Prelude to War

Obito Uchiha has returned to a parallel universe in the past. What he will do remains to be seen. Now that Vegapunk has confirmed that Obito Uchiha has traveled to Parallel World, all he needs to do is wait.

Vegapunk waited leisurely, while the entire Ninja World, except for the Sea Country Wind Country, was in complete chaos.

The Kumogakure truly lives up to its reputation as a village famous for its lightning-attribute Ninjutsu. They are incredibly efficient in their actions, especially the Fourth Raikage, who can start a war without hesitation. After informing his subordinates that he was going to fight, he didn't care about the main force and went straight to Konoha in the Fire Country.

What followed was a one-man show by the Fourth Raikage. Having mastered Current Drive, his already peak speed in the Ninja World was three to four times faster than before. The current Fourth Raikage was nothing short of a super mowing machine. Almost every Konoha Ninja stronghold he encountered along the way was wiped out instantly without any resistance.

No major ninja village can have only one base; otherwise, many missions would be wasted ten or fifteen days just on the way, and by then it would be too late.

In reality, the Five Great Shinobi Villages are merely training bases and the most important administrative outposts for those ninjas. Each ninja village also has a large number of branch outposts in its own country, used to accept commissions and complete missions nearby. In times of war, those outposts are also fortresses used to defend the country.

The number of ninjas in those small outposts is not very large, usually only a dozen or twenty, and their strength is not very strong. Most of the outpost captains are elite Chunin, at most Special Jonin Fourth Raikage. And with such strength, they would not even have time to sound the alarm before being wiped out.

It wasn't until the Fourth Raikage arrived at a distance of only 10 or 20 kilometers from Konohagakure that the Konohagakure discovered him—not because any ninja had sent a signal, but simply because the Fourth Raikage's almost boiling Chakra, which he made no attempt to conceal, was clearly sensed by Konoha's Sensor Ninja.

At this time, only one night had passed since Vegapunk was captured. The Konoha High Command, including the Third Hokage, never expected that the Fourth Raikage would have reached such a level!

Over the course of one night, the Fourth Raikage breached at least seventeen or eighteen Konoha strongholds, killed two or three hundred Konoha Ninja, and fought his way to the outskirts of Konohagakure before finally stopping.

In the Hokage's Office, the Third Hokage looked worried as he gazed at the ninja below him. "The Kumogakure has declared war on the Konoha Village. Just now, approximately 3,000 Kumogakure ninjas crossed the Border Line and entered the Land of Fire."

"Everyone, please share your thoughts!"

Below the Third Hokage stood the heads and high-ranking members of Konoha Clans, as well as Jonin, including Kakashi Hatake and Shisui Uchiha, all with solemn expressions.

"I think we should deal with that barbarian outside first. Once we take down the Fourth Raikage, the morale of the entire Kumogakure will be severely damaged, and our chances of winning will increase significantly..."

Danzo was the first to speak, but the Third Hokage merely glanced at him lazily without saying a word.

The Third Hokage had witnessed the Fourth Raikage's speed using his Telescope Technique, and it was already beyond the limits of human reflexes! To put it bluntly, an ordinary Kage Level would likely be instantly killed in a one-on-one fight without any preparation, including this "Shinobi World Professor."

Perhaps the difference in strength between the two sides is not as great as it seems, but the characteristic of ninjas being high in attack and low in defense means that there is little room for error in the battle. In this situation, as long as the reaction speed is not fast enough, even the strongest person will be instantly killed by the Raikage.

The Third Hokage remained silent, but it was Hyuga Hiashi, the current head of the Hyuga Clan, who spoke up, "I once used my Byakugan to observe that Raikage from a distance... I must say, given his speed, even if the entire Hidden Konoha were to come out in full force, we probably wouldn't have a chance to catch him, unless we possess the Flying Thunder God Technique!"

In fact, Hyuga Hiashi had more unspoken thoughts. He felt that with the Raikage's speed, the Konoha Ninja would be lucky if they didn't get killed seven times over and their morale collapsed!

Of course, before one's strength reaches the Super-Kage Level, numbers and sheer numbers still have some significance. If one were to send out several thousand Konoha Ninja, along with the support of Barrier Techniques, it wouldn't be difficult to entangle the Fourth Raikage in a short period of time.

However, that would not only cost a lot of lives, but would only entangle them, not truly deal with the Fourth Raikage could break free of the encirclement at any time using his speed, so it wouldn't solve the fundamental problem.

The Fourth Raikage wasn't stupid. Although he was currently stationed on the outskirts of Konohagakure, if Konohagakure dared to send out a large force, he certainly wouldn't charge straight in. At most, he would use guerrilla tactics to deal with the large group of ninjas.

"Even the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan's keen observation skills couldn't react to the Fourth Raikage's movements?" Danzo asked, frowning.

Hyuga Hiashi gave a wry smile, "It's embarrassing to say this, but even for our Hyuga Clan, facing that kind of speed, we're probably no different from ordinary ninjas."

"With my Byakugan ability, I can barely see the Fourth Raikage's movements, but that's all I can do. My body can't react at all. His nerve reflexes are completely beyond the realm of humans."

"That must be thanks to Vegapunk, right? The Fourth Raikage wasn't this strong before!" Danzo with a grim expression. "According to previous intelligence, that brat Raikage was certainly strong, but he definitely couldn't have reached this level!"

"Perhaps we can find the Fourth Raikage's weakness by questioning Vegapunk. Hiruzen, hand Vegapunk over to me..."

The Third Hokage exhaled a smoke ring. "You'd better wait until nightfall to dream about it... Do you think I'd send someone like that to Root?!"

Danzo snorted, but he wasn't really angry. He was just saying it casually. Unless the Third Hokage was already suffering from dementia, there was no way this suggestion would succeed.

However, Danzo's words opened up a new avenue of thought. The Third Hokage tapped the table and looked at Kakashi Hatake: "Kakashi, go and invite Dr. Vegapunk here! We have some questions we'd like to ask him."

Kakashi nodded slightly, and his figure vanished instantly.

A few minutes later, the conference room door opened, and a handsome Blond Boy with a smile on his lips and a curious look on his face walked into the Hokage's Office.

Danzo looked at the utterly disrespectful boy before him and couldn't help but snort coldly. Vegapunk turned to Danzo with a grin and said, "What's wrong, old man? Are you sick? If you are, you'd better get treated quickly! My old dog died because I forgot to take it to the vet!"

"You bastard, watch your place! You're not the real Vegapunk! You're just a clone!" Danzo narrowed his eyes and spoke coldly.

The real Vegapunk is a high-ranking nobleman from several countries and the heir to the Danzo of the Sea Country. Danzo wouldn't dare to show him any disrespect in public, but he felt he could still handle an ordinary Danzo.

Vegapunk's clone scoffed, "So what? Even if I'm just a clone, my intelligence and knowledge are still second in the world. Otherwise, you wouldn't be begging me now!"

The Third Hokage glanced at Kakashi, Kakashi shook his head, indicating that he hadn't leaked the information.

Did you deduce that yourself? You're so confident in your technology...

"Hmph, even without you, Konoha is still the strongest ninja village in the Ninja World. Don't think too highly of yourself!"

After hearing Danzo's words, Vegapunk clapped his hands. "That makes a lot of sense. Then I'll go back and continue to be under house arrest! I wish you can maintain your status as the strongest ninja village in the Ninja World!"

"Wait a minute, Dr. Vegapunk!" The Third Hokage finally couldn't help but speak up, "Please forgive our offense and probing."

"However, now that we have rescued Dr. Vegapunk, the Kumogakure is preparing to declare war on the Konoha. No matter how the war develops, it will be inextricably linked to Dr. Vegapunk. Therefore, we hope that the doctor can provide some technical assistance to the Konoha!"

Vegapunk smiled slightly, "I don't care about that. It's just research, so it doesn't matter where it is. Konoha is fine too."

"Of course, you don't need to do me any favors. After all, we all know what you're up to. You say you've saved me, but do you really think you'll let me go back?"

Vegapunk's sharp question made the Third Hokage cover his mouth and cough awkwardly a few times. Send Vegapunk back? Did Konoha really pay such a high price just to save one person?

It was impossible to let them go back, but the Third Hokage had been putting on a serious and proper act for so long that his words inadvertently carried a hint of trying to seize the moral high ground, which resulted in him being humiliated by Vegapunk.

In the midst of the awkward situation, Vegapunk suddenly waved his hand. "But none of that matters. As long as it allows me to conduct research and meets my needs, that's all that matters."

The Third Hokage was stunned for a moment. Not only him, but almost all the ninjas showed strange expressions. Compared to the ninjas who always advocated loyalty, this Vegapunk clone seemed a bit too easy to talk to.

"Does Dr. Vegapunk have any other requests?" the Third Hokage asked cautiously.

Vegapunk stroked his chin. "You know what? When the Kumogakure recruited me, they made it a condition that I become the Fifth Raikage..."

As he spoke, Vegapunk glanced at the Third Hokage Third Hokage, who opened his mouth, then immediately felt a surge of resentment. Why had he had to say something so inconsiderate?!

Of course, even more excited than the Third Hokage was Danzo, the Pot Kage. "What?! You, an outsider, want to become the Fifth Hokage?!"

The Third Hokage quickly smoothed things over, saying, "If Dr. Vegapunk truly wants to integrate into Konoha and wants to inherit the position of Fifth Hokage, I would be very willing."

"Heh." Vegapunk chuckled cryptically. "I see your village is in a state of flux, with a whole host of problems. I wouldn't even want to Hokage!"

The Kumogakure are a bunch of barbarians who are brutal, savage, and despicable to outsiders, but they are fair in rewarding and punishing and united to one another. In particular, the successive Raikage lead by example and have great prestige throughout the entire Kumogakure. Even when Vegapunk was directly chosen as the successor to the Raikage from the beginning, none of the other ninjas objected.

In comparison, Konoha today is subservient to external forces but aggressive internally. Moreover, its internal situation is a complete mess; even if the Third Hokage were to designate him as his successor, it's unlikely anyone would accept it.

Vegapunk's words seemed to have stung the high-ranking members, and their expressions turned grim. Among them, the Uchiha Clan members looked the most unpleasant.

Thanks to the butterfly effect, the Hizashi Hyuga incident didn't happen in this world; otherwise, Hyuga would probably be the one with the worst expression right now.

"I'm sorry, the village's situation is indeed not good right now," the Third Hokage sighed helplessly, "But the primary problem is still dealing with the Kumogakure's attack. Dr. Vegapunk, I want to ask you, the Fourth Raikage's speed suddenly increased several times, is that related to you?"

"Who else but me could do this?" Vegapunk admitted without hesitation:

"The Fourth Raikage learned the Current Drive that I specially developed for him, which increased his nerve reflex speed by more than ten times. With his current speed, he is the fastest person except for Space-Time Ninjutsu."

Upon hearing this, the Third Hokage's face showed a hint of excitement. "Current Drive? Can this kind of Ninjutsu be popularized?"

"Of course not," Vegapunk rolled his eyes. "If it were possible to popularize, why would the Fourth Raikage be the first to train with it? Wouldn't they have to find a few test subjects to try it out?"

"In reality, the training requirements for Current Drive are frighteningly high. Someone like Kakashi Hatake, if he focuses on training Lightning Release for five or six years, he can probably meet the minimum requirements for training!"

Upon hearing this, the ninjas present fell silent.

Don't be fooled by Kakashi Hatake the Kakashi Hatake and his apparent combat strength being only at the level of Elite Jonin. In reality, if it weren't for the Sharingan's hindering effect and Kakashi's near-self-abandonment and lack of training in his later years, he would have already been Kage-level Ninja!

It's important to understand that Kakashi's resume before the age of 13 was practically the ceiling for those ninjas without Kekkei Genkai. The highest level of talent among normal ninjas was only Kakashi's. Not just anyone can participate in the final battle and face off against Kaguya after obtaining a pair of Kamui Eye.