At this very moment, Kirigakure Village was deeply embroiled in an intense struggle over the succession of the Fourth Mizukage. The village's top-ranking officials were closely matched in strength, none able to overpower the others, resulting in small-scale unrest.
This led several powerful ninja stationed at the frontlines to secretly return to the village to vie for the position of Hokage. As a consequence, the previously tense yet orderly defensive lines began gradually to unravel, forcing the battlefront to retreat repeatedly.
Jiraiya, an experienced and perceptive ninja, together with intelligence from Mount Myoboku, immediately detected the predicament Kirigakure Village now faced. Being a man of decisive action, he seized this golden opportunity without hesitation, swiftly commanding his forces to launch a fierce offensive.
The internal chaos within Kirigakure Village left the frontlines lacking effective leaders with sufficient authority and exceptional leadership abilities to organize a coherent defense.
Therefore, when confronted with Jiraiya's aggressive assaults, the Mist forces either reacted sluggishly and in disarray, quickly being crushed by Konoha, or found themselves cleverly outmaneuvered by Jiraiya's superior forces, instantly breaking through their lines and sending them into full retreat.
Thus, Konoha capitalized on their victories, racking up victory after victory. In this fierce engagement, Kirigakure's army was pushed back step by step, finally driven all the way to the desolate ruins of the Land of Whirlpools.
Yet just when Kirigakure faced such a severe crisis, Yagura stepped forward. To quickly quell the escalating internal chaos with overwhelming strength and halt the spread of disorder, preserving the strength of the Kirigakure Village, he made the bold decision to become the jinchuriki of the Three-Tails.
It is no easy task to successfully forge a contract with a Tailed Beast and obtain its power. However, Yagura, through his extraordinary strength, deep love for the village, and a pure and sincere heart, not only earned the Three-Tails' respect, but also achieved a profound mutual understanding through genuine communication and emotional investment.
After a difficult and arduous effort, Yagura finally gained the Three-Tails' initial recognition, enabling him to partially transform using [Half-Beast Form]. This significantly enhanced his already Kage-level strength.
In the fierce competition, Yagura risked his life to create a unique advantage of his own. Using that advantage, he overcame one powerful opponent after another, eventually ascending to the position of Fourth Mizukage with the full support of Kirigakure Village's elders and veteran advisors.
Upon becoming Mizukage, Yagura displayed remarkable leadership skills. He swiftly consolidated control over Kirigakure Village and began to reorganize village affairs. Not long afterward, he personally led a large army to the frontline, engaging in an intense and heart-pounding battle with the invading Jiraiya.
This battle was truly evenly matched, with both sides unleashing their ultimate techniques, with neither side gaining the upper hand. After a long and grueling fight, Yagura, ever the tactician, ordered a full-scale retreat of Kirigakure's forces away from the Ninja World Continent, preserving the Hidden Mist's remaining strength.
Although they had not officially signed a peace treaty with Konoha Village, both sides had in fact reached an unspoken agreement, effectively bringing the war to an end.
The main reason Yagura made this decision was because Kiri (Mist Village) had long adhered to the brutal "blood mist policy," a strategy that once boosted the village's strength but ultimately weakened it from within.
And years of continuous warfare against Konoha further drained their resources. Now, Kiri was exhausted and desperately needed time to recover.
Yet as the saying goes, "Same grain nourishes many minds"—people will always respond differently even under the same conditions. Even in this situation, there were still some warmongers within the village stirring restlessly. Just then, tensions also began rising between Kiri and Suna.
In response, Yagura chose a clever approach. He opened a small, low-intensity front against Sunagakure—a limited battlefield where the warmongers could release their aggression without sparking full-scale war.
Not long after, a similar situation unexpectedly arose involving Frost Country. Watching the flames of war across the Ninja World gradually subside, Fourth Raikage pondered deeply. After intense battles, he realized that even with his brother Killer Bee, together they could only match the legendary Yellow Flash, Minato, blow for blow.
Weighing his options carefully, Fourth Raikage decided not to stick his neck out anymore. So he proactively reached a verbal agreement with Minato and led his forces back home.
Reflecting on this battle, it truly was nothing short of astonishing. After all, whether it was Fourth Raikage himself or his brother Killer Bee, when fighting Minato separately, their strengths were nearly equal—truly evenly matched and hard to distinguish a clear winner.
Yet when the two fought together, they still failed to gain any decisive advantage over Minato Namikaze, ultimately remaining locked in a stalemate where neither side could fully suppress the other.
In fact, Fourth Raikage had considered fending off Minato alone to create an opening for Killer Bee to attack. Unfortunately, on his own, he simply couldn't hold down the lightning-fast Minato.
And if the Fourth Raikage so much as blinked, Minato would slip past their defenses and strike directly at the Cloud shinobi. What made things even more frustrating was that despite the brothers' unity, combined, they killed enemies far slower than Minato could alone!
Thus locked in stalemate, both sides could only keep clashing until the Fourth Raikage finally broke ranks and withdrew.
As the thick mist covering the battlefield gradually dissipated and thunderstorms quietly ceased from distant clouds, Konoha's conflicts with Kiri and Kumo finally came to an end.
At last, the long and brutal Third Great Ninja World War came to its end. This shocking, bloody conflict inflicted great wounds upon every ninja village, yet at the same time nurtured new hope—the entire ninja world entered a much-anticipated era of peace.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, specially held a grand and enthusiastic welcome ceremony in Konoha Village to honor the triumphant return of two heroes — Minato Namikaze and Jiraiya.
Keep in mind that when Orochimaru returned from the battlefield, he, too, had been honored this way. However, when Shiyu Uchiha returned to Konoha, the village elders refused to hold such a ceremony for him.
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