War, Reactions from All Sides

Cloud Ninja Village.

Raikage Office.

"The Konoha ninja forces have already entered the Land of Hot Water, Lord A. Are we really going to war?"

Holding a folder, the Raikage Secretary reported to the towering Raikage A.

Their own ninja forces had already reached the border. This war was something Raikage A had never anticipated.

What surprised A most was that Konoha had been the one to propose this war.

In A's view, the Raikage had never launched a surprise attack on Konoha. Konoha's claim that the Raikage had attacked first was nothing more than a play Konoha had staged for itself.

Konoha had deployed three thousand ninja for this war, so the Cloud Ninja Village had to send out a corresponding force as well.

Unfortunately, the Cloud Ninja Village also had Iwagakure as a neighbor. After Konoha declared war on the Cloud Ninja Village, Ōnoki craftily issued a condemnation of the Cloud Ninja Village and simultaneously mobilized more than a thousand ninja to the coastline.

This forced the Cloud Ninja Village to take the matter seriously.

They had fought on multiple fronts before, but in most cases, the Raikage had been the one to initiate the war after making preparations.

This time, however, they were the party being attacked, especially since Iwagakure had come looking for trouble on its own.

Didn't Konoha and Iwagakure have conflicts too? Why were they cooperating this time?

Raikage A could not help suspecting that it was all the work of that old schemer Danzo—killing Uchiha Clan members and framing the Cloud Ninja Village.

"War! War! When has my Cloud Ninja Village ever feared anyone? So what if Konoha's ninja forces have arrived? We'll meet them head-on. We cannot let the war take place within the Land of Lightning!"

A slammed his fist against the table and roared, though this time he clearly held back his strength.

"By the way, do we have intelligence on the commander of their ninja forces?"

"I heard it's Nara Shikaku of the Ino-Shika-Cho Clan. He served as a strategist during the Third Shinobi World War."

"So they didn't send the Three Ninja, then?"

"But I heard the Uchiha Clan has deployed many people."

"Hmph! That old dog Danzo must have plotted against the Uchiha Clan, causing too many of their people to die. I heard two Uchiha Jonin were killed?"

A gritted his teeth.

An Uchiha Clan member with Three Tomoe was already a qualified Jonin. If they excelled in other areas as well, they could rival an Elite Jonin. Kumogakure had not fought the Uchiha Clan many times. Other than clashing with them more often after the Nine-Tails' Rampage, the Uchiha Clan usually fought Kirigakure.

For this war launched by Konoha, Kirigakure had remained neutral, while Sunagakure had not participated due to funding issues.

That meant the Cloud Ninja Village would be fighting one against two.

That was also why A's secretary did not want war.

If Kumogakure suffered defeat in the war, even more trouble would follow.

First, Iwagakure would kick them while they were down. Then there was Konoha, followed by changes to the Land of Lightning's standing.

The Five Great Ninja Villages relied on their ninja forces. More than a hundred ninja had been lost in the previous minor conflict with Iwagakure. They had wanted to gain something from Konoha, but in the end, Hizashi Hyuga's corpse had been delivered to them, and they got nothing at all.

"Forget all that. Go summon Bee. This time, I'll personally take the field! Better yet, force Konoha's Jinchuriki out. I want to see for myself just how capable that much-talked-about Nine-Tailed Demoness really is."

At this time, at a hot spring somewhere in the Land of Hot Water.

A white-haired man listened to the civilians soaking in the hot spring talking about the coming war, and he was deeply troubled as well.

He was Jiraiya, one of the Three Ninja.

He could not understand why the Third Hokage would choose to start a war.

It clearly did not suit Konoha's current shortage of combat strength.

Orochimaru had defected, Tsunade was absent, and although he was nominally pursuing Orochimaru, he was actually gathering intelligence and writing books.

Who else in Konoha could lead an army?

Kushina?

Would she abandon Naruto and come out to fight?

Then the only people the old man could mobilize were clans like the Ino-Shika-Cho Clan. Could they stand against the Raikage of Kumogakure?

No, he had to make the trip himself. Otherwise, Konoha might suffer a defeat this time.

Meanwhile, in Amegakure, Orochimaru, who had already joined Akatsuki, also received news that Konoha had launched a war against Kumogakure.

He could not help feeling surprised. Since when had his teacher possessed the resolve to actively start a war?

The only one left in Konoha capable of taking the field and leading an army was his old teammate Jiraiya. Should he go take a look as well?

At that moment, a swarm of paper butterflies flew over and transformed into a woman wearing a paper flower in her hair.

"Orochimaru, Akatsuki has received a war commission," Konan said coldly to Orochimaru.

"Oh? What is it?" The corners of Orochimaru's mouth lifted as a slick tongue extended and licked the tip of his nose.

"A commission concerning Iwagakure's war against Kumogakure. Zetsu will inform you of the specifics later." After saying that, Konan transformed into a pile of paper once more and flew away.

Orochimaru sniffed the air. "This Paper Release has no scent. What a marvelous ninjutsu, hehe."

Sunagakure.

"Fourth Hokage, are we really going to remain neutral in this war Konoha has started?" Ebizo followed Chiyo into the Kazekage's office and directly questioned Rasa.

"You should know that the daimyo has cut our funding. Starting another war would require far too many supplies. There is absolutely no need for the village to involve itself in this conflict. Besides, Konoha has justification this time—they really did lose nearly two hundred shinobi."

Chiyo frowned. "But that is only Konoha's side of the story. Kumogakure has not admitted to it."

"That is no longer important. Konoha has lost so many shinobi; rather than expend effort searching for the culprit, they might as well immediately find a scapegoat. Besides, Kumogakure did try to extort Konoha last time."

After speaking, Rasa frowned and continued, "As far as I know, Konoha's current Third Hokage is at odds with the Uchiha Clan, and fifty of the dead shinobi happened to be Uchiha. In order to shake off suspicion, the Third Hokage would do the same."

All three fell silent. After all, Sunagakure had used the same method to redirect internal tensions during the Third Shinobi World War. With such a precedent behind them, each of them shook their heads.

"The best choice is not to get involved in this war, but we cannot do nothing, either. Increase our manpower along the border, then send envoys to Konoha to demand some border security fees. Whether Konoha pays or not, we cannot simply let Konoha attack Kumogakure without restraint. Showing Kumogakure some goodwill will benefit us as well."

At that moment, inside Naruto's Sealing Space.

Kurama had just begun to develop a new ninjutsu and wanted to contact Anju.

But after trying several times, Anju's responses vanished without a trace.

This greatly displeased Kurama. What? Had Anju spent so long with those two humans that he was now ignoring even his own original body?

Without hesitation, Kurama entered Kushina's Sealing Space and charged straight into Kushina and Minato's Love Nest.

"Hey! Anju! Where the hell did you die?"

Looking at the completely empty little house, Kurama could not help but find it strange. What was going on?

Where had Anju gone?

Minato not being there was understandable, but Anju? Would Kushina let Anju leave the Sealing Space?