Peace Arrives

"Bang!"

A firework burst in the night sky, and as brilliant colors spread overhead, cheers continuously rose from the crowd below.

Konoha Village had become an ocean of celebration.

The sudden outbreak of the Konoha-Cloud War had undoubtedly been a harsh trial for Konoha, which had only just emerged from the Third Shinobi World War. Fortunately, for various reasons, it had also ended in haste.

The intervention of the two nations' prefectural armies had certainly been one reason, but the fundamental reason lay in the formidable strength Konoha had displayed.

On the battlefield, the modern Konoha shinobi forces, tempered by blood and fire, had successfully held the Cloud Ninja army north of the Land of Hot Water. In a major battle days ago, after the Huiyue Clan successfully tied down part of Kumogakure's elite jonin from the rear, Konoha's elite jonin had struck with full force and shattered the enemy's main formation in one blow. The combined elites of the Senju Clan, Uchiha, and Hyuga Clan had worked together, proving nearly unstoppable on the frontal battlefield. Deprived of support from Kumogakure's elite jonin, the Cloud Ninja army and the Lightning Prefecture Army had suffered a crushing defeat and retreated to the Land of Frost.

Outside the battlefield, Kumogakure had suffered enormous losses as well. The rear-area sabotage plan likewise devised by Kagetsu Qi, the current head of the Huiyue Clan, had achieved tremendous results. The Nine-Tails had appeared in Kumogakure, nearly destroying its original plan to preserve its elite forces in one stroke. Root's subsequent grain-burning operations within the Land of Lightning had further plunged the Cloud Ninja army at the front into a severe logistical crisis.

With both factors combined, this war—which had originally been expected to drag on for quite some time—came to an end with startling speed,