The sudden news caught Haseo off guard for a moment. What in the world is going on? Just like that—gone without a trace?
He shot up suddenly, then paced a couple steps before plopping back down with a thud... Actually, there was little to be surprised about. "Overthrowing superiors" was practically a traditional art form among ninja.
"Though we were enemies, the Mizukage and I had our moments of camaraderie. If it weren't for our opposing loyalties… Sigh. Life really is fragile. The path of a ninja is truly tragic."
"My Lord Haseo?" Kohei Sarutobi was confused by Haseo's reaction.
Haseo waved his hand dismissively, then asked the messenger ninja, "Is this intelligence reliable?"
"Yes. It has been confirmed. The event happened about two weeks ago—a fierce battle erupted within Mist between Yagura Karatachi, a Jonin from Mist, and Third Mizukage Hozuki Riman.
Many Mist shinobi witnessed the incident firsthand, yet nearly no one came forward to support the Mizukage...
Yagura emerged victorious while the Third Mizukage fell, and now Yagura has become the Fourth Mizukage."
The event seemed to have occurred some time ago, but considering how isolated the Hidden Mist had recently become, acquiring such timely intel should be seen as commendable rather than criticized.
Only two weeks—this information could even be considered "timely"... Certainly better than hearing about Hanzo of the Rain Village's death years later with Konoha still completely unaware at the time.
"So there were actually Mist ninja who stood by while their own Mizukage was cut down… In that case, you could say the Mizukage's plan succeeded." Haseo remarked casually.
To someone like himself—an informed observer with a bird's-eye view—it wasn't hard to see what the Third Mizukage had been working toward all along. From a ninja's standpoint, this kind of act could be called laying down one's life for the mission.
"..."
However, his words failed to resonate with others, so Haseo didn't bother elaborating further.
"Additionally, what did Konoha say? Did the Third Hokage issue any further commands?"
"...No. The Hokage only instructed me to deliver this message to My Lord Haseo as soon as possible."
"?"
This genuinely shocked Haseo. No additional orders? That was just too unreasonable.
Not that Haseo was bragging, but under such circumstances, shouldn't the Third Hokage have summoned him back to Konoha right away?
After delivering the crucial information, the ninja departed promptly.
Observing Haseo's now-serious expression, Kohei finally couldn't resist asking, "My Lord Haseo, do you believe this matter is extremely serious? Although the death of the Mizukage and the ascension of a new one are significant events, they're happening in the Land of Water, far away from us."
Haseo thought for a moment before deciding to clarify this for the younger man, "Kohei, do you believe this will remain an isolated incident?
During the last Great War, Konoha swiftly defeated Mist forces, inflicting heavy damage upon them."
Defeating a powerful enemy allowed Konoha to better arrange its battle plans during the war. Correspondingly, however, Mist's hostility toward Konoha increased significantly.
The Third Mizukage, who led the war and brought Mist to defeat, naturally bore undeniable responsibility for Mist's plight. Yet after Mist withdrew from the war, he did not attempt to rectify his mistakes; instead, he imposed high-pressure rule over Mist.
Therefore, over these years, the hatred Mist felt toward Konoha had received no relief at all and had only deepened further.
Now, simply put, the level of hatred Mist ninja harbored toward the Third Mizukage was matched only by their anger toward Konoha.
As the "hero" who overthrew Mist's oppressive regime, upon ascending to power, Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage, saw the village unite as never before. However, the death of the Third Mizukage alone served merely as a single outlet for venting, and wasn't quite enough; thus Mist needed a second channel for release.
Mist hated Konoha, and even Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage who swiftly unified the village, could not suppress such sentiment entirely.
"Do you understand now, Kohei? War is very likely to restart."
You can't expect someone who's been holding his piss until his bladder's about to burst to stop after just a quick release—the second you let go, he's not stopping until it's done...
That's exactly how Mist was: someone with a bursting bladder.
"The original trigger for the Third Great Ninja War was Sasori of the Red Sand backstabbing the Third Kazekage. However, after living in this world for so many years, Haseo naturally wouldn't look at problems quite so literally by the book anymore. Judging from the situation in the ninja world, war was almost inevitable. However, the event that directly triggered it wasn't exclusive.
Such incidents might be A or B—it could've been the death of the Kazekage or the Mizukage. It really just boiled down to who would fire the first shot.
But what happened the last time Mist took the first shot against Konoha? Would they dare stick their necks out again now? That's truly hard to say."
"I see, Lord Haseo." Kohei Sarutobi was a well-mannered young-generation ninja; naturally, he understood Haseo's explanation, so he now wore a worried expression too. "However, Lord Haseo, since Mist has sent out such serious signals, why hasn't the village recalled you in time?"
Haseo fell silent briefly, then turned his gaze toward the distant horizon.
"Yeah…why indeed... Maybe because the Daimyo's succession ceremony is also extremely important. After all, precisely during times like these, we wish for the foundation of the Land of Fire to remain stable."
This explanation clearly failed to convince Kohei Sarutobi. Any random Leaf ninja could've handled the daimyo business instead of him—it wasn't like it had to be Haseo specifically.
"There are some things you'll naturally understand once you become a mature ninja," Haseo decided not to explain further to this child. Keeping young minds pure wasn't a bad thing. "By the way, Kohei, since something so significant has occurred, quickly send someone to bring my wife back. Hurry up—make sure you complete the mission before she blows all my reward money gambling."
Kohei Sarutobi: "..."
Even though he spoke so seriously, Lord Haseo still looked pretty chill. Who even thinks about their wallet at a time like this? Truly impressive—this experienced ninja really had nerves of steel.
Well, he tended to idealize Haseo a bit. In reality, Haseo was just thinking that even if the world were ending, he'd rather have some cash on him. Otherwise, it'd just be too damn tragic.
Next, Haseo focused his attention on the Daimyo's succession ceremony, seemingly forgetting everything that had happened in Kirigakure and acting as if none of it mattered anymore.
Three days later, Haseo and Tsunade represented Konoha at the new Daimyo's inauguration ceremony. On that day, Daimyo Hisakubo, no longer young, officially became the new ruler of the Land of Fire.
Afterward, Haseo remained inside the Daimyo's Castle, helping stabilize the situation and assisting the new leader through the early stages until Hisakubo could fully consolidate power over the entire Land of Fire.
Meanwhile, a new "great trend of the era" seemed to have completed its formation.
One week after the inauguration, Kiri broke the ten-year peace agreement with Konoha, marking the outbreak of war between the Land of Water and the Land of Fire... This time, however, it wasn't any secret or undeclared move—it was outright war.
The Water Daimyo formally declared war upon the Fire Daimyo. Likewise, Kiri issued a declaration of war against Konoha.
This was open, full-scale war.
The day after Kiri declared war, Suna and Iwa "simultaneously yet independently" reopened hostilities against Konoha, sending massive numbers of shinobi toward the Land of Fire from both northern and southern fronts... There was no need for formal declarations anymore, since technically these three nations had always been at war with each other.
Two days later, Kumo sent envoys to Konoha to discuss how the alliance should respond to the crisis. But only a day later, the envoy team sent by Kumo was killed—this time within the territory of the Land of Fire.
Using this as the breaking point, the fragile alliance carefully maintained for years between Konoha and Kumo finally collapsed. Citing distrust toward Konoha, Kumo dispatched forces southward "to guard against sudden attacks."
Of course, all of this was just an excuse. Kumo's way of breaking the alliance and igniting war was crude—but that didn't matter. They only needed a barely acceptable reason. At this point, under the pressure of current events, there was absolutely no need for Kumo to keep its alliance with Konoha anymore.
In short, Kumo and Konoha had entered a real state of war.
There hadn't even been the slightest warning—no "storm before the calm"—until everything suddenly exploded.
In an instant, the entire shinobi world...
Looked as if blanketed in frost—a cold that seeped into the bone.
Then, like fire spreading across dry grass, the flames engulfed it all.
Thank you for reader Z's generous support.
Thank you, reader Lanshou, Ting de Jin Qu Suan Wo Shu, Jiang Ge Ge, Kan Ge, and others, for your kind rewards.
(End of Chapter)
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