It was not that the great shinobi villages lacked the strength to keep fighting, but that they could no longer continue. This was due not only to the broader external circumstances, but also to the uneven distribution of interests within each village. They had all still been wavering.
Now, however, the positions taken by Konohagakure and Amegakure made those high-ranking political leaders abandon their last traces of hesitation.
"End the war!"
They did indeed need a relatively stable external environment to deal with some internal problems. And while the Second Shinobi World War could be called less brutal, that was only in comparison with the first. No matter how one looked at it, this war had engulfed the entire Shinobi World. Apart from a few small countries and shinobi villages on its fringes, at least seventy or eighty percent of the countries and shinobi villages had been drawn into this great war, either willingly or unwillingly!
Countless people from every country had been killed or severely wounded. Setting aside the smaller shinobi villages for the moment, each of the Five Great Shinobi Villages had suffered more than five thousand casualties, with more killed than wounded. There was no need to list the civilian casualties, economic losses, and everything else one by one.
In short, this great war had still dealt a fairly heavy blow to every country. Since the war had reached a stage where none of them particularly wanted to force it to continue, they might as well take the offered way out and tacitly agree to end it.
Whenever they wanted to start another great war, after all!
They could simply flip the table again.
Every decision still depended on the situation at hand.
Thus, with the countries-and especially the Kage of the Five Great Shinobi Villages-making up their minds one after another, the countries formally signed peace treaties before the end of Konoha Year 37.
The shinobi armies previously massed along the borders also withdrew to their own villages in an orderly fashion, leaving behind only the necessary border guards and patrol units!
This also officially marked the end of the Second Shinobi World War.
As this news spread throughout the Shinobi World, the ordinary people of almost every country breathed sighs of relief. Those in the Land of Rain, the Land of Grass, and the Land of Hot Water, caught between the great nations, felt especially as though they had survived a catastrophe.
After all, whenever the great nations clashed,
the battlefields were almost invariably on these small countries' territory. Although shinobi combat had an ironclad rule that they should avoid ordinary people as much as possible and not drag innocents into the fighting, that was nothing but a joke!
Even the supposedly most benevolent Konoha Ninja could not manage that, unless their commander was a shinobi with a personality like Jiraiya's or Minato's. Otherwise, avoid civilians!?
Sorry, but in a shinobi's eyes, completing the mission was everything!
They could not care less what happened to civilians!
On that point, the Cloud Ninja and Mist Ninja had the most authority to speak!
Thus, with every war, especially a great war sweeping across the entire Shinobi World, the people of these small countries suffered hellish torment!
Destroyed homes and shattered families were the eternal refrain!
They had no power to resist any of it and could only endure in silence.
Now that the war could finally end, it was naturally tremendous news for these people. They did not even have the ability or standing to resent the shinobi who had brought them despair and grief, because in a world like this, merely staying alive was already an enormous luxury for ordinary people!
How could they dare hope for anything more!?
Ordinary people could not control their own destinies. That was also why Kei had felt incredibly fortunate when he first arrived in this world.
Because at least he still had a chance to seize those few opportunities to freely choose his own destiny!
The final month of Konoha Year 37 passed uneventfully. As Konoha Year 38 arrived, the Mist Ninja army massed at the front returned to its village somewhat earlier than those of the other shinobi villages. After all, unlike Kirigakure, the other villages, especially Konoha, had to pay more attention to the reactions of the surrounding countries when withdrawing their troops.
Located deep within the Land of Water, Kirigakure had the most natural defensive barrier!
Throughout the preceding war, it had always been their Mist Ninja invading other countries. Shinobi from other countries had rarely set foot on the Land of Water's territory. Naturally, they had no need to worry about surprise attacks from other countries as they withdrew their troops now!
Because the sea!
Was their eternal, sturdy first line of defense!
A large invading force could never cross the vast ocean without a sound. As for small forces?
What did it matter how elite they were!?
For every group that dared enter, they would kill that group!
Thus, the Mist Ninja army withdrew with the least concern, and theirs was also the fastest village to do so.
On the day the several thousand Mist Ninja at the front returned to the village,
the Third Mizukage, Aoki, appeared at the village's main gate to welcome the army back. Almost all the senior figures came to greet them.
Even the future Fourth Mizukage, Karatachi Yagura, accompanied the Third Mizukage, Aoki, at his side.
Genji alone did not appear.
As the most senior elder currently in Kirigakure, Genji had the standing and status to do so. After the Second Mizukage, Hozuki Gengetsu, died in battle, not a single person in all of Kirigakure could match Genji's prestige!
Even though the Third Mizukage had also attended the first Five Kage Summit-as a bodyguard to the First Mizukage, Byakuren-
he was still a notch below Genji in seniority!
Even he could not issue forceful orders to Genji, let alone anyone else!
Of course, Genji's absence certainly was not due to putting on airs. It was simply because the old man knew very well that his position in Kirigakure was already far too exalted. At an occasion like this, if he could avoid taking part, he would do his best to stay away!
That was good for both him and all of Kirigakure!
If one had to find anyone in the Shinobi World comparable to his political wisdom and personal cultivation, it could only be Sunagakure's siblings, Chiyo and Ebizo. At this point in this life, that might not yet be very apparent, but the original story had already demonstrated it to the fullest!
If the Konoha F4 had possessed even half the political acumen of these three, Konohagakure would certainly never have ended up in the state it later did!
Kei himself was already planning to find an opportunity to pay their Lord Genji a visit at some point in the future!
In Kei's own plans for the future, Lord Genji's presence held great significance and had an important role to play.
Provided that he himself also had a considerable interest in that highest position!
And that was clearly foreseeable!
After the Mist Ninja army withdrew from the front and returned to its village, the armies of the other great shinobi villages gradually returned to their own villages as well.
The Shinobi World seemed to have returned to an age of peace overnight!
But anyone with discerning eyes could see that this was merely a temporary calm on the surface. Undercurrents still surged, and the storm continually brewing
would inevitably strike the entire Shinobi World even more fiercely in the future!!