The End of the Third Shinobi World War

The Land of Grass.

The early spring wind swept across the vast plains of the Land of Grass, which should have presented a thriving scene, but now it was a completely different story.

The smell of burning and a faint stench of blood wafted straight into one's nostrils, and even the continuous spring breeze couldn't dispel it.

Looking around, the once undulating hills have been ravaged by Ninjutsu, leaving behind only old scars, exposed pale rocks and reddish-brown soil.

A few scattered trees, stubbornly surviving, with their twisted branches and only a few new buds sprouting, are the only signs that spring has arrived.

At this time, the outer perimeter of the Iwagakure front-line command post had been reinforced with layers of Earth Style, resembling an earthen city that had grown out of the ground, almost blending into the ravaged land.

This is all because of Konoha's relentless offensives recently, which have forced Iwagakure to repeatedly reinforce its Camp, and it is the only reason why Iwagakure can still hold out here.

When Kitsuchi lifted the curtain of the Central Army Tent, a mixture of sweat, blood, and a suffocatingly thick, acrid air rushed out, almost suffocating the senses.

In the vast camp, led by Higashishinin, several Jonin and strategists all turned their gazes toward Kitsuchi, who entered the camp.

All eyes, filled with inquiry, weariness, and a hint of barely perceptible relief, silently focused on the Kitsuchi.

Without uttering any further words, Kitsuchi simply took out a scroll sealed with sealing wax from his bosom.

His steps were heavy as he walked forward, placing the scroll on the map in front of the Higashishinin.

It was pressing down on the red cross that marked "Kannabi Bridge" as now reduced to ruins.

The calloused fingers of the Higashishinin paused slightly, his gaze shifting downwards until it slowly landed on the scroll.

He hesitated for a moment, his fingertips tracing the sealing wax bearing the Iwagakure mark, before finally untying it.

As his rough fingers unfurled the scroll, his gaze fell upon those few clear yet weighty words.

"Ceasefire" and "Peace Negotiations".

The face that had been hesitant just a moment ago suddenly began to tremble violently for some reason; it was a mixture of anger, helplessness, and even a hint of defeat.

As the village order was announced, the oppressive silence was broken by a low, guttural roar, like that of a wounded beast.

"Peace talks?!"

A burly ninja, with half his face wrapped in blood-soaked bandages, slammed his hand on the Jonin, causing the wooden table to groan under its weight.

His single remaining eye burned with the flames of humiliation as he stared intently at the scroll in the hands of the Higashishinin.

"The war has come to this! So many of our brothers are buried far from home. And now Third Kazekage of officials are telling us to retreat like stray dogs, wagging our tails in defeat?"

The Kannabi Bridge has collapsed! But the bones of Iwagakure are still intact!

He waved his fist, spitting as it landed on his face covered in Kitsuchi.

"If we run out of Resupply, I'll still smash it with my fists! I'll still bite it with my teeth! Even if I'm willing to risk my life, I'll still bite off a piece of that blond-haired guy from Konoha."

"That's right! Ōnoki is confused!"

Another voice immediately followed, with an incredibly sharp tone.

"We're just short on Resupply, not that everyone's dead!"

No matter how strong Minato Namikaze, how many people can he kill by himself?

How can the souls of those fallen heroes rest in peace if peace is sought now?

When has our Iwagakure ever been so pathetic?

Before Kitsuchi arrived, the camp was still discussing shrinking the defensive line, but then the village lost interest in fighting, and everyone suddenly became united in their hatred of the enemy.

The angry shouts collided and echoed in the small space. Several Jonin stood up at the same time, their eyes fierce, as if they were about to draw their swords at any moment.

The Kitsuchi stood tall and imposing, like a silent and steadfast giant rock, enduring the onslaught of doubts.

His voice wasn't loud, but it was exceptionally steady, cutting through the noise. "Shut up! There are plenty of elders in the village who Militant Faction; why would they agree to such a decision..."

He glanced around at each face contorted with anger and confusion, his gaze finally settling on the scroll clutched tightly in the Higashishinin's hand.

"That's because the Third Kazekage adults saw further ahead."

Silence fell over the tent, and Kitsuchi's voice also lowered, but every word seemed to be squeezed out from the depths of his chest.

"The Kannabi Bridge has been destroyed, our Resupply lines have been cut off, and further supplies are nowhere in sight."

Although Konoha's western front appears exhausted, they have already redeployed manpower from the southern front, and the war potential on their homeland is far from being depleted.

Let's look at us again----"

He suddenly pointed towards the Land of Earth and roared at the crowd, "You have already retreated there. Beyond that lies the territory of the Land of Earth."

"We're already Cloud Village. Do you really want Konoha to invade the Land of Earth and wreak havoc as well?"

He took a deep breath, suppressing the dryness in his throat.

"The Third Kazekage Hokage faced immense pressure to make this decision. This is not cowardice, but the future of Iwagakure, so that the ninjas can go back to see their parents, wives, and children!"

So that—we may have another chance to stand up again!

Those words, like cold awls, pierced the frenzied Utakata.

The impassioned denunciations in the command center came to an abrupt halt, leaving only heavy, suppressed breathing.

The enraged Jonin slowly sat back down, their jaws clenched, the muscles in their cheeks bulging violently, clearly still filled with resentment.

Higashishinin closed his eyes briefly, and when he opened them again, the intense emotions surging in his eyes had been replaced by a heavy, resigned weariness.

He slowly rolled up the scroll, a movement that seemed to have exhausted all his strength.

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping over every somber face in the command post, his voice hoarse and dry.

"Pass down the order—all units of the army, consolidate your defensive lines."

He paused for a moment, as if trying to swallow the immense humiliation.

"A request for a ceasefire and peace talks has been sent to Konoha."

Several days later, in Konoha, at the Hokage Building.

The heavy wooden door was tightly shut, and outside the window was a clear spring sky, but the air inside the office felt like solidified lead.

Hiruzen Sarutobi sat behind his large desk, the smoke from his breath swirling around his furrowed brow.

The two Advisor, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu, sat on either side, their faces equally gloomy.

Before them lay two intelligence scrolls, one from the western front's Minato unit, a brief report on the battlefield situation after the complete destruction of the Kannabi Bridge;

The other document came from the Anbu), written in hasty and hurried handwriting, detailing Orochimaru's forces on the Northern Front encountering a fierce counterattack from the elite Cloud Village (Orochimaru Village).

"----Those lunatics from Cloud Village, even at this point, they're still so aggressive. They're clearly at a disadvantage, yet they still dare to organize a counterattack."

Utatane Koharu, her fingertips tapping on the blood-stained numbers on the report.

"On the western front— Iwagakure is clearly in dire straits, but it's still stubbornly holding on, which means we can't spare any manpower to support the Northern Front."

Mitokado Homura pushed up his glasses, his eyes behind the lenses filled with anxiety.

"We're like a rope being pulled between two ends—"

He sighed and didn't say anything more.

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that the war had reached this point and all the major ninja villages were exhausted.

Everyone's holding on, seeing who breaks down first.

If Konoha were to concede first, not to mention Cloud Village and Iwagakure, even Sunagakure, which had already signed a peace treaty with Konoha, would want to take another piece of flesh from Konoha.

What troubles him even more now is the presence of Madara Uchiha in the shadows and his forces.

This is far more threatening than the other four major ninja villages.

He was unclear about Madara Uchiha's specific purpose, but as a traitor to Konoha, he had absolutely no goodwill towards Konoha.

Just as Hiruzen Sarutobi was debating whether to send Taiichi the front lines again, an urgent intelligence report from the Western Front Battlefield arrived.

After waving away the messenger ninja, Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the intelligence report in his hand, which contained less than a hundred words. Finally, he exhaled a long, extremely slow breath, and smoke billowed out.

He gently placed his pipe on the table, leaned forward slightly, and gazed at the blue sky symbolizing peace outside the closed window. His voice was clear, as if a heavy burden had been suddenly lifted from his shoulders.

Peace negotiations

His fingertips tapped the table unconsciously, making a soft tapping sound, and a satisfied smile appeared on his face.

"It seems that the collapse of Kannabi Bridge, along with our western offensive, has finally made that stubborn old man, Ōnoki— "

Having come to terms with reality.

He handed the information to Utatane Koharu and Mitokado Homura, noticing the excited smiles on their faces.

"Since Iwagakure is willing to back down, this is a godsend opportunity to breathe! Immediately begin drafting the framework for peace terms."

His voice suddenly became more forceful. This was an opportunity; Konoha had to extricate itself from the quagmire of war as soon as possible.

"A ceasefire agreement must be reached! Konoha —must free up its resources! Our true enemy is no longer on this visible battlefield!"

The immense shadow cast by the name "Madara Uchiha" instantly overshadowed all the swordplay and fighting on the map.

Since news of peace talks arrived on the Western Front Battlefield, the intensity of the fighting has decreased by several orders of magnitude.

But this is only the visible attack.

In order to facilitate peace talks and demonstrate Konoha's sincerity in the negotiations, Konoha's direct offensive against Iwagakure has almost come to a standstill.

However, this does not mean that Konoha has taken any other actions.

To prevent Iwagakure from using peace talks as a pretext to catch their breath, a large number of ninja squads originally assigned to frontal attacks were instead diverted to infiltrating behind enemy lines.

The purpose was to completely cut off Iwagakure's Resupply, so that even if Iwagakure took a detour, they would not be able to send a single grain of food to the front lines.

This covert war continued until—

High above a certain position in Konoha, Minato Namikaze stood silently.

His signature blond hair fluttered gently in the spring breeze, and his azure eyes, like a calm, deep sea, reflected the retreating army of Iwagakure.

Behind him were Akimichi Choza and Inoichi Yamanaka, who would act as supervisors, watching over the Iwagakure Ninja as they gradually withdrew from the Land of Grass.

The same scene was also happening at the Konoha Camp, but unlike Iwagakure, Konoha could maintain a certain garrison in the Land of Grass.

This is arguably the only aspect of the ceasefire agreement that allows Konoha to retain a semblance of dignity.

The Konoha Ninja in the Camp remained silent, without cheers or celebrations. Only a heavy, post-disaster exhaustion permeated the Camp.

This protracted tug-of-war has finally come to a temporary halt.

It's just unknown when the next great war will begin.

With the start of peace talks between Konoha and Iwagakure, although disputes between the two villages still exist on the front lines, the intensity has ultimately decreased by several levels.

This finally freed up manpower for other aspects of the war.

For Konoha, that naturally meant the Northern Battlefield against Cloud Village.

Orochimaru lived up to expectations, launching a fierce counterattack against Cloud Village with ample manpower and resources.

While Konoha and Iwagakure signed a peace treaty, they also pushed their battle lines with Cloud Village into the Land of Moon, essentially reaching the doorstep of the Land of Lightning.

The Land of Earth, the frontline Camp of the Cloud Village.

Since the Third Raikage personally took command at the front lines, the Cloud Village has been winning victory after victory in its war against the Iwagakure.

The battle lines continued to advance into the heart of the Land of Earth with each victory.

As the battle lines stretched out, various problems arose. Not only did the resistance from Iwagakure become increasingly tenacious, but their own logistical Resupply also became increasingly strained.

But all these disadvantages pale in comparison to the intelligence that has just arrived.

"Is that short, ugly idiot Ōnoki's head filled with dog shit? Is he admitting defeat by making peace with Konoha now?"

This was followed by a string of local slang from the Land of Lightning, which generally meant to warmly greet Ōnoki's ancestors and descendants.

After the Raikage smashed another table and three chairs, and finally calmed down, Karui, who was standing to the side, spoke up calmly.

"Lord Raikage, Ōnoki's ceasefire with Konoha at this time is probably not only because he is no match for Konoha, but also because he wants to deal with us."

The voice was soft, but the tone was very certain, clearly indicating that it had been carefully considered.

The Raikage was no fool, of course. The war between Konoha and Iwagakure was fierce and spectacular, but ultimately it was a battle fought in the Land of Grass.

The Cloud Village has already advanced to the heart of the Land of Earth. Compared to the Konoha, the Cloud Village is the Iwagakure's greatest threat.

Meanwhile, Iwagakure and Konoha reached a ceasefire agreement, so the troops stationed in the Land of Grass—

Thinking of this, the Third Raikage suddenly turned around and walked a few steps to the strategic map hanging in the tent.

The Raikage pointed to the location of his troops on the map, then drew a line from the Land of Grass towards his own forces.

Now, even an ordinary person who knows nothing about military affairs, let alone the Raikage and Karui, can see that Iwagakure is trying to surround the Cloud Village forces.

"Lord Raikage, let's retreat a bit. Our battle lines are too long, and our Resupply are running out!"

Karui's words were quite veiled; they were worried about the Resupply being too long, not about being surrounded by Iwagakure.

But she was ultimately not the Raikage himself.

"Withdraw?! Are you kidding me!"

The Third Raikage's roar was like rolling thunder; if it weren't for the Soundproof Barrier in the tent, half the Camp could hear it clearly.

His imposing figure stood before the map, his bronze muscles bulging and gleaming with a cold, metallic sheen in the dim light.

He stared at the map showing the positions of both sides, constantly calculating in his mind.

"How long have I been chasing those rock rats from Iwagakure? How many of their toughest bones have I gnawed off?"

The Raikage muttered to himself, it was unclear whether he was speaking to himself or to Karui beside him.

"We're about to reap the final rewards, and now Konoha and those rocky bastards are flirting with each other, thinking they can just make me tuck my tail between my legs and get lost?"

He abruptly crumpled the intelligence report on the peace talks between Konoha and Iwagakure into a ball, and then, with a flash of lightning, the entire report turned to dust amidst thunder.

He stepped out of the tent and looked at the Cloud Village Army outside, whose morale was high. This Cloud Village Army had fought alongside him until now, and he was filled with ambition.

"Isn't Ōnoki trying to surround me? I'll defy his wishes."

"Karui, give the order: assemble all the elite troops! I want to break through Iwagakure forces before they can surround us!"