The further north one travels from Konoha, the more the rugged beauty of the Land of Lightning's highlands can be felt.
At the border where Fire Country meets Lightning Country, tens of thousands of shinobi had assembled. A massive allied force made up of Konoha, Kirigakure, and part of Sunagakure stood ready, their forehead protectors glinting beneath the sun.
On the command podium above, Uchiha Kenya, Terumi Mei, Ghost Lantern Manyūe, and others overlooked the vast coalition army gathered below.
The grand deployment was simple: Sunagakure against Iwagakure, Kirigakure against Kumogakure, while Konoha dispatched two armies to reinforce both fronts. But the distribution wasn't absolute—Mist shinobi could be sent to the Stone front, and Sand shinobi might find themselves clashing with Cloud.
Temari and several other Sand ninja had been placed under Kenya's direct command. After all, Cloud shinobi specialized in lightning release, and nothing countered it more perfectly than Wind Style.
"Is that really Lord Aizen's true face?"
"He's so handsome… I always wondered what lay behind the mask, but I never expected this…"
"If only he had stayed in Sunagakure. Who cares which village he was born in?"
"You idiot. That's not how it works. Do you think a daimyo would ever allow a foreign shinobi to hold such a high position in their village? Be serious."
"But still… after everything Lord Aizen did for the Sand, and just because he wasn't originally one of us, they expelled him. Isn't that too cruel?"
The Sand shinobi around Temari whispered restlessly, many seeing the face behind the "Aizen Mask" for the first time. To them, he was still Aizen—the man who shook both Sunagakure and Konoha.
And compared to the shock in other villages, the bitterness ran deepest in Sunagakure.
In Konoha, "Aizen" was considered a hero. In the Sand, many had believed he was the perfect candidate to succeed Rasa as the next Kazekage. But the truth of his origins shattered that hope. By order of the Wind Daimyo, he was stripped of the right to serve Sunagakure. The position went instead to Gaara, who rose as the Fifth Kazekage.
"You're the commander-in-chief. How about saying a few words?" Terumi Mei teased with a smile, one hand resting on her hip.
Kenya stepped forward. His voice was not loud, yet every shinobi below could hear it clearly.
Here stood a man who had risen second only to the Hokage in Konoha, who once controlled the core authority of Sunagakure for four years, who aided Terumi Mei in reclaiming Kirigakure, who defeated tailed beasts with his own strength.
A man who had become the very nexus of the three-nation alliance.
The tens of thousands below fell silent as he began to speak.
"In the wars of the past—up to the Third Great Ninja War—we shinobi only knew hatred, only knew how to wound one another."
"I have lived in Konoha, in the Sand, and in the Mist. I have witnessed all of this with my own eyes."
"But from this day forward, that ends. A new era calls to us."
"Here, there is no Konoha. No Sand. No Mist. There are only comrades. Comrades stepping forward together into that new era. There is only one name for us now—shinobi!"
"Do not fear. Whatever happens, advance and retreat with me. Together—we are unstoppable!"
The effect was immediate. The coalition army roared in unison, the panic and unease in their eyes replaced with blazing morale.
"As expected… Even outside of Sunagakure, he moves the hearts of shinobi so easily. If this continues, he could sway the entire shinobi world…"
"Now then, gentlemen—let the war begin!"
Kenya raised his right hand, and the atmosphere ignited once more, the army's cheers echoing across the plains.
"OOOOHHHHH!!!"
But unlike the Fourth Ninja War of the original story, which was decided in just three days, this was a true war. Not merely Six Paths-level titans clashing while the armies played a background role.
This war's purpose was conquest, not destruction. Territories needed to be seized, not simply reduced to ash.
Ordinarily, a commander would not step onto the battlefield in the opening move. But Kenya was not ordinary. With Kyōka Suigetsu, preparation was its own weapon. Complete Hypnosis was unnecessary here… but better to be ready than regret.
Then it happened.
Across the plain, the Cloud shinobi forces drew closer. Suddenly, at their vanguard, a woman slightly shorter than Terumi Mei erupted in a surge of blue flames.
Her body swelled, ballooning at terrifying speed, until in mere seconds she had become a colossal, flame-wreathed giant cat, towering like a mountain.
"That's her—the Two-Tails' Jinchūriki, Yugito Nii!"
From among the allied forces, Chōjūrō—now wielding the explosive blade Shibuki—gasped in awe.
"To bring out a trump card from the very start… How fitting of the hot-tempered Fourth Raikage," Kenya muttered, drawing the sword at his waist. The blade's clear tone cut through the roar of the battlefield.
"Hōgyoku thirsts for souls…"
Kenya smiled darkly and shouted:
"Shatter! Kyōka Suigetsu!"