A Shinobi World That Nearly Went to War

Since Yichen had made up his mind to go into seclusion and cultivate, he no longer cared about what was happening in the outside world. He even turned down the opportunity to mediate in the Land of Rain.

Yichen, who was completely absorbed in upgrading the Water Pressure Line, was unaware that his actions in the Land of Rain almost triggered the Third Shinobi World War ahead of schedule.

Ōnoki was sensible in his actions; when Saka led the team to the Land of Rain to sign the unequal treaty, he did not spread the news of the changes in the Land of Rain.

It wasn't until after Saka signed the alliance treaty with Hanzo and returned to Iwagakure that Ōnoki began to spread some ambiguous messages.

The initial message from Ōnoki's messengers was this: Konoha and Rain Village clashed in the Land of Rain. Both sides broke their alliance and gathered their elites to fight a battle in the Land of Rain, resulting in heavy losses for both countries' Anbu.

There's nothing to exaggerate about the Land of Rain; its foundation is what it is. Even if Ōnoki told others that the Rain Village lost 1,000 Jonin, no one would believe him, since the Rain Village doesn't actually have that many Jonin.

However, Ōnoki doubled the data from Konoha's side, claiming that Hanzo personally intervened and released the Deadly Poison of the Ibuse, killing hundreds of Konoha Anbu members.

However, the story took a turn for the worse as it was told. It first became that Konoha wanted to secretly annex the Land of Rain Amegakure sent a Kage Level leader to lead a raid on Amegakure. The raid resulted in a fierce battle with Hanzo, with both sides suffering heavy losses. The unknown Kage Level from Konoha was killed on the spot by Hanzo.

At first, nobody believed it. How could Kage-level experts die so easily, especially an unknown Kage Level? It sounded fake.

But rumors, once they start circulating, will eventually find a way to justify them. And so, the unknown Kage Level became one of the Legendary Sannin, who, because he was still resentful of his defeat to Hanzo back then, and now that his strength had increased dramatically, volunteered to lead the team against Hanzo.

Then it turned into the Legendary Sannin joining forces again to besiege Hanzo. This time, Hanzo didn't hold back, Jiraiya or Tsunade may have been killed in the battle. Why these two? Because they hadn't made a public appearance in Konoha for a long time.

Anyway, all sorts of rumors are flying around, and they all have one thing in common: Konoha Anbu suffered heavy losses.

Normally, no one would care about such rumors, but Konoha had just suffered two setbacks in recent years. So this time, everyone surprisingly believed them without any hesitation.

Then, the reactions from all sides surprised Ōnoki. The Cloud ninja and the Mist ninja attacked several of Konoha's Border Outpost without any warning. After the news spread, the Sunagakure couldn't resist joining in as well. Because they were late to the party and feared that Konoha would be prepared, the Sunagakure dispatched Sasori of the Red Sands and Rasa, who had recently risen to fame in the Ninja World.

Not only did the three major powers of thunder, water, and wind take action, but even some smaller countries secretly meddled in.

Then, just moments before, the entire Ninja World was enjoying a period of peace and prosperity, but the next moment, it almost erupted into the Third Shinobi World War.

Konoha's reaction surprised everyone. In stark contrast to their sluggish response during the White Fang Incident, Konoha immediately dispatched elite troops to provide support.

In addition to a large number of elite troops, Orochimaru was dispatched to the Mist ninja region, while Danzo voluntarily went to the Cloud ninja region.

Konoha's decisive action left those trying to take advantage of the chaos humiliated.

The Cloud ninja suffered the heaviest losses. Compared to the Mist ninja, who still maintained some rationality, the Cloud ninja, after their initial success, wanted to expand their gains. Then they encountered Danzo, who wanted to vent his anger on Danzo. Wind Release counters Lightning Release, and with the overwhelming power of Kage Level expert, the Cloud ninja's small elite force was almost completely wiped out.

The Mist ninja slightly better, not venturing too deep, and Orochimaru was more interested in Bloodline Ninja than killing the lowly ones. As a result, many of the relatively weaker Mist ninja managed to escape.

The Sunagakure were the luckiest. Konoha hadn't expected the Sunagakure to follow up so easily, and they were caught off guard. By the time they learned that the Border Outpost had been attacked by the Sunagakure, news of Danzo's massacre of the Cloud ninja had also spread. Seeing that things were going badly, the Sunagakure retreated in time.

As for the other smaller countries, they didn't gain much advantage to begin with, and now they're shrinking back even faster than anyone else.

This matter should have ended here. Those who benefited could have gone home and gloated, while those who suffered losses could only blame themselves for their lack of skill.

However, some people think differently from others. The Third Raikage, having suffered a loss, refused to swallow it. The Cloud ninja suffered the greatest losses in this incident, so the Raikage personally led a team to cause trouble for Danzo.

If Danzo were to actually fight the Raikage, it would be very difficult for him to win, but it wasn't impossible for him to fight to a draw. However, Danzo is Danzo after all; he wouldn't get involved in anything that would endanger his life.

Danzo, having obtained the information first through Root's intelligence network, then contacted Orochimaru was in the Mist ninja region. Normally, Orochimaru wouldn't care about Danzo's life or death, but since the opponent was the Raikage, he decided to lend a hand.

For no other reason than that during the Land of Whirlpools incident, the Legendary Sannin suffered a loss at the hands of the Raikage. Back then, the Legendary Sannin, who were not yet fully grown, were almost wiped out by the Third Raikage.

If it weren't for Jiraiya sacrificing himself in his place, and if it weren't for White Fang's timely arrival, Orochimaru would have been the first to die in battle.

Orochimaru, eager to regain his honor, Danzo, hoping to turn the First Shinobi War against Hiruzen Sarutobi, and the Raikage Danzo, determined to avenge his subordinates.

The three sides unleashed deadly attacks from the outset. However, the Third Raikage's Lightning Armor, which was both offensive and defensive, felt frustrated for the first time when facing Orochimaru's invincible Substitution Technique. The uncomfortable feeling of having power but being unable to land a hit was excruciating for the Raikage.

Danzo, as always, resorted to underhanded tactics, using powerful Wind Release from a distance to continuously wear down the Third Raikage while Orochimaru was entangled with him.

Finally, with the combined efforts of Baku and Manda, Danzo and Orochimaru managed to defeat the exhausted Third Raikage.

This First Shinobi War had everyone in the Ninja World on edge. If anything happened to any of the three, Third Shinobi War would be inevitable. It didn't have to end in death; if anyone was injured and unable to fight for a short time, the balance of power among the Five Great Nations would be immediately disrupted.

Since the Land of Earth didn't participate at all and just watched from the sidelines, no one specifically notified Yichen was in seclusion during his cultivation.

By the time Yichen learned the news, the Ninja World had returned to peace. Yichen listened to Xiao's words with the mindset of listening to a story.

After listening, Yichen was somewhat moved, realizing that the relationships between different countries in the Ninja World were more sensitive than he had imagined.

Since the two wars were not long ago, the ninjas' views on relations between countries differed greatly from those of Yichen, a time traveler who had read the original work.

Yi Chen clearly divided the time since the establishment of the ninja village into wartime and non-wartime periods. However, the ninjas of this world who lack foresight do not see it that way.

To others, the various nations of the Ninja World were constantly at odds with each other, and this balance could be broken at any moment. Therefore, other ninjas felt a sense of urgency, and in their plans, they would consider what preparations they should make if war broke out tomorrow.

But Yichen did not. After the end of Second Shinobi War, he planned for a general timeframe for the outbreak of Third Shinobi War.

This was the time when Sasori of the Red Sands grew up and assassinated the Third Kazekage.

However, today Yichen heard Xiao mention that when the Third Raikage Iwagakure led a team to the Konoha border, he, Anbu Captain, immediately sent an emergency notice to each Anbu Squad that was carrying out a mission outside.

Although they weren't ordered to return immediately, two things were conveyed: first, be wary of ninjas from other countries, especially the other four great nations; second, they were instructed to return immediately should anything happen to the Third Raikage Orochimaru Danzo.

Only at this moment did Yichen truly realize that he lived in a chaotic world, a world where war could break out at any moment.

He was 14 years old, Sasori of the Red Sands was a little older than him. Sasori had already risen to fame and was now planning to make a move against the Third Kazekage.

As for Sasori of the Red Sands's experiences, which have changed due to his own butterfly effect, will he still target the Third Kazekage?

Yichen believes that it is still possible. There is no way out for Sasori to follow the path in the original story, unless Chiyo can really resurrect Sasori's parents.

Therefore, although the Raikage, and Danzo managed to restrain themselves this time and prevent Ninja World War Orochimaru, the Third Shinobi War should not be far off.

These major trends in the Ninja World are beyond Yichen's control at present. Xiao summoned Yichen today to process his resignation.

That's right, Yichen received a notification that he had been relieved of his post as the Anbu Squad Leader.

The graduating class of the Ninja Academy is about to graduate, and the higher-ups have arranged for Yichen to serve as the Squad Leader Jonin for a period of time.

At first, Yichen was somewhat surprised and asked Xiao for the reason.

Owl's answer was straightforward, "You need time to develop Ninjutsu, but being Genin Squad Leader Jonin is a very relaxed job, and you'll have plenty of time to develop your Ninjutsu."

Yichen thought about it and realized it made sense. With the Jonin, performing D-rank and C-rank missions would naturally give him a lot of free time.

After completing the resignation procedures, Yichen arrived at the office of Advisor Saka, where Saka would group the graduating classes and assign Guiding Jonin and Chunin.

Saka already knew about the village's arrangements for Yichen, so he simply handed Yichen a list of students in the Advanced Class and let Yichen choose for himself.

In the eyes of the higher-ups, Yichen's position Squad Leader Jonin, so Yichen had the opportunity to choose his subordinates.

After reviewing the list, Yichen suggested visiting the Ninja Academy, which surprised Saka, who hadn't expected Yichen to take it so seriously.

In a typical ninja squad, the relationship between the captain and the members is merely that of superior and subordinate. Only a very few captains will take on disciples whose attributes are compatible with their own, and then pass on their Ninjutsu in a master-disciple relationship.

Therefore, most Jonin Captain don't really care about their subordinates. The slightly more responsible Jonin are only concerned with how to successfully lead their subordinates to become qualified ninjas.

But Yichen's attitude suggests that he intends to find suitable disciples among this year's graduates to develop a master-disciple relationship with. This is quite remarkable, considering that Yichen is only 14 years old. No genius Jonin would consider taking on disciples at this age. Moreover, the current graduating class students are already 9 years old, not much different from Yichen.

However, Saka did not interfere with Yichen's choice. He simply nodded in agreement and gave Yichen a day to observe. He would then report the selected ninja list to Yichen the next day.