Boasting Costs Nothing

The Land of Water.

Two outstanding individuals from different eras, one old and one young, are discussing the ultimate topic of war in this small izakaya.

Taiichi looked at Madara again, and after confirming that he was not crazy or joking with him, he decided to speak more freely.

That's only because you're not strong enough yet, you can't protect the people around you, and you can't realize your dreams.

When one day, no one in the world dares to say "no" to you, then you can change the world however you want, as long as you have the ability.

Madara Uchiha was taken aback for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"Kid, you're pretty arrogant! But Senju Hashirama strong enough, the God of Shinobi, but after he died, things went back to normal. This is already the Third Ninja World War!"

"That's just because he's not strong enough, hasn't lived long enough, and isn't particularly smart."

If he were strong enough to easily suppress Madara Uchiha, Konoha wouldn't have lost such a powerful fighting force.

If he could live as long as the immortals of the Three Holy Lands, who would dare to oppose him?

If he were a little smarter, he wouldn't have come up with a system like "one village, one country."

Madara was stunned by Taiichi's shameless statement. If there really were people like that, then eliminating war might actually be possible.

Only----

"Young man, do you really believe there are people like you? Even the Sage of Six Paths died in the long river of history, didn't he?"

Taiichi didn't even look at Madara, afraid that Madara would see the disdain in his eyes: The Sage of Six Paths, he wasn't really dead.

"It is precisely because there is nothing that we have a goal to strive for. If our predecessors had done everything, what use would we be?"

He'd seen arrogant people before, but this was the first time he'd ever seen anyone this arrogant.

He couldn't help but burst into laughter again, but this time his laughter was even more unrestrained, drawing stares from everyone in the izakaya.

Some were curious, some were disgusted, some admired, and some were contemptuous.

But he ignored all of that, his gaze fixed on Taiichi.

"Young man, what you said is very good, but I hope that next time we meet, you will have the confidence to say those words."

After saying that, he lost interest in talking and got up to leave.

Behind Taiichi, the person who should have been there had long since vanished without a trace.

Taiichi continued eating, completely unaffected by the sudden conversation.

Although his words were arrogant, they reflected Taiichi's own thoughts, and he was currently working towards that goal.

As for Madara Uchiha, he was actually quite worried about him a while ago.

However, ever since his Fire Nature Transformation to Lv14 Super Kage Level, and he learned Sage Mode.

He's really not afraid anymore. Now, Madara is not only old, but also half-crippled, and he can only exert about a fraction of his strength from his prime.

At this moment, Madara Uchiha, who had already left Ira City and was standing on a small earthen hill, was gazing back at the castle.

"Do you think that little guy recognized me?"

A figure slowly emerged from the ground not far from Ban; it was Jue, who had also left.

"Probably not, otherwise his reaction would be too calm. Besides, Konoha has maintained a very tight information blockade against you over the years; the new generation of Konoha Ninja wouldn't be able to see your photos."

Ban couldn't help but chuckle, a mixture of self-mockery and disdain.

The First Hokage, Senju Hashirama immense courage and determination. The two were locked in a lifelong love-hate relationship, and in that First Shinobi World War, Hashirama was defeated by him.

Although the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju, was not strong, his methods were truly commendable; he even managed to turn the Uchiha Clan against him.

As for this Third Kazekage monkey, he is weak and lacks skill. In order to eliminate his influence, he even resorted to these despicable means.

Konoha is truly getting worse with each generation.

Just thinking about that brat from earlier, Madara Uchiha couldn't help but shake his head. It was a pity he wasn't Uchiha; his achievements were ultimately limited. Otherwise, he would have been an excellent candidate.

Taiichi was unaware of Madara's thoughts at that moment; otherwise, he would have demonstrated to Madara that he, Taichi Matsushita, could stand at the pinnacle of the Ninja World even without the Sharingan.

The Land of Wind.

The withdrawal of Mist Village's troops naturally attracted the attention of Sunagakure immediately. After arranging for ninjas to confirm the situation repeatedly, Sunagakure was bewildered but also overjoyed.

Sunagakure is truly unable to afford a war, not only economically, but also in terms of manpower.

It's somewhat understandable that Konoha was besieged by the four great nations because it was located in the prosperous Land of Fire.

What about Sunagakure?

--

In this Ninja World War, what did Sunagakure do to deserve being attacked by all four great ninja villages?

These battles resulted in heavy losses of ninjas, and crucially, Sunagakure suffered more defeats than victories in each one.

Nowadays, Sunagakure can't even muster enough ninja to complete village missions; even Jonin have to start taking on B-rank or even C-rank tasks.

The purpose of these high-level tasks is to prevent the mission from being lost.

Even after things have come to this dire state, some people remain incorrigible, still attempting to defy fate and change their destiny.

Looking at the elder opposite him who was still talking eloquently, Rasa now even had the urge to kill him.

"Everyone, it's not that I'm belligerent, but now that the news has been confirmed, Mist Village is attacking Konoha again, and this is our opportunity."

We have no other purpose this time. Even if we disguise ourselves as Mist Village or Iwagakure Village and go out to plunder, it can alleviate the village's financial crisis.

Otherwise, relying solely on ourselves, or even with the support of the Daimyo, how long would it take to recover? Five years? Ten years?

"Or 20 years?"

His words were quite persuasive, and many elders were somewhat swayed.

This is a very feasible plan, and it seems to have no risks.

But is that really the case? Wasn't it the same the previous times? They looked capable, but they still got thrashed and beaten to a pulp. Do you really think Konoha's Intelligence Department is a pushover?

Seeing that Chiyo Rasa had no choice but to take matters into his own hands.

Elder Songhe, do you know how many registered ninjas the village still has?

"This----"

Songhe was taken aback when he heard this. He really didn't know the exact number, and he wasn't in charge of this area, but he knew that the number should not be large.

"Currently, the village has fewer than 4,000 registered ninjas, and some of them are assigned to guard the three borders."

There are only about 2,000 people left in the village. Tell me, where are we going to conjure up more people to launch a surprise attack on Konoha?

"How could that be? Wasn't it just recently—"

He couldn't finish his sentence.

Previously, each Ninja Clan had sent out their most valuable personnel, but as soon as the war ended, all of them were recalled.

Given the current situation, not to mention him, even the Kazekage Lord Rasa would never allow the major families to donate these people again.

After all, the ninja village belongs to everyone, but the dead belong to them; they can't gain anything from it.

Seeing that the elder himself couldn't continue speaking, Rasa stopped pressing him and focused on maintaining stable development as the top priority.

"Furthermore, Sunagakure and Konoha have just signed a peace treaty. This treaty was hard-won, and none of you would want Sunagakure to be seen as untrustworthy!"

This statement is simply a way to save face for everyone. If they really had the strength, the treaty would be nothing, too painful to even wipe their own ass with.

At this point, Sunagakure reached a consensus to abide by the peace treaty. In order to avoid misunderstandings with Konoha, Sunagakure even voluntarily withdrew half of its Border Troops facing Konoha.

This is clearly a message to Konoha: "Fight without worry, I will absolutely not provoke you."

This action by Sunagakure was quickly discovered by Konoha.

Konoha responded quickly to this gesture of goodwill— the Camp stationed in the Land of Rivers soon received orders to retreat 100 miles and re-establish camp.

This tacit agreement between one side reducing its troop strength and the other retreating from its Camp clearly demonstrates the shared intention of both Sunagakure and Konoha: to abide by the peace treaty and not to invade each other's territory.

East Front.

Tsunade quickly received the latest intelligence from the village, including the movements of Sunagakure and the village's response.

She tossed the information directly to Jiraiya, who was staring blankly to the side, asking him to help analyze it as well.

After quickly scanning the intelligence in his hand, Jiraiya's smile widened.

"Great, Sunagakure is safe now. We can also redeploy our troops stationed on the border of the Land of Rivers to deal with Mist Village's attack with full force."

"Oh, so sure?" Tsunade's brow relaxed, but a hint of doubt remained on her lips. "Shouldn't we leave some people behind just in case—?"

"We do need to leave some people behind, but not to defend against Sunagakure, but to guard against Mist Village landing and launching a surprise attack from the Land of Rivers."

Jiraiya opened his mouth wide, about to burst out laughing, but seeing Tsunade's slightly furrowed brows, he immediately closed his mouth again, though he couldn't hide the smugness on his face.

"Sunagakure! They suffered the most heavy losses in this war. Although there are no specific figures, at least half of the village's ninja have died so far. How can they possibly have the strength to continue expanding outwards?"

Jiraiya's analysis is not without merit; no matter which village, once half of its ninjas have died, no one will want to continue fighting.

It's already a miracle that Sunagakure hasn't collapsed from within; the families of those who died in battle are not so easy to appease.

Tsunade's brows finally relaxed completely, which was good, as she could now fully concentrate on the battle against Mist Village.

After some discussion, the group quickly finalized their battle plan against Mist Village. At the very end, Tsunade seemed to have just realized something.

"The village has recently received another batch of reinforcements. Although the number is small, they are all elite troops."

She turned to Nara Kaoru and instructed her, "You're in charge of settling these people in; make sure nothing goes wrong."

Upon hearing this, Nara's face darkened. It was clear that there was a hidden meaning in his words; there must be some special individuals among this group.

Thinking of the person who had come and gone not long ago, Nara Kaoru couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.

"Lady Tsunade, is Asuma coming again?"

Tsunade looked at Nara Tsunade with a face full of sympathy, and nodded silently without saying a word.

If even the First Hokage's grandson, Nawaki, could go to the battlefield, then why couldn't the Third Hokage's son go to the front lines?

This can only be described as a matter of human relationships and social dynamics. The First Hokage died long ago, but the Third Kazekage is still in power!

Moreover, one son from the Third Kazekage has already died on the battlefield; you can't let another son die out there, leaving the family line without descendants!

Therefore, Nara Kaoru had to find a way to ensure Asuma's safety while also getting him training, which put a lot of pressure on her in assigning tasks.

"Don't overthink it. Since the old man sent his son to the front lines, he must have been mentally prepared. Ninjas need to be trained to grow."

Nara Kaoru glanced at Tsunade speechlessly. "You're just talking without understanding the situation. Only someone like you would say that. If it were someone else, they would probably think that Asuma is being sent to his death."

Jiraiya then stepped in to smooth things over. He couldn't really let Asuma be assigned any dangerous missions; that kid wasn't Taiichi or Minato, and he couldn't handle being tormented like that.

"Kaoru, don't worry too much. If there's no suitable mission, let him patrol the rear and protect the logistics. I'm sure the Third Kazekage Hokage will understand our good intentions."

After finishing his sentence, he quickly changed the subject, picked up the recent task log next to him, and pointed to several names on it with a sigh.

"Tsunade, your Camp is truly full of talented people. It hasn't been long since Taiichi left, and so many talented people have emerged again."

Especially this Shisui Uchiha, who's two years younger than Taiichi, and he's already so powerful. Truly worthy of the Uchiha.

Tsunade glanced at the mission log. She also remembered Shisui Uchiha well; he was an optimistic and cheerful person with good interpersonal relationships.

Most importantly, this guy often follows Taiichi around, and he's often seen Taiichi instructing him on his cultivation.

Jiraiya didn't bring up Shisui for no reason; what he really wanted to talk about was Taiichi.

"I heard that Taiichi has taken the son of the Uchiha Clan Head as his disciple. Did you know about this?"

Tsunade looked at Jiraiya suspiciously. Why did this guy bring this up?

Apprentices can take on apprentices without needing the consent of their masters.

Just like when she took Taiichi as her disciple Jiraiya took Minato as his disciple, no one told Hiruzen Sarutobi about it.

However, thinking of Minato, she already knew what was going on.

Now, everyone in Konoha's upper echelons can see that the Third Kazekage Hokage is grooming Minato to become the Fourth Hokage.

Given Taiichi's current strength and prestige, if he were to bring the Uchiha Clan into the picture, they might very well start eyeing that position.

"What, are you worried that Taiichi will compete with Minato for the Hokage position?"

Tsunade's words were full of disdain, and even her gaze towards Jiraiya was somewhat unfriendly.

"Sigh, who can argue with that? They're both my children. What am I supposed to do if they really start fighting?"

Jiraiya ignored Tsunade's expression and continued to sigh to himself.

Tsunade disliked this about him the most; he hesitated and was indecisive whenever something like this happened.

"You call yourself Taiichi's master? You don't even understand his temperament. This old man can see that much better than you."

Tsunade's merciless mockery sounded like heavenly music to Jiraiya's ears.

As the saying goes, concern leads to confusion, and he has been having a headache over this matter for some time now.

The thought of his two disciples turning against each other over the Hokage Position made his full head of white hair droop involuntarily.

"Taiichi wouldn't compete with Minato for that position; he only took the Uchiha as his disciple for the sake of village stability."

He genuinely wanted the village to live in peace and tranquility; even Minato probably understood that better than you, his teacher.

Jiraiya chuckled foolishly. With Tsunade's Tsunade, he could finally understand. He had simply gotten stuck in a dead end before and couldn't find his way out.

Just as he was about to say something to save face, he spotted Nara Kaoru standing to the side.

Good heavens, this guy saw right through his embarrassing moment! Instantly, seventeen or eighteen ways to "kill him to silence him" popped into his head.