The Third Shinobi World War had completely broken out.
It felt as if a dark hand was pulling the strings behind the scenes, dragging all Five Great Ninja Villages into the quagmire of war.
It began with small-scale friction at the borders, then intensified, and the scale grew larger and larger.
As a result, some small nations and small ninja villages in the Ninja World were left swaying helplessly in the storm of war.
They became victims of the war.
It had not quite reached total collapse, but it was close.
This was especially true for the small nations and small ninja villages located along the borders of the Five Great Nations. They were simply suffering disasters they had never asked for.
They did not want to take part in the war, but weakness was an original sin. Such matters were not theirs to decide.
Take the Land of Rivers, for example.
It had completely become the main battlefield for Sunagakure and Kirigakure. The entire country and its ninja village could be said to exist in name only, which was truly tragic.
Some small nations along the borders of the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning also suffered.
The neutral Land of Iron, however, had no such issues. With its decent strength and neutral stance, it managed to avoid disaster.
However, the Land of Leaves, a country located on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning, next to the Land of Iron, was not so lucky.
Although Konoha was a relatively peace-loving ninja village, Kumogakure was not.
Kumogakure acted overbearingly. They wanted to deploy troops in the Land of Leaves, using it as a buffer zone to launch a direct attack on the Land of Fire.
With no other choice, Konoha had to respond.
If the area near the border were controlled by Kumogakure, it would undoubtedly pose a threat to Konoha.
Naturally, they would not let Kumogakure succeed.
Thus, the Land of Leaves became the battlefield for Kumogakure and Konoha.
The Ninja World War was not just about dealing with a single enemy.
It was a massive chaotic melee.
They were fighting on different fronts, and it could be described as extremely brutal.
While Kirigakure and Sunagakure were fighting, Kirigakure also dispatched troops from another direction to attack the Land of Fire.
It was not a full-scale invasion, but more like a special forces operation.
Several small ninja squads struck straight in, penetrating deep into the heart of the Land of Fire.
Konoha responded as well, also dispatching ninja squads to pursue them.
This opened another front line.
Iwagakure, one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, was not idle either.
On one hand, they were fighting Kumogakure in the Land of Frost, even deploying their Jinchūriki.
On the other hand, they sent troops south, pushing into the Land of Birds and attempting to threaten the Land of Wind.
And they were not satisfied with that.
They were even secretly deploying combat power in the Land of Grass, intending to launch an attack on Konoha as well.
In short, not long after Kirigakure declared war on Sunagakure, the Five Great Ninja Villages were forced to enter the fray one after another.
The war situation could no longer be calmed. It would only intensify as time went on.
On every front, ninja were dying almost every moment.
This vividly showed the cruelty and brutality of war, the true nature of that meat grinder.
Although the war was intensifying, it was still only the early stage of the war.
A period of time had already passed since the Second Shinobi World War, and the Five Great Ninja Villages had spent this time recuperating and building up their strength.
The overall strength of the major ninja villages was still quite solid.
This meant the Ninja World War was destined not to end quickly.
One or two years at the shortest. Three to five years at the longest.
The Third Shinobi World War was destined to be a massive chaotic melee and a prolonged war of attrition.
Unless the Five Great Ninja Villages were weakened to a certain degree by the war, or achieved their respective goals, the war would not stop.
But although the Five Great Ninja Villages varied in strength, in the end, the gap was not that large.
There were no powerhouses capable of sweeping across the Ninja World like in the Sengoku era.
On top of that, with everyone fighting each other, everyone being an enemy, and each side having many concerns, it was impossible to launch a full-scale attack on a single ninja village. Doing so would cause their own base to fall.
A chaotic melee, a prolonged war, and a tug-of-war. This was the main theme of this Ninja World War.
...
Konoha.
Because the war had broken out, the atmosphere in the village had become even more oppressive.
People walking by were in a hurry, their faces filled with worry and gravity.
During the war, the lives of ordinary people were naturally greatly affected.
This oppressive atmosphere alone was enough to make ordinary people feel as if they could not breathe.
But life had to go on.
Ordinary people who were powerless to do anything could only pray.
They prayed for Konoha to win and prayed for the war to end as soon as possible.
At this moment, inside Ichiraku Ramen.
Hina, who was currently working at Ichiraku Ramen, handed two bowls of handmade tonkotsu ramen to Seiryū and Kurenai.
Hina was looking after Ichiraku Ramen today.
Teuchi and his wife had gone to take care of their newborn daughter.
However, there were not many customers today. Just Seiryū and Kurenai.
Dressed in simple attire, wearing an apron, with her semi-long red hair tied up, Hina looked neat and capable as she looked at Seiryū.
She said in a tone that could not hide her worry, "Seiryū, although you're very strong, you still need to be careful during your mission. Don't be careless."
After coming to Konoha, Hina had moved into Seiryū's house.
Not living together, but living in the house Seiryū had bought.
Although she had talent as a ninja, since she was a member of the Uzumaki Clan with a special constitution, she had not received systematic Ninjutsu training in childhood and had already missed the best time for training.
Although she had tried to train afterward, her progress was not fast.
Aside from having a slightly larger amount of chakra, she estimated that she could not even beat a Genin.
Therefore, Hina did not intend to become a ninja. Instead, she worked at Ichiraku Ramen next door, earning money to pay rent to Seiryū.
Hina was very concerned about Seiryū, who had saved her.
On top of that, Seiryū had taken good care of her on ordinary days.
If not for her insistence, Seiryū would not even have intended to collect rent from her.
He was a good younger brother from the same clan.
She did not want to see anything happen to this younger brother, Seiryū.
"Don't worry, Hina-nee. With that bad woman around, she will protect me well. Hmm, I will also protect her well, so don't worry."
Seiryū replied, then picked up his chopsticks and started eating the ramen.
The war was intensifying.
The vast majority of Konoha's Jōnin and Chunin had already been dispatched to various battlefields.
This was the fate of a ninja. No one could avoid it.
If not for Tsunade and Seiryū's special circumstances, with Hiruzen needing them to act at critical moments, they would probably have already stepped onto the battlefield.
As for going to the battlefield, Seiryū was neither nervous nor worried.
After all, his strength was there.
"..."
Looking at the ramen in front of her, Kurenai had no appetite at all.
Her face was also filled with worry and distress.
Following her father, Seiryū was also going to carry out a mission.
Carrying out a mission at this time was equivalent to going to the battlefield.
She had not experienced war, but she knew how dangerous war was.
Even though Seiryū's strength was very, very strong, it was impossible for her not to worry.
After all, she was Seiryū's younger sister and future partner.
"Hmm."
Hina only nodded, but the worry on her face did not fade.
After the Land of Whirlpools was destroyed, she had wandered the Ninja World alone.
In the end, she had been accidentally taken to Kusagakure.
Having experienced pain herself, she knew the dangers of war.
Seeing the two girls like this, Seiryū was also very helpless. "When the two of you act like this, I don't even know what to say."
"It's just going out to carry out a mission. Someone who didn't know better would think I was climbing a mountain of blades and crossing a sea of fire."
"In any case, no matter what, you must be careful. You absolutely, absolutely cannot let anything happen to you. If something happens to you, I don't know what I would do..."
Kurenai pursed her lips, looking at Seiryū with watery eyes.
Her voice also carried a feeling that made people pity her.
The situation had not reached the point where young Genin needed to go to the battlefield.
All ninja villages were the same.
Sending them there would just make them cannon fodder.
Kurenai was not old, and she was still only a Genin, so naturally, she could not follow Seiryū to the battlefield, especially not to such a dangerous place as the front line.
"I won't take risks. Don't forget, I've mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique."
Facing Kurenai's concern, Seiryū only rubbed her head.
He laughed. "If I encounter danger, I will run away at the first opportunity."
Kurenai extended her right hand, hooked her little finger, and looked at Seiryū seriously. "Pinky promise!"
"Okay."
Seiryū chuckled.
He hooked his little finger with Kurenai's, then looked at her and smiled. "Is this okay now?"
"Hmm!"
Kurenai nodded heavily.
Even if this was only a bit of psychological comfort, it was still good.
Smiling, Seiryū said to Hina, "Hina-nee, I'll leave Kurenai to you to take care of later. I'm not too reassured leaving her alone."
Shinku and he were not in Konoha, so only Kurenai was left at home.
To keep Kurenai from worrying too much, he naturally needed to find a companion for her.
This was also the reason Seiryū had sought out Hina at this time.
"Afterward, Kurenai will live with me at your house, er..."
Hina said this halfway, then felt that it seemed a little ambiguous. A faint blush flashed across her face.
She changed her words somewhat embarrassedly. "I will take good care of Kurenai!"
She, a single woman, was living in someone else's house. Although Seiryū collected rent from her at her request, it still made her feel a bit embarrassed.
It felt a little like Seiryū was keeping her at home.
When she first arrived in Konoha, she had been helpless and had no fixed place to live, so she followed Tsunade's instructions and stayed at Seiryū's house.
Afterward, she got used to the environment here and started working to pay Seiryū rent.
But after all, it was not truly a simple landlord and tenant relationship.
If Seiryū wanted to, he could be the type who lived under the same roof as her.
Of course, that situation had not happened.
But she was also someone who had never been in a relationship, so how could she not overthink it?
"Kurenai, Seiryū, you're also here to eat ramen? What a coincidence!"
At this time, a gentle voice came from the shop entrance.
Rin walked into the shop with a faint smile on her face. "Hina-nee, hello. Why are you the only one here today? Where are Teuchi and his wife?"
Because she occasionally came here to eat ramen with Seiryū and Kurenai, she was also very familiar with Hina.
Seeing that it was Rin, Seiryū also smiled at her. "Rin, you're also here to eat ramen?"
Kurenai also waved to her good friend. "Rin, come sit here!"
Hina greeted her. "Hello to you too, little Rin. Today, Teuchi and his wife went to take care of the child."
"I see."
Rin answered while sitting in another seat. She looked at them curiously and asked, "What were you chatting about just now?"
"..."
At this mention, Kurenai and Hina did not speak.
Their expressions were just a bit heavy and worried.
"?"
Rin felt a little strange. Why were they making those expressions?
But she was a smart little girl and quickly thought of something.
She looked at Seiryū, and her tone also carried some worry. "Seiryū, are you going to carry out a mission?"
Kurenai was Seiryū's younger sister without blood relation, and Hina lived in Seiryū's house.
Both of them had a close relationship with Seiryū.
At this time, for both of them to show such worried expressions, it could only be something related to Seiryū.
On top of that, her own teammate, Kakashi, had also gone out to carry out a mission not long ago.
Could it be that Seiryū was also going to carry out a mission?
In this situation, carrying out a mission was equivalent to going to the battlefield.
"How come even you, Rin, have that expression? It's not like you don't know my strength. What is there to worry about?"
This time, Seiryū really did not know how to respond.
It was just carrying out a mission.
Even if it meant going to the battlefield, with his strength, the level of danger was not that high.
Rin pursed her lips and said, "Of course I'm worried. Among the ninja from our year, some have already lost their lives while carrying out missions."
"And now it's wartime."
"..."
Seiryū looked at the three girls showing worried expressions because he was going to the battlefield, and he could not help but feel something strange rise in his heart.
He was really likable.
What a sin.
"Don't worry. To me, it's only a small matter."
Regarding this, Seiryū could only say that.
Then he decisively changed the subject and looked at Rin, saying, "By the way, I feel like I rarely see Obito recently. What has that guy been busy with?"
Rin thought for a while before saying, "Hmm, I'm not too sure either. It seems like he's busy training?"
Recently, she had also rarely seen Obito.
She only knew that he seemed to be training very diligently.
"Training?"
Hearing this, Seiryū was a bit surprised.
Could it be that Obito had learned of the existence of the Mangekyō Sharingan, so he had started working hard?
It was not impossible.
Because of Seiryū's existence, these ninja of the same generation were all very competitive.
Their strength was definitely greater than it had been in the original work at the same period.
Obito wanting to work his way toward the Mangekyō Sharingan was possible, but awakening the Mangekyō Sharingan could not be achieved through hard work alone.
Without some emotional stimulation, it was impossible to awaken the Mangekyō Sharingan.
Kurenai thought of another possibility. "Maybe it's to prepare for the upcoming Chunin Exams? The Chunin Exams weren't held at the end of last year, but there will be another Chunin Exams in June."
"Chunin Exams?"
Seiryū glanced at Kurenai.
This little girl was probably thinking about participating in the Chunin Exams.
Otherwise, she would not have paid attention to things like the Chunin Exams.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)