Iwagakure had entered the war.
Before Dan Kato and Minato Namikaze had even reached the northern border base, the news had already returned to the village—and by daytime, it had spread across the entire shinobi world.
Civilians in every country on the ninja continent fell into panic.
Even the daimyo and nobles of the great nations began to feel that the military strongholds under their rule had somehow slipped out of their control.
Because this war had come far too suddenly, and far too fast.
This was nothing like the nations joining forces to wipe out the island nation of Uzushiogakure.
This time, they were declaring war all at once on the Land of Fire—the strongest nation of them all.
Both the First and Second Shinobi World Wars had build-up.
In the first, during the very first summit, the Five Kage had made it clear to Senju Hashirama that peace would only last as long as he was alive.
The moment Hashirama died, the Shinobi World War broke out immediately.
The Second Shinobi World War had been the same. Before Hanzo of the Salamander declared war on the Land of Fire, he had first tested the waters by taking on the Land of Wind, the weakest of the great nations in overall strength, to gauge the gap between Amegakure and a great power. Only after that did things gradually spiral into a four-nation melee.
But now, three great nations had attacked the eastern, western, and northern border bases of the Land of Fire directly, with absolutely no buildup at all.
Once three great nations were involved, it was already a Shinobi World War.
That meant when this war ended, it would inevitably be known as the Third Shinobi World War.
And the opening act of the Third Shinobi World War was already a clash between four great nations—on a scale nearly approaching the First Shinobi World War.
Anyone with even a bit of education, anyone capable of reading the political situation of the shinobi world, realized that a storm unlike anything before was about to sweep across the entire world.
This war might very well reshape the entire shinobi order.
The news also reached Kumogakure at astonishing speed.
"Old man, do you think those great villages formed an alliance behind our backs?"
The future Fourth Raikage—A, who had not yet inherited the title of "A"—looked at the Third Raikage, who stood bare-chested with only the Raikage's haori draped over his shoulders, and asked with a deep frown.
The Third Raikage stared at the intelligence report in his hand, his own brows furrowed as well. He couldn't understand why those three great villages had suddenly attacked Konoha overnight.
Had they held some secret meeting in private?
Or had they communicated through chakra television?
Then why hadn't they included him?
Even though the Third Raikage looked like a mountain of muscle, he was by no means a man who couldn't think.
Very quickly, he spotted what was wrong with the situation.
A wary, serious look immediately appeared in his eyes.
"Maybe this three-nation siege of the Land of Fire isn't as simple as it looks," he said in a low voice. "There may be another force behind all of this."
A blinked, then asked instinctively, "Why do you say that?"
"Because of the order."
The Third Raikage voiced his conclusion.
"This kind of coordinated assault isn't the kind of thing that happens because one country sees another strike and immediately follows up. It had to be premeditated."
"For an 'alliance' like this to exist, it would need a strong leader at the center. And that leader would have to act first and set the example. Otherwise, if the weakest of the nations were the one to attack the Land of Fire first, and the other two didn't follow, what then?"
"It's not that I look down on the Land of Water, far off the mainland, or on this generation's Mizukage. But in this era, when it comes to the Five Kage, no one can really get around that bastard Onoki."
"If this 'alliance' truly exists, then Onoki should be the one leading it. The first country to attack the Land of Fire should logically have been Iwagakure of the Land of Earth."
"But instead, the Land of Earth moved third. That kind of cowardly behavior doesn't fit the role of a leader at all. It's too strange."
A, who also had a decent head for politics, immediately changed expression.
"Old man… you mean there's another force behind those three nations? Or some mysterious figure so strong that even Onoki has to listen to him?"
"There's a good chance of it."
The Third Raikage spoke with confidence.
"If I'm right, then that mysterious person will probably come looking for us soon too—and try to pull us into this war."
And yet, three days passed, and not a single outsider came to see the Third Raikage.
That was awkward.
A, who had been watching the war closely the whole time, finally couldn't help voicing his doubts.
"Old man, maybe you guessed wrong. Maybe it's simpler than that. Maybe Onoki just told Kirigakure and Sunagakure to move first, and then he brought Iwagakure in right after them."
Boom!
The moment A finished speaking, he was sent flying straight out of the Raikage's office.
The Third Raikage's already dark face turned even blacker with displeasure as he snorted.
"My judgment is not wrong. Either that mysterious person fears me, or they're looking down on me."
"In that case, I'll personally jump in and muddy the waters even further."
That was what he said aloud, but inwardly, the Third Raikage was calculating with perfect clarity.
Once this war ended, it would definitely be labeled the Third Shinobi World War.
And right from the opening, it had become a multi-nation free-for-all. Konoha had been forced to split its national strength into three major portions and one smaller reserve to guard its four borders.
Each border base only had two or three ace-level fighters serving as commanders.
And once divided into four parts, Konoha's troop count was no longer superior to those of the other great nations.
That meant Konoha, which ordinarily could have crushed any of the other great nations, had been forced into a purely defensive posture, unable to take the offensive.
This was the perfect chance.
If Kumogakure joined in now and secretly coordinated with Iwagakure to strike the northern border base—or even just helped Iwagakure peel away half of the forces stationed there—then perhaps in only a few days, the two great nations could smash through the northern border of the Land of Fire.
And on top of that, during these past few days of war, another piece of news had quietly begun to spread.
Konoha's space-time shinobi had gone missing.
Gojo Yoru had gone to the summoning realm to train in senjutsu and would need some time before returning.
During that time, even Orochimaru, his own teacher, had no way of contacting him.
This was unquestionably the best possible opportunity.
If they could unite and crush Konoha before Gojo Yoru returned—just like how the allied nations had wiped out Uzushiogakure in a single day—
then even if Gojo Yoru did come back later, they would still have the other great nations around to share the burden of his retaliation. He might not even be able to assassinate all of them.
After all, Gojo Yoru's chakra reserves being only at ace-combatant level was hardly a secret in the shinobi world.
Now that he was an adult and still only had that level of chakra, it was practically guaranteed that in the future he would be like Onoki: terrifyingly lethal, but with very poor endurance. And he would never be able to develop super-large-scale ultimate techniques.
He was stronger and more unavoidable than even the Five Kage at their peak, more impossible to deal with than Hashirama or Madara—but he lacked the overwhelming strategic deterrence of someone like Hanzo of the Salamander or Senju Hashirama.
And that was exactly why the other nations dared make their move.
Believing he had seen through the whole situation, the Third Raikage did not hesitate for even a moment. He immediately mobilized troops toward the northern border base of the Land of Fire, preparing to strike it together with Iwagakure from both sides.
From the edge of a cliff atop a tall mountain, Yahiko watched the scene below with a blank expression as one figure after another—shinobi specializing in Lightning Release and lightning-armored taijutsu—shot out like flashes of blue-white electricity.
The distance wasn't even especially great, and yet the sensor ninja within the army still failed to notice Yahiko's existence.
"Yahiko, you're amazing! They really did exactly what you said—they took the initiative and jumped in!"
At that moment, Tobi's voice rang out inside Yahiko's mind, full of amazement.
Yahiko answered flatly, "Onoki taught me something. When dealing with people at the peak of the Five Kage, we can't seize the initiative the way we did against Kirigakure and Sunagakure."
"Onoki is one thing. He protects Iwagakure too much. Even though that's what keeps Iwagakure's military strength at the top of the shinobi world, it also exposes its greatest weakness."
"Once someone infiltrates Iwagakure and has a large-scale ninjutsu, he has no answer."
"To protect the villagers, he'll agree to almost anything we demand."
"But the Third Raikage and Kumogakure are different—"
He paused, then let the disgust in his heart show plainly on his face.
"That village has existed for decades, and aside from the Gold and Silver Brothers during the First Shinobi World War, it's produced almost no rogue ninja."
"Unlike the other villages, which are full of internal factions, Kumogakure—like Iwagakure—is ruled entirely by the Raikage."
"And the ninja there are all battle maniacs who specialize in taijutsu. They're hot-tempered, and their brains are basically made of muscle."
"If we'd tried to deal with the Third Raikage the same way we dealt with Onoki, he probably would've attacked before we even finished speaking. And then the noise would've drawn all of Kumogakure into the fight."
"So we couldn't go to him directly. We had to make him notice that something was off, or push him another way."
Yahiko let out a breath.
"Thankfully, someone who can become one of the Five Kage isn't just a brute. Otherwise, I probably would've had to spend several more days steering them into sending troops."
"You're already incredible. Tobi never could've thought of all that," Tobi said comfortingly, then asked, "So what now? Are we waiting until the Five Great Villages beat each other bloody, and then stepping in to pick the fruit afterward?"
"No. We need to move as soon as possible."
Yahiko analyzed the situation calmly.
"Kumogakure's target is either the northern border of the Land of Fire, or the eastern border base."
"They specialize in taijutsu. In a forest, they aren't at much of a disadvantage compared to Konoha ninja. So the northern border base is the far more likely choice."
"In that case, Konoha's northern border base will have to face the combined assault of two great hidden villages. Even if the commanders there are Dan Kato, who excels in Yin Release assassination, and the Yellow Flash, who also has Flying Thunder God, they still won't be able to stop two great villages whose numbers exceed Konoha's and whose overall military strength trails Konoha's by only one or two notches."
"Konoha will have to send reinforcements to the northern border base."
"And among the high-end combatants still left in the village, aside from the Third Hokage and the heads of the great clans, there's only one strategic weapon left—the Nine-Tails jinchuriki."
"Faced with a crisis like this, Konoha will absolutely deploy that strategic weapon."
"We can't let the Nine-Tails jinchuriki go to the northern border base. With the Uzumaki clan's unique abilities and the chakra of the strongest tailed beast, the battle there might get dragged into a stalemate."
"We need to head back immediately and help Sunagakure attack the western border base of the Land of Fire. That way, Konoha will be forced to send the Nine-Tails jinchuriki to the western front instead."
Yahiko gave a cold laugh.
"The First Hokage captured the tailed beasts and distributed them to the other villages. Madara-sama also said that Wood Release has a special advantage against tailed beasts. If Konoha's Nine-Tails jinchuriki is already capable of full tailed-beast transformation, then our Wood Release advantage will only be greater."
"And if she can't enter full tailed-beast form, then either Nagato or I can handle her."
"Before Gojo Yoru returns, we'll definitely be able to cripple Konoha—maybe even topple this strongest of nations."
Hearing that, Tobi immediately started shouting in excitement.
"Then let's hurry back! Tobi's getting fired up!"
"I'll be counting on you next, Tobi."
Yahiko's attitude toward Tobi couldn't have been better.
During their time together, he had already figured out that Tobi's personality was nothing like the more mature White Zetsu clones. This one was simple—almost childishly so.
And yet this White Zetsu's power was absurdly strong.
Thankfully, his mind wasn't mature. Otherwise, Madara-sama would never have needed to cultivate Yahiko as the guardian of the Rinnegan in the first place.
Without Tobi, Yahiko's Wood Release could at most deal with ordinary jonin. Even defeating ace-level combatants would have been extremely difficult.
But once he wore Tobi like armor, Yahiko's already massive chakra reserves instantly became as vast as the sea.
Any Wood Release jutsu he cast at that point became a sea of trees, enough to crush any human-wave tactic outright.
In Madara's words, if Yahiko also possessed the Mangekyo Sharingan, then he could use his personal dojutsu almost freely and might even be able to manifest the Perfect Susanoo known as a god of destruction.
His strength and his confidence—all of it came from Tobi.
How could he not treat Tobi well?
After watching Kumogakure's shinobi army vanish into the distance, Yahiko also sank into the earth using the Mayfly Technique and sped back toward Amegakure underground.
The next day, the situation of the four great nations locked in war shifted again.
First, Kumogakure of the Land of Lightning suddenly launched an assault on the northern border of the Land of Fire.
Before Konoha could even send reinforcements, another piece of terrible news spread across the battlefield in an instant.
Then Yahiko, Hanzo of the Salamander's direct disciple from Amegakure, appeared with six subordinates who shared the same eyes and possessed completely different but equally monstrous abilities. At the same time, they summoned the giant salamander—said to wield the greatest poison in the shinobi world—and with overwhelming force, they smashed Konoha's western border line into collapse.
Even the Sarutobi team—powerful shinobi who also happened to be the teachers of the space-time shinobi, the Yellow Flash, and the Nine-Tails jinchuriki—were completely helpless in front of them.
If not for the fact that Orochimaru and Jiraiya entered Sage Mode at the critical moment and joined forces to unleash a combined sound-wave ninjutsu, they might have been left there and killed.
These high-end fighters had appeared far too suddenly.
Konoha did not hesitate at all. It immediately activated its strategic weapon, the Nine-Tails jinchuriki, and sent Kushina Uzumaki to the western border base to reinforce the Sarutobi team.
Meanwhile, the heads of the major clans dispatched the remaining elites of their families—some even going in person—to the northern border base to support Dan Kato and Minato Namikaze.
Everyone in Konoha could smell the stench of a plot in the air.
This six-nation war had escalated into a white-hot phase in only a few short days.
Something about it was deeply, deeply wrong.