"The third match of the Shinobi War is about to begin! Ribbit! Anyone who wants to sign up for the third match, hurry up~~"
In the Plaza, everyone listened to the almost torturously loud blasts from the Mount Myōboku toads' loudspeakers, utterly bewildered.
What was going on? They were already on the third match?
Some people had been planning to visit the site of the second match, but now they stopped before they had even taken a step.
"What do we do? It's the third match already. Are we still going to wait and see?"
"What do you mean, wait and see? What did you actually learn from watching the first two?"
"No, we don't even know whether those two matches are over yet... And now it's already the third. There are only ten matches in total. If none of us join in... and we all leave it until the end, things will only get trickier!"
Discussion broke out among the crowd. Since registration was handled privately, no one knew exactly which forces would take part in the next battle until the full announcement.
Except for Konoha, of course. As the organizer, it had made no attempt to deny that it was granting itself special privileges in the Shinobi War.
But one thing was certain: the Five Nations Alliance, which had started with an overwhelming numerical advantage, had probably committed all its forces to the first two matches.
"Konoha didn't seem to participate in the second match, did it?"
"Do you really think that's possible?"
Many factions had a clear understanding of their own strength. They did not believe they could compete with the major powers, but they were not entirely incapable of putting up a fight.
Now, however, the problem was not their assessment of themselves. It was that