"Hadn't the village already gone to war with Iwagakure?" Nawaki asked, looking at Uchiha Yi uncertainly.
They had been in the Land of Water for over a year. In that time, Nawaki had changed completely. His strength had grown, but more importantly, he had become much steadier. He was finally beginning to mature.
"Those were only small-scale skirmishes," Uchiha Yi said with a slight shake of his head. "Villages clash now and then even during so-called peacetime. This time, the skirmishes have just gone on longer.
"Danzo and the others did considerable damage to Iwagakure earlier, too."
Sometimes, Uchiha Yi had to admit that Shimura Danzō was capable. At the very least, the man was exceptionally good at making himself a nuisance.
At this point, Shimura Danzō had yet to become the man obsessed with becoming Hokage, a master of internal power struggles. He had certainly made Ōnoki miserable.
Unfortunately for Shimura Danzō, lurking in the shadows and stirring up trouble was no longer enough. Fighting an open war against Ōnoki was beyond him.
"What about Kumogakure?" Hyuga Rinka remembered capturing Jirabi. To get him back, Kumogakure had entered a wartime alliance with them and agreed to tie down Iwagakure.
Yet Iwagakure had still declared war on Konoha and fielded an army of over ten thousand ninja. Nawaki felt the pressure of that, too.
"They've probably decided to sit back and watch us fight. On paper, they did tie down some of Iwagakure's forces for us, didn't they?" An unreadable glint passed through Uchiha Yi's eyes. "Remember, you can't rely on an ally, either.
"At heart, Kumogakure is nothing but a band of raiders. For years, they've been collecting secret techniques and bloodlines from clans across the Shinobi World.
"They've set their sights on the bloodlines of the Uzumaki Clan,