In April of Konoha's forty-eighth year, the Third Shinobi World War had been raging for eight years. Sunagakure, the first to declare war on Konoha, announced its surrender—but its opponent was not Konoha. It was Kumogakure, which had suddenly entered the war three months earlier.
Sunagakure paid a heavy price to drive off Kumogakure, which had taken advantage of the chaos. Yet Sunagakure itself suffered devastating losses. Its already poor economy collapsed further, and postwar reconstruction remained a distant prospect.
Against this backdrop, Sunagakure could only swallow its humiliation. Though they hated Konoha, whom they had fought before, they hated Kumogakure even more for exploiting their misfortune.
This also laid the groundwork for the direct clash between the two villages in the later Fourth Shinobi World War.
In any case, the end of the Land of Wind battlefield sent a signal: the Third Shinobi World War, which had lasted eight years and brought pain to the entire world, had truly entered its final stage.
Although the Senju Clan had suffered a crushing defeat in the Land of Wind, the forces there had not consisted solely of the Senju Clan. Some of the Hokage's direct subordinates had returned safely to Konoha. Though they had not received specific information beforehand, they had more or less been given hints and preserved some of their strength.
Because of this, Konoha was able to organize reinforcements and continue supporting the Land of Rain battlefield in the time that followed.
With Hanzō long dead, Sunagakure surrendered, and Kumogakure returned to the Land of Lightning, Iwagakure was the only opponent Konoha truly had left to face.
However, Iwagakure was still one of the great villages, and its strength was formidable. Given Konoha's current condition, it still lacked the power to defeat them in a short time.
Yet