A Glimmer of Light atop the Snowy Peak

The Cloud Shinobi's defeat on the Land of Wind battlefield instantly changed the war situation across the entire Shinobi World. What had begun as large-scale battles had all shifted into localized conflicts, sometimes no more than occasional clashes between a few squads.

It seemed the clouds of war were about to disperse from the Shinobi World.

The aggressive Cloud Shinobi began shrinking their front lines after only a few months. Their break with the Stone Shinobi accelerated their retreat, and they had gradually begun recalling the remnants of their forces from the Land of Wind battlefield.

The Sand Shinobi, who had paid a terrible price to successfully keep the Cloud Shinobi beyond their borders, felt little joy in victory. Unlike Konoha, which would always proactively seek peace after suffering defeat, the life-or-death war against the Cloud Shinobi had thoroughly drained the Sand Shinobi's strength.

Fortunately, two geniuses had emerged, making such a brutal battle not as meaningless as it appeared.

Fourth Kazekage Rasa and the genius Scorch Release user Pakura had become the only top-tier powerhouses the Sand Shinobi could barely present, aside from Chiyo and Ebizo...

"The Stone Shinobi and Cloud Shinobi definitely won't work together wholeheartedly... Minato, you were right..."

Jiraiya stood atop the snowy peak, gazing toward the entire Cloud Shinobi battlefield.

The encirclement tactic they had originally planned had seen no follow-up after Minato's interception battle. The Cloud Shinobi had moved their position twenty kilometers back immediately after the battle, seemingly wary of Minato's Flying Thunder God.

The traps originally set up on this mountain had also become completely useless.

"Jiraiya-sensei, have there been any new developments on the Stone Shinobi battlefield?"

Minato's gaze shifted slightly as he fell into thought.

"Jonin Minato may not know this, but the Cloud Shinobi used the Stone Shinobi's territory to launch their surprise attack on the Sand Shinobi. That was how they managed to hide it from the other great nations..."

"However, when the remnants of the Cloud Shinobi withdrew from the Sand Shinobi Battlefield two days ago, they were ambushed by the Stone Shinobi. Yet most surprisingly, although the Cloud Shinobi paid a certain price, their main force still retreated unscathed..."

Fugaku Uchiha stood quietly to the side, occasionally adding intelligence gathered through his own channels.

Jiraiya had summoned him after calling Minato over precisely to tell him that neither he nor Minato bore any hostility toward the Uchiha Clan, though that was all.

After so many years, Fugaku Uchiha had long seen through Konoha's politics. As a member of the Uchiha Clan, he could never hope for that position unless they staged a coup.

Jiraiya understood this perfectly well. His gesture of goodwill was also a test of the Uchiha Clan's stance, and Fugaku naturally would not refuse.

Although the Uchiha Clan would not openly declare their complete support for Jiraiya, they would still send out their elite as much as possible.

"So even while attacking the Sand Shinobi, the Cloud Shinobi were wary of the Stone Shinobi. That was the only way they could have retreated almost entirely intact from the powerful Stone Shinobi despite suffering defeat..."

"Perhaps the reason the Cloud Shinobi gained almost nothing from trying to take advantage of the Sand Shinobi's plight was also because of certain moves by the Stone Shinobi?"

After thinking it over, Minato felt that this war had begun strangely and unfolded strangely as well. The main battlefields were largely defensive counterattacks, while border battlefields like theirs, which were meant to exert pressure, had become exceptionally brutal.

"Ōnoki has always liked taking advantage of others. He's crafty and scheming.

But from what I know of the Third Raikage's character, there will definitely be a battle between those two ninja villages. The Third Raikage isn't the sort of man who would swallow his anger after being attacked like this..."

"It's just unclear when it will break out..."

Jiraiya chuckled and handed the intelligence scrolls in his hands to Minato and Fugaku Uchiha. They contained all the intelligence from the Stone Shinobi battlefield during this period, as well as the Konoha Analysis Team's analyses of the various scenarios.

"So, for us, the worst-case outcome would be the Stone Shinobi and Cloud Shinobi making peace, the Sand Shinobi and Cloud Shinobi making peace, and the Mist Shinobi crossing the sea to land here from afar, with all four ninja villages attacking Konoha together?"

Fugaku Uchiha flipped through the Analysis Team's various conclusions. He skipped over all the lengthy reasoning and probability projections, carefully reading only every possible conclusion.

Yet this particular result, listed so openly among the speculative conclusions, made him laugh despite himself. He had no idea which brat from the Analysis Team had written the report, but they had actually dared to include such an absurd conclusion in an officially submitted scroll.

"What?"

Jiraiya froze for a moment, then opened one of the scrolls in his hand with a puzzled expression.

Minato smiled silently, somewhat helpless. The village always liked conducting these intelligence analyses. Jiraiya disliked reading them, and even Minato himself was not particularly fond of them. It seemed Jiraiya-sensei had not examined them closely either before bringing them over.

"Hahaha... Which genius wrote this analysis report? I have to meet this 'peerless genius' from the Konoha Analysis Team..."

"My new novel has been lacking inspiration..."

Jiraiya burst into laughter. Based on his years of experience, something like this was nearly impossible unless someone could directly control the Kage of all four great ninja villages.

The Cloud Shinobi and Stone Shinobi alone were already so wary of each other, guarding against a stab in the back from their ally. An alliance of four great ninja villages would absolutely never happen in the Shinobi World—at least, it would never happen in the Shinobi World as it currently stood.

"It really is... somewhat absurd..."

Minato quickly read through it from beginning to end. Although it seemed to make some sense, the conclusion was simply too shocking. For a moment, even he found it difficult to believe...

"Let's go... It's almost time to head back..."

Jiraiya put away the scrolls and smiled faintly, anticipation appearing on his face as well.

Looking down from the snowy peak, an endless Haku landscape stretched into the distance. The leaping ninja and towering dead branches resembled tiny streaks of ink. It was such a pure, pale ink-wash painting that it possessed a rare and pristine beauty even without much embellishment.

After the three left the snowy peak, a breeze swept through its tranquility. Snowflakes gently fell from branches not far away, and in a corner of the earth, a Haku humanoid creature slowly emerged with a faint movement.

It looked like a human, yet not quite. When it suddenly spoke, its voice was neither male nor female.

"Tsk, tsk... It seems I heard something interesting... Four great ninja villages besieging Konoha... I really want to try it..."

"But... there's also Madara's mission... Madara's mission? What was it again?"

The strange humanoid creature, hidden among dead trees beneath the snow and so pale it nearly blended into the Haku surroundings, tilted its head as though trying to recall something. It seemed to have forgotten something important, only a minute ago.

"Test Subject No. 9 failed. Concealment and sensory abilities perfect. Memory capacity partially deficient. Personality inheritance partially missing..."

The cold, harsh voice that suddenly came from behind it seemed to shock the humanoid creature greatly. Its mouth fell open, yet no matter what it did, it could not utter a word.

Its entire body rapidly shriveled, completely swallowed by a mass of thick black slime. In an instant, a half-black, half-Haku humanoid creature was born anew.

Aside from its half-black, half-Haku coloration, the two humanoid creatures appeared to have been cast from the same mold. The half-black, half-Haku creature slowly spoke, its voice entirely unchanged.

"Tsk, tsk... It seems I heard something interesting... Four great ninja villages besieging Konoha... I really want to try it..."