"Hmph, it sounds like this brat has quite a reputation," Madara Uchiha scoffed. He had always been dismissive of the ninjas of the current era. "Little ones raised in a greenhouse always love to chase after empty fame. Only when someone pops their bubble will they realize what true strength is."
"The Hokage named Naruto Uzumaki is different," Black Zetsu countered, shaking his head. His voice was deep. "Both his ideas and his power far surpass those of Konoha's previous Hokages."
"How so?"
"That brat is probably the first Hokage who wants to unify the ninja world," Black Zetsu said with a sinister tone. "And he doesn't mind using dark methods, even using the Akatsuki as a pretext to start a war. Right now, he has already unified the Sand Village and the Mist Village, as well as other ninja villages, large and small. If nothing unexpected happens, when Itachi Uchiha reports to him about your revival, Lord Madara, that brat will surely announce an attack on the Rain Village."
"..." Madara Uchiha's expression shifted to one of interest, a smile spreading across his face. "Ha, it sounds like that brat is a very interesting fellow. It would be good to meet him."
It had to be said, Naruto Uzumaki's style was very much to Madara's taste.
Back then, Madara had tried to persuade Hashirama Senju to unify the ninja world, but unfortunately, Hashirama was an idiot. He believed that as long as the major powers were equal in strength, the other villages would give up on invading. Because of this, Hashirama not only played a strong hand poorly but also gave away several of his best assets to other villages.
If it weren't for the fact that the founders of the other villages found Hashirama genuinely difficult to provoke—knowing he could beat them all single-handedly—Konoha would have been destroyed hundreds of times over.
Now that there was such an unconventional Hokage, Madara Uchiha found himself actually liking Naruto's actions. However, this didn't mean he had given up on the Eye of the Moon Plan. How could he so easily abandon the path he had chosen?
"What a coincidence..." Black Zetsu's face twisted into a gloomy smile. "According to the intelligence we've gathered, the Fifth Kazekage of the Sand Village, Gaara, is the One-Tail Jinchuriki. He's living in Konoha right now, captured by that young Hokage to serve as a hostage for the Sand Village's surrender."
"A Kazekage as a hostage... Hahahaha..." Madara couldn't help but laugh out loud, as if he had found a new source of amusement. "This new generation's Hokage is even more interesting than I thought."
After the laughter died down, Madara's expression turned serious. "Then it's perfect. Let's go take a look at this Hokage of Konoha and capture the One-Tail Jinchuriki while we're at it."
As Madara Uchiha headed towards Konoha, the Land of Fire was experiencing frequent ninja mobilizations. A large number of unaffiliated ninjas were being deployed toward the Land of Rain.
Besides Konoha ninjas and former Mist ninjas, a force of at least two thousand, led by Jiraiya, was advancing towards the Land of Rain. The Sand Village also mobilized over a thousand ninjas from the Land of Wind. The objective of these forces was to eliminate the Rain Village, conquer the Land of Rain, and repel any potential attacks from Stone ninjas.
Of course, this alone was not enough.
The ninja world was a sphere. The Land of Water, located overseas, also received mobilization orders. A large number of its reconnaissance ninjas began to operate along the coast of the Land of Earth, attracting the attention of the Stone Village and forming a pincer movement.
-----
Land of Earth.Inside the Stone Village.
The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, and the officials of the Land of Earth's Daimyo had already received the news. Konoha's mobilization was massive. The Land of Wind's intelligence network had long been like a sieve, so none of this could be hidden from Stone's spies.
"Currently, we may face enemies from three directions." The Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, floated a huge map in the air and pointed out the crises they would face. "That brat from Konoha has already sent people to attack the Land of Rain. The Sand ninjas are also moving north, and ships from the Land of Water are frequently seen off our coast."
"Lord Tsuchikage," the Land of Earth's Daimyo said with a grave expression, "do you think it's possible for Konoha to attack the Land of Earth after conquering the Land of Rain?"
"The crisis is already very close," Onoki nodded solemnly, his tone becoming heavier. "Even if Konoha doesn't launch a war against us immediately after eliminating the Rain Village, they cannot stay there for too long."
After a pause, Onoki added, "Even if Konoha chooses to simply confront us to avoid casualties, the Land of Earth's supplies will eventually run out. We can't compare to the territory ruled by Konoha."
The Daimyo's mood grew pessimistic. "In that case, is the fall of the Land of Earth inevitable?"
"..."
After a moment of silence, Onoki slammed his small, aged fist on the table. "Tens of thousands of Stone ninjas will defend the safety of the Land of Earth to the death," he said firmly. "Konoha will never be able to harm you, Lord Daimyo!"
This was only said to give the Daimyo some peace of mind. In reality, it did nothing to help their situation. The young man now sitting in the Hokage's office could mobilize a number of ninjas several times greater than that of the Stone Village.
Moreover, the Stone Village's top fighter, Onoki himself, had no confidence in facing Naruto Uzumaki. After all, a young Hokage who could conquer two great ninja villages single-handedly had perhaps already surpassed the meaning of a ninja in terms of power.
The Third Tsuchikage's honest eldest son, Kitsuchi, couldn't help but ask, "Can't we ally with the Cloud Village? With the strength of two great villages combined, we should at least be able to contend with Konoha, right?"
"That idiot, the Fourth Raikage!" It was better not to mention the Cloud Village. As soon as it was brought up, Onoki couldn't help but slam the table again. "That idiot refused an alliance with us! Does he think I can't see his petty thoughts? He clearly wants us to fight Konoha to the death!"
Once the Stone Village faced a crisis, it would surely fight desperately against Konoha's forces. The possibility of both sides suffering heavy losses was extremely high. When the war reached its most critical point, the sudden appearance of the Cloud Village to clean up the mess would be achieving a great result with little effort.
Of course, if the war became too tense, the Cloud Village wouldn't just sit by and watch the Stone Village be destroyed. The Fourth Raikage's advisors knew the simple principle of "if the lips are gone, the teeth will be cold."
As for why Onoki could guess the Fourth Raikage's attitude… Besides the generational feud from the Third Raikage dying at the hands of Stone ninjas, Onoki had also fantasized about Konoha attacking the Land of Lightning. He, too, would have sat back and watched the Cloud and Konoha fight fiercely.
It was awkward that everyone was thinking the same thing.
"We are now left with only two options!" The Third Tsuchikage picked up a wooden stick and began to point at the map. "The first is to send out three forces to defend the coast, the southern border, and the eastern border, and wait for the situation to change. The second is to ignore the ninja forces from other directions, gather all of Stone's power, and attack from the eastern border into the Land of Rain and the Land of Waterfalls, launching an offensive towards the Land of Fire."
"If we choose the first option, we must hold our ground in all directions. Only when the situation is complex can we find a chance for a counterattack. Otherwise, we can only be passively beaten down and rush around, but it is a relatively stable approach."
"If we choose the second option, we actively seek a decisive battle with Konoha. It is very likely we could achieve everything in one move, forcing Konoha to withdraw its troops or even gain more territory. However, once we fail, we will have no strength left to fight back."
Bonus:
At the beginning of Naruto's reign, the Sand Village rebelled, causing unrest among the ministers of the Land of Wind and anxiety throughout Konoha.
Thus, he traveled a thousand li in haste, losing all his guards and supplies.
With one man against a thousand, he defeated the Sand Village in a single day.
The Sand ninjas all pleaded for surrender, offering Gaara as a hostage, and wished for an eternal alliance with Konoha.
— Black Zetsu, "Hokage Annals: Naruto Chapter"
Madara Uchiha: You've got quite a flair for this...
Black Zetsu: When you live long enough, you develop a fondness for recording history.
Madara Uchiha: Write an Annals for me when you have time!
Black Zetsu: You're not qualified. At best, you'd get a "Hereditary House" entry.
...
Note: In the Records of the Grand Historian, "本纪" (Annals) are generally for emperors, while "世家" (Hereditary Houses) are for distinguished officials and feudal lords.