Annihilation

The black figure leaped continuously through the woods. Breathing in the icy air left Miao's mind clear and cool. A cold wind swept past, lifting the bangs that covered his right eye. At some point, Miao's eyes had turned into scarlet Sharingan. Three tomoe spun rapidly around a black central point. The three tomoe slowly connected, while the solid black dot between them hollowed out and merged with the three tomoe, forming a strange triangular shuriken that looked very similar to Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan.

However, the three points of the shuriken in Uchiha Itachi's Mangekyō Sharingan were curved, while those in Miao's Mangekyō Sharingan were straight. Though their structures were similar, their shapes were completely different.

The restrictions on Kekkei Genkai users here are too severe. I should leave the Water Country first. I must gain even greater power!!! Miao secretly swore to himself.

With that thought, his speed suddenly increased. After several leaps, he vanished into the woods.

Spring went, winter came, and five years passed before anyone realized it. During those five years, the Ninja World had remained calm. The tension and smoke of the Ninja World War were nowhere to be seen, but under the tranquil surface, undercurrents surged. Everyone knew that the Third Great Ninja War would never be the last Ninja World War. The entanglements of interest and deeply ingrained hatred between people, villages, and even nations could never be erased by some so-called alliance treaty.

In this era where strength spoke for itself, so-called treaties were nothing more than waste paper before profit. They could be torn up whenever one wished. The Second and Third Great Ninja Wars were living examples of that.

Though no large-scale conflict had erupted between nations, a major event had still occurred. A year ago, the Uchiha Clan, the first powerful ninja clan of Konoha Ninja Village in the Land of Fire, had been annihilated. The killer was unexpectedly Uchiha Itachi, the Uchiha clan head's eldest son. Aside from one seven-year-old Uchiha child, he had wiped out every single member of the Uchiha Clan.

This matter immediately shocked the entire Ninja World, leaving countless people horrified. The Uchiha Clan was well-known throughout the Ninja World. Not only had it been one of the Two strongest ninja clans that ended the chaos of the Warring States Period, it had also been one of the Two founding ninja clans of Konoha Ninja Village, the strongest Ninja Village in the Land of Fire. Its prestige had been immense.

Yet such a powerful clan had been annihilated single-handedly by just One Person, and the one who destroyed his own clan had actually been an Uchiha himself. How could anyone not be extremely shocked?

Uchiha Itachi's name instantly resounded throughout the Ninja World. Even before annihilating his clan, Uchiha Itachi had already been famous in the Ninja World. Along with Uchiha Shisui, he was known as one of the Uchiha Clan's two great Dojutsu geniuses and Konoha's greatest genius. Yet in the blink of an eye, he became Konoha's S-rank rogue ninja. The change was so enormous that many people could barely process it.

The annihilation of the Uchiha Clan had severely weakened Konoha. The Uchiha Clan had not only been Konoha's strongest great clan; its elites had also been Konoha's top combat power. During the Third Great Ninja War, the Uchiha Clan had made great contributions to Konoha. But now that the Uchiha Clan had perished, Konoha's strength had naturally been seriously weakened.

When the major Ninja Villages heard the news, they initially didn't believe it. But after the news was confirmed, they were overjoyed. Everyone knew that the Uchiha Clan's Dojutsu was extremely difficult to deal with. Ordinary Ninja had no chance of winning against an Uchiha Ninja of the same level who possessed the Sharingan. The Sharingan was not only extremely terrifying in combat, but its scouting ability was also astonishing, second only to the Byakugan and Sensor Ninja.

The annihilation of the Uchiha Clan was equivalent to cutting off one of Konoha's arms. How could the other Ninja Villages not be overjoyed? There was no need to doubt the truth of the matter. Konoha was not so bored as to fabricate such a thing. In every Ninja World War, it had been the other Ninja Villages that attacked Konoha, because the richest resources in the entire Ninja World lay within the Land of Fire. They had no resources worth Konoha plotting over. Furthermore, Konoha had suffered heavy losses in the Third Great Ninja War and the Nine-Tails' Rampage. Konoha was not foolish enough to draw the other Ninja Villages' attention toward itself.

Besides, the other Ninja Villages had all dispatched quite a few spies, to varying degrees, into the Land of Fire and Konoha. This matter could not possibly have been faked.

Thus, the entire Ninja World immediately became unsettled. Although no large-scale conflict had yet occurred, the atmosphere suddenly grew tense. Aside from the Water Country, which was too busy to care due to its civil war, all the other major Ninja Villages began to stir. The Land of Wind was somewhat better off; after all, it was openly allied with Konoha, so its movements were not very obvious.

Iwagakure's actions were not particularly large either. Though Konoha had been severely weakened, the lingering prestige of the victor of the Third Great Ninja War still existed. Moreover, while Konoha had suffered heavy losses, it had not been harmed at its foundation. Though the Uchiha Clan had perished, the other ninja clans still existed. Besides, most of Konoha's Ninja were civilian Ninja. Those ordinary Ninja were Konoha's true backbone.

Kumogakure's actions were the most obvious. This village possessed an extremely aggressive, expansionist mentality, as could be seen from the past three Ninja World Wars. The Daimyo of the Land of Lightning began increasing Kumogakure's funding, while Kumogakure expanded its Ninja ranks, greatly increased the size of its Ninja forces, manufactured large quantities of Ninja tools and weapons, continuously collected all kinds of Ninjutsu and secret techniques, and began a large-scale arms race. However, deterred by Konoha's lingering prestige, it did not send any Ninja forces to the Land of Fire's border.