The flames of war had reignited across the entire Ninja World.
Even Orochimaru's newly established Otogakure wasn't content to stay out of the action.
Together with Danzo's Root, he had been secretly and openly stirring up trouble throughout Flying Bird Region.
When the Kazekage sent someone to negotiate with Orochimaru and brought up their former friendly cooperation, Orochimaru merely gave Sunagakure's envoy a sinister look and said, "The treaty was nothing but a disguise to lull our opponents into complacency. From this moment on... history will be rewritten."
"If Souya were still here, then of course we'd still be close partners!"
"But unfortunately, no one in your Sunagakure is qualified to keep working with me anymore. Still, I'm very interested in what Souya left behind, especially those Sharingan..."
After receiving the envoy's report, the Kazekage was furious, but there was nothing he could do.
The two Jinchuriki in Kirigakure alone had already left Sunagakure deeply unsettled.
If Otogakure and Danzo joined them, Sunagakure would be caught between two forces and swiftly reduced to its former state.
All the painstaking work it had put into Flying Bird Region and Flowing River Region over the years would be ruined.
So the Kazekage could only swallow his anger and send most of the Sharingan Souya had left behind to Orochimaru.
But he took the opportunity to make a demand: he wanted Orochimaru to "implant" more Cursed Seals in the Sunagakure Ninja.
Souya had warned him before that without someone keeping an eye on Orochimaru, he would brazenly "add ingredients" to the Cursed Seals.
But now, with Sunagakure fighting a do-or-die battle, it could no longer afford to worry about what might happen later!
As the flames of war continued to spread.
Konoha's younger generation gradually made a name for themselves, and the most