The Shinobi World on the Verge of Turmoil

After Chiyu completed the mission to wipe out the bandits, Orochimaru did not immediately take him back to Konoha. Instead, he brought Chiyu to meet the daimyo of the Land of Rice Fields.

However, Chiyu did not accompany Orochimaru to meet the daimyo of the Land of Rice Fields. Orochimaru had him stay behind at the inn to rest.

Lying on the bed, Chiyu pondered Orochimaru's meeting with the daimyo of the Land of Rice Fields.

Otogakure, which Orochimaru would leave Konoha to establish in the future, seemed to be located within the Land of Rice Fields.

Orochimaru had bribed the daimyo of the Land of Rice Fields to establish Otogakure within his country, but Otogakure was not employed by the Land of Rice Fields.

In other words, Otogakure was Otogakure, and the Land of Rice Fields was the Land of Rice Fields. The two had nothing to do with each other.

Had Orochimaru already gotten involved with the daimyo of the Land of Rice Fields at this point in time?

No wonder Orochimaru was supposed to succeed.

Uh... it seemed like he had not succeeded either.

But he had successfully established his own hidden village in the Land of Rice Fields, and he had successfully developed the forbidden technique Living Corpse Reincarnation, which was practically equivalent to gaining eternal life.

Looking at Orochimaru's life as a whole, most of it had been fairly successful. It was just that his obsession with the Sharingan later became too deep and caused him to fail.

But even after failing, Orochimaru still lived perfectly well until the end.

Orochimaru did not return that night. It was only after Chiyu woke up the following morning that Orochimaru returned to the inn.

"Let's go. We're heading back to Konoha."

Chiyu and Orochimaru set out on their journey back to the village.

After arriving at the village, Orochimaru first took Chiyu to turn in the mission, then went to see Hiruzen Sarutobi.

Inside the Hokage's office.

Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe and said kindly to Chiyu, "Chiyu, your first mission after becoming a ninja was a C-rank Mission, and you carried it out very well."

Chiyu bowed. "Thank you very much for the trust Lord Hokage and Teacher Orochimaru have placed in me."

Hiruzen Sarutobi said approvingly, "That was because of your own hard work. Orochimaru has praised you highly, saying that you possess exceptional talent and train very diligently."

"It is thanks to Teacher Orochimaru's guidance. Without Teacher Orochimaru, I would not have become stronger so quickly."

Chiyu genuinely meant those words.

Without Orochimaru's instruction, Chiyu might still have been grinding away in training with twice the effort for half the result.

Having a good teacher was simply too important. It allowed one to avoid many detours.

Orochimaru had indeed been teaching him wholeheartedly.

Although Chiyu remained wary of Orochimaru, he was genuinely grateful to him as well.

Orochimaru's future obsession was the Sharingan. As long as Orochimaru did not want his Sharingan, there would be no conflict of interest between them. Perhaps in the future, Orochimaru would still be his teacher, and Chiyu would still be his disciple.

Before Hiruzen Sarutobi, Orochimaru was also generous with his praise for Chiyu. "Chiyu is outstanding by nature. Though this was his first mission, both the plan he formulated and its execution were extremely well done. He was even better than some Chunin who have carried out many missions."

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a puff from his pipe and sighed. "This is the first time I've heard you praise a ninja so highly, Orochimaru. It seems you are very satisfied with Chiyu as your disciple."

Orochimaru glanced at Chiyu, smiled, and nodded. "I am indeed very satisfied."

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled as well. Then his expression turned solemn, and without avoiding Chiyu, he said to Orochimaru, "Orochimaru, the shinobi world is already on the verge of turmoil."

Orochimaru asked in a deep voice, "Have the other hidden villages begun stirring?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi took out a map and spread it across the desk, then began analyzing the situation. "Yes. According to the intelligence that has come back, Iwagakure shinobi have appeared along the border where the Land of Waterfalls meets the Land of Fire.

Kumogakure shinobi have appeared along the border where the Land of Hot Water meets the Land of Fire.

There is no need to mention Sunagakure. They have always caused us trouble along the Land of Fire's border from time to time.

Kirigakure's situation remains unclear. I have written several letters to the Mizukage of Kirigakure, but have received no replies."

Orochimaru frowned slightly. "So Iwagakure and Kumogakure have already begun testing Konoha step by step. If both sides are doing this, they may have already formed an alliance. If Sunagakure is added as well, then three of the Five Great Ninja Villages have set their sights on Konoha."

Hiruzen Sarutobi exhaled a somewhat frustrated cloud of smoke. "Yes, so the situation is far from optimistic. I had wanted to form an alliance with Kirigakure, but it seems there will be no result now. It would already be good enough if Kirigakure does not join them."

Orochimaru looked at the markings on the map, pondered for a moment, then asked, "What is the situation now? Are Iwagakure and Kumogakure testing us intensely?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head. "Not yet. They have not fully crossed into the Land of Fire's border, but at this rate, the day they enter the Land of Fire's borders is not far off. For now, they should merely be testing Konoha's attitude.

I have dispatched Sakumo to guard the border between the Land of Waterfalls and the Land of Fire.

I have also sent Jiraiya to the border between the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Fire. He happens to be teaching Minato, so he can directly temper Minato on the battlefield.

With them there, we do not need to worry about war breaking out immediately, at least for now. However, localized clashes will probably begin within the next two years."

With a grave expression, Hiruzen Sarutobi said word by word, "Only a few years have passed since the end of the Second Great Ninja War, and there are already signs that war is beginning again. Moreover, this war may very well be a war aimed directly at Konoha!"

The First Great Ninja War had mainly erupted because of the war between Konoha and Kumogakure.

Not long after Hashirama Senju died, the First Great Ninja War broke out.

The shinobi world had remained peaceful before because of the deterrent power of Hashirama Senju, the God of Shinobi.

After Hashirama Senju's death, the sole source of deterrence was gone. Kumogakure was the first to challenge Konoha and declare war, after which the other hidden villages were drawn into the war as well.

The Second Great Ninja War had erupted because of unbalanced economic development.

As economic disparities between nations widened, militarist factions in various countries rose under the banner of expanding equitable privileges, promoting the use of force to expand territory. Thus began the Second Great Ninja War.

The main battlefields of those two wars had not been in the Land of Fire.

Now, it seemed that the Third Great Ninja War was not far away.

If the four great hidden villages targeted Konoha at the same time, then the Land of Fire would become the main battlefield.

When that time came, the Land of Fire, as the main battlefield, would inevitably suffer devastating losses.

Orochimaru's expression turned somewhat grim as well. He stared silently at the map, deep in thought.

Chiyu was somewhat surprised as he listened to the conversation between Hiruzen Sarutobi and Orochimaru.

Were there already signs of war at this point?

But on second thought, it was about time.

If that was the case, then the day Kumogakure's shinobi kidnapped Kushina Uzumaki was not far off either.