Declaration of War (Seeking Collection, Recommendations, and Monthly Votes)

The eerie calm didn't last more than a few days.

Just three days later, Sunagakure could no longer suppress the internal strife splitting the village into two factions. Elder Chiyo and the Suna Elder Council decided to turn internal conflict into external conflict.

Otherwise, before the war even began, their Sunagakure might have crumbled apart.

So Sunagakure announced to the entire shinobi world.

Their Third Kazekage—the one hailed as the strongest Kazekage in history—was dead!

The moment this news broke, the entire shinobi world was thrown into uproar.

A Kage—the supreme leader of a village, its symbol, the backbone of every ninja in it—and the Third Kazekage, still in his prime, had simply died just like that?

Then, what made the shinobi world even more stunned was Sunagakure's follow-up: the culprit behind their Third Kazekage's assassination was Konoha!

Pointing the finger at Konoha so openly left no room for doubt about their intentions.

Sunagakure had long held an irreconcilable grudge against Konoha. During the Second Great Ninja War, countless Suna-nin had died at the hands of Konoha Ninja, including Elder Chiyo's daughter-in-law and son—two prodigious Kage-level warriors!

And the one who killed them, rising to fame in the process, was Hatake Sakumo, known as the "Konoha White Fang."

Though the White Fang was now dead, Chiyo's hatred for Konoha had not diminished one bit.

Chiyo's grudge against Konoha, given her immense influence in Sunagakure, naturally became Sunagakure's grudge against Konoha.

So the first village to step forward, which the entire shinobi world had been waiting for, finally appeared.

It wasn't the most active Iwa-nin, nor the most obvious Kirigakure, but the quiet Suna-nin who had kept to themselves all along.

But no matter who it was, their appearance was good news for the other Hidden Villages.

Sunagakure unanimously agreed on this narrative.

Though many saw plenty of holes in the story of the Third Kazekage's death, no one dared speak up in the current situation. By turning their hostility outward, the internal conflict was conveniently resolved.

So the next day, led by the two elders Chiyo and Ebizo, Sunagakure entered the Land of Rain, pressing straight toward the Land of Fire's border.

At the same time, the leader of Iwagakure, the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki of Both Scales, announced to the entire shinobi world that Iwa was also declaring war on Konoha, condemning Konoha's unjust act of assassinating another Hidden Village's leader.

Anyone with eyes could see that Iwagakure was just using this as an excuse—they'd been itching for a fight all along.

The Third Tsuchikage was a crafty old fox. The one who first plunged the shinobi world into turmoil was him, with his restless movements creating the impression that Iwagakure was about to attack Konoha, subtly stirring up the other villages to create the illusion of Konoha being surrounded, making war inevitable.

The simultaneous declarations of war from Suna and Iwa put Konoha in a very passive position.

But misfortune never comes alone. What truly dragged Konoha into the quagmire of war was their ally Kumogakure unilaterally tearing up the alliance, with the Third Raikage leading a massive army to attack Konoha!

In an instant, three of the Four Great Hidden Villages outside Konoha had declared war on it.

As for Kirigakure, which had been so active before, it suddenly fell silent. No one knew what they were planning.

The shinobi world, which had been calm just a few days ago, had turned into this in the span of three or four days.

Minor Hidden Villages and ordinary civilians were all on edge.

The entire shinobi world was gripped by the terror of war.

Konoha.

The highest-level meeting room in the Hokage Building.

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Shimura Danzō, Utatane Koharu, and Mitokado Homura—Konoha's four top leaders—presided over this meeting.

All jōnin in Konoha attended.

Danzō, sitting beside Hiruzen, shot him a look filled with barely suppressed resentment.

Again.

It had come to this again.

Hiruzen Sarutobi's indecisiveness had led Konoha into the awkward position of facing three Great Hidden Villages at once.

If Hiruzen had listened to him earlier and launched a preemptive strike, crushing just one village, Konoha wouldn't have been so passive.

Even against a powerful village like Iwagakure, Danzō was confident that one-on-one, Iwa was no match for Konoha.

Destroy one to deter the other three, and once Konoha recovered, it would have the strength to swallow the entire shinobi world.

But it was too late for all that now.

Hiruzen knew his old friend's resentment, but he had no regrets. He had his own convictions, his own philosophy.

Those things were above all else.

After briefly laying out the situation to all the assembled jōnin, the meeting room fell silent, the faint killing intent growing thicker by the moment.

Konoha didn't like war and didn't start wars, but that didn't mean it feared them!

Hiruzen was satisfied with this atmosphere.

This was what he stood for.

"Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Tsunade." Hiruzen called out the names of his three most trusted disciples.

They were one of Konoha's greatest assets.

Orochimaru licked his lips with a faint, elusive smile, saying nothing.

Jiraiya stood up with a bold flourish, shedding his usual carefree demeanor that roamed the ninja world. When Jiraiya got serious, you could fully trust him.

Tsunade didn't have the same commanding presence as the two of them, but she possessed a great weapon they couldn't match—one that made even the gods step aside when unleashed.

"Orochimaru, the Land of Waterfalls. Jiraiya, the Land of Hot Water. Tsunade, the Land of Rain!" Hiruzen Sarutobi assigned the complex battlefields to the three of them with crisp clarity.

He waved a hand. "Get ready, each of you. Leave as soon as possible."

The three nodded and turned to depart without another word.

As they left, many of the jonin in the conference room followed them out.

There was no lengthy pre-war mobilization; after all this buildup, everything that needed preparing had mostly been handled during the Chunin Exams.

Though they hadn't expected Sunagakure to strike first instead of Iwagakure, the end result was the same.

After the mass exodus of jonin, Hiruzen Sarutobi glanced at Danzo.

As old partners who had worked together for decades, one look from Hiruzen was enough for Danzo to grasp his meaning.

Though Danzo strongly disapproved of Hiruzen's indecisiveness, this was clearly not the time for arguments.

Leaning on his cane, Danzo slowly rose to his feet. "If Kirigakure dares to set foot on land, none of them are going back."

An aura of chilling killing intent surged from the aged Danzo.

Gazing at the conference room, now half-empty, Hiruzen Sarutobi let out a heavy sigh.

Whether Konoha could survive this depended on whether their efforts over the years had paid off.

At times like this, Hiruzen couldn't help but think of Hatake Sakumo.

If Sakumo were still alive, Konoha would certainly have more breathing room.

And though he was the Hokage, various reasons kept him from the battlefield—he needed to guard Konoha's rear and coordinate the overall strategy.

If he took the field himself, it would signal that Konoha had exhausted its options, a message that would spur the other villages into even fiercer attacks.

"Everyone, let's protect Konoha together. Prepare everything thoroughly so our comrades on the battlefield can fight without worry."

"Yes!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi turned to Nara Shikaku. "Shikaku, I'm leaving the supply line layout to you."

"Yes!"

He could only hope that in this chaotic era, Konoha would give rise to more, and more, and more heroes.