Alliance Dissolves

Konoha Year 49.

Konoha was fairly peaceful that year.

Because that year, Konoha's external situation was stable, and the Ninja World's main common enemy had yet to appear.

But that also caused the already fragile Five Kage Alliance to begin loosening.

During this period, Minato did not go out and act as the Masked Man.

Anju wanted to persuade him to make a few more moves—ideally injuring one or two Jinchuriki.

But Minato Namikaze remained completely unmoved.

Minato Namikaze had originally been determined to stabilize Konoha. Anju's idea had already achieved that goal, so he had no intention of continuing.

Anju was rather frustrated at his uselessness.

If Minato Namikaze did not go stir up trouble, how was he supposed to make that lunatic Obito draw the attention of the other ninja villages?

"Anju, don't you think it would be wonderful if the Ninja World could stay peaceful forever?" Minato Namikaze looked at the Television in the living room. Little Naruto inside was already six months old and could already call for his mother.

"Minato, you're overthinking it. The Ninja World has never been at peace. The peace right now is just everyone stockpiling strength for the next war." Anju denied Minato Namikaze's words outright.

"But..."

"Enough. Don't argue with me. You're just a giant Chakra Cluster. There's no point arguing with you." Anju rolled his eyes and no longer wanted to debate with Minato Namikaze.

Every time he tried to persuade Minato Namikaze to go act as the Masked Man again, Minato Namikaze would argue with Anju.

Anju no longer wanted to argue with him. With that time, he might as well have a proper talk with Kushina.

Maybe Kushina would even agree with his view.

It was just that Kushina had put her whole heart and soul into Naruto Uzumaki, so Anju simply had no way to properly communicate with Kushina.

Could he only slowly nurture Naruto, then?

Anju could not help thinking of Kurama inside Naruto Uzumaki's body.

Ever since Minato Namikaze had called him a vixen last time, Kurama had never appeared in Kushina's Sealing Space again.

During this period, Anju had seen many, many characters who appeared in the original work inside Kushina Uzumaki's internal Sealing Space.

He had also met Orochimaru once.

Of course, it was Kushina who had met Orochimaru.

Orochimaru was becoming more and more like a cold-blooded animal. Even his gaze was icy and sinister. Of course, Anju also sensed that feeling of malice from Orochimaru.

Anju speculated that Orochimaru's human experimentation had already been underway for some time.

The more one disregarded life, the more filled one became with malice toward other lives.

Then there were also Kushina's several visits with Mikoto Uchiha, which allowed Anju to see Sasuke as a tiny infant and Itachi Uchiha, who had only recently started attending the Jonin Academy.

Konoha's stability this time also owed something to the Uchiha, and it also eased the conflict between the Uchiha Clan and the village.

Of course, if not for the Masked Man also attacking other ninja villages, and if Kushina were not still a Jinchuriki, causing the Third Hokage's sense of crisis to greatly decrease, Konoha would not have dared to toughen up.

After all, in name, Konoha was still the victor of the Third Shinobi World War, and political compromise still depended on strength.

When one lacked strength, one naturally could not stand firm.

The current Konoha still had a Jinchuriki, and the Masked Man who had originally attacked Konoha was not specifically targeting Konoha. Sarutobi Hiruzen, this Shinobi Hero, had also used five-nature ninjutsu in the Five Kage Summit to blow the inside of the conference building to pieces, displaying his deep and powerful strength.

So in Sarutobi Hiruzen's view, the Uchiha Clan still had value for the time being.

After all, Sharingan genjutsu was very powerful, and there were some Uchiha Clan members in the team the village had organized specifically to deal with the Masked Man.

But unfortunately, the Masked Man suddenly disappeared for several months, leaving the members of these squads in a very awkward position.

After all, they existed specifically to deal with the Masked Man, but the Masked Man seemed to have vanished. If he did not appear again, it was a huge waste of the village's funds.

Hokage Building, Hokage Office.

Konoha Old F4 had gathered together.

"Hiruzen, the Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, has stated that there is no longer any need to target the Masked Man, so he has torn up the agreement." Mitokado Homura took out a document, indicating that the Mist Ninja Village had already abandoned the Sniper Alliance Agreement aimed at the Masked Man.

Danzo also stepped forward with a gloomy face. "Hiruzen, the Masked Man hasn't appeared for a long time. There's no need for our Sniper Squad to keep existing either. With those funds, we could train more people for the Anbu."

Danzo was extremely opposed to the Uchiha participating in the Sniper Squad, but Sarutobi Hiruzen had insisted, so he had not wanted to say anything.

But he knew the two Masked Men were different!

He had secretly contacted Obito and had also leaked a little intelligence to Obito, but he did not dare tell Sarutobi Hiruzen directly. He could only keep opposing the formation of the Sniper Squad again and again.

Now that the Mist Ninja Village had decided to cancel its sniping operation against the Masked Man, he naturally wanted Konoha to cancel the Sniper Squad as well. Otherwise, if the Uchiha were allowed to continue participating in the Sniper Squad, how was he supposed to keep squeezing the Uchiha's living space, and how was he supposed to eliminate the Uchiha Clan, that evil clan?

"That's right, Hiruzen. Rumor has it that the Tsuchikage Ōnoki has also given orders to cancel the sniping operation. It seems the other ninja villages no longer want to put too much effort into targeting the Masked Man," Utatane Koharu also said.

She was the advisor responsible for dealing with the Masked Man, and at the same time, she was also responsible for working with the major ninja villages to research tactics and methods against the Masked Man.

Recently, because the various ninja villages had cooperated and each made breakthroughs, they all expressed that they had ways to deal with him, so the alliance agreement's foundation had long since become unstable.

Even she herself, through Kushina and many Sealing Team members cooperating with ninjas from other ninja villages, had obtained methods for countering Space-Time Ninjutsu.

In order to prevent leaks, she was also inclined to part ways with the other ninja villages.

The three advisors looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen, waiting for him to make a decision.

Sarutobi Hiruzen felt as if he had aged a great deal too. The Five Kage Summit, which had taken so much effort, had ended anticlimactically because the Masked Man had vanished without a trace. It was far too demoralizing.

Now his three old companions clearly wanted to stop sniping at the Masked Man as well. But if the Masked Man appeared again, what then?

"Hiruzen, the Masked Man has already obtained the Nine-Tails' Chakra. I don't think he'll come to Konoha again. We can call off the sniping. After all, the pressure is now on the other ninja villages."

Mitokado Homura's sudden words made Sarutobi Hiruzen feel as if he had been enlightened.

That was right. Konoha had a reason to withdraw the Sniper Squad.

"All right, Homura. Send letters to the other ninja villages and explain our situation. We're withdrawing from the sniping operation."

Cloud Ninja Village, Raikage Office.

A roar rang out.

"Bastard! They've all withdrawn, so why should I keep going?" The furious Fourth Raikage smashed yet another table.

"Lord A, the Sealing Team has already made progress..." The excited Female Secretary had only just arrived at the Raikage Office when she was cowed by the raging Raikage A.

Similar situations played out, more or less, in the Tsuchikage's and Kazekage's offices as well.

Before long, this alliance to snipe the Masked Man completely fell apart more than four months after the Masked Man vanished without a trace.

By the time Anju learned about it, it was already two months later.

And little Naruto had only just learned to walk.

Anju was somewhat emotional too. Children in the Ninja World really did develop quickly.

He could walk at just eight months old.

And because Kushina Uzumaki needed to complete certain missions, she would sometimes entrust Naruto to Mikoto Uchiha.

So Anju would sometimes go directly to Kurama's place to visit, while also observing whether the reincarnated Chakra of Asura and Indra would start fighting because they were close to each other.

Clearly, Sasuke and Naruto were too young for that kind of behavior, but it did seem as if Naruto and Sasuke were naturally at odds somehow.

The two children sitting together both seemed to dislike each other a little.

Sasuke: Hmph! So this is the bad guy who came to steal my food!

Naruto: Hmph! He looks like an annoying little brat!