The reason was that they had been unable to gain an advantage over Konoha, so they were preparing to join forces and launch an attack on it.
Otherwise, Hidden Cloud Village would soon have claimed the whole pie.
Ōnoki, the Third Kazekage, and Hanzo of the Salamander sat together, looking at one another in silence. All they could do was smile bitterly.
"I never expected that, after going around in circles, we'd still have to join forces."
Ōnoki spoke to the Third Kazekage and Hanzo of the Salamander.
In fact, Chiyo had approached him at the very beginning, hoping to cooperate with Iwagakure in a war against Konoha. But Ōnoki had seen no point in working with Hidden Sand Village, since he would have to divide the spoils with it after defeating Konoha.
So Ōnoki had decided to launch a surprise attack on Konoha's home base while Hidden Sand Village and Konoha were locked in fierce fighting. He had not expected Hiruzen Sarutobi to lead a force to stop him.
"That's right. We have to join forces. If we wait any longer, we'll be left eating Hidden Cloud Village's dust."
Hanzo of the Salamander saw the situation clearly. Konoha was stretched beyond its limits, and its defeat was only a matter of time.
Hidden Cloud Village had shown such overwhelming strength that it would surely have the greatest leverage when it came to postwar reparations.
By contrast, the Three Great Shinobi Villages had gained virtually no advantage against Konoha on their own. Even if Konoha was defeated, it would not pay them much.
So they needed to concentrate their forces and defeat Konoha at least once, giving them the upper hand in the postwar negotiations.
"Still, Yeyue Ziyun actually managed to defeat the Mangekyo Sharingan. With a genius like him in Hidden Cloud Village, we have to be on our guard."
The Third Kazekage was no longer so arrogant. He, too, had fought the Uchiha Clan.
Even the Uchiha Clan Head's Mitsudomoe could control the One-Tail, Shukaku. The Third Kazekage could not imagine how powerful the Mangekyo Sharingan was.
Yeyue Ziyun, who had managed to defeat the Mangekyo Sharingan, was someone they needed to watch as well.
Ōnoki and Hanzo of the Salamander nodded at that. Yeyue Ziyun had displayed such overwhelming strength that, although it had weakened Konoha's morale and appeared to benefit them, it might not be a good thing in the long run.
With such a genius appearing in the Shinobi World, their own villages might well be affected in the future.
"Konoha is going to fight the Three Great Shinobi Villages to the death. If anyone has any thoughts, let's hear them."
After learning that Konoha was gathering all its forces for a decisive battle against Hidden Sand Village, the Land of Rain, and Iwagakure, the Third Raikage called a meeting of Hidden Cloud's leadership.
In their view, the Three Great Shinobi Villages had joined forces against Konoha because they could no longer sit still after seeing Hidden Cloud Village defeat it. Envious, they had decided they had to unite and defeat Konoha once to secure more benefits in the postwar negotiations.
Hidden Cloud Village now occupied roughly one-fifth of the Land of Fire and had set up camp there.
Hidden Cloud Village's intelligence ninja were also following Ziyun's instructions, recording the terrain, lakes, forests, and other details of these lands in scrolls.
If Hidden Cloud Village won the war, it planned to make Konoha cede this territory.
Then this fertile land in the Land of Fire would truly belong to Hidden Cloud Village. The village could build amusement facilities or commercial districts here to milk the nearby small countries for money, and even attract residents of the Land of Fire to visit, increasing Hidden Cloud Village's income.
With more income, Hidden Cloud Village would have more funds to research Ninjutsu and train ninja, and would grow ever stronger.
"I think we should take advantage of Konoha's depleted defenses and charge straight into Konoha Village to occupy its territory!"
A radical member of Hidden Cloud's leadership made the proposal.
"I agree."
"I agree too."
His proposal quickly gained support from the others.
After all, nearly all of Konoha's forces had been sent to the battlefields against Sunagakure and the Stone Ninja, leaving only a small number behind to guard the village. Its home base was now exposed, and they could take Konoha in a single push.
But even though so many agreed, everyone turned to Ziyun.
After his battle with the Uchiha Clan, Ziyun's prestige in Hidden Cloud Village had reached its peak!
The strength he had displayed, in particular, might already have surpassed the Third Raikage's!
According to Hidden Cloud Village's rules, the strongest became the Kage. Since Ziyun's strength surpassed the Third Raikage's, he was all but certain to become the next Raikage.
If not for the extraordinary circumstances of the war, the Third Raikage might already have stepped down and allowed Ziyun to become the Fourth Raikage.
In fact, the Third Raikage had already announced to the leadership that he would hand the position of Raikage over to Ziyun after the war and withdraw behind the scenes.
The Third Raikage was not a man who clung to power like Hiruzen Sarutobi. He wished the Hidden Cloud Village had a few more geniuses like Ziyun, so he could retire in peace.
With everyone looking at him, Ziyun voiced his thoughts:
"I'm afraid you're all thinking too simply. Since Konoha has gathered most of its forces to fight the alliance of Sunagakure, Stone Ninja, and the Land of Rain first, it must have a backup plan. It won't let our invasion succeed so easily."
"Besides, even if we successfully occupy Konoha Village, we'll only have occupied the land. Over the years, plenty of people have been brainwashed by Konoha High Command and possess the Will of Fire. Occupying the village will surely meet with fierce resistance from within Konoha Village, and the cost of ruling it will be too high."
In Ziyun's view, the time was not yet ripe to occupy all of Konoha. At the very least, Konoha was still far from its weakest.
The cost of the bloody rule that would come with suppressing it by force was too high, and things could easily go wrong.
After all, Konoha was not the Hidden Mist Village (funny face).
"Besides, the war is still far from over. Konoha can't just let the Hidden Cloud Village occupy the Land of Fire's territory for nothing."
"So for now, we need to rest and build up our strength while we wait for the next major battle."
Ziyun analyzed the situation based on his knowledge of Konoha.
"Ziyun, do you mean Konoha will defeat the combined forces of the Three Great Shinobi Villages?"
The Third Raikage had caught the implication in Ziyun's words.
"Yes. The Three Great Shinobi Villages may appear to have the advantage in numbers, but the gap in quality between their ninja and Konoha Ninja is too great."
"Besides, can the Three Great Shinobi Villages really unite without reservations? Won't they be suspicious of one another? They can't truly unite, so they can't defeat Konoha."
Ziyun smiled as he spoke.
He did not really need to analyze any of this. The original story had already given him the answer.
Konoha's victory in the Second Shinobi World War could almost be called complete, with virtually no major tragedies. Unlike the Third Shinobi World War, when Konoha suffered many tragedies, Konoha truly had an abundance of talent during this period.
The Hidden Sand Village, by contrast, suffered a tragedy. Sasori's parents were killed, leaving Chiyo disheartened and causing her to withdraw behind the scenes.
The Land of Rain suffered terribly as well. Used as a battlefield by the great nations, it produced countless war orphans. As a result, the gravely crippled Madara Uchiha took notice and raised Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan like gu in a jar, creating the Akatsuki, an organization determined to collect the Tailed Beasts and bring "nuclear peace" to the world.
"All right, then. Let's use this time to rest and build up our strength while we wait for the next major battle. We'll also call up another 3,000 Kumogakure ninja."
The Third Raikage gave his orders, and the Hidden Cloud leadership adjourned.
"The war's going to end so soon, and it still hasn't given me any tasks."
Out of everyone's sight, Ziyun opened the system panel and muttered to himself, a little dissatisfied.
During this war, he had only obtained the Fusion Fruit and Advanced Armament Haki: Ryuo. Although they had greatly increased his strength, Ziyun felt it was not enough.
After his battle with the Uchiha Clan Head, Ziyun understood that he now had the power to take on an entire village alone, but not the power to suppress one.
That was because he had yet to obtain the most crucial thing, the Perfect Sage Body, and his stamina was somewhat lacking.
"System, spend 50,000 points to refresh my tasks."
Ziyun then made up his mind to put his faith in his luck and spend all his points to refresh the task panel once.
After all, 50,000 points were a long way from 300,000. He might as well go all in and take a gamble!
He could not exchange 50,000 points for anything good anyway.
"Yes!" His task points were soon reduced to zero, and the system issued a new task.
[Super S-rank task: Lead the Hidden Cloud Village to victory in the Second Shinobi World War;] Task description: Lead the Hidden Cloud Village to victory in the Second Shinobi World War; task rewards: 300,000 points; Perfect Sage Body; Paramecia: More-More Fruit; Wood Release: Deep Forest Emergence; task failure: no penalty.
Looking at the refreshed task panel, even Ziyun's heart fluttered a little.
It... it had actually appeared!
The Perfect Sage Body, plus 300,000 points. Sure enough, a transmigrator's luck was never bad!
"Looks like my luck is pretty good after all."
After seeing the rewards for the Super S-rank task, Ziyun finally relaxed.
Once the war ended and the Hidden Cloud Village emerged victorious, his strength would soar once again.
Judging by the current situation, the Second Shinobi World War was nearly over.
Once Konoha defeated the Three Great Shinobi Villages, all that would remain was a major battle between it and the Hidden Cloud Village.
Even if Konoha won its battle against the Three Great Shinobi Villages, it would not be easy.
All he had to do was rest and build up his strength while waiting for Konoha's forces to arrive, then defeat the exhausted troops with his rested forces. The rewards would naturally be his.
"Host, a timely reminder: a Super S-rank task won't be that easy."
The system seemed to have noticed Ziyun's thoughts and offered a reminder.
"Is that so? Could the situation in the Shinobi World War suddenly change?"
Ziyun thought the system had a point.
This was the first Super S-rank task he had refreshed. By rights, it could not be so easy to complete. Otherwise, the system would not have assigned it a Super S rank, and the rewards would not be so generous.
Perhaps a major change really would suddenly occur in the Shinobi World. For instance, Kirigakure had yet to enter the war, or there was Madara Uchiha, who was not quite dead and was hiding somewhere, looking for a suitable successor.
In any case, both were possible. It seemed this war would certainly undergo further changes, and significant ones at that.
But no matter what, Ziyun had to lead the Hidden Cloud Village to victory in this war.
The Perfect Sage Body and 300,000 points were both Super S-rank rewards, and Ziyun was determined to obtain them.
As for the More-More Fruit and Wood Release Ninjutsu, they did not even catch Ziyun's eye compared with those two rewards. But in fact, neither was bad; both counted as S-rank rewards.
The More-More Fruit was a Paramecia-type fruit that enhanced attributes. It could increase the size and speed of objects it touched by hundreds of times, and it could also increase the user's own movement speed at will.
If a Kage Level powerhouse were given a More-More Fruit, its hundredfold enhancement could directly boost them to the Peak Kage Level.