Chapter 263 — Water and Soil Conflict
Iwagakure and Kirigakure were separated by half a continent. Because of that distance—and because Ōnoki had never considered the Mist Village to be connected to them—he hadn't bothered making long-term arrangements.
But now the situation had completely changed.
Their greatest enemy, the Hidden Cloud Village, had been wiped out. The vast territory that once belonged to the Land of Lightning was empty, open for travel. And Kirigakure had even dared to provoke them.
Was it still Iwagakure's style not to retaliate?
Even when the strongest Hidden Cloud Village was at its peak, Iwagakure had never backed down.
They had once mobilized their entire military to besiege and kill the Third Raikage, the strongest Kage of his era.
When it came to numbers, Iwagakure feared no one.
So for the tiny and declining Hidden Mist to bully Iwagakure…
Were they tired of living?
Ōnoki kept silent for several months. Once the spies he sent finally delivered intelligence, Ōnoki immediately clapped his hands and summoned a full-scale military council.
The intelligence was extremely valuable:
Kirigakure was very weak.
The group of Mist ninja that Kitsuchi encountered last time was likely the full extent of their current strength.
As always—if this was about numbers—Iwagakure would fight to the bitter end.
If Kirigakure only had around a hundred shinobi, then Ōnoki would simply land on the shores of the Land of Water and crush them.
The only real threat was the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura Karatachi, who could fully transform into the Three-Tails.
But Iwagakure had Han, the jinchūriki of the Five-Tails, who was also capable of full transformation.
As for Rōshi, the Four-Tails' jinchūriki, he had disagreed with the village leadership years ago and wandered off. Ōnoki had sent teams to find him, but the world was vast. Months of searching had turned up nothing; the chances were low.
Ōnoki wasn't willing to wait on the off-chance they recovered Rōshi. Han alone was enough.
With Han restraining the Mizukage, Ōnoki could personally lead the rest of the army to wipe out the Mist shinobi.
Konoha had destroyed the Hidden Cloud Village.
Iwagakure was not weak either.
Ōnoki decided he would destroy Kirigakure as well—if nothing else, simply to vent his anger.
You dare steal from Iwagakure?
Do you think you're Konoha?
If it had been Konoha, he might have swallowed the humiliation. After all, Konoha had become a terrifying power—one that annihilated the Land of Lightning without anyone realizing how.
Who knew what kind of peerless expert Konoha had produced?
He couldn't afford to provoke Konoha.
But Kirigakure?
Did they really think Iwagakure was soft?
At Ōnoki's command, the entire military system moved like a massive machine.
Shinobi of Chūnin rank and above assembled in organized formations.
Soon, a large fighting force gathered in the main plaza.
Ōnoki, as he always did before major campaigns, gave a rousing speech to ignite the morale of the entire village.
He ended with the core message:
"This campaign will annihilate Kirigakure, seize their gold and silver, and take control of the entire Land of Water."
This was Ōnoki's ambition.
Konoha's destruction of the Hidden Cloud had yielded them an enormous fortune. Even though Iwagakure could no longer plant spies in Konoha, it was obvious the Leaf was rapidly developing. With the spoils from crushing two daimyo and one great village, the previously weakened Konoha had become unimaginably wealthy.
Ōnoki envied this deeply.
His lifelong wish was to make Iwagakure stronger.
If they conquered the Land of Water and Kirigakure, the resources gained would massively increase Iwagakure's power.
Konoha had taken the lead.
Iwagakure could not afford to fall behind.
The day after Ōnoki led the army out, the intelligence report landed on the Fifth Hokage's desk.
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Hokage Office — Konoha
Uchiha Fugaku, Nara Shikaku, Hyūga Hiashi, and Uchiha Sihu sat together.
"Ōnoki must be insane," Fugaku said. "I thought they would unite, but they're tearing into each other."
Nara Shikaku stroked his chin. "We should still be cautious, just in case this is a ruse."
Hiashi frowned. "We just destroyed the Hidden Cloud. Would Ōnoki really dare target Konoha now?"
"Just have our border forces stay alert," Shikaku replied.
Uchiha Sihu laughed. "Ōnoki is greedy, but Yagura Karatachi is bold too. Who knew the Fourth Mizukage would try to steal from the Hidden Cloud's remains?"
The spies had already reported the cause of the conflict between Iwagakure and Kirigakure.
Shikaku nodded. "It's very likely real. Ōnoki wouldn't miss such an opportunity. But Yagura's move surprised me. The Mist Village rarely meddles with the mainland. I didn't expect him to try scavenging this time."
"We should've taken more spoils before leaving," Sihu muttered. "Letting them pick up the leftovers was a waste."
Fugaku shook his head. "No need. We've already gained more than enough."
Shikaku agreed. "The Hokage is right. We should know when to stop. It's fine to let the others anger the citizens of the Land of Lightning. Many refugees have already fled into the Land of Fire."
"What use are these people?" Hiashi asked, puzzled.
"For a nation, population is productivity," Shikaku explained. "Even if shinobi don't rely on civilians for strength, more people means greater potential. Right now, our younger generation is too small."
Hiashi nodded—his daughter was enrolled in the Academy, and he knew this year's class was far smaller than in the past.
Konoha's losses had been terrible.
The Third Shinobi World War had created a near-total generational gap.
The Nine-Tails' attack had taken even more lives.
It was a disaster that came out of nowhere.
"If Minato hadn't died," Hiashi sighed, "we would've been recovering instead of rebuilding in chaos."
"How many refugees have arrived so far?" he asked.
Shikaku thought. "Around thirty thousand. All settled."
"Thirty thousand?" Hiashi was stunned. "That many? Do we have enough food?"
Shikaku smiled. "Plenty. And if we ever run short, we can purchase from other nations. We have money."
Hiashi chuckled.
The Fifth Hokage truly was remarkable—bringing back such enormous wealth.
"And there are still more refugees on the way."
"Good," Fugaku said with a relaxed smile. "Let them come. Even if the entire Land of Lightning migrated here, we could accommodate them."
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