Mobilization

In the Land of Earth, Ishikawa, the First Tsuchikage, looked at the mission jointly issued by the nobles and said, "Mū, this Uchiha Mu stole their money. Now they've pooled their funds to issue a mission, hoping we'll wipe out this country. Do we take it or not?"

"Lord Tsuchikage, we'd be better off sending a squad to take it. Otherwise, that man in Konoha..." Mū seemed to recall some unpleasant memories. If the man who had defeated Madara was determined to stop a war, they simply couldn't wage one.

What would attacking a small country ultimately get them? An unfinished mission, no payment, money spent without even getting to fight, and nowhere to plunder. It was a losing proposition. Sending a squad to assassinate the leader was different. Killing him would net a huge profit; failing wouldn't cost them much. They could just run away.

"Good. I'll leave this mission to you. Try not to expose your identity. After all, although that man has left, he's still their clan leader." Ishikawa had great confidence in Mū.

"An Uchiha? All right." Mū nodded. There was only one Madara Uchiha, and there could only be one. This time, he would overcome his fear of the Uchiha, taking his disciple along with him.

Then he thought about the possibility of drawing out Madara himself, and his heart began to race again. That was fear.

The same situation unfolded in the Land of Lightning. Faced with the nobles' joint request and increased payment, they found it hard to refuse. Their village was still developing, and money was needed everywhere.

But with Madara and Hashirama still alive, they had plenty of reservations. They might have acted like brutes in the original story, but they weren't brainless. Going straight up against Madara and Hashirama was no different from asking to die.

So they could take this mission, but not in the village's name. They would dispatch squads that couldn't reveal their identities. If their ninjutsu gave them away, they had to use other ninjutsu afterward to erase the traces.

There was no helping it. At this point, Hashirama and Madara were still far too great a deterrent to the shinobi world. Take the tailed beasts, for example. To other ninja villages, they were disasters. To those two, it was merely a choice between a Wood Dragon, a wooden hand, and a glare.

With such a stark gap in strength, no ninja village could entertain any ambitions while they were alive. Of course, those two couldn't stop every clash between squads, so they would go ahead. Thus, the Raikage also sent out two squads.

The Land of Wind, Sunagakure.

"That damned Uchiha actually stole Sunagakure's kekkei genkai! We have to take this mission."

"Lord Kazekage, please calm down. Those two aren't dead yet," someone hurriedly advised.

"Then what are we supposed to do? Watch that thief walk away with our kekkei genkai? And we must strengthen the village's intelligence network. We can't let them come and go as they please!" the First Kazekage roared.

"Lord Kazekage, we can publicly condemn him and ask Hashirama to mediate the return of our people, while secretly sending a squad to assassinate him."

"Yes, that works. The nobles have jointly issued this mission, too. As long as we kill him, Sunagakure will receive a substantial sum, enough to keep us going for a while." The First Kazekage agreed without hesitation.

"Lord Kazekage, I think we can send Chiyo and her younger brother. They're both extremely talented." The man wanted the village's future successors to take part in this mission.

"Yes. You go as well. I can't participate in this mission, and I imagine the other villages are in the same position. It's fine if you fail, but make sure you bring the village's future back." The First Kazekage's expression was grave. He believed the young people did need to grow. A sheltered environment couldn't raise warriors.

"Yes, Lord Kazekage." The man hurried away to inform Chiyo and her brother, along with a Magnet Release ninja.

The former Takigakure had been developing nicely, only for the daimyo to sell the country. They wanted to find and kill him, but the information they gathered revealed that he was studying in Uchiha Mu's newly established village.

This infuriated them. Was the village they had worked so hard to build simply going to disappear? They would never allow it. So they directed all their hatred at Uchiha Mu, determined to kill him.

Kakuzu led one squad out on his own. He hadn't yet gone to assassinate the First Hokage, and he still believed in the village, so he naturally followed its orders.

But aside from him, Takigakure had no one particularly impressive to offer. Their advantage lay in numbers. The newly organized ninja of the Land of Frost shared their feelings. They had finally established order, only to be told that their daimyo had fled. Who could stomach that?

Among the great nations, only the Land of Water stayed out of it. In the Mizukage's eyes, participating wasn't worth it. First, the nobles of the Land of Water hadn't issued a mission, which meant there was no guaranteed payment.

As for the black market bounty? Please. With so many countries eyeing it, Uchiha Mu's head would never fall to them. Of course, they still needed intelligence, so Kirigakure sent ninja to gather information.

And so, every eye in the shinobi world turned toward this newly established ninja nation, including Madara Uchiha, who was wandering the world.

The moment none of his clansmen had followed him, he had given up on the Uchiha Clan. He didn't know when Uchiha Mu had left. At least, Uchiha Mu had still been there before his departure, which meant he had left afterward.

"Let's go take a look." Madara Uchiha decided on his next destination. Although less than a month had passed, he had already witnessed plenty of darkness. He wanted to understand this world properly and determine whether the stone tablet's method of salvation was correct.

Upon learning that Takigakure and Frostagakure were preparing to act, the people from the three great nations tacitly assumed the role of bounty hunters. Their shared public story was that Takigakure and Frostagakure had hired them, neatly keeping the countries behind them out of it.

Thus, a grand army of nearly a thousand marched toward Uchiha Mu's location. The two villages directly involved mobilized in full, the great nations sent squads, other small countries dispatched intelligence ninja, and wandering ninja were drawn in by the enormous bounty.

Just like that, nearly a thousand people assembled, more than had fought in the wars between the Senju and the Uchiha. It also demonstrated to the shinobi world that a new era had begun. This was the first war of that new era.

Both sides had their reasons for fighting this war, leaving Hashirama without grounds to mediate. He wanted to approach Uchiha Mu instead, but Tobirama Senju stopped him.

Hashirama Senju could only sigh helplessly. He thought Tobirama Senju had a point. Stopping them now would only deepen the hatred, potentially affecting generations to come. Even the Senju and the Uchiha had achieved peace through victory in war.

"Besides, brother, Uchiha Mu started this war. If you intervene, it won't be good for peace in the village." Tobirama Senju knew what his elder brother cared about most.

"Tobirama, you're right." Hashirama Senju felt helpless about it.

Tobirama Senju wasn't pleased that the inherently evil Uchiha brat was being besieged. Ultimately, the three great nations had only sent squads. The main force consisted of the former Takigakure, the former Frostagakure, and bounty hunters who valued money more than their lives.

If Uchiha Mu had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan, those people might not be able to withstand him. After all, anyone who knew anything understood the caliber of those three groups of ninja. If Uchiha Mu survived this crisis, Konoha would have to designate him its greatest enemy from then on.