Iwagakure: They Were Definitely Here to Provoke Me!

Damn it, did he really think Hanzō was made of clay?

Black Iron Sand rose into the air, swirling around the Third Kazekage.

Yet the Third Kazekage showed no intention of turning around. He would never place Hanzō on the same level as himself.

"Amegakure has no right to choose. Neither do you. How you choose is entirely up to you."

Cooperate?

Why should Sunagakure cooperate with you?

As for siding with Konoha, that was even more impossible. It would only make Iwagakure raise the stakes.

In the end, there was only one outcome: Amegakure and the Land of Rain had no choice, nor could they escape.

"Hmph! I hope you won't regret this."

After leaving behind that threat, Hanzō charged into the rain curtain and quickly vanished among the mountains.

Faced with the Third Kazekage's threats and mockery, Hanzō had no intention of compromising.

He did not want his village and country to suffer an undeserved disaster, but he would never bow his head to the Five Kage.

After all... once he lowered his head, he would never be able to raise it again.

For someone like Hanzō, who wanted to stand on equal footing with the Five Kage, such an outcome was more unbearable than death.

"What a fool."

What did he think he was? He wanted to become the Rain Kage and stand on equal footing with the Five Kage?

Did Amegakure have a choice?

No!

As Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure played their game, Amegakure was nothing more than a sacrifice.

Hanzō had no room to choose either, unless he could transform from a demigod into a true god.

Without that kind of strength, even obtaining some of Konoha's intelligence would be useless.

At most, it would make the situation even more chaotic.

After staying in the camp for several days, Tsunade returned to the village. Just as she had said, the village dispatched a group of shinobi who entered the Land of Rain openly and without restraint.

Konoha sending people into the Land of Rain was a response to Sunagakure's provocation.

Sunagakure, which had deliberately provoked them, certainly would not show weakness. It transferred the shinobi who had been running around the Land of Rivers into the Land of Rain.

For a time, the situation in the Land of Rain shifted, and the atmosphere grew tense.

The Land of Rain bordered the Land of Fire, the Land of Wind, and the Land of Earth. When Konoha and Sunagakure sent people into the Land of Rain, Iwagakure, which had originally been just a bystander, immediately became uneasy.

What were Konoha and Sunagakure trying to do by sending people into the Land of Rain?

That was no way to provoke someone. If they really wanted a fight, they should go to the Land of Rivers. Why were they jumping around in the Land of Rain?

That was right. In Iwagakure's eyes, Sunagakure and Konoha's actions were a provocation.

If Konoha merely wanted to clash with Sunagakure, it could have acted directly from the Land of Rivers. There was no need to go out of its way and stir things up in the Land of Rain.

Konoha's plan was aimed at Amegakure, but Iwagakure would not see it that way.

Was a tiny Amegakure really worth Konoha taking so seriously?

Their real goal was probably elsewhere.

An important meeting was held in the Tsuchikage Office Building. Soon afterward, a force of Iwagakure shinobi also entered the Land of Rain.

For a time, the atmosphere in the Land of Rain became thick with the smell of gunpowder, one that even the endless rain could not wash away.

A chaotic situation filled with tension naturally led to friction, and friction led to battle.

The medical ward's beds, which had been unused for more than half a year, finally came in handy.

If injured people had not been sent over from the Land of Rain, Jingyi would have nearly forgotten that he was the camp's medical-nin.

The situation in the Land of Rain was chaotic, but it did not affect the border camp.

After all, the border camp's main purpose was reconnaissance and buffering, not sending its people charging onto the battlefield to kill enemies. As long as it ensured no enemy forces crossed over from the Land of Rain into the Land of Fire, the camp's mission was complete.

Once the conflict intensified or war broke out, the village would dispatch additional people.

But by then, the camp would become a logistics hub for wartime resources.

Konoha had no intention of fighting a war of aggression. If possible, the Third Hokage would rather hold several more Five Kage Summits and allow the Shinobi World to develop peacefully.

After all, the other villages lacked Konoha's natural advantages. When it came to development, only Kumogakure could put up a challenge.

Konoha possessed excellent natural advantages, a massive population, and a large shinobi base. It also had the most shinobi among the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

Although Kumogakure was working hard to catch up, surpassing Konoha would take a very long time, and that was assuming Kumogakure had the money.

Iwagakure was still the same as ever, always relying on mass troop production. Without natural advantages or economic advantages, it simply churned out shinobi and built an Earth Release corps.

Kirigakure... was still caught up in internal strife. At least before the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, took office, it would be difficult for Kirigakure to launch an external war. At most, it could join in the excitement.

Sunagakure occupied the most barren land in the Shinobi World, yet possessed the greatest ambitions.

Perhaps because its land was too barren and its population too small, Sunagakure had always lusted after the Land of Fire, constantly wanting to pounce on it, take a bite, and fill its stomach.

Its provocations in the Land of Rivers and the Land of Rain were the best proof.

Besides being driven by ambition, the biggest reason was that Sunagakure had already squeezed out all of its development potential. Its growth had stagnated, and to keep climbing, it needed more resources, population, and money.

Without enough population, resources, and money to develop, its growth had stagnated for years, leaving it spinning in place while neighboring Konoha grew stronger every year. How could Sunagakure possibly sit still?

Konoha did not mind if the Five Great Shinobi Villages developed peacefully, but Sunagakure did. Sunagakure was absolutely unwilling to accept such an arrangement.

Small conflicts continued, but there were no large-scale battles, and the situation stabilized like that.

Though the smell of gunpowder remained heavy, none of the three sides took the initiative to break the deadlock.

Because they feared being ganged up on.

The situation in the Land of Rain remained relatively stable, and Jingyi was more than happy for it to stay that way.

At least until he rotated back to the village, the conflict should not intensify any further.

Once the conflict escalated or a local war broke out, rotation would become nothing but a dream. Every shinobi in the camp would be kept behind to continue holding their posts.

By the end of the year, Jingyi and the other shinobi rotating out with him set off on the road back to the village.

Everyone wore joyous smiles, because once they returned to the village, they could celebrate a lively New Year with their families.

They were back.

Looking at Konoha's somewhat shabby gate, Jingyi found it strangely comforting.

Spending a year stationed at the border camp had truly been grueling.

First, he would go to a hot spring inn, take a hot bath, eat something, then go home and rest.

Jingyi did not go looking for Tsunade. With the year drawing to a close and the changing situation in the Shinobi World, Tsunade had been very busy lately. She might even have been in a meeting at the Hokage Office Building right then.

After finding a hot spring inn and choosing a private bath, Jingyi took his ticket to the changing room and changed clothes.

As he soaked his body in the somewhat scalding water, Jingyi let out a long breath.

Sure enough, being back in the village was more comfortable. Even taking a hot bath at the border camp had been troublesome, and food was even worse—Root offered barely any choices at all.

Soaking in the hot spring, Jingyi comfortably closed his eyes and began to feel a little drowsy.

After taking a hot bath, his entire body felt much more relaxed.

Jingyi rubbed his stomach and decided to have some barbecue to soothe his hungry belly. He had spent the past two days rushing along the road, chewing dry rations the entire way.

He arrived at a barbecue restaurant run by the Akimichi, found an empty seat, and promptly ordered a large amount of meat.

[Dear ones, please send some gifts to urge more updates. Love you all!]