The Six Clans Emerge

Leaving aside Qi and Tobi, two people who were clearly enemies rather than friends and were currently troubled by a gate of light, elsewhere on the Hokage Continent, another group of enemies rather than friends had gathered once more.

Several centuries ago, a great upheaval swept across the ninja world. Of the twelve branches of the Ninja Sect, six were cut off; the twelve ninja clans were further reduced to six. Setting aside the dead, the survivors and their descendants continued slaughtering one another without end, generation after generation. Several hundred years later, a great ninja war finally erupted. Every ninja was drawn into it. Countless schools were wiped out to the last man, and fewer than half of the prewar population survived. As the most active participants, the six clans naturally could not escape unscathed. The Ninja Army, an organizational form never before seen in the ninja world, inflicted grievous losses upon each of their enemies. All six clans suffered devastating blows, their millennia of accumulated foundations nearly lost in a single day. Under such circumstances, the six great ninja clans, who had been entangled with one another for centuries, had no choice but to temporarily put away their killing intent and return to their respective strongholds, waiting quietly for the next opportunity.

But now, they had no choice but to emerge. Even in their own view, this was not the best time to do so; their strength had yet to recover.

The Land of Waterfalls, the only neutral nation among the ninja countries. For all this time, the world had only known that its neutral status endured through the recognition of the Five Kage. Yet only those privy to the truth knew that what had allowed this country to remain neutral amid the great powers was not the