Chapter 569: Chaos

In the end, most of the Iwagakure Shinobi failed to escape. Only Kitsuchi managed to lead a small group of elite Shinobi back to Iwagakure.

Nagato made no attempt to conceal his victory and announced it to the Shinobi World, declaring Iwagakure’s defeat while also formally announcing the establishment of the Shinobi Village Alliance.

The Shinobi Village Alliance aimed to unite all the small Shinobi villages to resist the powerful Five Great Shinobi Villages and establish a truly peaceful Shinobi World.

Under Nagato’s arrangements, one small Shinobi village after another responded and joined the Shinobi Village Alliance. In an instant, this Shinobi Village Alliance became a massive force spread throughout the entire Shinobi World.

The entire Shinobi World was left somewhat dumbfounded by these successive major events.

Rasa was no longer secretly laughing. Instead, he was utterly shocked and began questioning his life.

"Iwagakure’s main forces were defeated by the Light Shinobi and Grass Shinobi, and the Third Tsuchikage Onoki was captured? What kind of joke is this?" Rasa instantly felt that this had to be fake news.

Iwagakure failing in an operation against a small Shinobi village was not a big deal. There could be many reasons for it. For example, Iwagakure might have underestimated their opponent, and this particular small Shinobi village might indeed have possessed considerable strength, ultimately resulting in the failure of the operation.

Aside from being somewhat embarrassing, it was actually nothing serious.

But this time was different. The Light Shinobi and Grass Shinobi had actively invaded the Land of Earth, defeated Iwagakure’s main forces, and captured the Third Tsuchikage.

How significant was this? Even Kumogakure had never managed to invade the Land of Earth and capture the Tsuchikage.

Yet the Light Shinobi and Grass Shinobi had done it.

Rasa did not know much about the newly established Light Shinobi Village, but he knew very well what kind of strength the Grass Shinobi possessed.

Did the Grass Shinobi have this ability? Of course not. It simply did not possess such strength.

"Could it really be like that old fox Onoki said, with a deeply hidden mastermind behind the scenes pushing all of this forward?" Rasa fell into deep thought.

He had received the information Onoki had given him, but he had not taken it too seriously, because most of it consisted of Onoki’s speculations based on the Shinobi villages that had been established over the past two years.

But compared to believing that the Grass Shinobi and Light Shinobi had defeated Iwagakure through their own strength, Rasa would rather believe that a powerful and unknown mastermind was secretly controlling everything.

Rasa then thought of the newly established Shinobi Village Alliance. It was clearly intending to take down all the major Shinobi villages.

Ordinary small Shinobi villages would at most dream of becoming one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages. How could they possibly have the ambition to take down all the major Shinobi villages?

"Lord Kazekage, the Bird Shinobi Village, Rain Shinobi Village, and Light Shinobi Village have declared war on us!" Suddenly, a Sand Shinobi entered Rasa’s office and reported.

Rasa’s eyelids twitched. If this had happened before, he would have sneered contemptuously and simply sent some Jonin to deal with them.

But Iwagakure had been crushed by the Light Shinobi, while the Bird Shinobi had also defeated an Iwagakure force in their first battle. He did not know what was happening with the Rain Shinobi, but it was best not to underestimate them either.

"Enter a wartime state. Mobilize the Shinobi forces and prepare for war. We cannot let them enter the interior of the Land of Wind!" Rasa said seriously.

The Land of Wind was a desert country, and its citizens lived in desert oases. They were more vulnerable than the people of other countries.

If the oases were destroyed because of war, it would be a devastating blow to the already difficult lives of the people of the Land of Wind.

"Right, quickly request assistance from Konoha. Tell them that Sunagakure is at a life-or-death moment and hopes that Konoha will fulfill the alliance agreement and help us overcome this crisis." Rasa thought for a moment before speaking.

The Sand Shinobi were stunned by Rasa’s words. How had things suddenly become a matter of life and death? The enemy had only just declared war, and they might still be on their way here.

"Lord Kazekage, but we haven’t even officially fought yet?" Although Rasa was the Kazekage, the Sand Shinobi felt that Rasa’s actions were somewhat...

"Foolish!" Rasa glared angrily at the Sand Shinobi and cursed.

"Do you think our Sunagakure is much stronger than Iwagakure, or do you think I, the Fourth Kazekage, am much stronger than Onoki?"

The Sand Shinobi fell silent, not knowing what to say for a moment.

From his position, he certainly would not admit that Sunagakure was weaker than Iwagakure or that the Kazekage was weaker than the Tsuchikage.

But judging from objective facts and historical battle records, the strength of Sunagakure was indeed inferior to Iwagakure, and Rasa, as Kazekage, probably was not Onoki’s opponent.

’But is this really something a Kage should say?’ The Sand Shinobi complained inwardly.

As if seeing through the Sand Shinobi’s thoughts, Rasa said calmly, "Compared to being too proud to admit defeat and stubbornly holding on until the Land of Wind and Sunagakure suffer heavy losses, what does losing a little face matter?"

His trip to Konoha had taught Rasa one thing: people had to recognize their own abilities and accept their own weakness.

His strength was not even in the same dimension as Nagasawa’s, and he might not even be able to defeat Minato. Sunagakure’s strength was inferior to Konoha’s, so why bother opposing Konoha?

It was better to become a subordinate and curry favor with them. He could still gain some benefits. Following Konoha to sell Medical Talismans, Konoha eating the meat while he drank the soup, was that not better than selling gold dust himself?

Look at the Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure. No matter how unwilling he was in his heart, could he really resist Konoha? He had no choice but to obediently accept Konoha’s proposal. The process had not exactly been pleasant either.

As long as he acknowledged his own weakness, he would be invincible. Why stubbornly resist? Of course he should call upon his powerful big brother Konoha for help!

The Sand Shinobi was stunned by Rasa’s words, and the way he looked at Rasa changed.

Although Rasa’s approach was rather submissive, there was no doubt that Rasa was a qualified Kazekage. His core goal had always been to protect his village and country.

It was not only Sunagakure. The Shinobi Village Alliance had declared war on all five of the Great Shinobi Villages except Konoha at once.

...

Kumogakure, Raikage’s Office.

"Yugakure, Shimogakure, and Takigakure have declared war on us? How dare they!" The Fourth Raikage slammed his hand onto the desk in anger when he heard that several nearby small Shinobi villages had actually taken the initiative to declare war on Kumogakure.

It was already generous of Kumogakure not to bully these small countries. Yet they actually wanted to climb onto Kumogakure’s head?

"Fourth Raikage-sama, don’t underestimate these small Shinobi villages. Even Iwagakure was defeated by them, and the Third Tsuchikage Onoki was captured alive." Dodai said in a deep voice.

"That old bastard Onoki is becoming more useless with age. He was actually captured. He would have been better off dying on the battlefield." The Fourth Raikage laughed loudly.

The news of Iwagakure’s defeat and Onoki’s capture was actually good news for the Fourth Raikage. Under Konoha’s pressure, the Five Great Shinobi Villages had been forced into peace, but the Fourth Raikage had not forgotten his grudge against Iwagakure.

When an enemy suffered misfortune, the Fourth Raikage was naturally happy.

"However, although that old bastard Onoki is annoying, his strength isn’t weak. I won’t underestimate him." The Fourth Raikage immediately added.

Although he hated Onoki, the Fourth Raikage did not think Onoki was weak.

Dodai nodded in relief. The Fourth Raikage looked like a big brute, but he was actually quite meticulous. He was not simply someone who only knew how to swing his fists.

"Mobilize the Shinobi forces. I want them to know the price of challenging Kumogakure!" The Fourth Raikage stood up and said.

He intended to personally lead the forces and defeat these small Shinobi village Shinobi.

...

Kirigakure.

"Those two idiots from the Land of Waves and Land of Sea actually dare to challenge Kirigakure as well. Are they tired of living?" Yagura was surprised.

The Kirigakure of the Land of Water had always been the undisputed hegemon of the seas. All the island countries respected the Land of Water, and Kirigakure had absolute authority over the seas.

Yagura had not expected the emergence of the Shinobi Village Alliance to give the tiny Land of Waves and Land of Sea the courage to challenge the Land of Water.

As the true hegemon of the seas, how could he, the Fourth Mizukage, not know what kind of strength the Land of Waves and Land of Sea possessed?

He was not boasting. On the sea, there was simply no country capable of putting up a fight. Even if all the countries were tied together, they would still not be a match for Kirigakure.

However, with Iwagakure’s defeat as a precedent, Yagura did not underestimate this sudden war too much.

Although the Land of Waves and Land of Sea were weak, what if they had powerful reinforcements?

Considering this, Yagura still personally led the Shinobi forces to teach these two disobedient little brothers a lesson.

For a time, almost the entire Shinobi World fell into war. Large numbers of small countries mobilized their forces to attack the major countries, and a war whose scope was even greater than any previous Shinobi World War suddenly descended.

During this chaotic period of war, only Konoha maintained the same calm as before, as if nothing had happened.

Only the frequent news reports let the people of the Land of Fire know that the current Shinobi World was extremely chaotic. Wars were breaking out everywhere, while this land of peace, the Land of Fire, had not suffered any interference.

However, the experienced citizens of the Land of Fire knew that this was only temporary. Based on past experience, the Land of Fire was the least likely country to remain uninvolved.

There were two important reasons for this. First, the Land of Fire was located in the center of the Five Great Countries. It had been a transportation hub since ancient times. Moreover, the terrain of the Land of Fire was relatively flat, with vast hills throughout the country, making it extremely suitable for growing crops and rich in resources.

It had both money and food, so of course everyone coveted the Land of Fire, especially its neighbor, the Land of Wind.

The second reason was that the Land of Fire was the strongest. Everyone subconsciously did not want to watch it continue growing stronger. Whenever a Shinobi World War broke out, the Land of Fire had to be dragged into it, weakening the Land of Fire and Konoha.

But the citizens of the Land of Fire had no way to do anything about it. After all, ordinary citizens had no say in matters such as war.

Some people who were worried about war moved to the central region, where it might be safer.

If they were even more afraid, they would go to major cities such as the capital.

If they were even more worried, then they could only go to Konoha.

Without a doubt, Konoha was the safest place in the Land of Fire. Even during Konoha’s weakest period, there had never been a time when its homeland was endangered.

The people of the Land of Fire still had great confidence in Konoha. After all, Nagasawa, the strongest person in the Shinobi World, was assisting it.

"There are too many people applying to buy houses in Konoha recently. Where are we supposed to find so many houses for them?" In the Hokage’s Office, Minato complained to Nagasawa.

Although Konoha had a large territory, most areas had been designated as training grounds. There simply were not that many existing houses available for people to purchase and live in.

"Given the current situation in the Shinobi World, everyone wants to live somewhere safer." Nagasawa said with a smile.

There were already many people who wanted to enter Konoha normally, but this sudden war had undoubtedly caused the number of applicants to surge to a terrifying level.

Many of them were not even citizens of the Land of Fire. They were people from other countries who had come to the Land of Fire to escape the war.

"There are also some nobles and wealthy merchants who support Konoha, so it’s difficult to refuse them." Minato put down the documents and said.

Although Konoha was now making enormous profits by monopolizing Medical Talismans and was extremely wealthy, before that, Konoha’s main sources of income had actually been subsidies from the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, support from wealthy merchants and nobles, and commissions earned through missions.

"Then open the gates a little wider. Tear down Konoha’s walls, replan the land, and establish a new district." Nagasawa thought for a moment before speaking.

Letting a few hundred people in was still letting people in. They might as well take advantage of the opportunity and do something big. Konoha had almost finished accommodating the population increase from before, so it could try making a major move.

"Tear down the walls around Konoha? At this time, I’m afraid it will cause a lot of controversy." Minato thought for a moment and said.

There was a wooden wall surrounding all of Konoha. Its original purpose had been to protect Konoha.

Although it was made of wood, it was not ordinary wood and was extremely hard.

But that was in the past. With Konoha’s continuous development today, the entire wall undoubtedly felt like it was restricting Konoha’s growth, hindering its development.

And now that the Shinobi World was in chaos, with a war breaking out between all the small countries and the major countries, removing the walls that were meant to protect Konoha at this time was undoubtedly somewhat inappropriate.

"Let them criticize it. The flames of war won’t reach Konoha, because the war will end before that." Nagasawa shrugged and said.

There were already plenty of controversial things surrounding him. Even he could not make everyone in Konoha like him.

For example, the two Advisors disliked him greatly, believing that he had turned the good Shinobi village of Konoha into such a mess that it no longer even looked like a Shinobi village.

"Are you going to personally deal with the Shinobi Village Alliance?" Minato asked.

"The Shinobi Village Alliance isn’t the main point. The organization behind it is." Nagasawa replied.

Nagasawa had no intention of speaking cryptically and told Minato the information he had about the Akatsuki.

"I see. No wonder Iwagakure was defeated so quickly, and even the Third Tsuchikage was captured." After learning the information about the Akatsuki, Minato immediately found it reasonable.

If the leader of the Akatsuki, who possessed the Rinnegan, had personally taken action, then Onoki’s defeat was not unjustified.

"We really should properly reorganize the Shinobi organizations of the Shinobi World. I didn’t expect there to be such a powerful Shinobi organization with such enormous ambitions hiding out there." After learning about the Akatsuki’s strength, Minato was also somewhat shocked, sighing at how deep the waters of the Shinobi World were.

"The Shinobi Village Alliance can exist, but it shouldn’t be an alliance of small Shinobi villages. It should be an alliance of the entire Shinobi World." Nagasawa said.

Once this incident ended, the Shinobi World should more or less welcome a proper peace, no longer a peace between the major Shinobi villages, but peace throughout the entire Shinobi World.

He had allowed the Akatsuki to develop for so long. It was time to close the net.

If he let Nagato continue causing trouble, it would become counterproductive.