With Sarutobi Hiruzen raising the issue and the Senju and Uchiha clans voicing their support-and with the help of both the indoctrinated and the opportunistic-a consensus was quickly reached on the matter of "avenging the Land of Whirlpools."
Fire Country officially declared war on Water Country.
As soon as the news broke, the entire shinobi world was stunned.
Had Konoha done nothing after the genocide of the Whirlpool Clan, it would've been condemned. Yet for those behind the curtain, Hiruzen's move was shameless to the core. He used them when needed, discarded them immediately afterward-and then trampled them without hesitation. It was behavior so vile it drove Mizukage to fury.
Even so, just as Hiruzen predicted, Mizukage didn't expose any of their secret backchannel discussions. She simply responded that she wasn't afraid of any challenge.
Taking advantage of the weak was standard practice among the Kages. However, as Mizukage pointed out, they understood what it truly means when "the lips are gone and the teeth feel cold." As expected, the other three great nations coincidentally began stationing troops along their borders.
Panic spread across every corner of the shinobi world. Everyone began wondering how this war would escalate, and when the other four countries would decide to act.
At that moment, someone did the unexpected right in front of everyone's eyes.
On the eastern front, it was the Senju and Uchiha clans who led the charge with aid from smaller families and thousands of civilian fighters. Their battlefield: the Land of Whirlpools and Konoha's eastern coastal line.
Sarutobi Hiruzen took charge of the western front himself. Backed by some of Konoha's largest and most prestigious clans-Ino-Shika-Chō, Hyūga, Hatake, Sarutobi-their only objective was containment. No plans existed for full engagement-not even with Lightning Country involved.
Naturally, this double standard sparked discontent within the Senju and Uchiha leadership. Hiruzen had anticipated this. In return for full autonomy in the east, he offered them symbolic compensation: full military power under one name.
"The Land of Lightning hasn't recovered from the last war," he declared. "And the Land of Water suffered heavily from what happened in the Whirlpool Country. That's why I've appointed Uzumaki Akira as supreme commander of this campaign. The son of the God of War will lead you to victory!"
With that announcement, the last murmur of protest died out. Akira's credentials spoke louder than Hiruzen ever could, born of both Mito Uzumaki and Senju Akira, he had rebuilt the Senju and earned mutual recognition between Uchiha and Konoha's common folk alike.
Many civilians may have continued to treat Uchiha unfairly-but leadership did not challenge his appointment further.
It was over on paper-but on the western front, another person had thoughts about this battlefield setup: Hanzo of the Salamander.
"Are you fucking insane? What do your five-country grudges have to do with me?"
True to that old saying-"trouble comes uninvited"-Hanzo found his Rain Country surrounded by Earth, Wind and Fire Nations' military presence before they even informed him war was coming near his borders. They moved as if Rain Country wasn't even worth acknowledging on paper-just convenient terrain.
For someone who had long been planning to raise Rain Country into the sixth great nation-this looked like sabotage of everything he'd built up so far.
Hanzo had given refuge to many survivors of Whirlpool bloodlines-including former Uzumaki-but accepting defeat without resistance was out of the question. If he allowed his homeland to turn into battleground soil again, then his dreams would be fully buried beneath it. Worse than defeat-it would be dismemberment.
Fighting back wasn't pride-it was strategy for survival.
And so, calculating things carefully, Hanzo decided to confront Konoha directly-not by force, not with his armies-but by personally approaching their camp alone without warning.
"SARUTOBI HIRUZEN! What's your game?!"
Had it been any other man yelling at their gates like that-he would've been cut down before finishing his sentence. Hanzo wasn't just any man. He sat atop his massive spirit beast-Salamander Ibushi-towering over fifty meters long and high enough to block sunlight at midday.
When the guards at Konoha's camp saw him appear outside without provocation-they ran to report it immediately.
Inside Hiruzen's command tent, high command from various clans had gathered to discuss next steps against possible attacks from Earth or Wind.
They sensed Hanzo's chakra before his name was even spoken and rose in alarm-readying weapons and sealing techniques immediately.
"An enemy attack?"
Their assumptions shattered as soon as they stepped outside and saw Hanzo riding atop Salamander Ibushi himself-hundreds of meters away but unmistakable even at that distance.
"Salamander Hanzo?! What does he want at our camp?"
"Is he declaring war on Konoha now?"
"Hah-maybe he wants to join us instead."
"That wouldn't be too far-fetched... although if they're sending genin-level fighters here posing as shinobi just for food-I wouldn't be surprised either."
Laughs echoed among them freely. Konoha's great clans had long been arrogant in their dominance-many often ignored directives from Hiruzen himself when it suited them.
Disrespect for outsiders was baked into daily operations-and no one held Rain Country in high regard. Few thought Hanzo's nation deserved even basic diplomatic respect. Most believed that any one clan in Konoha could eliminate Rain entirely-even Hatake with barely ten members could do it easily given leadership from Sakumo.
Despite being hundreds of meters away-Hanzo could hear every laugh clearly. He remained perched atop Salamander Ibushi-in stone silence-but understood at once that no intimidation tactic would work here today. They were mocking him openly-and none feared retaliation from Rain Country whatsoever.
He exhaled hard through his nose and set his jaw tight enough to ache-but resisted lashing out recklessly.
"Hiruzen," he called again-louder this time-with anger vibrating behind every syllable. "What is your explanation for this!"
Even from this far away-the venom in his words rang clear.
"How dare he shout like that…"
Though many there rarely respected Hiruzen-they couldn't overlook when someone spit on the authority of Konoha's Hokage position itself. Image mattered-even without loyalty-they couldn't ignore that trespass lightly.
Their hands hovered above hilts and scrolls-but Hiruzen raised his own hand in reply first-stalling them immediately from showing force.
He hadn't done it to protect Hanzo-but because he knew better than anyone else how not to exhaust valuable pawns too quickly. There would be other chances to provoke war later if needed-and better excuses too.
Without turning toward any clan head-Hiruzen stepped calmly from his tent entrance and approached Hanzo until only several dozen meters separated them across barren terrain.
Once he stopped walking-he stared upward toward Hanzo without yielding and said simply-
"Go back where you came from."
His tone dripped with disdain as if dismissing some vagrant off his porch instead of addressing another country's leader face-to-face.
Hanzo's eyes narrowed.
"So be it," he said beneath his breath-and knew diplomacy was dead in water now.
"If you won't take us seriously-then we'll make you listen."
His arms raised swiftly-
"Poison Spray!"
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