Third Shinobi World War Begins!

Bang!!

The stone desk shattered beneath the blow, and violent Chakra directly cracked the office walls!

The Third Raikage clenched his fists tight, his killing intent blazing as he glared viciously at A, whose chest was wrapped in bandages.

"Bastard!!"

"You useless trash! You actually abandoned your comrade—how do you still have the nerve to come back alive?!"

A lowered his head without a word, scorching tears streaming down his face.

Self-reproach and guilt filled his heart.

If he had not been so reckless, charging Crimson Eyes alone and getting himself knocked unconscious—

Blue B would not have stayed behind to cover their retreat...

"Lord Raikage! It was all my decision. I am willing to bear every blame! I should be the one to die!"

Dodai dropped to his knees with a thud, weeping bitterly.

In the conference room, Killer B looked small and slight. His expression could not be seen behind his tiny sunglasses.

The grief in his heart was no less than anyone else's.

Blue B... had been his teacher...

"Mr. Dodai, you chose to retreat because of me."

A's voice was incredibly hoarse.

He fell to both knees and bowed deeply.

"Lord Raikage, I will not cowardly take my own life. Please allow me to die in battle!"

The Third Raikage gazed deeply at his son.

This was no act. He had truly wanted to kill that bastard just now!

If A had also accepted death like Dodai, he would have killed him without hesitation.

Gripping his neck tightly, the Raikage lifted him before his eyes.

"Live on in disgrace! Only the blood of your enemies can wash it away!"

"Konoha is too strong..."

After a long silence, the Third Raikage looked out the window.

"Dodai, leave the village affairs to you. I'm going to have a proper talk with that old man Ōnoki."

Between nations, there was no eternal hatred—only eternal interests.

Even the future Fourth Raikage would be able to put aside the hatred of his father's death and join forces with Ōnoki against Uchiha Madara.

The Third Raikage was only more magnanimous.

According to Dodai's intelligence, Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was already ready for deployment.

And there was that young man who had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique...

The Three Legendary Sannin were in their prime, while Hiruzen Sarutobi's prestige had not diminished.

Uchiha...

Kagami...

Could that man truly grow to the level of the God of Shinobi?!

Absolutely not!

In the eyes of the Third Raikage, Ōnoki, and the others, Uchiha Madara had been a ninja on the same level as Hashirama Senju.

Their truce had forcibly ended the thousand-year-long chaos of the Warring States Era and established the ninja village system.

Such a person could not be allowed to appear again—especially not in Konoha!

Bang!

In the dim underground chamber, Shimura Danzō slammed his palm onto the table.

"Foolish! Arrogant! Bastard!"

"I went through so much trouble to provoke a conflict between Kumogakure and Iwagakure, so Konoha could comfortably watch from the sidelines."

"Wouldn't defeating the Eight-Tails have been enough? Why did you kill him?!"

"Once Kumogakure and Iwagakure beat each other bloody, there would have been plenty of chances to wipe them out! Why act now?!"

"Jiraiya! Minato Namikaze! Uchiha—Kagami!"

"Utterly idiotic!"

The situation on the battlefield shifted constantly. Kumogakure and Iwagakure, who had been locked in fierce combat, had actually agreed to invade the Land of Fire's border at the same time.

A war on the scale of a full-fledged Great Ninja War had truly begun!

Orochimaru, who had originally been stationed along the Land of Wind's border, had no choice but to withdraw from the Land of Wind and help defend against Iwagakure.

The Land of Wind did not have the nerve to pull chestnuts from the fire, but it certainly had the nerve to loot a burning house—and plenty of it.

Rasa, who had just become the Fourth Kazekage, formally declared war on Konoha as well!

This war had moved beyond its probing stage far earlier than in the original timeline.

Kagami Uchiha's existence was no longer merely a butterfly flapping its wings.

He had become a gale capable of turning the creaking windmill that was the ninja world.

Facing enemies on three fronts, Konoha suffered a devastating blow at the very beginning of the war. Many ninja stationed at the borders were killed.

More and more ninja rushed toward the borderlines.

The Ninja Academy's graduation age was also changed to nine.

Minato's Team, which had only recently formed, was split apart.

Minato was not some perpetual-motion machine. He could not take Kushina and Kagami running all over east, west, south, and north—he would die of exhaustion.

Based on their combat strength, Minato and Kushina joined the western front, working with Orochimaru to face Sunagakure and Iwagakure.

The Four-Tails and Five-Tails finally got their wish of facing the Nine-Tails' Jinchuriki.

It was a one-sided crushing defeat.

If Iwagakure had not vastly outnumbered Konoha's ninja, forcing Kushina to cover her companions' retreat—

The Four-Tails and Five-Tails would have been sent straight to heaven on the spot.

On the Sunagakure battlefield—

They had thought that with Konoha missing the White Fang, Sunagakure's puppet masters would finally be free.

But then...

Someone even faster and more terrifying appeared!

The war also rapidly transformed Minato. With his record of instantly killing seven jōnin-level puppet masters, he established the name of Konoha's Yellow Flash!

Seriously, Konoha's people were nearly killing Sunagakure's puppet masters into extinction.

Eastern battlefield.

Although Kirigakure showed no intention of joining the war yet, they could not let down their guard.

The previous generation's Second Mizukage had traveled thousands of miles just to die together with the Second Tsuchikage.

Nothing bizarre that lot did would be surprising. Even Iwagakure and Kumogakure were guarding against Kirigakure.

As the eastern Commander-in-Chief, Shikaku Nara looked at the group of Uchiha before him and fell into deep thought.

One reason he had been given this important position was that this front faced less pressure than the others.

More importantly, his brain worked well.

But...

He had no experience commanding the Uchiha Clan!

Especially with a group of Byakugan ninja beside them...

Why had they stuffed Konoha's two great Dojutsu Clans into his command?!

The sudden shift in the situation forced Hiruzen Sarutobi to deploy most of the Uchiha ninja.

Choosing the eastern battlefield was also the greatest restriction the Third had been able to place on this demonic blade.

After all, ordinary Uchiha had a hard time dealing with the Hidden Mist Technique and Water Release.

Fugaku remained on the western front. The one leading the Uchiha Clan here was Shen Huo.

It was not hard to imagine what sort of Uchiha these people were.

"Commander-in-Chief Shikaku, Kagami told us that during wartime, we are to obey your commands completely."

As he spoke, he glanced at the Hyuga Main Family beside them and sneered. "We Uchiha are not like these young masters. Give your orders without worry."

Shen Huo already looked thoroughly aged. This was also a declaration to outsiders that Kagami Uchiha was the representative of their faction.

Mocking the Hyuga was merely incidental.

The Main Family member leading the Hyuga was a young man. Hearing this, he snorted coldly.

He had just wanted to fire back, but then he remembered the clan head's instructions...

Forget it. That Uchiha brat was as strong as a monster. Let him have this one.

Hmph. I'll watch you build your grand tower, then watch it come crashing down!

"Shen Huo Elder, Elder Qingjian, then let me discuss the defensive arrangements for the eastern battlefield with you two."

Northern defensive line.

Atop a cliff, a tall, white-haired man crouched halfway down, sweeping the area back and forth with binoculars.

At last, his gaze stopped at a small waterfall as he imagined several lovely women bathing there.

"Maybe you'd settle down if someone cut that thing off beneath your belt."

Kagami Uchiha said flatly.

Jiraiya shot him a dissatisfied look. "Isn't this all because of you? I originally had a chance to look around, but now the old man's ordered me to guard the very front line all day!"

"Sigh, who knows when that Raikage bastard will lead his people over? Waiting like this is really unbearable."

Small-scale clashes had already erupted between Kumogakure and Konoha ninja along the border.

Hiruzen Sarutobi had strictly ordered Jiraiya and Kagami Uchiha to remain in the center and not take part in ordinary battles, staying ready at all times for a surprise attack by the Third Raikage.

The moment they discovered the Third Raikage, they were to immediately send word to Konoha and hold him back. Hiruzen himself would strike.

Carrying the momentum of a victor from two Shinobi World Wars, Hiruzen Sarutobi still possessed the boldness of a true shinobi hero; it had not yet been beaten out of him.

He did not reprimand Kagami Uchiha for killing the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki.

Kumogakure had killed Konoha ninja first and initiated the war, so Kagami Uchiha's actions were deemed retaliation.

Furthermore, it counted as three S-rank missions. Upon returning to the village, he could choose one technique from the Book of Seals to learn.

He was the man who had stabilized Konoha after the Second Hokage's death, ended the First Shinobi World War, and won the Second.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was not yet the indecisive old man he would become a few years later.

At the same time Sunagakure declared war, Hiruzen Sarutobi formally issued documents declaring war on the three nations of Wind, Earth, and Lightning!

When Hanzo had declared war on the Three Great Nations, it had carried more than a hint of absurdity.

But Hiruzen Sarutobi's declaration of war...

History would record it...

The Third Shinobi World War began here!