Time gradually passed as the other four great ninja villages eyed one another warily and tested the waters.
The headline news across the Ninja World remained pinned at the top.
The vast territory left behind by Iwagakure still had no one sending troops to occupy it.
Sunagakure had swept through like a swarm of locusts, packing up the Daimyo's Mansion, important warehouses, and even the most skilled craftsmen.
With the remnants of Iwagakure's forces leaderless, they couldn't even find a leader with both the ability and the prestige to command them. And as the various countries secretly hunted them down, many Iwa ninja with nowhere left to turn could only abandon hope and become rogue ninja.
Among them was an irreverent artistic genius. Perhaps the rigid, traditional Iwagakure had constrained him for too long. He felt no sorrow at becoming a rogue ninja; instead, joy at his newfound freedom surged from the depths of his soul.
Gradually...
After confirming that Minato Namikaze and Souya had both gone missing, even the Land of Lightning, far from the Land of Earth, began to stir. It prepared to cross the sea and send troops directly to occupy the land facing it across the water.
However, just after the Raikage and his advisors had formulated their military strategy,
another announcement came from the Land of Earth.
The Daimyo's Mansion of the Land of Earth declared that the old Iwagakure had become history. To reassert the Daimyo's rule, they would fund the creation of an entirely new ninja village: Otogakure.
The Daimyo of the Land of Earth also sent the document to the other ninja villages, with the exception of Sunagakure. The newly established Otogakure would inherit all the rights enjoyed by Iwagakure, including the title of Tsuchikage.
The news swept across the entire Ninja