At the center of the Land of Whirlpools, where the Uzumaki Clan had once lived, Konoha had sent people to rebuild a year earlier.
Now the enormous Plaza was packed with people. Members of the various factions and numerous lone wanderers sized one another up. Though their gazes kept wandering, they always returned to the huge mass of black mist at the center of the Plaza.
It was a seal the Sages had erected. No one knew what lay inside.
But everyone knew the tailed beasts were in there.
According to Konoha, this place had been prepared for the winners.
How was the winner of a shinobi war determined?
The rules of this shinobi war were extremely rudimentary. There was not even a referee.
In other words, the condition for victory was actually quite simple—win.
As for what counted as winning, Konoha had given only one condition. Or rather, Konoha had relayed the sole condition the tailed beasts had set.
Arrive here alive, then enter the seal alone and complete a spirit pact.
Requiring registration to participate in the shinobi war was an extra condition Konoha had added. The tailed beasts' conditions were far too loose, with countless loopholes to exploit, giving Jiraiya and the others quite a headache.
So Konoha had added a condition on top of that.
Participants had to register before each round of the shinobi war, and no one could participate more than once.
Furthermore, the battlefield was restricted to the area surrounding the Land of Whirlpools. Leaving the battlefield counted as forfeiting.
Previously, people had not quite understood. Now it seemed Konoha simply wanted to avoid excessive destruction.
After all, rather than a competition, this was more like a scheduled war.
As for how the seal actually worked, those present did not really understand that