After Hatake Ziyan finished forging the Immortal Sword and returned to his clan grounds, he never left his courtyard again!
Hatake Ziyan cultivated immortal spiritual power for a month, then mental power for a month, repeating the cycle over and over.
At Hatake Ziyan's level, time was probably little more than a unit of measurement!
After all, three years swiftly passed during this round of cultivation!
That was right! Three years! Three years had passed since Hatake Ziyan was falsely accused of massacring Takigakure and attacking the Stone Ninja Village!
At first, the various ninja villages and the Akatsuki remained fairly peaceful throughout those three years. Everyone feared that causing a disturbance might displease Hatake Ziyan or the Land of Iron, making it more trouble than it was worth!
But as time passed, they realized that Hatake Ziyan had indeed kept his promise and never set foot outside the Land of Iron!
The Land of Iron remained just as peaceful as ever, taking no action and maintaining its neutral stance. Neither had Hatake Ziyan's situation changed its attitude toward them, nor had his declaration that he would never leave the Land of Iron brought trouble upon any of them!
It was precisely the Land of Iron's mild attitude that encouraged the great nations to begin entertaining schemes of their own!
The people of the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth in particular coveted Pain's pair of Rinnegan, and greed began taking root in both great nations!
As time passed, that greed would only grow, never fade. Once it built up enough, it would inevitably erupt!
People from the Stone Ninja Village and the Hidden Cloud Village entered the Land of Rain at roughly the same time, hoping to seize Pain's Rinnegan. Both groups suffered crushing defeats, however, and