A thousand miles away...
Land of Earth, Iwagakure.
The assembly call.
After a full week of gathering and mobilization.
Iwagakure's 10,000 ninja were fully equipped and ready to go.
Unlike Konoha, which revered the Will of Fire.
And unlike Kumogakure, which was like a mafia organization.
It was also different from the bloody Bloody Mist Village.
Iwagakure...
Was a thoroughly "militaristic" nation.
In this country.
All the ninja, even the daimyo and officials... were tightly united around the "Tsuchikage."
The entire Land of Earth was forged into one, with the Will of Stone as its guiding spirit.
They acted with all their strength toward a single goal.
Their nature.
Was... "cruelty."
They burned, killed, looted, and committed every imaginable atrocity.
The commanders stayed behind while the foot soldiers went first.
Military accomplishments were everything.
Without merit, one was worthless.
If a mission failed, one was to take one's own life and preserve one's dignity.
Otherwise, one would launch a banzai charge and perish completely.
The winner took all, while the loser fed the dust.
Iron-blooded, harsh, and efficient.
The hierarchy was clearly defined.
This...
Was the true nature of Iwagakure, this militaristic ninja village.
The leader of Iwagakure.
Was the Third Tsuchikage, "Ōnoki of Both Scales," who had survived from the Warring States Period to the present day.
He was also the veteran ninja among the Five Kage who was second only in age to the Third Mizukage.
Ōnoki was even older than Hiruzen Sarutobi.
He was a true traditionalist, stubborn and hidebound, a realist with an awful temper and an unyielding personality.
Today.
Ōnoki summoned everyone.
To deal with this war, he intended to commit every available force.
Konoha was currently fighting Kumogakure.
Most of Kumogakure's forces were at the border with the Land of Fire.
If they raided