Spring passed and autumn came. Time flew by, and before long, another year had gone by.
Several major events took place in the Shinobi World during that year.
The first was the alliance negotiations between Konoha and Kirigakure.
At first, Yagura, the candidate for Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure, had firmly rejected Konoha's various demands. He had even demanded that Konoha return the Three-Tails.
But after holding out for a while, Yagura could no longer withstand the pressure from within his village. He hastily agreed to the alliance—though, of course, at no small cost.
The price was even steeper than what Kumogakure and Iwagakure had paid.
On top of the terms imposed on Kumogakure and Iwagakure, Kirigakure also had to pay Konoha an additional sum and return the Byakugan it had captured on the battlefield.
Of course, that last demand was one Ye Ning had made in secret.
Having finally obtained a Byakugan belonging to the Hyuga Main Family, Ye Ning naturally handed it over to Orochimaru for study.
What if Orochimaru could somehow figure out how to evolve it into the Tenseigan?
The other major event was the war between Iwagakure and Kumogakure.
Just as in the original story, ten thousand Iwagakure Shinobi launched a surprise attack on Kumogakure's forces. The Third Raikage chose to stay behind and cover their retreat, and was ultimately worn down by the ten thousand Iwagakure Shinobi within the Land of Earth.
Yagura and A succeeded their predecessors as Fourth Mizukage and Fourth Raikage in turn. The Third Shinobi World War gradually drew to a close, and the Shinobi World entered a new era.
Of course, Ye Ning didn't care much about any of that.
What he cared about more was Yagura, the Fourth Mizukage of Kirigakure.
According to the original story, Rin would die