The situation in the Ninja World was ever-changing. Iwagakure and Konoha were locked in battle in the Land of Rain, and the civilians there suffered greatly from the ravages of war.
Meanwhile, the Akatsuki organization in the Land of Rain grew increasingly powerful, gradually attracting the attention of the country's leader, Hanzo.
Iwagakure then sent more than a thousand shinobi to attack the Land of Fire, sparking a war that would go down in Ninja World history: the Battle of Kannabi Bridge!
After the war, the Ninja World lost a passionate young man who liked helping old ladies cross the street, and gained a Copy Ninja who liked reading Icha Icha Paradise.
The Seven Ninja Swordsmen sent by Kirigakure to attack Konoha were wiped out. According to rumors from an unknown source, a Konoha Genin had single-handedly defeated them all, causing an enormous uproar.
Though that Genin had paid with his life, the other villages' wariness of Konoha rose several notches. For the first time, they also gained a new impression of "Konoha Genin."
Kirigakure said it was willing to pay money and agree to a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the return of the seven Ninja Blades.
However, Konoha's response was that only four Ninja Blades had been found at the scene. Samehada, the powerful blade with its unusual abilities, the Thunder Blades, and the intimidating Kubikiribōchō were all missing.
Kirigakure was furious, convinced that Konoha was treating them like fools. The Seven Ninja Swordsmen had always acted together. If four blades had been found, how could the two most powerful ones be missing? How were they supposed to believe that?
Driven by Kirigakure's outrage and the machinations of an Elder Dancer lurking underground, Rin, the chosen girl and Three-Tails Jinchuriki, was to be sent to Konoha and detonated there as an act of revenge.
When a hand wreathed in lightning pierced the girl's young chest, two Mangekyō Sharingan of almost unfathomable power were born...
Iwagakure and Kumogakure continued their attacks on Konoha, keeping up a steady stream of overt and covert operations. The smaller countries caught between the great powers suffered greatly.
Konoha had also noticed that Sunagakure was on the move.
Sunagakure's forces had been gathering for days at the border between the Flowing River Region and the Land of Fire.
On the high ground in the Flowing River Region's capital, formerly the Valley Hidden Village, row upon row of neat stone houses had been built. A tall tower rose from their midst and pierced the clouds.
From the top of the tower, one could see a mountain of roughly equal height on the opposite side. The mountain offered the same view of the Flowing River Region.
This made the mountain's importance clear. It was called Kikyo Mountain.
"Ow, we've been stationed here for ages. Why hasn't the higher-ups given the signal to attack?" Two young Sunagakure Ninja squatted listlessly on the high-ground platform.
It wasn't their turn on watch, so they were fairly relaxed.
"Sharpen your tools before you need them. If you've got time, you should be refining more Chakra," the long-faced man in a Sunagakure uniform teased his companion.
"Why don't you do it, then?" the other Sunagakure Ninja, a broad-faced man with an honest appearance, retorted.
"I'm already this old. There's not much room for my Chakra reserves to grow. You're different—you're several years younger than me!" The long-faced man pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and took a deep, satisfied drag.
"Refining Chakra is so dull... I'd rather train in nature transformation and become a jonin as soon as possible!" The broad-faced Sunagakure Ninja's eyes filled with longing when he mentioned becoming a jonin.
"Give it a rest! Training in Chakra nature transformation is much harder than refining Chakra. We're ordinary people, not blessed with a Kekkei Genkai..." the long-faced man said with a laugh.
"That's not true. Weren't Pakura and Lord Souya commoners too? Lord Souya's a few years younger than I am, but when it comes to Magnet Release, he's every bit as good as Lord Rasa," the broad-faced Sunagakure Ninja protested.
"That's because they're exceptionally talented, and you're not..."
"Talent matters, but hard work is essential too. Lord Souya's daily training is intense, and he keeps a very regular schedule!" The broad-faced man turned to look at the three-story stone house beside the tower, admiration in his eyes.
"That's certainly true. No wonder he's so strong at such a young age..." The smoke veiled the long-faced man's features, and his voice grew wistful, though it was hard to tell whether he was praising Souya or simply marveling at him.
"But life's short. We're shinobi, after all, with one of the most dangerous jobs around. And now we've got a war on top of that, so our lives are hanging by a thread... No point working ourselves to the bone!" The long-faced man spoke around his cigarette, puffing out clouds of smoke.
"If I got injured and had to recover at the village hospital, that'd be a nice change..." The broad-faced man seemed to remember something, and his tone shifted.
"Oh? You've heard about her too?"
"The girl Lord Souya brought back, right? I heard she's beautiful and graceful, and takes such careful, attentive care of every patient. Is that true?" The long-faced man perked up too.
"Of course it's true! I saw her with my own eyes!" The broad-faced man's voice grew excited.
"Really? Then I'll have to go see her when I get back to the village!" A little ring of sparks flared at the end of the long-faced man's cigarette.
"It's about time. We'd better take our watch." The long-faced man glanced at the sky, then stood and brushed the dust off his backside.
"Oh, right!" His companion hurried after him.
"It's nice having someone to talk to like this. I heard some poor guy was assigned to guard a key position by himself for more than ten days. By the end, he'd started talking to the flowers and trees."
"What's so strange about that? Maybe the flowers and trees talked back to him..."
The two walked side by side toward the edge of the high ground.
"Lord Souya! Lord Kazekage has new orders!"
The third floor of the stone house held nothing but a desk and a wooden bed.
Souya sat behind the desk, reading the new document his subordinate had brought him. A map of the Ninja World hung behind him, marked with dots of different colors.
"So they've finally made their move?" Souya exhaled softly, his brow furrowing.
The document contained just one piece of information: while Iwagakure and Kirigakure were still attacking Konoha, Sunagakure was to launch an assault and seize a fertile piece of land along the Land of Fire's border.
Souya had tried to dissuade the Third Kazekage before, but to the ambitious leaders with their ever-growing appetites, the territories of the Land of Rivers and the Land of Birds were still too small.
Though it would be best to let the village recover and rebuild for now, that argument wasn't enough to persuade them.
He couldn't exactly say that if they waited a little longer, the Nine-Tails' rampage would break out in Konoha, and Sunagakure's greatest enemy, the Yellow Flash, would die in that war. Attacking Konoha then would be the best opportunity...
Before you continue