Half a month later.
As New Year approached, Hidden Cloud Village was adorned with lanterns and streamers, and every villager's face was beaming with joyful smiles.
The battle between Hidden Cloud Village and Konoha Village ultimately ended with Konoha Village's defeat and payment of reparations.
This outcome surprised almost everyone.
No one had expected that Konoha, which had single-handedly fought against other Ninja Villages and won the final victory in the previous two Ninja World Wars, would actually lose to Hidden Cloud Village in a one-on-one war... For a time, the Ninja World was in turmoil.
Some marveled at the strength of Hidden Cloud Village's Ninja, noting that even Konoha's foundation struggled to contend with it.
Some mocked Konoha Ninja for their short-sightedness, for giving away a prestigious Ninja Clan like the Uchiha.
Some regretted and lamented, wishing they had offered more benefits to win over the Uchiha Clan... Although everyone's thoughts were different, they all, without prior agreement, came to a single realization—
The Uchiha Clan had proven through their actions why they could be called the Ninja World's foremost prestigious clan.
The era belonging to Hidden Cloud Village... was about to begin!
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Hidden Cloud Village.
Raikage Building.
The Third Raikage excitedly patted Uchiha Yuzuru's shoulder, pulling him to the giant floor-to-ceiling window.
"Yuzuru, look at the villagers outside, they are all cheering for your achievements!"
"You are our hero of Hidden Cloud Village!"
Uchiha Yuzuru said calmly, "I only did some auxiliary work. When it comes to fighting on the front lines, I didn't kill as many as you did."
Hearing this, the Third Raikage shook his head and said seriously, "You alone are worth an army of thousands. Without you, this war would not have proceeded so smoothly."
This was not the Third Raikage deliberately flattering Uchiha Yuzuru, but the truth.
With Uchiha Yuzuru's help, they knew all about the Konoha Ninja's troop distribution, trap locations, and offensive and defensive intentions.
One could say it was like fighting with a Heavenly Eye.
Having experienced numerous wars, he had never won one as easily as he did now.
Seeing Uchiha Yuzuru unmoved, the Third Raikage continued, "The reparations from Konoha Village have been delivered, a total of ten billion Ryo."
"The Village takes five billion Ryo, and your Uchiha Clan takes five billion Ryo, how about that?"
"No problem." Uchiha Yuzuru nodded.
In this battle, at Uchiha Yuzuru's instruction, very few members of the Uchiha Clan actually participated. He was already very satisfied to receive half of the reparations.
Seeing Uchiha Yuzuru's demeanor, the Third Raikage couldn't help but say, "Yuzuru, you don't seem as happy as I imagined."
According to common sense, after being ostracized by Konoha Village, then turning around and crushing Konoha Village, shouldn't he feel incredibly satisfied?
Uchiha Yuzuru looked out the window and slowly said, "My goal is not limited to this. The faces of those who want to win until the very end will not show smiles."
The Third Raikage paused, then became even more curious: "Then why did you make us accept Konoha's agreement to pay reparations and cease hostilities?"
"How about we strike while the iron is hot and directly invade Konoha Village?"
Hearing this, Uchiha Yuzuru shook his head: "The money we received is enough for us to develop peacefully for a period of time. Continuing to attack Konoha would only be counterproductive."
Konoha paid reparations partly because Hidden Sand Village, Iwagakure, and Hidden Mist Village were watching covetously; and partly because the Village had just experienced the Nine-Tailed rampage, and the villagers all wanted to live a peaceful life.
But if it truly came to a moment of life and death, it would inevitably provoke a counterattack from Konoha and even the entire Land of Fire.
At that time, not only Orochimaru, Sakumo Hatake, and Jiraiya would participate.
For the sake of the Village, Tsunade would very likely return to the Village.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura would probably also join the battle.
The major Ninja Clans would not be lazy and preserve their strength.
The Daimyo of the Land of Fire would also provide strong logistical support... This was Konoha's foundation!
Even if Hidden Cloud Village could truly defeat Konoha, it would inevitably suffer heavy casualties.
Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and Hidden Mist would certainly not miss such an opportunity!
These were all things that had to be considered.
Therefore... accepting reparations and a ceasefire now was the best option. Anyway, his goal had been achieved, and it was time for the Uchiha Clan to develop peacefully and increase their population.
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Konoha Village.
New Year, originally supposed to be a joyous and festive holiday.
But now, Konoha was permeated with an atmosphere of sorrow.
The streets were empty, and the houses and shops on both sides were almost all draped with white ribbons.
Only the taverns were still noisy.
Drowning sorrows in alcohol was probably the favorite way for Konoha villagers to vent now.
Of course... this only applied to those who could still afford it.
To pay the ten billion Ryo in reparations to Hidden Cloud Village, Hiruzen Sarutobi levied a fee of ten thousand Ryo from every household living in Konoha.
It didn't sound like much, but it was enough for many families' living expenses for nearly two months.
The Uchiha Clan leaving the Village, the Nine-Tailed rampage, and the war with Hidden Cloud Village... several consecutive months of turmoil had caused Konoha to lose almost all its economic sources.
If Orochimaru hadn't obtained financial support from the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, many people in Konoha would probably have starved this winter.
A Ninja took a sip of sake, slammed his cup heavily on the ground, and angrily said, "Why has the Village become like this? Shouldn't we, Konoha, be the strongest Ninja Village?"
A drunken burly man sneered, "Isn't that all because of you useless Ninja? We're rebuilding homes for everyone in the Village, but you Ninja lost the battle, and in the end, you made us ordinary people pay reparations. It's disgusting!"
"What did you say?" The burly man's statement aroused the dissatisfaction of a group of Ninja. A Ninja sternly said, "We risk our lives to protect the Village, but we have to endure your accusations here?"
"Did I say something wrong? If you can't beat Ninja from other Villages, stop complaining here. Have you ever worked hard in all your years as a Ninja?"
"Bastard, what do you know!"
The burly man was knocked to the ground by a punch from a Ninja in black clothes. That Ninja angrily said, "Those Hidden Cloud Village Ninja are no match for us at all. If it weren't for the Uchiha Clan Ninja helping them tame the Eight-Tails, how could we have lost so badly!"
"Yeah, and that last battle, it was clearly evenly matched, but the Raikage on the other side suddenly charged out. What were we supposed to do?"
"You're only unwilling to pay ten thousand Ryo, what about us?" A Chunin wearing a tactical vest said with red eyes, "My comrades and wife all died on the battlefield, but now not only have I not received even a single Ryo in consolation money, but I also have to pay ten thousand Ryo to compensate the enemies who killed my relatives..."
"Hehehehehe..."
After the Ninja finished speaking, tears had already streamed down his face.
The tavern fell silent. After a long while, someone shouted loudly, "Since none of us are wrong, then whose fault is it?"
People snapped back to reality and began to frown in thought.
Yes, now that the Village has become like this, whose fault is it after all?!