced a ruthless figure like Orochimaru, who took down Sunagakure at minimal cost. Unlike Sarutobi Hiruzen, Ōnoki greatly admired this snake's command ability and believed it to be the correct approach.
Although Konoha did not suffer heavy losses, Sunagakure had been crippled—was this not an opportunity?
After the Battle of Kikyō Pass, taking advantage of the chaos within Sunagakure while it was still reorganizing its forces, Ōnoki instructed the Iwagakure ninja to continue large-scale plundering in the fertile regions along the border of the Land of Wind.
Since the establishment of the Five Great Nations and the Five Great Ninja Villages, the world's overall structure had essentially been set. The era of the Warring States—when large and small countries annexed one another and daimyō and generals fought chaotically—had become a thing of the past.
Each of the Five Great Nations had established its own territorial boundaries, while the smaller countries in between became buffer zones in times of peace and gladiatorial arenas in times of war.
Small countries could fight among themselves, but they were not permitted to annex and expand, because the Five Great Nations would not tolerate the emergence of another country capable of threatening their status.
The last person who wanted to do this—Hanzo of the Salamander of Amegakure—was ground into the dirt by the three countries of Fire, Earth, and Wind, and then the ninja of those three countries fought chaotically inside his own home, battering the Land of Rain until it was riddled with holes and scars, creating countless tragedies of life-and-death separations for ordinary people, and directly giving rise to the birth of the "Akatsuki" organization.
Even if one of the Five Great Nations wanted to annex a neighboring small country, that would not work either, because the other great nations would step in to stop it. No one would be foolish enough to sit and watch the other side grow stronger; besides, without a buffer zone, everyone would be facing each other directly, which would feel far too insecure.
Unless you first deal with the other great nations' ninja villages and unify the ninja world, this kind of balance is hard to break. In any case, the ones who suffer are the people of the small countries caught in the cracks—who cares?
Since expanding territory is so difficult, then how do you reap benefits for your own village in a great war?
It is very simple: money, precious metals, rare jewels, infants and toddlers with special talents, all kinds of ninjutsu and secret techniques—everything that can strengthen the village's power is a target.
Iwagakure is doing exactly these things right now.
By the time Sunagakure reorganized its strength and marched north, the fertile border regions that adjoined the Land of Birds and the Land of Rain had already been viciously ravaged once.
Sunagakure's ninja had just finished a war with Konoha, and now they had to fight Iwagakure's ninja in a tangled melee, their eyes bloodshot.
At the same time, in the direction of the Land of Grass, while Iwagakure was reaping benefits, it also made preparations to attack the Land of Fire—but it was waiting, waiting for a hired hand to enter the field.
Sure enough, seeing Iwagakure gain an advantage, the dark-skinned barbarians of Kumogakure could not sit still. They quickly chose to join the war.
They had always been the ones to rob others—how could they possibly stand aside and watch others happily robing?
Different from what Ōnoki had envisioned, once Kumogakure entered the field, the situation was no longer something he could control.
Kumogakure ninja, on the one hand, invaded the Land of Fire from the Land of Hot Water; on the other hand, they also entered the Land of Rice Fields, wanting to drive away the Iwagakure forces stationed here to guard against them.
Konoha had just ended the war on the western front, yet it had no choice but to redeploy manpower to deal with threats from the northwest and the north.
The situation once again descended into chaos.
The current situation was this: Iwagakure moved south and became entangled with Sunagakure, while its friction with Konoha in the Land of Grass grew more and more severe; at the same time, it also had to guard against Kumogakure in the Land of Rice Fields.
Sunagakure marched north to resist Iwagakure, but it also had to leave some forces on the eastern front to prevent Konoha from stabbing them in the ass.
Although the two sides had signed an alliance agreement, Konoha would most likely not do that, but in the ninja world, trust is the cheapest thing, and an agreement is nothing more than a worthless piece of paper.
As soon as Kumogakure joined, it ended up facing both Iwagakure and Konoha at the same time.
Each side had its own opponent, and the situation across the entire ninja world became a complete mess, sliding straight toward the edge of total loss of control.
Now, all that was missing was Kirigakure joining in.
In fact, if the four great nations were to unite and attack Konoha together, Konoha would not be able to withstand it—but such a thing would never happen.
This was how the ninja world worked: in the absence of a common enemy, the Five Great Ninja Villages were mutually wary, mutually guarded against one another, and all wanted the others dead. Trust and cooperation simply did not exist.
…
Before the Battle of Kikyō Pass, the situation in the direction of the Land of Grass had actually been fairly stable. Iwagakure and Konoha were only engaging in small squad-level frictions, with no large-scale battles breaking out.
As a result, Higashino Jirō, Uzuki Yūya, and many other Konoha ninja were given a chance to rotate out, return to the village, celebrate the New Year, and rest for a period of time.
But with Sunagakure's defeat, the situation in the ninja world changed abruptly. The actions of Iwagakure and Kumogakure were like lighting a fuse on a quiet powder keg, instantly plunging the situation into tension.
The Land of Grass, the Land of Rice Fields, and the Land of Hot Water were powerless to resist the invasion of the great nations and could only turn to Konoha for help.
After all, compared to those bandits, the credibility of Konoha—founded by the God of Shinobi—was far better, and the image of Konoha ninja was slightly more positive than that of the other four great nations.
This was a world of comparing who was worse. Compared to the other four great nations' habitual inhumanity, Konoha immediately appeared upright and presentable—as long as you look like the bad guys, then I am justice.
Under these circumstances, Higashino Jirō missed his son's birthday for the first time, following the main force as it rushed toward the Land of Grass.
The birthday gathering that normally brought the family of three together every year, due to the war, left only… five people at home this year.
Uchiha Shisui, Uzuki Yugao, and Gekkō Hayate came to celebrate his birthday with him.
Among the four of them, Higashino Makoto's birthday came the earliest, at the end of March. The birthdays of the other three were all after October; in fact, Yugao's and Hayate's birthdays were only one day apart and could basically be celebrated together.
Under the watchful eyes of his companions, Higashino Makoto once again made a wish in earnest.
He wished that Higashino Jirō and Uzuki Yūya would both return alive.
In his previous life, he had been nothing more than an ordinary person. After coming to the ninja world, he had been born into a civilian family as well—there was no system that handed him an Ōtsutsuki physique right from the start, no innate divine treasure living in his head, and certainly no deep-blue panel that added dozens of points in a single day.
All he had was a soul that turned out to be somewhat special, something he discovered at the age of four. Its function was a kind of cheat that helped him filter white natural energy. Since white energy accounted for the smallest proportion among all types of natural energy, this caused his absorption speed to be painfully slow.
Aside from that, he himself was extremely self-disciplined. From the age of three, he had worked hard at studying and training, and by the time he was seven, he already possessed fairly decent strength.
But this level of strength was barely enough for self-protection. As for intervening in a great ninja war?
He did not have that capability.
Take a look at what kind of figures emerged when the Third Great Ninja War entered its chaotic melee phase.
The Sunagakure ninja who had been played by Orochimaru turned around and vented their fury on Iwagakure. A young ninja named Rasa stood out, and with a single Magnet Release—Gold Dust—no one knew how many Iwagakure lives he buried.
At present, his prestige within Sunagakure was extremely high, and there were faint signs that he might become the Fourth Kazekage. However, his rival—a stunning beauty named Pakura, who provided Iwagakure with "mummy services" through her kekkei genkai, Scorch Release—also had no shortage of supporters.
Two rivals cannot coexist—unless one is male and the other female.
But the problem was that Rasa was already married. His wife, Karura, was heavily pregnant, and the child was about to be born.
On the battlefield of the Land of Hot Water, the son of the Third Raikage led his brother. The future A-B combination was unstoppable for a time, beating Konoha ninja until they were utterly miserable—until, in the middle of the year, they encountered Konoha's blond man.
Namikaze Minato held his own in a one-against-two, one of whom was an Eight-Tails jinchūriki. Relying on the Flying Thunder God Technique, he forcefully blocked Kumogakure's advance.
Konoha's Yellow Flash truly lived up to his name. When ordinary ninja encountered him, all they could do was wait for death—running away was meaningless.
At present, with Orochimaru disheartened, Tsunade having left, and Jiraiya devoting himself wholeheartedly to paving the way for his disciple, Namikaze Minato was the most dazzling figure on Konoha's battlefields. Using the Flying Thunder God Technique, he moved back and forth across Konoha's fronts against Iwagakure and Kumogakure, slaughtering the enemy to the point that they were terrified at the mere sound of his name.
No matter how difficult it was for Konoha ninja to hold the line, as long as they saw a streak of yellow light appear, they knew victory was assured.
By October, a major event occurred on the battlefield, shocking the entire ninja world.
After a round of intelligence warfare between Iwagakure and Kumogakure, Kumogakure fell into Ōnoki's trap. The Third Raikage, A, led an elite force straight toward the border region between the Land of Rice Fields, the Land of Fire, and the Land of Waterfalls, attempting to intercept the large quantities of valuable materials plundered by Iwagakure.
Then he became trapped within layer upon layer of encirclement by ten thousand Iwagakure ninja.
Those who followed him were all powerful and highly experienced elite troops of Kumogakure. In order to preserve this core strength for the village, after leading them in carving out a breach, the Third Raikage remained behind alone to cover the rear. He fought for three days and three nights, until he was exhausted to death.
The Raikage's death not only allowed the entire ninja world to witness the might of Lightning Release Chakra Mode, but also pushed the Third Great Ninja War completely into an uncontrollable phase of chaos.
Bearing the hatred over the death of the Third Raikage, the Kumogakure ninja fully locked horns with Iwagakure. Konoha also took advantage of the fact that Iwagakure had diverted large numbers of forces to encircle and suppress the Raikage, pushing the battle lines back from the border into the Land of Grass.
Had the two sides achieved cooperation? No. Kumogakure and Konoha were still fighting each other to the death in the Land of Hot Water—cooperation was impossible.
Sunagakure also accelerated its efforts to drive Iwagakure out of its territory.
For a time, Iwagakure seemed to have become the great boss of the ninja world. Of the four major nations participating in the war, three were fighting against it.
Ōnoki: "…"
This… this wasn't right. Why had the plan turned out like this?
Why, as the fighting went on, did I become everyone's target?
But with matters having reached this point, there was nothing left to do but grit his teeth and endure it to the very end.
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