Next Target, Kirigakure!

The outside world was in an uproar over the war and Konoha's pile of troubles, drawing the world's attention away. If Black Zetsu failed to seize such a perfect opportunity, he would truly be an idiot.

At such a lively time, dark clouds directly descended over Kirigakure.

The sealing of the tailed beasts had to follow the number of their tails, starting with the One-Tail, then the Two-Tails, and then the Three-Tails. Although Black Zetsu and Nagato had not captured the tailed beasts in that order, they still had to seal them sequentially.

Thus, Black Zetsu and Nagato set their sights on Kirigakure and Iwagakure.

And the first to bear the brunt was Kirigakure, which had always appeared detached from worldly affairs but actually loved stabbing others in the back.

Separated by the sea, Kirigakure had little contact with the other major villages. To the outside world, it was a mysterious place, and Kirigakure shinobi were rarely seen traveling across the continent.

There were few of them, but every one of them seemed brutal. Konoha presented itself as friendly, Sunagakure was poor, Iwagakure was domineering and rude, Kumogakure was hot-tempered, and Kirigakure was mysterious and brutal. These were the deepest impressions left by the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

The most miserable of them was Sunagakure. Their country really was somewhat poor. Frankly speaking, some shinobi villages might not have been as strong as Sunagakure, yet they were wealthier. Of course, Iwagakure was not doing much better either.

It was no surprise that they tried every possible way to start wars and plunder resources from other countries.

Once war broke out, even if the major powers could not gain much from one another, the small countries around them that became battlefields would suffer first. Yugakure was one example. It had been