Reasons to Go to War? There Were None

In the early spring of Konoha Year 31, graduation season arrived.

There was no such thing as graduating into unemployment in Konoha, especially now that war had begun. Everyone went straight to the battlefield after graduation.

Aburame Tetsumaru made every war preparation he could.

As for ninjutsu, he completed a full Chakra Meridians adjustment method. Comparing it against data from other ninjutsu, he determined it was an A-rank training technique and named it the Chakra Pathway Technique.

Because the first version of the Chakra Pathway Technique could only be practiced through the Kikaichū Surgery Method, meaning only Aburame Family ninja could learn it, Aburame Tetsumaru considered it carefully and ultimately did not dare hand the technique over to his clan.

A completely new secret technique, with A-rank training difficulty, that could alter a ninja's aptitude and strengthen their physique and total Chakra reserves—this alone was enough to stir greed.

If only Aburame Family ninja could practice it, that greed would turn into jealousy. Aburame Tetsumaru was certain that making the Chakra Pathway Technique public would become a disaster his clan could not bear.

Aburame Tetsumaru also made tremendous breakthroughs with ninja insects. The Insect Swarm Plan had truly begun.

It was simply unbelievable. After verifying that Chakra truly possessed the ability to make wishes come true, he freely mixed sperm with insect eggs. Astonishingly, fifteen percent of them hatched, as though this world had no Reproductive Isolation at all.

Every successful hybrid experiment gave Aburame Tetsumaru a hair-raising chill. It was far too terrifying.

To him, a biology major's lab rat, Chakra's ability to break through species barriers went far beyond science fiction and entered the realm of fantasy.

Even more terrifyingly, he could merge two insect species according to his wishes. When he wanted locusts to gain stag beetles' horns, about ten percent of the hybrid eggs hatched into the locusts he wanted.

Good heavens, this was a miracle. No, it was divine intervention!

Within a stag beetle's genes, the gene fragments responsible for its horns accounted for only a few millionths of the total. Even disregarding Reproductive Isolation, the odds of successfully grafting them onto a locust's genes would be less than one in tens of trillions.

Yet after infusing Chakra into the hybridization process, he could obtain locusts with a ten percent success rate. This was true wish fulfillment.

He formed a new guess about the nature of Chakra, and the origins of the Otsutsuki Clan became even more suspicious. Mere space bandits did not deserve to possess such terrifying technology.

If he had to compare them, Chakra was on the same level as the legendary planet-destroying weapon, Water Droplet. Their technological levels should have been fairly close.

The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became.

As the top student from enrollment through graduation, Aburame Tetsumaru's name carried considerable weight.

According to Elder Shihui and Lord Hokage, the boy was exceptionally talented. He needed to establish meritorious deeds on the battlefield and turn his talent into the ability to stand on his own. His gifts could not be wasted.

Aburame Tetsumaru had long grown used to the Shinobi World's values and had prepared himself for the battlefield, but Elder Shihui and the Hokage's explanation still made him want to mock their bizarre logic.

Waste my ass!

Wouldn't dying be the ultimate waste?

But from the Hokage down to the Aburame elders, they were all convinced that ninja had to fight wars. Aburame Tetsumaru had no way around it.

When living under another's roof, one had no choice but to bow their head.

Many major events unfolded across the Shinobi World.

The one that affected Konoha the most was the destruction of Uzushio Village. In this incident, Konoha performed terribly—and strangely.

There had been no warning beforehand, no reinforcements when it happened, and supposedly no request for aid had been received.

What could not be explained was that a group of Senju Clan ninja had gone to provide aid at the time, only for every one of them to die in the Land of Whirlpools.

Afterward, Konoha sent reinforcements, yet failed to rescue even a single Uzumaki clansman.

The sharpest contrast was that half a year after Uzushio Village's destruction, Konoha easily brought back the young and extraordinarily talented Uzumaki Kushina while searching for a Successor to the Jinchuriki.

The Uzushio Village incident had immense repercussions. First to suffer was Uzumaki Mito, the First Hokage's widow. She was devastated by grief, and her health rapidly deteriorated. Furthermore, she deeply resented the Third Hokage. From then on, she shut herself away and refused to see anyone from the Sarutobi Clan, leaving Konoha without its strongest combat power.

Second, no matter how Sarutobi Hiruzen explained it, the fact was that Konoha's staunchest ally had been destroyed. The other small allied villages naturally began to doubt Konoha's strength and credibility.

For decades afterward, Konoha never gained another steadfast ally. Its so-called allies were all fence-sitters.

Take Sunagakure working with Orochimaru on the "Konoha Crush Plan." Who knew whether, after ten years as Konoha's ally, they felt the invisible threat posed by their ally and, to avoid being betrayed by Konoha, simply chose to betray it first?

Everyone knew the consequences of the Konoha Crush Plan. Sunagakure paid only one Yondaime Kazekage, and the Fire-Wind Alliance was reestablished.

How half-hearted was that?

The second major event was the outbreak of a Shinobi World War, known as the Second Shinobi World War.

The instigator was unexpectedly the weak Amegakure, a village that had been cannon fodder in the previous war. Led by Hanzo, the Rain Ninja attacked the Land of Iron.

When Aburame Tetsumaru saw this intelligence, his mind filled with question marks. The Land of Rain and the Land of Iron did not even share a border. The Land of Grass and the Land of Waterfalls lay between them, separated by several hundred kilometers.

What kind of absurd move was this?

One had to know that samurai and ninja had entirely different professional systems. Samurai did not accept hired missions, so they had no direct conflict of interests with ninja.

Was Hanzo planning to seize a massive exclave nearly a thousand kilometers away? Or could he simply no longer stand the Land of Rain's climate and intended to relocate the entire country to the Land of Iron?

What did he even want with that frozen, barren wasteland?

No matter what, this was now the era of ninja. The samurai were beaten back again and again and could only seek help everywhere.

The Land of Iron's status as a neutral nation was recognized by the Five Great Countries. That recognition was not merely a verbal promise—it was guaranteed through force.

Thus, the Land of Rain was jointly opposed by the Five Great Countries. Konoha and Sunagakure directly sent troops into the Land of Rain, Kumogakure and Kirigakure sent troops into the Land of Iron, and only Iwagakure's opposition remained verbal.

Facing the ninja armies of four countries, Hanzo could only withdraw his troops. He then declared war on Konoha and Sunagakure, and the war that followed began the Demigod's legendary performance.

After retreating to the Land of Rain, Hanzo led the Rain Ninja in making full use of the terrain and Ibuse's Venom. Not only did they withstand Konoha and Sunagakure's attacks, they also inflicted staggering casualties time and again.

The two countries repeatedly increased their troop deployments, yet they still could not suppress Hanzo. Both Kage felt thoroughly humiliated.

Seeing that Amegakure had actually withstood the attacks of two Great Ninja Villages, the Third Tsuchikage wiped his face, turned around, and formed an alliance with Amegakure. He sent troops into the Land of Rain to fight Sunagakure and Konoha.

After Iwagakure entered the conflict, Sunagakure's young leadership swiftly committed its main forces and dispatched Puppet Master units into the Land of Rain.

The new leader of the Sunagakure Ninja Army was Chiyo of the puppet forces. Not only was she a puppet master, she was also one of Sunagakure's foremost medical ninja and a master poison-maker of her generation in the Shinobi World.

Chiyo quickly developed an antidote to Ibuse's Venom. Though it could not fully neutralize the poison, for half an hour after drinking it, it greatly increased resistance to Ibuse's toxins and severely weakened Hanzo's lethality.

That was enough. After all, Rain Ninja were far inferior in quality to Sunagakure Ninja, and the number of Sunagakure Ninja fighting in the Land of Rain had long surpassed the Rain Ninja several times over.

On the Land of Rain battlefield, Sunagakure held an overwhelming numerical advantage and had neutralized Ibuse's Venom advantage, so victory naturally followed one after another.

After coordinating with Ōnoki, Hanzo decided to contract his forces and retreat in one go to Amegakure for defense.

Having occupied half the Land of Rain, Sunagakure predictably became overconfident. Before even capturing Amegakure, the Third Kazekage ordered an attack on their invisible ally, Konoha, attempting to monopolize the Land of Rain.

Sunagakure's attack came without warning. In one stroke, they surrounded and annihilated more than a thousand Konoha Ninja, utterly bewildering Konoha. The battered remnants fled back to the Land of Fire in disgrace.

Seeing Chiyo earn world-shaking achievements, the Third Kazekage could no longer sit still. He personally led a large army in an offensive invading the Land of Fire from the Land of Rivers, coordinating with the Land of Rain front.

At this point, the Land of Wind's strategy shifted from striking in all directions to concentrating its full attack on the Land of Fire.

At this time, Kirigakure was like an octopus unable to control its own tentacles. The village's ninja clans of every size formed their own alliances and, amid total chaos, simultaneously invaded the Land of Lightning, the Land of Waves, the Land of Whirlpools, and the Land of Fire, going to war with Kumogakure, Konoha, and Sunagakure at the same time.

It was said that the Third Mizukage could not control Kirigakure at all. His old injuries flared from rage, and he coughed blood before collapsing. Once bedridden, he could no longer rise.

The entire Shinobi World had become a complete mess.

Only Kumogakure remained huddled in the Land of Lightning. The Third Raikage, famed for his violent temper, silently observed the Shinobi World.

The Land of Fire was invaded by the Land of Wind from the west and plundered by the Land of Water from the east. The Daimyo was naturally frantic and repeatedly sent people to urge the Hokage to resolve the crisis.

The students graduating alongside Aburame Tetsumaru were no longer assigned instructors. During wartime, Jonin were either on the front lines or on their way there.

But not even organizing them into squads was going too far. Perhaps the higher-ups believed the best of this class had already graduated early, while those remaining were mediocrities—pure cannon fodder to be hurriedly sent to the front to fill vacancies in existing squads.

Thus, three hundred and forty-four students were formed into an oversized battalion rarely seen in the ninja army. Led by several seasoned Chunin, they prepared to head for the front.

As usual, before departing, they assembled to receive the Hokage's infusion of the "Will of Fire." Sarutobi Hiruzen, whose speeches had become increasingly polished, smoothly stirred their morale.

Students from lower grades also received this ideological infusion. Lord Hokage refused to give up any opportunity to promote his ideals.

Thirty minutes had passed, and Lord Hokage still had another twenty-seven minutes to speak. Sigh.

Bored out of his mind, Aburame Tetsumaru closed his eyes and looked around through the snail-shaped Second-Generation Eye of Truth.

"Now that's something. Strong people have finally appeared."

Among the third-year students was a red-and-yellow-haired couple. These had to be the future Yellow Flash and the Blood-Red Chili Pepper about to become famous, right? They had gotten together at eight years old?

Oh, no, they were not a couple yet. Namikaze Minato was flirting with Uzumaki Kushina. What a pervert.

If their relationship had not progressed yet, then Kushina's kidnapping incident had not happened either. Go for it, Minato.

Ah, he spotted one white-haired fellow. Jiraiya was here. Was he going to lead the team? But I don't want to go to the Land of Rain front. Sunagakure and Amegakure were both skilled with poison, and with the unceasing heavy rain, it was my most hated battlefield.

The biggest problem was not the environment. It was Hanzo.

Konoha's higher-ups had the Ninja Academy students graduate early because there were indeed gaps in frontline manpower. At the same time, they judged that the situation remained manageable and wanted the recruits to familiarize themselves with war on battlefields under less pressure.

But Aburame Tetsumaru knew the Land of Rain was extremely dangerous. In the future, Hanzo would defeat Konoha's ninja army and the Hokage's three disciples head-on, earning the title "Demigod" and granting them the title of "Konoha Sannin."

Right now, Hanzo was merely a "powerful" ninja, nicknamed "Ibuse" rather than "Demigod."

The Land of Rain suffered cruel devastation, yet Hanzo fought with imposing might. His nickname became his surname, and he was awarded the new title of "Demigod." Although the plot he remembered did not describe exactly what astonishing feats Hanzo achieved, the title "Demigod" clearly corresponded to "God of Shinobi."

Senju Hashirama was called a god because he swept through the entire Shinobi World. Then was it not fitting for Ibuse Hanzo, the Demigod, to be revered as a Demigod after defeating the Three Great Ninja Villages?

That meant Hanzo had not yet achieved the feat of completely crushing the ninja armies of great countries. The first successful challenge by a small ninja village against the Five Great Ninja Villages had yet to be written.

If the Land of Rain had been more remote, say, in a location like the Land of Demons, that achievement alone would have been enough for it to remain peacefully isolated and escape the chaos of war from then on.

But the Land of Rain happened to be a vital passage connecting the three great countries of Wind, Earth, and Fire. Its strategic position was immensely important, and the three countries had no reason to abandon it. Even if their ninja armies were crushed, they would gather heavy forces and return.

The more Aburame Tetsumaru thought about it, the worse it seemed. Could he avoid participating in this war mobilization? He could.

But forcibly delaying one draft would bring severe backlash. The next time, he would certainly be assigned somewhere by force with deliberate targeting. It would also leave a record of cowardice, and commanders would target him separately.

More importantly, Aburame Tetsumaru only knew that Hanzo was strong. He did not know the exact timing. Who knew which year would be Hanzo's breakthrough battle?

Since the intelligence was inaccurate, it was better to remain still than act rashly. Going with the flow was the best choice.

I wasn't the weakest, and my luck wasn't the worst. At most, I would struggle for my life on the battlefield. What was there to fear?

Aburame Tetsumaru pulled a locust from the ninja tool pouch at his waist. Its sharp, metallic head felt cool against his fingers, calming him slightly.

He was going to the battlefield. Aburame Tetsumaru could not help feeling panicked.

In truth, he understood that the root of his unease was that he could not find a reason to fight. What was he risking his life for?

On a grand scale, to fight for the Land of Fire? To fight for Konoha?

What a joke. To borrow an old saying: "What has the ruler's power ever added to me?" In plain terms, Konoha under the Third Hokage had shown neither the Aburame Clan nor his small family any favor.

It was proper to fight for Konoha in the First Hokage's era, and acceptable to fight for Konoha in the Second Hokage's era. But Third Hokage, what made you think I would risk my life for you?

On a smaller scale, to fight for his clan and parents.

That truly was sufficient reason. Aburame Tetsumaru had been raised through the great kindness of his clan and parents, so repaying them with his life was only right.

But Tetsumaru did not trust Konoha's higher-ups. He did not believe that winning the war would improve his parents' lives, nor would it benefit his clan. Konoha had won the previous war completely, yet had not every clan still gone hungry afterward?

Aburame Tetsumaru was not a war maniac, nor was he a hotheaded fool. He never considered achieving fame and success through war. Honor and fortune were all fleeting clouds.

All he could think was that if something went wrong, his home might become worse. He felt like a conscript dragged onto the battlefield. What cannon fodder did not fear death?

Amid his unease, the Hokage's speech finally ended.