Kumogakure's Hardline Fourth Raikage A Faces Konoha's Hardline Shinobi Hero, Third Hokage Hiruzen

The hardline Fourth Raikage A of Kumogakure faced off against Konoha's hardline Shinobi Hero, Third Hokage Hiruzen.

The side effect of the cursed seal was blindness, and blindness was something Danzo could never accept.

The reason was simple:

He had already begun planning against the Uchiha Clan... a plan he intended to carry out within the next few years!

Once the plan succeeded, the evil Uchiha Clan would be destroyed. He would obtain a large number of Sharingan and transplant them into his body, gaining the Sharingan's power and helping Konoha rise.

After pondering for some time, Danzo issued an order: the Root shinobi he had previously stationed around the Hyuga Clan to lie in wait were to return. They were no longer to carry out the mission to hunt Roman.

On that same day, the Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure learned that Kumogakure's peace envoy group had suffered a devastating defeat in Konoha and were now lying incapacitated in Konoha Hospital.

Fourth Raikage A flew into a rage. Kumogakure's army once again massed at the border of the Land of Fire, seemingly ready to go to war with Konoha again at the slightest disagreement.

Naturally, this caused the atmosphere in both the Land of Fire's central government and Konoha to shift from relaxed to tense once more. Many began to worry that the Fourth Great Ninja War was about to erupt.

Inside weapon shops, large quantities of kunai sold out!

Inside medicine shops, countless medicinal herbs sold out!

Konoha's higher-ups also held a meeting to discuss how to deal with the enraged Kumogakure and the Fourth Raikage.

After a series of discussions, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi overrode all objections and made his decision:

Fight!

They had to fight!

Under no circumstances could it be revealed that Orochimaru had used the ninjutsu Impure World Reincarnation in the Forest of Death to resurrect the Second Hokage, kidnap Hinata Hyuga, and attack Kumogakure!

After all, once the matter was exposed, Orochimaru's grave-robbing of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, would also come to light. Many would begin doubting the abilities of Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Third Hokage, and start investigating!

And most crucially, if an investigation truly took place, many people would discover that Hiruzen Sarutobi's teaching ability really had been a problem.

For example, Orochimaru had become a rogue shinobi, secretly learned forbidden techniques, dug up his master's corpse, and desecrated it...

Then there was Tsunade. Though she had not become a rogue shinobi, she was a gambling addict whose hands itched whenever she went a day without gambling.

And Jiraiya, while he had not become a rogue shinobi either, was a fan of dirty little books. No... he had not even been content with reading them. He had started writing them himself, even using the excuse of gathering material and searching for novel inspiration to peep into bathhouses...

In short, on this day, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi became a Shinobi Hero and publicly announced an official decree from the Hokage Office:

"Kumogakure, Konoha does not fear war. If you want to fight, then fight!"

!!

Countless people in Konoha were shaken. Numerous shinobi clans began gathering supplies and preparing for war.

Manpower and materials were mobilized on a massive scale.

All of this was quickly discovered by Kumogakure's intelligence shinobi and reported to Fourth Raikage A.

The Fourth Raikage grew even angrier, shouting about war inside the Raikage Office. Yet at that moment, C, the Raikage's strategist who was also in the Hokage Office, sighed and offered a helpless piece of advice:

"Lord Raikage, after the Third Great Ninja War, we went to war with Konoha again... Our war supplies, provisions, and ninja tools have long since been almost completely depleted, and our logistics are on the verge of collapse.

"And not just us. Konoha is the same.

"Both sides need time to recover.

"A ceasefire is the wisest choice right now. If we continue fighting, Kumogakure and Konoha will likely both suffer devastating losses, allowing the other three ninja villages to reap the benefits!"

"But I can't swallow this insult." Fourth Raikage A slammed his fist viciously onto the table, his brows standing on end as he said furiously, "Our delegation was severely injured in Konoha and is still lying in Konoha Hospital."

C muttered quietly, "That may be because you gave the order to seize the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, Lord Raikage."

"Hm?"

The Fourth Raikage raised his head and glared fiercely at C, then fell silent.

There was no other reason: he had realized that they were in the wrong as well. More importantly, as C had said, after prolonged warfare, their logistics were nearing collapse!

In that case, it seemed there was no way to obtain the Byakugan this time. And judging by Konoha's hardline attitude, they likely would not be able to gain any advantage from Konoha either...

In that case, they should cease hostilities.

After sighing inwardly, Fourth Raikage A gave the order to withdraw Kumogakure's shinobi forces from the Land of Fire's border. At the same time, he issued a new order:

Dispatch a new delegation to Konoha to discuss peace and a ceasefire.

Konoha's higher-ups quickly received all this information. Overjoyed, they immediately spread the news throughout the village.

The entire village erupted in celebration, believing this to be a diplomatic victory won through a hardline foreign stance!

How long had it been!

Since the First Hokage, how long had it been since they had achieved such a diplomatic victory!

Hiruzen Sarutobi truly deserved to be called a Shinobi Hero!

Countless people sighed inwardly...

And at the Hyuga residence, Roman and even Hinata learned from the servants:

After trading a round of verbal barbs, Kumogakure and Konoha once again prepared for peace talks and dispatched a diplomatic delegation.

Barring any surprises, these peace talks differed from the previous ones, which had been driven by ulterior motives. This time, they were sincere.

Upon receiving this information, Roman and Hinata exchanged glances, both sighing inwardly:

Things were different!

Completely different!

According to the original Naruto storyline, after Hinata was kidnapped by Kumogakure, Hyuga Hiashi, the head of the Hyuga Branch Family, took action. Yet in the end, the blame was shouldered by Hizashi Hyuga, who ultimately committed suicide under pressure from Konoha and the Main Family...

This led to an even deeper internal rift between the Hyuga Main Family and Branch Family.

Likewise, Hizashi Hyuga's suicide directly let Kumogakure learn that Konoha feared war, allowing them to secure better peace and ceasefire terms at the negotiating table.

But now, the incident of Hinata's kidnapping had still happened.

However, before Kumogakure's men could abduct Hinata, Hinata and Roman had already beaten them senseless from afar with Vacuum Attack, then pinned the blame on Orochimaru.

Thus, Hizashi Hyuga did not have to die.

At the same time, this directly forced the Third Hokage to take a hard-line stance. Otherwise, those with ulterior motives would investigate Orochimaru, whose hands were already far from clean... and eventually trace the matter back to him, potentially forcing him from office.

As a result, Kumogakure's hard-line Fourth Raikage, A, now faced Konoha's equally hard-line Shinobi Hero, the Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The two great shinobi villages stood on the verge of conflict, but both had endured prolonged war. Their logistics were close to collapse, and their people had no desire to fight again... so naturally, they could only trade insults rather than truly go to war!

Both sides were like two scarecrows facing a wolf—each afraid of the other.

In the end, Kumogakure was the first to bow its head, sending people to Konoha to conduct peace talks.