The Third Shinobi World War had three stages.
The first stage: Iwagakure of the Land of Earth and Kumogakure of the Land of Lightning attacked Sunagakure of the Land of Wind. Sunagakure produced its savior, Rasa, who drove back the invaders. Iwagakure tried to form an alliance with Kumogakure, but was refused.
The second stage: Kumogakure attacked Iwagakure while also attacking Konoha. In the original timeline, Kumogakure attacked Iwagakure, and the Third Raikage was besieged to death by tens of thousands of Iwagakure Ninja. After that, Iwagakure invaded Konoha, while Kumogakure continued its assault on Konoha as well. Konoha found itself fighting on two fronts.
The third stage: Iwagakure and Kumogakure went to war with Konoha. Mist Ninja launched a surprise attack on Konoha, ultimately creating the most disastrous situation imaginable: a war on three fronts. Even the weakened Sunagakure was tempted to act and invaded the Land of Fire to gain more benefits.
This was the most absurd siege of Konoha in history, with the four great Ninja Villages joining forces against it.
In the end, Konoha was even driven all the way to Kikyo Mountain, nearly forced into a desperate corner—because Konoha lay just beyond Kikyo Mountain.
Looking at the Third Shinobi World War as a whole, strategically, only the Mist Ninja's surprise attack on Konoha was caused by Uchiha Madara scheming behind the scenes, so the Konoha High Command could not be blamed for that. But tactically, they actually sent the Uchiha Clan, specialists in Fire Release, to fight the Mist Ninja, who excelled at Water Release.
That truly was a case of the front line being in crisis while the rear was busy making things worse.
And at a time like this, they were still targeting the Uchiha Clan.
This was when they should have sent the Uchiha Clan to attack Sunagakure, because Fire Release countered Wind Release.
As for the strategic blunders—
When Kumogakure invaded Sunagakure, Konoha should have intervened.
Yet Hiruzen Sarutobi, in pursuit of so-called peace, simply allowed Kumogakure to travel thousands of miles to attack Sunagakure.
Iwagakure of the Land of Earth invaded Sunagakure because the Land of Earth bordered the Land of Wind!
Kumogakure had to fight its way through all those small countries in between to invade Sunagakure in the Land of Wind.
For such a large-scale invasion, Konoha, the First Ninja Village of the greatest nation, actually remained unmoved. It was exactly like what had happened when the Uzumaki Clan was annihilated.
If they had only intercepted Kumogakure at that point—
They would have gained Sunagakure's friendship.
They could have provided help in its hour of need.
Konoha's situation would not have deteriorated to the point of fighting on all four fronts.
Su Nuo understood this very clearly.
This time, although Namikaze Minato had achieved an absolute tactical victory,
There was simply no way to reverse the strategic defeat...
There was no other reason.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was his teacher's teacher.
A righteous man like Namikaze Minato would naturally never oppose Hiruzen Sarutobi. No matter how disappointed he was in the Third Hokage, he would only fight desperately for Konoha.
"Now, in this timeline..."
"Konoha has achieved an early, resounding victory over Kumogakure."
"The Raikage is dead, and the Two-Tails Jinchuriki has been captured."
"But... will the warlike Kumogakure agree to a ceasefire?"
Su Nuo's judgment was: no.
Because Kumogakure valued loyalty.
Under Su Nuo's influence, Younger A, the Two-Tails Jinchuriki, and the Raikage—these three major losses had all been inflicted by Konoha.
Therefore, Kumogakure would continue fighting.
Most people within Konoha now believed that the war with Kumogakure would end. That was actually far too optimistic.
Kumogakure probably would not stop until more than half of its forces had died.
Instead, Iwagakure's movements were the uncertain factor.
"It all depends on Ōnoki's 'vision'..."
"If his vision is broad enough, Kumogakure will be in a comfortable position, and Iwagakure and Kumogakure will continue their alliance... with Konoha as their direct target, striving to pull Konoha down from its position as the First Ninja Village."
"If his vision is narrow, and he takes advantage of Kumogakure's weakness to launch a massive invasion, doing to it what he did to Sunagakure, then Konoha will be in a comfortable position... and the entire structure of the war will change drastically."
But...
Was that possible?
Was Ōnoki really that kind of person?
In the original timeline, Kumogakure invaded Iwagakure first, and Iwagakure even used more than ten thousand troops to kill the Third Raikage, A.
Under those circumstances,
Iwagakure should have been Konoha's natural ally.
Yet Ōnoki still chose to invade Konoha instead of allying with Konoha to attack Kumogakure...
"Let me see your so-called 'Stone Wisdom,' Ōnoki..."
As for the Konoha High Command?
Su Nuo held no hope for them.
They were still nothing but a bunch of idiots and villains.
Sooner or later, he would kill them all.
After fighting a difficult 1v4 battle and winning the Ninja World War... Konoha, the victor, had actually compromised?
Konoha had paid with countless lives and sacrifices to obtain that victory.
What, exactly, had the Konoha High Command done with this hard-won victory?
They talked about peace, yet gave up the legitimate demand for compensation from the villages that had launched invasions and started the war.
They had won a one-against-four war!
Why not use that victory to obtain all kinds of resources?
And what was the Konoha High Command's little clique thinking at this time?
After the war ended, the Hokage failed to do what he should have done. What, exactly, did Hiruzen Sarutobi do?
He handed the position of Hokage to the young Namikaze Minato.
Then, under the pretext of "assisting Namikaze Minato in wielding power," he continued to interfere in government from behind the scenes.
When Namikaze Minato first took office as the Fourth Hokage of the new generation, his appointment diverted the civilian population's and the shinobi's dissatisfaction with Hiruzen Sarutobi.
But the people at the very top were still Hiruzen Sarutobi, Danzo, Mitokado Homura, and Utatane Koharu.
They were still the ones making the decisions.
They had not the slightest sense of the bigger picture. They were incompetent at everything except internal strife, where they were champions.
Looking back at the Third Shinobi World War, it was all about passionate young people on the front lines throwing themselves into battle and shedding their blood. Youngsters like Rin, Obito, and Kakashi all suffered deeply from the war, while old dogs like Hiruzen Sarutobi enjoyed the fruits of victory in the rear.
There was not the slightest trace of Konoha in their minds. All they cared about was seizing power and protecting their own interests.
In Su Nuo's eyes,
He was actually more interested in Ōnoki's decisions.
As for the decisions of that old dog, Hiruzen Sarutobi...
There was no need to think about them.
When Kumogakure and Iwagakure inevitably joined forces to invade Konoha, that man would probably still cling to selling out the village and its War Heroes in exchange for so-called peace.
And the Hyuga Clan, a shinobi clan that fawned on those above them and lacked opinions of its own, would simply act according to the wishes of its superiors.
The adoration Hyuga Shin had received would ultimately prove to be an illusion.
As the saying went,
No amount of tactical success could easily salvage a strategic defeat.
When there was something wrong with the minds of the Konoha High Command and the Hyuga Main Family, no matter how many outstanding victories Hyuga Shin brought them... they would trample them into the dirt at will.
Because the problem had existed at the source!
Hiruzen Sarutobi was either an idiot or a villain!
Either he was so stupid that he sent the Uchiha to fight Mist Ninja who specialized in Water Release, so stupid that he allowed Naruto to grow up suffering discrimination and abuse... or he was simply evil.
An idiot or a villain!
And this... was only what had happened during the Third Shinobi World War.
Looking further back, there was also the persecution that drove the Konoha White Fang to death.
Looking further ahead, there was the coercion of the Hyuga Clan into yielding, followed by the acceptance of Kumogakure's unreasonable demand and the sending of Hizashi Hyuga to his death.
Hiruzen Sarutobi could not escape blame for any of these events that had occurred during his tenure...
The root was rotten. It had decayed.
How could the great tree that was Konoha possibly remain healthy?
Before you continue