The war was over.
Just as it had begun without warning, the years-long war between Kumogakure and Konoha quietly came to an end.
After displaying its strength and realizing that continuing would only leave both sides devastated, Kumogakure withdrew its troops from the Land of Fire and sent envoys to express its desire for peace talks.
For Konoha, the sooner the peace talks began, the better. However, they would be held in Konoha, not Kumogakure.
The reason was simple: the Second Hokage had died on his way to peace talks. That tragedy served as a warning.
Konoha could no longer afford to lose another Hokage.
Kumogakure was equally wary of Konoha, and whether the Fourth Raikage would attend in person remained uncertain.
Inside Konoha's conference room.
After dismissing the other elder advisors, the Third turned to his student, the white-haired Jiraiya.
Upon learning that war had broken out, Jiraiya had rushed straight to the front lines to help his comrades from the village. But aside from supporting them, he had shown no intention of approaching the Third.
Whenever Jiraiya looked at him, there was always a faint distance in his eyes, as though he had something to say but held back.
Was it because I failed to save Minato, or because I'm clinging to the Hokage's seat?
But if you're unhappy with me being Hokage, take the position yourself. All you ever think about is bringing Tsunade and Orochimaru back.
After a long silence, the Third spoke first, though he kept the conversation to the village and its missions.
"Jiraiya, how is the investigation into the Masked Man going?"
Jiraiya shook his head. He had traveled through nearly half the Shinobi World without hearing any news of the Masked Man. Amid the growing disorder, however, quite a few mercenary organizations