And it's a village that likes to stir up trouble and enjoys war.
This major incident might be the perfect opportunity for Kumogakure Village.
Through war, the village could gain more benefits.
Why has Kumogakure been working so hard to build up its military?
Isn't it all so they can become strong enough to grab more for themselves?
It's just that the ninja world has been in a relatively peaceful phase, so there haven't been many chances.
But now, the chance is here.
The war that's about to break out between Kirigakure and Sunagakure might be the perfect opportunity.
A said nothing, but gave a slight nod in agreement.
If Kirigakure Village and Sunagakure Village really go to war, it would definitely be a chance for Kumogakure Village.
To say the least, Kumogakure Village could take this opportunity to stir things up at sea and take over some of Kirigakure Village's trade routes.
In the past, there were quite a few clashes between Kumogakure and Kirigakure because of those routes.
Now the chance has come. Once Kirigakure gets caught up in war, its control over the trade routes will get weaker and weaker.
That's an opening for Kumogakure Village. They might even use this chance to strike at Kirigakure's naval forces.
Luckily, even though A agreed with the idea, he didn't lose his cool.
Just because he has a bad temper doesn't mean he's dumb.
Stirring up trouble now might bring some gains.
But compared to the hidden threat of the Akatsuki, that kind of gain just isn't worth it.
Unless the benefit is big enough to really tempt him.
"Let's wait and see how things go."
A didn't give a clear answer.
On the other side, Iwagakure Village was in the same situation, holding a high-level meeting.
As usual, Iwagakure didn't show any signs of wanting to join the war, but they also didn't lower their guard toward the other two villages.
Whether it was Oonoki or A, small-time war profits weren't enough to sway them.
Unless the benefit is so big they just can't say no, only then would Iwagakure and Kumogakure think about getting involved.
A public notice of questioning came from Kirigakure.
Kirigakure openly announced the whole thing, and the news quickly spread through various channels across the ninja world.
All the countries and villages that heard the news were shocked.
No one could believe something like this had happened inside the Land of Wind.
Are they trying to start a war?
Sunagakure must be out of their mind.
The news was spreading like wildfire, and after it got out, Konohagakure also chose to announce it officially.
As expected, it was like a deep-sea bomb going off — a lot of people were shaken.
Villagers everywhere were talking about it, and some even started rumors that war was just around the corner.
But people like that usually ended up being invited for tea by the police department — a polite way to cool them down.
If things got more serious, the Anbu would come visit them directly.
The atmosphere at the border camp had changed a lot.
Luckily, Jiraiya wasn't the type to ramp up the pressure for no reason. Other than tightening defenses and increasing patrols, he didn't make any major demands.
After arriving at the camp with Naruto, Jiraiya grinned mischievously and handed Naruto over to the patrol team, asking them to take Naruto along so he could get a feel for the atmosphere of war.
Even though a war hadn't actually broken out, the tension in the camp made it feel like it could at any moment.
The patrol team also took every little thing along the border very seriously during their missions.
Throwing Naruto into the patrol team was no doubt a way to train his sense of discipline and help him grow faster.
This was something Jiraiya had planned for a long time. Otherwise, he wouldn't have personally come to the border or insisted on bringing Naruto along.
Naruto, who was used to being lazy and carefree, felt completely hopeless after being tossed into the patrol team.
This strict environment where even walking a few extra steps gets him scolded was hard for him to get used to.
"Grandpa Jiraiya, how about you just make my training tougher? I really don't want to go on patrol. It's so annoying. I get yelled at just for walking a bit too much. I get yelled at for checking what's in the bushes. It's driving me crazy."
Naruto's squad leader was a special Jonin with a stiff and strict personality, so every single thing Naruto did was under tight control.
Being in such harsh conditions made Naruto feel miserable.
He had a loud, restless, and curious nature from the start—before growing up, anyone would find his personality hard to deal with.
And now, they went all out and just tossed him into the most rule-heavy and strict patrol unit. It would be weird if he actually could get used to it.
Forget Naruto—even if Sasuke had been thrown into that unit, he probably wouldn't be able to adjust that quickly either.
"No."
Jiraiya flatly rejected Naruto's request and reminded him:
"Naruto, if you want to grow, then you have to feel what war is like. I put you in the patrol unit to toughen you up. Your captain is strict and old-fashioned, but it's that strictness that'll teach you how to survive on the battlefield."
Jiraiya had no intention of backing down on this.
No matter how much Naruto begged, it didn't matter. Even throwing a tantrum wouldn't work.
Jiraiya was scared that if he went soft, Naruto would turn into another Nawaki.
Orochimaru really valued Nawaki as a student, but because he spoiled him too much and didn't enforce strict discipline, Nawaki ended up dying carelessly on the battlefield from a single explosive tag.
If Nawaki hadn't been so curious, if he had just sat still and done what he was supposed to, if he hadn't wandered off and had stayed close to Orochimaru, that explosive tag incident wouldn't have happened.
As a result of Nawaki's death, Tsunade was heartbroken, and Orochimaru was full of guilt.
Naruto had a personality a lot like Nawaki's, which made Jiraiya worry that he might meet the same end.
So being strict with him was the only way.
"But that old guy is clearly picking on me. No matter what I do, he finds a reason to scold me."
Naruto was starting to lose his temper.
Who isn't curious?
You get scolded for looking too much, for walking too far, and all day long it's just rules and more rules. They keep talking about survival skills—don't touch this, don't mess with that—it's exhausting.
"Grandpa Jiraiya, I…"
Naruto wasn't ready to give up yet. He wanted to keep convincing Jiraiya to change his mind.
But when he looked up, he saw Jiraiya staring at him with a serious expression that he had never shown before. His face was unusually stern.
"You just called Captain Mizuro an old guy and said he was picking on you?"
Uh… this might be bad.
This was the first time Naruto had seen Jiraiya look at him like that.
Back in the village, no matter what mistakes Naruto made, Jiraiya would just laugh it off, give him a bit of a lecture afterward, and tell him not to do it again.
But now, Jiraiya looked scary.
Naruto nervously swallowed and cautiously shrank his neck.
"Grandpa Jiraiya… are you okay?"