Konoha Village.
After Harada Toru and the others were identified as spies and publicly executed, the villagers' emotions temporarily stabilized.
However, Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that beneath the calm surface, undercurrents still surged.
The death of relatives and friends, the destruction of homes, and the constant work needed for housing in the harsh winter... anyone in such a situation would be filled with resentment.
And once this anger exploded, even he, the Third Hokage, would likely be powerless to stop it.
As Hiruzen Sarutobi racked his brain trying to figure out how to preserve his reputation in this situation, Danzo Shimura pushed open the door and entered the Hokage Office.
He held a scroll in his hand and tossed it directly onto the desk in front of Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"Hiruzen, a letter from the Third Raikage."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
The relationship between Konoha and Hidden Cloud Village had always been strained.
After the Second Hokage died at the hands of a Hidden Cloud Village rogue Ninja, the two sides had not been in contact since.
Now, the other party had even taken in members of the Uchiha Clan, causing relations between the two Villages to worsen again.
What did the Third Raikage want by contacting him at this time?
While pondering, Hiruzen Sarutobi opened the scroll in his hand.
After a quick read, Hiruzen Sarutobi's chest began to heave violently.
Bang!
He slammed his hand on the desk and roared, "These bastards are going too far!"
Seeing Hiruzen Sarutobi's furious expression, Danzo Shimura asked curiously, "Hiruzen, what happened?"
"Those bastards from Hidden Cloud Village say they want us to return the Uchiha Clan's assets in the Land of Fire, or else they will wage war on Konoha!"
Taking in Konoha's rogue Ninja was one thing, but they hadn't even gone to cause trouble yet, and now the other party was demanding money from them?
Unreasonable!
Absolutely unreasonable!
Danzo Shimura was also shocked by Hidden Cloud Village's audacious move.
He thought he was thick-skinned enough, but he never expected there to be someone even more shameless than him in the world.
Danzo Shimura instinctively wanted to say, "Let's fight."
However, recalling Hiruzen Sarutobi's style of doing things, Danzo Shimura changed his words, "How much do they want? Do we have to compensate?"
"I'll compensate him with an egg!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi said coldly, "If they want to fight, let's fight. If a tiger doesn't show its might, they'll really think we're soft persimmons."
Hearing this, Danzo Shimura looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi with some surprise, asking in confusion, "Hiruzen, are you sure?"
"Sure." Hiruzen Sarutobi said in a deep voice, "I'm going to send Sakumo Hatake and Orochimaru to the front lines and see how long those guys can be so arrogant!"
"Hiruzen, you've finally made me look at you in a new light."
Danzo Shimura gave a thumbs up.
Hiruzen Sarutobi seized the opportunity to speak: "Danzo, your Root will also go to the front lines to provide support."
"But then again, I think we can still talk to the people of Hidden Cloud Village again..."
"Stop talking nonsense and go prepare!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi chased Danzo Shimura away, staring blankly at the ceiling.
It wasn't that he was tough; it was simply that he couldn't afford to compensate them.
Ten billion Ryo!!!
Those guys really dared to make such an exorbitant demand!
They even said that based on an annual income of one hundred million Ryo, they would only collect for one hundred years.
Hiruzen Sarutobi was so angry he laughed!
Leaving aside whether he was willing to compensate, even if he wanted to, he simply couldn't produce that much money now.
The Village, having been ravaged by the Nine-Tailed, was in dire need of money.
Clearing rubble, rebuilding homes, compensation for casualties, labor fees for workers, Materials costs... these funds were still unaccounted for, let alone compensation.
Naturally evil Uchiha!
No matter what, you've lived in the Village for so many years; how can you be so heartless towards us now?!
— — — —
— — — —
Land of Fire.
Border.
A dozen Konoha Ninja patrolled the border, their expressions quite relaxed.
"Seriously, Hokage-sama is a bit too cautious. I don't believe those guys from Hidden Cloud Village would dare to actively attack Konoha."
"That's right, we won two Ninja World Wars. If those Kumogakure Ninja dare to come, we'll kill them all."
"Isn't it just that the Uchiha Clan joined Hidden Cloud Village? I really don't know what they have to be so arrogant about."
"They wouldn't really be so foolish as to think that Konoha became the strongest Ninja Village in the Ninja World because of those Uchiha, would they?"
"Hahahahaha..."
The Konoha Ninja burst into laughter.
Suddenly, a blue lightning bolt flashed, and a Konoha Ninja was directly sent flying, his chest caved in and his life extinguished.
"Heavy Lightning!"
With another roar, a burly man, surrounded by electric arcs, delivered an elbow strike, sending a Konoha Ninja's head flying off.
"Oh no, enemy attack!"
The remaining Konoha Ninja finally reacted, their faces no longer showing the calm expression they had moments before.
In the crowd, someone was about to pull out a flare to call for reinforcements when he found a fierce-looking man in front of him.
In the man's eyes, the crimson three-tomoe Sharingan slowly rotated.
"The Uchiha Clan will prove that you only became the strongest Ninja Village in the Ninja World because of us."
A flash of a blade, and the Konoha Ninja's chest was pierced.
In just a brief moment, all dozen Konoha Ninja were killed.
Before long, the space rippled, and Uchiha Yuzuru's figure appeared out of thin air.
"All outposts have been cleared. Fugaku, Ay, each of you lead your people and launch an attack towards Konoha's main base!"
"Yes!"
The two immediately took their orders and left.
Even Ay dared not utter any nonsense at this moment.
In large-scale military operations of this magnitude, discipline must be strict.
If they disobeyed orders, Uchiha Yuzuru had the right to execute them on the spot.
Watching the Kumogakure Ninja, who had long been ambushed, charge towards Konoha's main base at the border, Uchiha Yuzuru's face remained calm.
The war... had begun.
— — — —
— — — —
Konoha's border camp.
A large number of Konoha Ninja continuously patrolled the surroundings, and from time to time, Ninja carrying intelligence scrolls entered and exited, everything proceeding in an orderly manner.
Inside the large room at the center, Nara Shikafu frowned as he looked at the intelligence on the table, a premonition of unease rising in his heart.
Akimichi Choji asked from the side, "Shikafu, why so serious?"
Nara Shikafu said in a deep voice, "Something's wrong. The outermost outposts haven't sent any messages for over three hours. I suspect something unexpected has happened."
Yamanaka Pond on the other side asked in surprise, "No way, we have so many outermost outposts. If there was an urgent problem, they should have sent us a signal by now, right?"
"That's what I'm worried about." Nara Shikafu's expression grew increasingly grim, "So many outposts simultaneously losing contact, we might be in trouble again!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than the ground began to tremble continuously, as if thousands of soldiers and horses were galloping at the same time.
Immediately after, a chilling roar echoed from a distance.
A bead of cold sweat trickled down Nara Shikafu's forehead: "Quick! Notify everyone to immediately prepare for battle!"