The Unusual Kumogakure!

Several years earlier, Sunagakure of the Land of Wind had used the disappearance of the Third Kazekage as a pretext to start a war, hoping to turn its internal conflicts into external ones!

The first to bear the brunt of it was Konoha of the Land of Fire, with its fertile land and Rich in Products!

At first, the two sides conducted small-scale probes along the border, but it gradually developed into a full-scale war!

During this period, Iwagakure of the Land of Earth and Kumogakure of the Land of Lightning also began to stir. Once they found the right opportunity, they launched wars against Konoha one after another!

At the time, the pressure Konoha faced was unprecedented. Externally, it had to confront three great nations, while internally it had to balance the power of the major clans. It had practically deployed every fighting force it could muster!

Fortunately, Kumogakure, the notorious troublemaker, proved remarkably helpful. It first launched a sneak attack on Sunagakure in Wind Valley, then stabbed Iwagakure in the back, buying Konoha a brief chance to catch its breath!

Taking advantage of Sunagakure's weakness, Iwagakure and Kumogakure restraining each other, and Minato Namikaze's active presence, Konoha crushed Sunagakure with lightning speed and forced it to sign an Armistice Agreement!

At the same time, Konoha destroyed Iwagakure's Supply Line and shattered its frontline forces, leaving Iwagakure unable to launch another large-scale war for the time being!

By this point in the war, the situation had become clear!

Just as Konoha thought the war was about to end and everyone was celebrating, Kumogakure suddenly turned around and stabbed Konoha as well!

Kumogakure had suffered losses at the hands of both Sunagakure and Iwagakure.

Its sneak attack had first been discovered by Sunagakure, which laid a trap and drove them back. Then, when Kumogakure tried to cut off Iwagakure's retreat, it walked into an ambush. Even the Third Raikage died at Iwagakure's hands!

So Kumogakure decided to attack Konoha!

Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage, must have racked his brains without ever figuring out what exactly those Kumogakure brutes had in their heads!

What caught Konoha most Off Guard was that Kirigakure of the Land of Water, which had remained silent among the Five Great Nations, also declared war on Konoha at this moment!

Konoha was dragged into despair once again!

Although Iwagakure was temporarily unable to launch a large-scale war against Konoha, it had not been seriously weakened. It still had a large number of ninja available and could reignite the flames of war at any time!

Konoha had to station heavy forces along the border between them in case of any unexpected developments!

Although Sunagakure had already signed an Armistice Agreement with Konoha, it was really nothing more than a worthless scrap of paper with no deterrent power at all!

As long as Sunagakure spotted an opening, it could tear up the agreement at any time and declare war on Konoha again!

Therefore, Konoha also needed to deploy a certain number of troops along its border with Sunagakure!

With the war against Kumogakure added on top, Konoha could no longer spare troops to deal with Kirigakure's attack from the Land of Water!

With no other choice, the Konoha High-Level could only turn their eyes toward the Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan, the two Great Clans of Konoha they had always guarded against!

The Uchiha Clan and the Hyuga Clan were both noble clans of Konoha!

Their formidable strength and strict clan systems had always made the Konoha High-Level wary!

The Uchiha Clan's unruly nature in particular had led the Konoha High-Level, deeply influenced by the Second Hokage's ideology, to target them at every turn!

The reason the Konoha High-Level did not want Uchiha Clan Members on the battlefield was, first, to isolate them and prevent them from entering Konoha's core circles of power through Military Merit!

Second, the Uchiha Clan's Kekkei Genkai, the Sharinga, was extremely unusual. Emotional fluctuations could cause it to awaken and increase its user's strength!

There were simply too many partings of life and death on the battlefield!

So while others might grow weaker the longer they fought, the Uchiha Clan might instead grow stronger with every battle!

After all, those who survived a war were all tempered like true gold!

The Uchiha Clan's numbers might decrease after enduring the flames of war, but its overall quality would also undergo a leap forward!

Just like in this war, two members of the Uchiha Clan had awakened the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan!

Either one of them alone was worth an army of thousands!

Under such circumstances, the Konoha High-Level naturally wanted to avoid letting the Uchiha Clan join the battlefield as much as possible!

But Kirigakure's declaration of war had driven the Konoha High-Level into a dead end. They had no choice but to activate the Uchiha Clan and send them to the border to resist Kirigakure's invasion!

Looking across the entire Third Shinobi World War, the other Four Great Nations had mostly fought and paused in turns. Only Konoha kept fighting, facing one opponent after another without respite!

After nearly eight years, everyone in Konoha was exhausted in both body and mind!

And now, the war was finally about to end!

"Jin, what should we do next? Take them all back to Konoha?"

Minato Namikaze quickly composed himself and looked to Uchiha Jin for an answer.

The war was not truly over yet. They still could not let down their guard!

Uchiha Jin pondered for a moment, but rather than answering directly, he asked, "What do you think?"

After hesitating briefly, Minato Namikaze said, "The Third Raikage is dead, and the Fourth Raikage has yet to be decided. Kumogakure is leaderless right now!"

"If we want to end the war, we should at least send their Fourth Raikage Candidate back to take charge of the situation!"

"I can see that A and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki share a deep bond. With A mediating within Kumogakure, it should be easier to facilitate the signing of an Armistice Agreement!"

Minato Namikaze wanted to release A and send him back to Kumogakure.

After all, there were bound to be different voices within any village. Especially when there was no Leader, many people with Malicious Intent would emerge!

A and Killer B shared a close bond. If A was sent back to take charge, Killer B, the hostage, could produce the greatest effect!

But that was only the normal situation!

Uchiha Jin smiled. "Minato, you've gotten one thing wrong! If this were any other village, your decision would be perfectly sound. But don't forget that Kumogakure is different!"

"Do you believe that the moment you release A, that brute will gather a massive force tomorrow and threaten us with all-out war to force us to release Killer B?"

Minato Namikaze froze at those words. But after considering Kumogakure's Style of Action, he really could not refute it!

After all, as everyone knows, Kumogakure's people were a bunch of war maniacs!

Uchiha Jin continued, "A and Killer B—one is the Fourth Raikage Candidate, and the other is the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki. Neither is someone Kumogakure can afford to abandon!"

"Only by keeping both of them in our hands will Kumogakure obediently sit down at the negotiating table!"

Minato Namikaze frowned. "Are you sure Kumogakure's high-level officials will reach a consensus on this matter?"

Uchiha Jin understood the Deep Meaning behind Minato Namikaze's words and sighed softly. "Kumogakure's high-level officials are not like ours in Konoha! They are far more united than we are!"

"Besides, Dodai, the Raikage's adviser in Kumogakure, is a Smart Person. He will not let the others act recklessly!"

"So let's take both A and Killer B back to the village first!"

After a pause, Uchiha Jin seemed to recall something and instructed, "Oh, right. When you report back, don't mention me! Just say this was your team's achievement!"

Minato Namikaze's pupils shrank as he exclaimed, "Jin, wasn't this operation your order from the Third Hokage?"