The battle began with the Hidden Sky Village's bombing
For Konoha, Kumogakure, Kirigakure, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure, although the Ninja World experienced three major Ninja World wars, there were periods of peace between the wars.
But for those small countries situated in the buffer zone, there has never been peace.
Even during times of peace for major powers, the Five Great Shinobi Villages would still wage war against smaller nations. Kumogakure was the most likely to do this, while Iwagakure was slightly less so.
Meanwhile, smaller countries are also constantly at war, frequently vying for the meager benefits that larger countries have managed to squeeze out.
The war provided an opportunity for the Akatsuki to grow stronger and also created a market for the arms trade in the Land of Iron, supporting tens of thousands of blacksmiths and samurai.
Under the powerful suppression of the Fifth Hokage, the Ninja World achieved three years of complete peace, with only sporadic wars occurring between small countries on the very periphery of the Ninja World.
The Akatsuki members were able to travel there to participate in the war and earn war commissions, but the Land of Iron couldn't do arms business there because the transportation costs were too high.
Small countries enjoying peace have seen their military equipment deteriorate, remote small countries cannot afford shipping costs, and even the Five Great Nations have reduced the amount of arms they purchase.
As a result, the Land of Iron went bankrupt.
Although Mifune Admiral the samurai didn't understand the intricacies of the economic situation, they knew that their businesses had been struggling since the Fifth Hokage convened the Ninja World Peace Conference.
So the samurai vented their resentment over bankruptcy on Shazo.
Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents.
In their desire to return to the days when they could make money effortlessly, the samurai Isshin to kill the Fifth Hokage and were willing to risk their lives for it.
The Land of Iron Samurai became the most resolute force opposing Konoha within the Akatsuki.
Compared to the samurai, the two leaders of Akatsuki were working for the peace of the Ninja World. They actually greatly admired the Fifth Hokage. If it weren't for their different paths, they would have been comrades.
The other core members of Akatsuki each had their own agendas; they could say they wanted to do all sorts of things, but none of them wanted to fight Shazo to the death.
For example, Deidara, who spends all his Tenten researching how to blow up a country, has extreme admiration for the Fifth Hokage's Rōran Great Explosion. If the Fifth Hokage were willing to teach him, he would definitely switch sides immediately.
Only Obito Uchiha and Uchiha Itachi truly wanted to fight Konoha to the end, but their goals were different: Obito Uchiha wanted to destroy Konoha, while Uchiha Itachi only wanted to defeat the Fifth Hokage.
Uchiha Itachi has grown up and is no longer the naive 13-year-old he once was.
He had long realized that the current Konoha and Uchiha Clan were exactly what he had envisioned, and even Uchiha Sasuke's development was better than he could have imagined.
Uchiha Itachi was actually quite satisfied with Konoha and had no intention of changing anything. His resentment was focused on one point: why was this wonderful situation achieved without his involvement?
His reason for wanting to defeat the Fifth Hokage Shazo, was that naive.
Shinnō of the Hidden Sky Village also harbored resentment towards Konoha, but that hatred stemmed from the Second Shinobi World War. Not to mention that the Hidden Sky Village was paid to Sneak Attack Konoha, 30 years had passed, and even the deepest hatred couldn't withstand the erosion of time.
If Shinnō's resentment was real, then his Sky Ninja were merely witnessing the rampant resentment.
These kids had never interacted with Konoha Ninja before. Their greatest hatred for Konoha was actually driven by their lack of money. They wanted to become famous through Konoha and then make a lot of money based on that fame.
Without unity of purpose, a concerted effort cannot be formed.
The Akatsuki was formed because Konoha, having unified the Ninja World, felt unprecedented pressure and was forced to unite and fight together.
Because their thoughts and intentions differed so greatly, no one tried to form a united front; they were content as long as they could all offer some resistance against the attacks from Konoha.
Not long after, the Sky Ninja brought back their intelligence. This time, they cleverly recorded the Allied Shinobi Forces ' march using Camera sold in Konoha.
From the aerial footage, squads of Ninja, like small dragons, advanced in perfect order along different paths, maintaining almost perfect spacing between each other.
Admiral Mifune of the Land of Iron turned pale. He recognized where he was. The Allied Shinobi Forces had already entered the Land of Iron by 400 kilometers, and were less than 700 kilometers away from where the meeting was being held.
The Blade is about to pierce your heart before you even feel any pain.
Mifune Admiral jumped up and shouted, "Emergency mobilization! Emergency mobilization! Issue the highest emergency assembly signal!"
Chakra is not exclusive to Ninja. When the Sage of Six Paths first created Ninshu, he did not specifically target Ninja when absorbing chakra.
On the contrary, the original Ninshu was filled with priests, shrine maidens, and samurai; Ninja, being such lowly and unworthy individuals, could never even get close to the Sage of Strength.
It's not that the Sage of Six Paths is materialistic and disdains the poor; rather, they are literate and can resonate with Sage of Six Paths intellectually, and they help Sage of Six Paths manage the area.
They occupied the core of the Ninshu because they were useful and easy to use.
But once the Sage of Six Paths returned to the Pure Land, the Ninja defeated the three noble professions, relying on their high speed, high agility, and high attack power, which were more in line with the characteristics of Chakra.
Samurai suffered too much in this regard, so they naturally developed things to counter the high mobility of Ninja, such as this "Supreme Emergency Assembly Signal".
This is a communication tool developed based on the resonance propagation properties of Chakra.
Although it cannot transmit complex signals, it can transmit information to the entire Land of Iron within ten minutes.
The Land of Iron Samurai, who harbored the deepest animosity towards Konoha, began to assemble, but it was the Ninja of the Hidden Sky Village who were the first to engage in battle with the Allied Shinobi Forces.
Although their attitude wasn't the most proactive, the maneuverability provided by flight was too great, and dropping explosives and Explosive Tag from their elevated position could create chaos and cause heavy casualties to the enemy, all without taking any risk themselves.
Moreover, the explosives were provided by the Land of Iron, and the Explosive Tag were provided by the Akatsuki. The Sky Ninja naturally used them with great gusto, having a wonderful time with the explosions.
When the second round of bombing began, Deidara, unable to contain himself, joined in.
If the explosives of the Land of Iron are scary, and the Akatsuki's Explosive Tag are only good for harassment, then Deidara's Explosive Clay is far more powerful.
Whether it was the [Little Bird], the [Spider], or the [Centipede], they were all high-end weapons with great power and precision. One round of bombardment resulted in the deaths of more than 70 Ninja and injuries to more than 300 Ninja.
This kind of power is not just a harassment that slows down speed; what angered the injured and killed Ninja even more was that they were Iwagakure Ninja!
The Iwagakure Ninja!
Who wouldn't recognize this as Deidara's Explosive Clay?
Just minutes after the second round of bombing ended, intelligence was transmitted to the front-line command center via Communicator, and the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, was furious.
Ignoring the throbbing pain in his back, the old man roared and rushed out, boarding his personal Yuanshi and chasing after the attacking combat Airship.
The Fourth Raikage joked, "This old guy Tenten complaining about back pain and being dead, but he seems to have a lot of energy. He can live for at least another 10 years."
The Fifth Mizukage covered his mouth and chuckled softly, "The Third Tsuchikage is almost 80 years old, and even his act of acting like an old man is so amusing."
The Fifth Kazekage remained silent, his eyes fixed on the screen in the center of the large table, watching the movements of the Sunagakure Ninja army.
The Fourth Raikage suddenly patted the armrest of his chair and sighed, "These Airship are truly wonderful. Once there are more of them, the natural barriers of our Kumogakure will probably become smooth roads."
The last sentence Mei Terumi's smile vanish instantly, "It's all the same, it's all the same. With this, neither the desert nor the sea will be an obstacle."
"Sigh, when will Konoha's rapid development end? If this continues, the people of Kirigakure will fall apart."
The four Raikage asked, "Isn't the Land of Water known for its isolationism? Why don't you start doing that again?"
"How is this possible?" Mei Terumi slumped weakly onto the large table, her long, wine-red hair falling loose.
"I brought all of Kirigakure's resources with me this time. They've seen what Konoha is like and enjoyed Konoha support. How can I still maintain a policy of isolationism?"
"Forget about closing the country off; I don't even know how I'm going to face my Ninja subordinates when I return to Kirigakure after winning the war."
The Raikage asked curiously, "What's wrong with the Mist Ninja?"
The Fifth Mizukage was even more surprised than the Raikage: "You don't know the Fourth Raikage?"
The Fourth Raikage's expression changed drastically. "You mean it wasn't just the Mist Ninja were involved?"
The Fifth Kazekage suddenly spoke up, "The problem the Fifth Mizukage mentioned, is it that the logistical supply standards for Konoha's Ninja are too high?"
The Fifth Mizukage nodded dejectedly. "That's the problem. Fighting for Konoha not only provides three meals a day and a midnight snack, but also unlimited access to Ninja Tools, medicine, clothing, and even one Explosive Tag every day."
"Oh, right, the rewards for completing combat missions will be given in full, directly to each Ninja."
"My God, how can Konoha Village support 170,000 combat Ninja, plus countless support Ninja and other civilians? Just how rich is Konoha?"
"When I get back, how am I going to feed these Ninja who've become so picky?"
"Even if I sold my future husband, I still couldn't raise that much money!"
The Fourth Raikage laughed heartily, "You? How much could your husband be worth?"
But the Raikage's laughter didn't last long before turning into a sigh, "I've noticed, but there's nothing I can do about it."
"The Fifth Hokage was a calculated move. He had enough money to throw money at people. I knew it would cause unrest among the Cloud Ninja, and all I could do was watch helplessly."
"I can't possibly refuse Konoha Cloud Ninja; that would be the worst possible response."
The Fifth Mizukage chuckled coldly, "So, after all this time, you're just having a pointless laugh because you're powerless."
"I was hoping you might have some ideas I could consider, but I was just waiting for nothing."
The Fourth Raikage said helplessly, "Although I never saw the First Raikage in person, I can now completely understand his feelings."
"There were also four other First Kage. Facing the combination of the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha, they must have felt just as helpless and frustrated as we did."
The Fifth Mizukage said with a touch of sympathy, "I remember the first person to convene the Five Kage Summit was the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. The First Mizukage, Byakuren, must have felt very wronged and helpless at the time."
The Fifth Kazekage glanced at his two predecessors, but felt nothing.
As one of the two worst-ranked ninja villages among the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Sunagakure, while not as tragic as Kirigakure, still had its Kazekage succession interrupted twice.
The Third Kazekage died in an assassination attempt by Sasori of the Red Sands. Although the Fourth Kazekage who succeeded him was skilled in Magnet Style, he was not a disciple of the Third Kazekage, and many historical traditions that originated from the First and Second Ninjutsu were lost.
The Fourth Kazekage was forced to his death by the Fifth Hokage's entrapment scheme. Although the succeeding Fifth Kazekage was his son, he had not received his father's education, and this time, apart from the Magnet Style Secret Technique, all other inheritances were lost.
The Fifth Kazekage Gaara, knew nothing about the First Kazekage, so of course he couldn't empathize with him now.
The frontline command center fell silent again.
Deidara is Kage-level Ninja without any fancy moves, and he developed the [Explosive Clay Giant Bird] technique from a young age, giving him a level of mastery over Sky Ninja.
After joining the Sky Ninja's attack, he Liao Kong with his dazzling low-altitude flying skills, accurate bombing precision, and astonishing explosive power.
By the third sortie, Deidara was leading the charge, followed by the Sky Ninja squadron.
--
Deidara is one of only two Iwagakure Ninja can fly, and his obsession with creating explosions everywhere easily causes a lot of trouble.
Therefore, many people in Iwagakure dislike him, and Kurotsuchi, who likes him, is not able to play with him and is constantly disciplined by her teacher Ōnoki Tenten.
Deidara disliked Iwagakure as a result and became withdrawn. He eventually defected from Iwagakure at the age of 9, becoming the youngest rogue missing-nin.
He joined Akatsuki for two reasons: firstly, he was attracted by Konan's flying skills and the Explosive Tag; secondly, Nagato didn't care about him and allowed him to cause explosions outside Amegakure.
However, as a maniac, no one in the Akatsuki liked Deidara. Even Sasori, who also pursued art, often argued with him about artistic ideas.
Today was different. Deidara was with the Sky Ninja, receiving cheers and adoring gazes for his flight and explosions.
The Sky Ninja even showed strong admiration and diligently followed Deidara to learn flying and bombing techniques.
For the first time in his life, Deidara received respect and admiration, and he was overjoyed, his eyes practically bulging with laughter.
He passionately led the Sky Ninja on their third bombing raid, generously sharing his flying skills with them.
"Air, the key to flight is air, not power!"
"Your flight is too barbaric and too wasteful!"
"Flying isn't about reckless action."