The situation within the Land of Fire was on the verge of breaking out. The conflict between the Daimyos Residence and Konohagakure seemed inevitable. Neither side was willing to compromise, leaving the local lords who had not yet been drawn into the side of the Daimyos Residence feeling very hesitant, not knowing what choice to make.
Legally speaking, they should obey the orders of the Daimyos Residence and launch a war against Konohagakure. Emotionally, however, they felt they should not deal with Konohagakure, as it would bring them no benefits. Moreover, the Daimyos Residence was clearly highly suspicious, making people doubt its motives.
Fortunately, Konohagakure soon relieved them of this hesitation. Konohagakure did not beg them to help their side; at worst, they could just remain neutral. Especially for the lords on the border, Konohagakure strongly requested that they maintain neutrality and be vigilant against external invasions.
Regardless of the situation, the conflict between the Daimyos Residence and Konohagakure was an internal affair of the Land of Fire. Minimizing the losses was the wisest course of action; they must not give other countries an opportunity to take advantage of the situation. Now that Konohagakure was mainly focused on dealing with the Daimyos Residence, their defensive strength at the border would decrease, which required the assistance of the border lords.
The border lords naturally agreed. They already had a good relationship with Konohagakure because they mainly guarded the borders, and during times of war, Konohagakure had deep cooperation with them. After the Second Great Ninja War ended, Konohagakure removed those nobles who were holding them back, and apart from the land they needed for themselves, they gave the rest to these border lords.
The border lords trusted Konohagakure deeply. They did not believe that Konohagakure would betray the country. They agreed with Konohagakure's accusation that "Tobi" was a treacherous official and the slogan of "Rectifying the Ruler's Side," feeling there was no need to intervene in this conflict.
Konohagakure had long since arranged everything. Apart from the Daimyos Residence and the local lords violently controlled by the Daimyos Residence, no party would become an enemy of Konohagakure. Although it was said that those who did not want to join could remain neutral, the local lords near Konohagakure began to respond to Konohagakure's call and join in.
Other countries also received news that a conflict was about to break out in the Land of Fire, and each had different thoughts. For example, the allied nations in the Southern Alliance were very anxious. They did not want the Land of Fire to reduce its strength due to civil war, otherwise, they might not be able to guarantee their interests, leading to the disintegration of the alliance.
The Southern Alliance was currently operating very well, relying on the principles of a common market and win-win cooperation. The resources within each country were reasonably allocated, and both large and small countries were very satisfied. The lives of people in each country were slowly improving. If the alliance disintegrated, the losses would be significant.
The stance of those small countries was inclined towards Konohagakure. Meanwhile, the Land of Wind was still in the recovery stage and had no reason to leave the Land of Fire. The Sunagakure Ninja who had feelings for Konohagakure were still in high-level positions. Although some of the old guard from the Ebizo era thought they should not intervene, Bunpuku expressed that they must maintain the stability of the alliance.
Because the situation in the Land of Fire was unstable, Bunpuku first contacted Hanzou of the Land of Rain. Although Hanzou was the leader of a small Ninja Village, his strength was outstanding, and in Bunpuku's view, he was qualified to stand on the same level. Hanzou was very concerned about this, but he believed that rather than intervening in the internal war of the Land of Fire, it would be better to go to the outside world to deter other countries and prevent them from invading the Land of Fire.
Bunpuku did not quite understand. Seeing this, Hanzou explained: "This is currently an internal political issue of the Land of Fire. Although we are allies, it is not appropriate for us to intervene. The power relationship between the Daimyos Residence of the Land of Fire and Konohagakure has always been chaotic. Although we formed an alliance because we trust Konohagakure, the alliance treaty was signed with the Land of Fire. So, in what name would we go in to assist? Once we intervene, it will be easy to misinterpret. After the internal situation in the Land of Fire settles down, they might have doubts about our unauthorized actions. Originally, according to the alliance agreement, no country can interfere in internal affairs at will. This might become an unstable factor for the alliance in the future. Instead of going in and causing trouble, it is better to provide cover on the periphery."
"Do you think Konohagakure can win?" asked Bunpuku.
"Why not? Does the Daimyos Residence have anything particularly powerful? Although they have Chakra Samurai, the number of those Chakra Samurai is not as high as in the Land of Iron, and I don't think they are as good in quality either. As for equipment, do I even need to mention Konohagakure's equipment? The Daimyos Residence seems to be in high spirits, but in reality, they don't have any particularly great advantages. Look at how many powerful lords within the Land of Fire are not standing on their side," Hanzou said with a smile.
Bunpuku nodded and said: "That makes sense. In other words, as allies, our primary responsibility is to protect the Land of Fire from suffering military strikes from other countries during this period when its strength is declining due to civil war."
"Correct, that is what we should be doing now. Those countries in the north have long been displeased with our alliance and are trying every possible way to make the alliance disintegrate," Hanzou gave a light hum, "The civil war in the Land of Fire is just the right time, and they certainly won't miss this opportunity."
"Good, I will be vigilant about the Land of Earth side, but the Land of Lightning side might..."
"There is no help for that. If the Land of Rain were closer to that side, I could go and block them myself," Hanzou shook his head and said, "However, as long as the advantage of international public opinion is established and all allied nations are united, we can at least hold them off for a period of time. During this time, let's see how Konohagakure performs in battle."
"Can the outcome be decided quickly?"
"Konohagakure must be planning that. The distance between the Daimyos Residence and Konohagakure is not far. With other local lords looking on, they can completely control the scale of the war within a very small range. I believe that as long as there is one major battle, the outcome can be decided."
"That's good. Even if a war is unavoidable, I hope it can end in a short time." Bunpuku breathed a sigh of relief. Thinking of his students who were still staying in Konohagakure, he felt a little worried. But Hanzou's analysis just now was very clear; Konohagakure's advantage here was particularly large, and quite a few local lords were supporting Konohagakure. After leveling the playing field in terms of numbers, whether it was equipment technology or the quality of the warriors, they would not lose to the other side.
Subsequently, under the leadership of Bunpuku and Hanzou, the allied nations quickly reached a consensus to maintain the external environment of the Land of Fire and assist each other with the border troops of the Land of Fire. As the two had expected, this move deterred the restless northern countries.
The Third Raikage had believed from the beginning that Konohagakure's chances of winning were particularly high and that it was unlikely to end in mutual destruction with Konohagakure. Upon learning that other Local Nobles within the Land of Fire and the allied nations were all standing on Konohagakure's side, as well as the collective defense principle of the allied nations, he became even more certain of this point.
Therefore, the Third Raikage set his sights on integrating the northern countries. The primary target was Iwagakure. He consciously passed certain intelligence to Iwagakure, partly to incite Ōnoki to intervene, and partly to trigger internal conflicts within Iwagakure—he knew that there were different voices among the middle and high-level members of Iwagakure.
The collective statement of the allied nations and the news that the northern countries had no obvious actions made the high-level Konoha Ninja breathe a sigh of relief. Although they thought it was unlikely to cause problems, they still felt worried before receiving definite news. Now it was good; they could concentrate their energy on the Daimyos Residence.
"We must win quickly. If it drags on for too long, the allied nations might not have problems, but the northern countries might be different," Fūmori Masaki said to the others.
Stimulated by public opinion, Konohagakure quickly reorganized its troops and was about to set out to meet the Daimyos Army. Before the departure, Fūmori Masaki came forward to deliver a speech. He did not say anything particularly lofty, mainly putting forward three points: First, Konohagakure has made great contributions and has no acts of betraying the country. It is unreasonable for the Daimyos Residence to accuse them of treason without any explanation. This point was recognized by the Konoha Ninja; Second, he pointed out that the identity of "Tobi" was the remnants of Uchiha Setsuna who attacked the high-level officials that year. The collective rebellion incident that year was a big sensation, and the nature had already been determined. Now the other party was lingering and coming to pick a fight again, secretly supporting the followers of the evil god and attacking Konohagakure, which made the Konoha Ninja very angry; Third, in order to quickly assemble the army, the Daimyos Residence not only forcibly controlled the lords' armies but also took a lot of tyrannical actions against the civilians under them, which made the conscientious Konoha Ninja very disdainful.
After Fūmori Masaki's speech, the morale of the Konoha Ninja Forces was high, and they all expressed their desire to have a good contest with the Daimyos Army to maintain the dignity of the Ninja Village. Fūmori Masaki subsequently added two points: maintaining national stability and social morality.
The Konoha Ninja Forces marched out of the village in a mighty manner. In addition to the traditional ground forces, a brand-new branch would also join this battle. Under the leadership of Hattori Heizo, the Flying Combat Unit followed the ground forces at high altitude and headed towards the direction where the enemy was located.