War on the horizon

With the Chunin Ninja Exams over, the other villages returned home disappointed. Only Konoha was in a state of wild excitement.

Its ninety-percent pass rate had set a new village record.

And not a single candidate from the other villages had passed-something utterly unprecedented.

When they returned to the village, the Third Hokage personally led a welcoming party at the gates.

Konoha's villagers lined both sides of the street to welcome them.

"Long live Ling Feng!"

"Ling Feng really did our village proud!"

"Hahaha! Now Konoha is the strongest village!"

Watching Ling Feng approach, the Third Hokage could hardly hide the excitement on his face.

"Ling Feng, I never imagined you could accomplish so much. You truly surprised me!"

Ling Feng smiled faintly and said, "Everyone's hard work helped make this possible."

His modesty made the Third Hokage smile even more broadly.

"I know everything that happened during the exams! There's no need to be so modest. If you hadn't defeated those ninja squads single-handedly, there's no way we could have gathered so many Heaven and Earth Scrolls."

"To welcome you all home, I'm paying out of my own pocket for a grand feast!"

As soon as the Third Hokage finished speaking, everyone cheered.

They had never received treatment like this before!

And Ling Feng became the center of attention.

Surrounded by the crowd, Ling Feng walked through the streets, basking in everyone's cheers and applause.

Ding! Gained 800 points!

Ding! Gained 1,200 points!

Ding! Gained 2,000 points!

Everyone's admiration had earned Ling Feng a massive haul of points.

But while Konoha held lavish feasts to celebrate its record-breaking achievement, the atmosphere in the other villages was grim.

Every village was discussing the same matter, one that everyone knew about.

After Ling Feng had swept through all his opponents and led Konoha to its ultimate victory, they realized he was far more formidable than they had imagined.

After Konoha had celebrated for several days, intelligence concerning this matter finally reached the Hokage's office through their spies.

Looking at the classified scroll before him,

Hiruzen Sarutobi's aging face seemed to grow older still.

"Minato, I'm afraid this could be troublesome."

Even an old fox like Hiruzen Sarutobi had not expected the situation to turn so dangerous so suddenly.

"I never imagined Ling Feng's performance would make them so wary. If they find an opening, I'm afraid the Shinobi World will be plunged into chaos."

Minato Namikaze voiced his concerns.

"There's nothing we can do now but prepare in advance. The Shinobi World was already extremely unstable. With this added to the mix, war could break out at any moment."

"Minato, go inform Ling Feng and tell him to prepare. If war breaks out, we'll have no choice but to fight!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew Konoha had been thrust into the eye of the storm. There was no escaping it now.

After returning, Ling Feng had only appeared in public on the day of the celebration. Since then, he had remained at his training ground, training relentlessly day and night.

When Minato Namikaze found him, Ling Feng was drenched in sweat, having just finished a round of intensive training.

"Ling Feng, I'm curious. Why are you always working so hard whenever I see you?"

Minato Namikaze finally asked the question that had been on his mind for a long time.

Ling Feng took a sip of water and said calmly, "Because I'm still not strong enough."

"This still isn't enough? Surely you're already among the best in the Shinobi World?" Minato Namikaze said without exaggeration.

But Ling Feng gave a couple of derisive chuckles. "Among the best? There are too many people in this world who qualify as that. If that's all I am, I can't guarantee I'll survive a war!"

"If I'm going to do this, I'm going to stand at the very top!"

"Only then will I truly be invincible."

Ling Feng's words left Minato Namikaze deeply shaken.

"Ling Feng, you already knew war was coming?"

Setting down his water bottle, Ling Feng sneered. "Haven't all the things that happened before made that obvious?"

"War is inevitable. I noticed that long ago; I just didn't know exactly when it would happen. When I led the village to victory in the Chunin Ninja Exams, I saw hostility in the eyes of the other villages' jonin. Unless something unexpected happens, war will break out within two years. Take a message back to Lord Third and tell him to prepare. I won't be wrong."

Minato Namikaze was stunned. The Third Hokage had sent him to deliver a warning, yet Ling Feng had already foreseen everything.

"Understood. I'll head back right away!"

Minato Namikaze did not dare linger. He hurried back to tell the Third Hokage.

Once Minato Namikaze left, Ling Feng could not help letting out a cold chuckle.

War?

Who else in this world knows better than I do when the war will break out and what will cause it?

In two years, the Third Kazekage will disappear. That will be the spark that ignites the Third Shinobi World War.

Then the Land of Fire will be dragged into the war.

But Ling Feng's arrival had drawn the entire Shinobi World's attention to Konoha, so when war broke out, the village might become a target.

If that happened, Ling Feng would have to become even stronger than he was now.

If Konoha had not become a thorn in everyone's side, Ling Feng could have taken his time developing his strength. Now, however, he could no longer afford that leisurely pace. Once war broke out, he might face many powerful enemies.

Before the crisis arrived, Ling Feng had to make sure he had more trump cards at his disposal.

So far, Ling Feng had accumulated 5,300 points, enough to upgrade another kekkei genkai or his sage body.

After careful consideration, Ling Feng decided to upgrade his Sharingan to the intermediate level, which would also greatly increase the power of his genjutsu.

After successfully spending 5,000 points on the upgrade, Ling Feng wasted no time and immediately resumed training.

He would improve his strength, then gather as many points as possible when war came and use them to upgrade his Byakugan and sage body.

Only then could Ling Feng ensure his safety against anyone below kage level.

Meanwhile, after hearing Minato Namikaze's report, the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, immediately began organizing and training ninja forces.

Seemingly every prediction Ling Feng had made had come true. Hiruzen Sarutobi had no reason to doubt him.

And so Konoha reduced all operations outside the village, avoiding excessive contact with the other villages whenever possible. At the same time, it devoted all its efforts to training its ninja forces and carried out continuous internal purges to ensure no spies could infiltrate its ranks.

Two years passed in that tense atmosphere.

Although the war had yet to begin, Konoha had already fully entered a state of provisional war readiness and was prepared to fight at any moment.

The spies gathering intelligence outside the village also kept returning with reports. Each time the information was compiled, it pointed to the same conclusion.

The Shinobi World was growing increasingly tense, and minor clashes between neighboring nations continued to escalate.

The Third Shinobi World War was on the verge of erupting!