The Fourth Shinobi World War Was Inevitable (Update, 3/3)

After Orochimaru finished talking about the Fourth Mizukage, he moved on to the Genji.

"Genji has grown older. He painstakingly gathered a small group of Mist Ninja and did his best to protect the young Mist Ninja from harm."

"But he currently shows no intention of protecting those with Kekkei Genkai, and seems to want to avoid a direct conflict with the Fourth Mizukage."

Shazo sneered, "As expected, Ninja get stupid when they get old!"

"The Fourth Mizukage's actions are clearly problematic; he's actually thinking of backing down and compromising—utterly foolish!"

"However, this is Kirigakure's own business. No matter how many Ninja they lose or how heavy their losses are, it has nothing to do with us."

Shazo suddenly paused for a moment. "It's not entirely unrelated. I remember that Kirigakure also stole a Byakugan from the Hyuga Clan, right?"

Shikaku Nara replied, "Yes, Fifth Hokage, that eye was implanted in the eye of a Kirigakure Mist Ninja named Ao."

Shazo snorted coldly, "I remember this Mist Ninja, he seems to be called the Byakugan Killer, what an unpleasant name."

He looked up at Hyuga Hiashi and said, "Hyūga Clan Leader, next time I go to Kirigakure, come with me and try to get this Byakugan back."

Hyuga Hiashi stood up excitedly and shouted, "Yes! Fifth Hokage!"

Shazo asked him to sit down, then looked around the Hokage's office at the Konoha Sannin, the 15 members of the Jonin Council, and Shisui Uchiha, for a total of 19 Konoha Jonin.

This is the entire leadership of Konoha. Once you've communicated with them, the results can be disseminated throughout the Konoha in the shortest possible time.

Shazo cleared his throat and said, "The situation is basically clear."

"The Kirigakure is in chaos, the Fourth Mizukage is behaving strangely, and infighting continues, but the foundation of the great ninja village remains, and it still has the strength to fight."

"Sunagakure's financial situation is worsening, Fourth Kazekage is clueless and can't even manage the Jinchūriki, but the situation is still much better than Kirigakure's."

"Iwagakure's conservative ways are deeply entrenched and difficult to change. The Third Tsuchikage has no successor, but Iwagakure Ninja are numerous, meticulous, and tenacious—still a formidable enemy we know and love."

"We interrupted the momentum of the Kumogakure's rapid development, but the Fourth Raikage remains determined to make progress, Cloud Ninja are still full of energy and eyeing us covetously."

"Finally, there's the Amegakure, or more specifically, the Akatsuki organization. They have seven Kage-level Ninja, and their leader Nagato, is equivalent to six Kage-level Ninja."

"The Akatsuki is currently our strongest enemy in Konoha, and they pose an extremely great threat."

Shikaku Nara was extremely surprised. "I never imagined that such a secretive organization at the bottom of the Ninja World could grow to this extent."

"However, this method of absorbing missing-nin from other villages to strengthen itself is very risky. We can spread their information, which may provoke other ninja villages to attack Akatsuki."

After Shikaku Nara made his suggestion, all eyes turned to Inoichi Yamanaka.

He was better at winning people's hearts than Shikaku Nara.

Inoichi Yamanaka, then shook his head and said, "No, that won't happen."

"Since the Fifth Hokage took office, Konoha has reversed its decline, and everything is developing in a positive direction. The Konoha Ninja have also regained their pride and confidence."

"But to other ninja villages, Konoha into a muscular, bulging entity."

"Moreover, our strength is growing rapidly. Whether it's a major or Shinobu village, their attention will only be focused on us. They won't pay any attention to Amegakure, let alone consider the threat posed by Akatsuki."

Shazo said, "The Jonin Yamanaka Clan right."

"Before being soundly defeated by the Akatsuki, no one would have thought that the Land of Rain, sandwiched between three great nations, and an obscure, clandestine organization posed a greater threat than our Konoha."

He asked with a chuckle, "Putting aside others, before this battle with Amegakure, if I had said that Amegakure of the Land of Rain was Konoha's strongest enemy, would any of you have believed me?"

The Konoha Jonin were taken aback, then fell silent in thought, before revealing awkward smiles.

Yes, without the adventures of Jiraiya, Kakashi Hatake, and Shisui Uchiha, and without the Fifth Hokage's village-annihilation Ninjutsu being stopped by the Akatsuki, they wouldn't have believed it either.

That's absolutely absurd.

Shazo Zuo chuckled a few times, then said with ill intent, "First, send a message to the Tsuchikage, Raikage, Kazekage, and Mizukage. It doesn't need to be too detailed; just let them know that Akatsuki exists."

"Yes, we should inform Genji of Kirigakure, just in case something happens to the Fourth Mizukage."

Jiraiya curled his lip and said, "I reckon they won't take it seriously, secretly laughing at Konoha for making a fuss, or even laughing at them to their faces."

Shikaku Nara understood Shazo's meaning and couldn't help but laugh, "Lord Hokage, this is a good idea. We've already informed them; if they don't take it seriously, that's their own business."

"Haha, they can't blame us when they get a good beating from the Akatsuki."

The Konoha Ninja burst into laughter, filling the Hokage's office with a joyful atmosphere.

What kind of shared hatred and hatred? That doesn't exist!

When faced with a powerful enemy, being forced to band together is a choice that the weak have no choice but to make. But the Konoha of today is no longer a weak village.

Nagato, the leader of the Akatsuki and the Nagato behind Six Paths of Pain, was indeed very strong, stronger than Ninja could be, just like the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju, who was invincible in the Ninja World.

But the Fifth Hokage of Konoha is even stronger; he was able to completely suppress Six Paths of Pain in battle.

The Fifth Hokage Shazo, chose to back down simply because his weaknesses were too obvious, and he was unwilling to bear the corresponding losses.

What made the Konoha Jonin feel embarrassed was that the Fifth Hokage's weakness was actually themselves.

That's so embarrassing.

Fortunately, the Lord Hokage also discovered and exploited Nagato's weakness.

Konoha versus Amegakure, Hokage versus Pain —both sides tacitly achieved a balance of deterrence.

Since the Fifth Hokage has pulled Konoha to the brink of collapse, why can't he watch those who are drowning and unaware of their predicament make a fool of themselves?

At this time, all 20 Konoha Ninja in the Hokage's office, except for the Fifth Hokage, had experienced the baptism of war, and none of them were saints.

So they laughed wildly, venting their excitement and mocking the foolishness of their former enemies.

Amid laughter, the Fifth Hokage proposed that the 15 Department Head of the Jonin Council vote, and the Fifth Hokage's plan for the future strategy of Konoha was unanimously approved.

The timeframe is two years.

Within two years, taking advantage of the peace period secured by the Fifth Hokage, the main focus will be on addressing the internal problems of Konoha.

At the same time, they closely monitored the development of the situation in the Ninja World and secretly prepared for Konoha to turn to war.

Two years later, Konoha fully turned to war preparations, preparing for the impending Fourth Shinobi World War!

The Konoha Jonin accepted Shazo's assessment: war was inevitable!

The period of peace has lasted for 10 years. No matter how many times we have been on the verge of war, war has never broken out.

Apart from Kirigakure, all the other ninja villages have accumulated considerable strength and are showing signs of becoming restless.

The Fourth Raikage led the Cloud Ninja to invade the Land of Fire, which was the Kumogakure's impulsive act of being the first to test the waters of war.

Fortunately, Shazo led Shisui Uchiha into battle, defeating the Fourth Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Killer B, as well as nearly ten thousand Ninja Army from Kumogakure.

Although fewer than 1,000 Cloud Ninja died, Shazo's powerful performance was like a wake-up call, forcefully interrupting the outbreak of war.

With Shazo becoming the Fifth Hokage, Four Great Ninja Villages felt immense pressure and restrained their war impulses.

At least for the next two years, war will not break out between major powers and major ninja villages; the pressure will be released through smaller countries in the buffer zone.

The Fifth Hokage's strength will ensure peace for the next two years, allowing Konoha to quickly recover and grow in power.

The stronger Konoha becomes, the more its sheer size puts pressure on other ninja villages.

Two years later, the small countries in the buffer zone will all be plunged into war, and there will be no more room for maneuver among the Five Great Nations.

Whether it's the Fourth Kazekage who hasn't experienced the pain firsthand, Onoki Ōnoki mad by the succession issue, or even the Fourth Raikage who has tasted some bitterness, they will all be forced to consider war.

If we prepare with all our might for another two or three years, the Fourth Shinobi World War will begin.

The only uncertainty is who will fight whom in this war.

Perhaps, the Four Great Ninja Villages joined forces, emulating the strategy used during the Second Shinobi World War, to launch a full-scale siege against Konoha.

Perhaps it was the Akatsuki from Amegakure that couldn't hold back any longer and launched an attack on the entire Ninja World, igniting the Fourth Shinobi World War with Nagato's immense power.

Perhaps, the Four Great Ninja Villages have declined, and Nagato of the Akatsuki has also died unexpectedly.

The Fifth Hokage Shazo, said that he would lead Konoha to launch a war, swallowing up the Four Great Ninja Villages and all the Shinobu ones one by one, and unifying the Ninja World in ten years.

After all, once the arrow is released, there's no turning back.

As the situation in the Ninja World has developed to this point, Shazo has no way to prevent the War Five Years Later now. Even if the Sage of Six Paths descends to earth and manifests, he cannot stop the outbreak of war.

Shazo even believed that if the Sage of Six Paths insisted on stopping the war, he would become the enemy of the Ninja World and personally start the Fourth Shinobi World War.

Of course, the Sage of Six Paths was ultimately too powerful, and in the end, it was likely the entire Ninja World that would be crushed by the wheels of war.

In just 12 days, the Fifth Hokage Shazo, Natsume, demonstrated future development trends to the Konoha Jonin pointed out the path forward for the Konoha.

Although war lay ahead, none of the Konoha Jonin felt worried. They felt they had clear vision and were full of confidence in the future.

After the vote was completed, the laughter of the Konoha Jonin grew even louder and lasted for a very long time.

After the laughter subsided, the most gentle-natured of them all, Choza Akimichi, sighed, "Alas, what a pity. The Akatsuki could have been an ally of Konoha."

Jiraiya hearing Choza's words, Jiraiya visibly slumped, his dejection and sorrow impossible to conceal.

Not only Jiraiya Tsunade, Orochimaru, Shazo, Shisui Uchiha, Shikaku Nara showed expressions of pain.

Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan were all disciples trained by Jiraiya. Apart from Nagato's unparalleled strength, even Yahiko and Konan became Kage-level Ninja before the age of 20.

Even without interference, the development of the First Akatsuki would inevitably arouse Hanzō's suspicion, which would then trigger Amegakure's encirclement and suppression of the Akatsuki.

With no other options, their remaining forces would naturally seek to establish a stable connection with Konoha through Jiraiya, and then use Konoha's strength to launch a counterattack against the Land of Rain.

Just like now, Nagato will kill Hanzō, Akatsuki will take control of Amegakure.

This means that Konoha indirectly controls Amegakure and has taken control of the strategically important Land of Rain.

As a result, this promising future was Shimura Danzō's messy actions, and what was originally a powerful natural ally turned into an enemy, becoming Konoha's most formidable foe.

At this moment, the Konoha Jonin all thought of one thing: what would Konoha be like if the Third Hokage were still in power instead of the Fifth Hokage?

The Konoha Ninja were unaware of the Akatsuki's existence, let alone their terrifying nature, and continued to decline and degenerate under the rule of the Third Hokage.

When the Akatsuki began their operation, the scene of being attacked by Akatsuki without any psychological or physical preparation was unimaginable.

Kakashi Hatake, and Shisui Uchiha, who had Jiraiya experienced Pain's Deva Heavenly Dao [Super Shinra Tensei], couldn't help but feel fear.

That terrifying repulsive shockwave, if it hadn't been blocked by the Wood Release Forest mixed with Magnet Style, would have definitely swept across the entire valley.

If Pain Heavenly Dao were to do something like that in Konoha, more than half of the Konoha would be destroyed, and the death toll could potentially exceed 200,000.

Fortunately, there was the Fifth Hokage. Fortunately, he kicked the Third Hokage away and then shouldered the burden of Konoha himself.

At this point, no one missed the Third Hokage anymore.

Even Aono Muneki, a Jonin promoted by Hiruzen Sarutobi, had his memories of the Third Hokage fade away.

I didn't realize it when I had only seen the Third Hokage, but it was only after the Fifth Hokage demonstrated his extraordinary strength, political wisdom, insight into the situation in the Ninja World, and foresight into the future.

Only a complete idiot would think the Third Hokage was better.

Once everyone's laughter subsided and he realized that their trust in him had increased further, Shazo nodded to himself in satisfaction.

He waved his hand and said, "If nothing unexpected happens, the next few months should be very stable, and all work can proceed step by step."

"I'm all done here, everyone go back to what you're doing."

The Konoha Jonin all stood up, including Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade, and bowed in unison.

They shouted loudly, "Yes! Fifth Hokage!"

The Konoha Jonin filed out, with only Shisui Uchiha and the Fifth Hokage exchanging words in hushed tones.

Now everyone understands that the Fifth Hokage, who is suspected to be from the Senju Clan, has a close relationship with the severely damaged Uchiha Clan.

But no one questions this.

Because Shazo gave to the Uchiha was only a mission and responsibility, not privileges like those of the Root.