Chapter 458: The Great War Erupts
Ishiro had spent great effort, but he finally pulled the Akatsuki Organization onto his war chariot.
Then came the one-month gap between the second and third stages of the Chunin Exam.
Under Ishiro's coordination, the Land of Earth, Land of Water, Land of Rivers, and Land of Rain sat down together to begin alliance negotiations.
The Land of Earth was the proposer and leader of this negotiation. The Land of Rivers and Land of Rain had been duped into coming by Ishiro. The Land of Water only came because they were being baited with the Seven Ninja Swords.
But the most active parties at the table were, unexpectedly, the Land of Rivers and the Land of Rain.
Because after Ishiro expressed his intention to upgrade the River Village to the Sixth Great Shinobi Village after the war, the Land of Rivers and Land of Rain lost their composure.
Upgrading the River Village was a good thing, but who would become the Sixth Great Nation?
The representatives from the Land of Rivers and the Land of Rain immediately began to fight.
Ishiro hadn't anticipated this. He didn't particularly value the national power of either country. He didn't even care about their regular ninja, aside from Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan.
So, while Ishiro had remembered to upgrade the village, he had forgotten to specify whether the Land of Rivers or the Land of Rain would be upgraded to the Sixth Great Nation.
As a result, during the alliance negotiations, the envoys from these two countries began to argue heatedly in front of the representatives of the Land of Earth, the Land of Water, and the three ninja villages.
The Land of Rivers Daimyo's envoy said: "The River Village is in the Land of Rivers. If the River Village is upgraded, then the nation that gets upgraded must be the Land of Rivers!"
"It makes no sense to have a Great Village located in a minor country."
But the Land of Rain Daimyo's envoy retorted: "The old River Village belonged to the Land of Rivers. But the new River Village was established by the Akatsuki after they eliminated Hanzō, and their sphere of influence covers both nations."
"The new River Village just uses the old name. Its personnel and ideals have nothing to do with the original."
"Furthermore, Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan are all people from the Land of Rain. Most of the other core members of the Akatsuki were recruited in the Land of Rain. They belong to the Land of Rain."
Both sides had valid points. As an outsider, Ishiro couldn't get involved, and Yahiko was momentarily unable to make a decision.
The negotiations did not go smoothly.
Although, under Ishiro's guidance, many unrelated treaties were agreed upon, the final, formal alliance between the three factions remained unsigned.
Finally, with the third exam approaching, Ishiro gave Yahiko an idea.
Let the Land of Rivers and the Land of Rain form a full alliance first—a comprehensive union. Then, they, as the "United Alliance," would become the sixth great power in the shinobi world, enjoying the same rights as the Five Great Nations.
Yahiko agreed.
The envoys from both countries were reluctant, but neither wanted to offend Yahiko at this juncture. After some hesitation, they pinched their noses and accepted it.
Finally, the three ninja villages and the four nations signed the treaty.
The treaty stipulated: The three parties (Iwagakure, Kirigakure, Akatsuki) would advance and retreat as one. If one party was attacked, the other two were required to provide support.
The treaty also stipulated: No party could unilaterally and actively declare war on another great village without the consent of the other two.
The first clause benefited Ishiro, preparing for the coming war.
The second was a reassurance for Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan, showing that Ishiro also desired peace and would not be the aggressor.
Kirigakure was very satisfied with both clauses.
They had just barely regained recognition as one of the Five Great Villages. The current Kiri had neither the strength nor the ambition to fight for hegemony. The first clause protected the still-recovering Kirigakure, and the second restricted Iwagakure from over-expanding its influence after the war.
Thus, all parties were satisfied with the agreement.
Ishiro breathed a sigh of relief. It had taken two months, but the most difficult pre-war preparations were finally complete. His business in the River Village was finished.
"It's been a while since I contacted home," Ishiro thought. "I wonder if Ōnoki and the others' secret war preparations are going smoothly."
After the treaty was signed, Ishiro returned to his residence and contacted the village via his intelligence ninja, updating them on his situation and getting a progress report on Iwa's mobilization.
The next day, Ishiro bid farewell to the Akatsuki trio. "Yahiko, Nagato, Konan, the third exam is tomorrow. I plan to return to my village today."
Yahiko said, "Alright, Ishiro. Be careful in this war. If anything happens, contact Nagato directly using the Magic Lantern Body Technique."
Nagato also spoke. "That's right, Ishiro. If you need anything from us, just ask. You're being too much of a stranger."
Konan added, "This alliance, all the details... you handled everything for us, figuring out all the solutions. You must be under immense pressure from your village. We haven't even thanked you."
Ishiro gave a bitter smile, thinking: You three political newborns. If I didn't speak up for you and give you ideas, you'd be sold and still be counting the money for the person who sold you.
Yahiko is just like Hashirama Senju back in the day. Hashirama had a winning hand but insisted on 'mutual understanding.' In the end, he just left a huge mess for his little brother, Tobirama Senju.
Ishiro followed Konan's words: "Konan, since you want to thank me, why not show me around your village again? I haven't seen it since Yahiko finished the renovations."
Hearing this, Yahiko and Nagato immediately turned to look out the window, as if something incredibly fascinating was happening outside.
Konan, however, saw Yahiko's shoulders shaking.
But Konan had some experience now. Her face flushed slightly, but she just glared at Ishiro and said nothing.
Seeing no explosion, Yahiko stood up. "Nagato, didn't you say the academy needed something? Let's go, we'll go check it out."
Nagato caught on quickly. "Right. Let's go now."
The two quickly disappeared from the office.
In an instant, only Ishiro and Konan remained.
"Well, Konan," Ishiro said, "Let's go. Time for that walk."
He stood up, grabbed Konan's arm, and walked out.
First time. He didn't dare grab her hand!
Konan was still processing what happened as he pulled her out of the building.
Once they were on the street, a delayed-reaction Konan finally snatched her arm back.
Ishiro pretended not to notice, pointing to a distant area. "Let's go over there!"
It was one of the new entertainment districts Yahiko had built, and it was crowded with spectators for the Chunin Exams.
For the next while, Ishiro dragged a half-reluctant Konan through all the new attractions.
Half a day later, as Ishiro and Konan were walking, one of the Iwa intelligence ninja who had accompanied Ishiro ran up, panting.
"Lord Tsuchikage! A message from the village! Suna and Konoha have joined forces and are attacking Kirigakure!"
Ishiro sighed. This damn shinobi world is just unsuitable for romance.
He gave Konan an apologetic smile, then turned to the ninja. "What about Kumo? Did they dispatch troops?"
The ninja replied, "Lord Third says Kumo is likely moving by sea. We can't detect them."
Ishiro nodded. "I understand."
He then looked at Konan. "Konan, let's go back. I might need Nagato's help."
Konan's expression turned grim. "Alright. Don't worry. You've helped us so much; we will do our part."
Soon, they were back in Yahiko's office. Yahiko and Nagato, who were supposed to be at the academy, were both there.
Seeing Ishiro and Konan return together, Yahiko was about to make a teasing remark but stopped when he saw Ishiro's grave expression. He and Nagato exchanged a look: Something happened.
Sure enough, before Yahiko could ask, Ishiro spoke. "Yahiko, Nagato, it's happened. Konoha and Suna have dispatched troops to attack Kiri. If I'm not mistaken, Kumo has moved out as well."
"Kiri is Iwagakure's ally. I cannot stand by and watch them be attacked by three great villages. I must support them. But Iwagakure alone is not enough. I need Nagato's help."
Nagato said immediately, "Ishiro, what do you need? Just say it."
Yahiko also chimed in, "Kiri is our ally now, too. We are obligated to help."
Ishiro nodded. "I need your Six Paths of Pain to enter the Land of Fire and tie down two of Konoha's Kage-level fighters for me."
Yahiko asked, "Is that all? What about Konan and me? What do we need to do?"
Ishiro shook his head. "It's enough. Nagato already sent Sasori and Kakuzu to the Land of Whirlpools to find Orochimaru."
"If you tie down two more of Konoha's Kage, that's three in total."
"In terms of numbers, you will already be tying down the equivalent of one great village's high-end combat power."
"The final stage of the Chunin Exam is about to begin. You three must not leave at this time, or all our previous efforts will be wasted."
The Akatsuki trio was moved. Even at a time like this, Ishiro was still thinking of their organization's interests.
Ishiro, however, was thinking: Konoha really did start the war. Given Tsunade and Orochimaru's relationship, the possibility of her contacting him to join in was high.
Good thing I already sent Kakuzu and Sasori to tie up Orochimaru.
Although Ishiro and Orochimaru had cooperated well during the last crisis, Ishiro could never guess what Orochimaru was thinking. In the original story, he launched the "Konoha Crush" plan but made the bizarre move of attacking his own Suna ally first. Ishiro's brain simply couldn't comprehend that logic.
Therefore, since he had the spare capacity, restricting this uncontrollable factor was necessary.
Besides, Sasori and Kakuzu weren't exactly trustworthy assets either. Iwagakure had killed Sasori's grandmother, Chiyo. Although Sasori had cut ties with Suna, who knew what he truly thought.
As for Kakuzu, a bounty hunter who only worked for money, how could Ishiro trust him?
Having Nagato order those three (Sasori, Kakuzu, Orochimaru) to get entangled and tie each other down was an excellent solution.
Nagato nodded. He immediately used the Magic Lantern Body Technique to give orders to Sasori and Kakuzu, far away in the Land of Whirlpools: Act immediately. Kill Orochimaru.
Then, his Six Paths of Pain quickly left the Land of Rain, heading for the border of the Land of Rivers and the Land of Fire. Nagato's control over the Paths had a limited range; he couldn't send them directly to the border between Rain and Fire. That was too far.
Seeing this, Ishiro thanked the trio and returned to his residence.
He said to Kanako, "Kanako, the Chunin Exams here are your responsibility. The war is starting. Your mission is to protect our squads that made it to the finals."
"You will all stay here. Konan and the others will protect you. Don't leave the River Village until the war is over."
"I'll leave one intelligence ninja with you. Contact me if anything changes here."
Next, Ishiro began issuing orders to Iwagakure via the intelligence ninja.
He did not choose to reinforce Kirigakure. It was too late. By the time he arrived, if Kiri couldn't hold, they would have already fallen. If Kiri could hold, then his help wasn't needed there.
The order he gave was: Invade the Land of Wind.
The moment the order was given, Ōnoki and Kawakita, back in Iwagakure, immediately led the 2,000 troops who were already assembled and marched toward the Land of Wind.
Of course, 2,000 ninja weren't enough to invade a great village.
At the same time, Iwa's branches in the Land of Snow and the Land of Demons mobilized, each sending 1,500 ninja. This was virtually their entire force, leaving only a few ninja behind to watch the bases.
The three armies rendezvoused in the Land of Bears, forming a grand army of 5,000.
Ishiro then summoned his three disciples, pulling them from the upcoming exam. Taking the three of them and one intelligence ninja, he rushed to the Land of Bears.
No matter how fast an army mobilizes, it has limits. Of all Ishiro's countermeasures, the fastest was the Six Paths of Pain.
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