Among them, Konoha's radical faction led by Danzo proposed a direct assault on the Land of Lightning, claiming that whatever schemes the enemy might have, they should simply be suppressed with force to prevent any future resurgence.
However, this proposal was vetoed by the Third Hokage. Engaging Hidden Cloud rashly without understanding the situation would only increase war casualties.
In fact, after consecutive battles against Hidden Sand, Hidden Rock, and Hidden Cloud, Konoha's war losses were already very severe.
Since the start of the Third Ninja World War, at least several thousand Konoha Ninja had fallen on the battlefield.
If the losses continued to mount, it would easily give rise to new problems. The priority should be recuperation and training the next generation of ninja, not extending the war.
No matter what, the current period of stability was exactly what the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, wished to see—and also what most Konoha Ninja hoped for.
Many ninja had already grown weary of war. Comparing with Hidden Cloud, Konoha's fighting morale wasn't that much higher.
Still, due to Hidden Cloud's ambiguous "ceasefire," Hiruzen, as Hokage, did not lower his guard, assigning Akimichi Torifu to lead two thousand Konoha Ninja to remain stationed at the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Hot Water, preventing Hidden Cloud from torching back and catching Konoha off-guard.
There were also some ninja quietly transferred back from the frontlines to Konoha Village, including the Yellow Flash, Namikaze Minato, and Konoha's youngest Jonin, Hatake Kakashi.
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Konoha's and Hidden Cloud's strange maneuvers naturally caught the attention of other nations.
But regarding Hidden Cloud's abnormal retreat, the other ninja villages were also confused and puzzled.
As third parties, it was naturally in their interest for the conflict between Konoha and Hidden Cloud to remain stalemated, increasing ninja casualties.
Especially for Konoha—they hoped Konoha's losses would surpass Hidden Cloud's.
Because with the rise of the Yellow Flash, they, as rivals, all felt the same pressure.
Even if many ninja hadn't witnessed it firsthand, the spectacular feats that truly occurred didn't lie.
Aside from the Sannin, new generation ninja who could hold their own had also emerged in Konoha, some perhaps even more intimidating than the Sannin themselves.
If you encountered the Yellow Flash during a mission, you could directly abort without punishment. In the Ninja Realm, only one person ever enjoyed that privilege.
If you were targeted, escape was absolutely impossible.
The biting cold winter for the enemy.
All kinds of rumors about the Yellow Flash were spreading vividly through the Ninja Realm, growing wilder with every telling.
Konoha, meanwhile, didn't officially comment. Instead, many Konoha ninja seemed proud to have produced a ninja of that caliber from their village.
"What exactly is Hidden Cloud planning?"
Hakushi, sitting in the Land of Demons, naturally received reports from the Konoha–Hidden Cloud frontlines. He found Hidden Cloud's abnormal behavior baffling and hard to comprehend.
Since when it happened, there was no forewarning—Hidden Cloud's sudden retreat felt baffling and abrupt.
Just like the other Five Great Ninja Nations, Hakushi hoped that the conflict between Hidden Cloud and Konoha could drag on, further inflating the numbers on the casualty report. It didn't matter who won or lost in the end.
That way, the pressure faced by the Land of Demons in the Ninja Realm would be much less in the future.
Even the personnel from Shion Flower Pharmaceutical Company in Hidden Cloud Village hadn't uncovered any useful information—everything was tightly sealed off.
Supposed speculation could only come from a foundation of intelligence analysis.
But now, with no valuable information getting out, Hakushi was completely in the dark, unable to figure out what tricks Hidden Cloud's higher-ups were playing.
For Hidden Cloud to pull out of the war without signing an official ceasefire, it seemed the perfect move to regroup covertly and later hit Konoha with a surprise attack.
Of course, it's possible they truly feared the Yellow Flash's reputation, and withdrew this way to save some dignity.
In any case, whatever the reason, Konoha was now finally freed from the shackles of war.
As for what happens next—Hakushi understood all too well.
The election of the Fourth Hokage, keeping the peace between ninja clan and civilian factions, and… dealing seriously with renegade ninja who threatened the village's safety.
By Hakushi's estimation, by October this year, Konoha would have recovered enough from the war to formally move against the three of them.
The Uchiha and Hyuga ninja defecting as a group was unprecedented for Konoha; the matter was so grave that, within Konoha, it had already reached a level of zero tolerance.
Before, it was only because of the sudden outbreak of war that the issue was put on hold. Once the war ended, Konoha would certainly mobilize the entire Ninja Realm to hunt down the three of them.
"No, I need to find something to keep Konoha busy."
Previously, with Konoha bogged down by the war, Hakushi felt at ease. Now that Konoha had wriggled free from war, he felt the weight on his shoulders was heavier than he'd imagined.
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Hakushi's worries weren't something Kakashi would know about, of course.
And even if he did, he wouldn't care. He believed things would work themselves out eventually. His only goal now was to keep advancing up the ranks.
Technically, Jonin was already a fairly high rank, but the gap between one Jonin and another could be enormous.
Kakashi was well aware that he was nothing more than a Jonin in name with some ability, not all that different from most Jonin. The only real differences were his youth, his talent, and the fact he was student and direct subordinate of the recently famed Yellow Flash.