At the border of the Land of Wind, the Third Kazekage looked at the intelligence report in his hand and sighed.
"Five thousand wiped out, zero casualties… As expected of Konoha."
"Sensei, since Konoha is so powerful, should we change our plan?"
Rasa said. Even he had been frightened by such an astonishing record.
Even though they were Rain ninja from the small Land of Rain, there were still five thousand of them.
"No. The stronger the enemy, the more it proves how important it is for us to attack them. I'm just curious who was behind this. The Third Hokage?"
The Third Kazekage was very curious about this Hokage who, like himself, was called the strongest of all generations.
The strongest Kazekage in history — the Third Kazekage.
The strongest Hokage in history — the Third Hokage?
Although they had never met, this kind of operation was truly shocking.
The Third Hokage himself had no idea that his reputation in the ninja world had risen to yet another level.
"Rasa, send someone to the Rain Village to meet Hanzo and ask about the Konoha ninja."
"Yes. But Sensei, Hanzo recently fought Elder Chiyo and reportedly suffered a hidden loss. Is it appropriate to send someone now?"
"Go. Right now Konoha is at the center of attention. Chiyo only made Hanzo suffer a small hidden loss, but Konoha actually wiped out five thousand Rain ninja. Hanzo knows which matter is more important."
"Yes, Sensei."
Rasa left.
Afterward, the Third Kazekage looked toward the border of the Land of Fire.
What a wonderful piece of land.
The stronger Konoha becomes, the weaker it actually is.
Standing out too much in the ninja world is never a good thing.
...
Land of Earth.
Inside the Hidden Stone office.
"Damn it… who exactly did this? Such a massive operation. Hiruzen Sarutobi? Impossible. He doesn't have that level of strategy, and he definitely wouldn't cooperate with those ninja clans."
"Shimura Danzo? That man hiding in the gutter doesn't have the ability to command such a large-scale battle."
"Orochimaru? It can only be him. Konoha truly has an abundance of talent."
After analyzing the situation, the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, arrived at a rough conclusion.
Orochimaru had no idea that he was now receiving the same level of recognition as his teacher.
His reputation in the ninja world was skyrocketing.
"But being strong is fine. As long as they don't have someone like Uchiha Madara or the First Hokage, Konoha's prosperity is nothing but an illusion. What rises too high will inevitably fall."
"Let's wait for news from the Land of Lightning. It's a pity we can't contact the Land of Water. Otherwise, recreating the situation from the early days of the First Great War—when the four great ninja villages surrounded Konoha—would only be a matter of time."
"Konoha will never have another Senju Tobirama."
Ōnoki recalled the time after the First Hokage died, when the four great ninja villages simultaneously declared war on the Land of Fire.
Senju Tobirama's methods—maneuvering, containment, persuasion, sowing discord.
In the end, he actually managed to make the Land of Wind refuse to participate, merely shouting slogans.
The Hidden Mist became his ally and fought the Hidden Stone with everything they had.
A disastrous four-versus-one opening had actually turned into a balanced two-versus-two situation.
Fortunately, the Gold and Silver Brothers of the Hidden Cloud killed both Senju Tobirama and the Second Raikage.
Otherwise, the Land of Earth would have ended up facing a one-versus-three situation.
Those methods of turning the clouds with a wave of his hand and stirring storms with another gave the Second Tsuchikage Mu and the young Ōnoki—who at the time only knew how to fight and kill—a harsh lesson.
The ninja world was never just about fighting.
"Konoha absolutely cannot be allowed to keep developing."
Ōnoki sent people to gather intelligence across the ninja world.
Whoever attacked the Land of Fire and caused trouble for Konoha—the Hidden Stone would definitely lend them a hand.
...
Hidden Cloud Village.
Raikage's office.
The Third Raikage, whose entire body was packed with explosive muscles, listened to the analysis from his strategist, Dodai.
Thinking was never supposed to be a Raikage's job.
"According to the latest intelligence, Hanzo of the Rain Village led five thousand Rain ninja and was completely annihilated by Konoha. Hanzo has retreated back to the Rain Village and is gathering forces to defend against a Konoha attack. As for Konoha's casualties…"
At this point, Dodai paused.
"Zero."
Hearing that, the Third Raikage finally showed some reaction.
Konoha winning was only natural.
The gap in national strength between the Five Great Ninja Villages and the smaller villages was like the difference between heaven and earth.
But zero casualties had nothing to do with national strength or logistics.
That was pure dominance at the command level.
"Who was the commander? Can we snatch them over here?"
Dodai felt awkward.
This was one of Hidden Cloud's bad habits—they loved snatching everything.
Although the Dodai family itself had once been snatched from the Hidden Stone,
Dodai had been born and raised in Hidden Cloud and was completely a Hidden Cloud ninja.
Still, every time he heard people talk about "snatching" this or that, he always felt slightly uncomfortable.
"It can roughly be narrowed down to three people: the Third Hokage, Orochimaru, and Shimura Danzo. One is Konoha's leader, another is a top official, and the last might even become a future Hokage. The chances of capturing them and making them serve Hidden Cloud are very small."
"Sigh."
The Third Raikage let out a sigh.
"Dodai, what should we do next?"
"We should attack Konoha. Hidden Cloud needs a Konoha that only carries the title of 'the strongest,' but we cannot allow a ninja village that truly deserves that title to exist."
"So when do we make our move?"
"Deploy the army and tie down part of Konoha's forces. There's no need to actually attack—just create the appearance. At appropriate times we can cause some minor friction, making Konoha nervous so that the other ninja villages will attack them without restraint."
"Alright. You arrange the specific plan. If you need me to fight, just inform me."
"Raikage-sama, I need you to send a letter to the Hidden Mist proposing a joint attack on Konoha."
"The Raikage seal is on the desk. Just use it however you want."
The Third Raikage, A, was Raikage in name.
But the true commander of the Hidden Cloud was Dodai.
The real Third Raikage—Dodai—held the title of Raikage's advisor while actually controlling civil affairs, education, diplomacy, and policy.
...
Inside a pitch-black cave, a spiral-faced White Zetsu ran inside.
"Ah, ah, ah!"
"Madara-sama, something huge has happened!"
"Quiet."
The aged Uchiha Madara shouted, frightening the spiral-faced White Zetsu into standing at attention.
"Speak. What happened?"
"Those little brats in Konoha are too dangerous! They killed at least five thousand Rain ninja and didn't leave a single survivor!"
"Oh? Since when did that weak Konoha become so ruthless?"
Uchiha Madara became somewhat interested.
He patiently listened to the spiral-faced White Zetsu's report.
The Inuzuka who toyed with the Rain ninja like they were dogs on a leash.
The Aburame clan creating a massive barrier, and that Aburame brat controlling three hundred million kikaichu.
The Senju with enormous chakra.
The Hyūga who refused to engage in close combat.
The Nara and Yamanaka who manipulated people's hearts.
The leader of the Uchiha, Uchiha Kamito.
Unfortunately, he was a bit too clever—hard to use as a pawn.
As expected of Konoha, the village I built together with Hashirama. These clowns actually think they can challenge it.
But a Konoha that's too strong doesn't fit my plan.
Uchiha Madara stood up and headed toward the Land of Water.
...
The next day, the Hidden Mist declared war on Konoha.
The true invasion of the Land of Fire had begun.
As expected, when it comes to getting things done—
Madara gets straight to the point.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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