Two days later,
Land of Grass.
The leader of the current Grass Village walked nervously behind a Leaf Village ninja who was leading the way. Despite his cautious demeanor, his mood grew even more troubled when he saw Leaf and Mist ninjas, who hadn't been seen in decades, mingling together in the camp.
"Why are we at war again?"
Sixty-five-year-old leader of the Grass Village, Dwarf Sedge, was filled with anxiety. He was born at the tail end of the Warring States Period and witnessed the era's end and the birth of the Five Great Nations. He once believed in the First Hokage's vision of a peaceful world, but when the First Hokage died, his dreams of tranquility were buried along with him.
The three Great Ninja Wars shattered Dwarf Sedge's hopes for peace.
Now, he only wished the next war wouldn't come too soon.
However, his wish did not come true; in fact, quite the opposite happened. It had been only six years since the Third Ninja War ended, and a new conflict was already on the horizon. The Land of Grass, squeezed between two great nations, would inevitably be drawn into the chaos, whether they liked it or not.
The Grass ninjas didn't have the luxury of neutrality like the Waterfall ninjas or the samurai of the Land of Iron. They could only continue being subordinate to the Leaf Village and join the war.
"Lord Jiraiya, someone from Grass Village has arrived."
"Are they here already? Let them in."
Dwarf Sedge passed by the guard at the entrance and walked into the tent, where he saw Jiraiya seated at the head. "Lord Jiraiya, we meet again!"
"Dwarf Sedge, you seem to be in good spirits!" Jiraiya replied with a smile.
The two were not strangers; they had interacted during the Second and Third Ninja Wars. However, their relationship was only that of acquaintances who exchanged pleasantries. Given the limited combat strength of the Grass ninjas, they weren't significant enough to establish any real camaraderie with the Leaf ninjas.
"I'm getting old! Not like before—now I get leg pain just from walking a little too far."
Dwarf Sedge sighed as he sat down at the lowest seat under Jiraiya's gesture.
Once seated, he glanced at the two people sitting beside Jiraiya. One was a Nara clan ninja he hadn't seen before, but his experienced eyes recognized the clan symbol on Nara Suzaku's clothes.
The other was a young man who looked around twenty, with white hair, purple eyes, and shark-like sharp teeth. He wore a Mist Village forehead protector.
"If you're running out of energy, it might be time to choose a successor, so you don't leave a mess behind when you eventually pass away," Suzaku said bluntly.
"I'd love to! But the younger generation in the village is disappointing. None of them measure up, and the standards for selecting jōnin keep dropping. Instead of training seriously, they resort to shady techniques..." Dwarf Sedge lamented, nearly calling the younger ninjas useless.
Jiraiya listened to his complaints but didn't comment.
"Ahem."
Suzaku cleared his throat, interrupting Dwarf Sedge's rambling. "Enough idle talk, Dwarf Sedge. We didn't call you here to listen to your grievances. How are the preparations we assigned to you?"
Using Grass ninjas was a standard practice. Battles between Leaf and Stone ninjas often took place in the Land of Grass or the Land of Rain. However, the Rain ninjas were tough and didn't take orders from either the Leaf or Stone villages, and the Sand Village's envoy had been driven away. Thus, the Land of Rain was avoided during the Third Ninja War.
Now, the Land of Grass was the battlefield between Leaf and Stone.
Before Jiraiya's army arrived, envoys had already been sent to Mist Village to meet Dwarf Sedge and convey Leaf's orders: to help guard the border and prepare supplies for the troops.
"We've tried to gather as many supplies as possible, but I'm not sure what exactly your side needs…"
"Just gather all you can and don't worry about the details. Do you think we'd take advantage of you?" Suzaku responded harshly, showing no consideration for Dwarf Sedge's age.
"What about your men? The border guards haven't seen a single Grass ninja. Where are they?"
"Well…" Dwarf Sedge's wrinkled face showed genuine embarrassment. "Lord Jiraiya, it's not that we're unwilling to help. It's just that only six years have passed since the last war, and the village hasn't recovered. Almost all our capable elders died in the last war, and the young ones are not up to the task. Even if we sent them to the front, they'd only be a burden, so I thought it'd be better to have them work in the rear to contribute more."
Jiraiya remained silent.
"Enough nonsense!" Suzaku slammed the table and snapped, "Dwarf Sedge, don't think you can fool us just because Lord Jiraiya is kind-hearted. Whether the Grass ninjas are useful or not isn't for you to decide. The allocation of manpower is not your concern."
"Suzaku, calm down. Everyone makes mistakes in their work," Jiraiya interjected gently.
"My apologies, Lord Jiraiya," Suzaku said, bowing his head.
Jiraiya then turned to Dwarf Sedge with a kind expression. "Dwarf Sedge, don't mind Suzaku's attitude. He's young and impulsive. Just get the troops here quickly. We haven't officially started fighting with the Stone ninjas yet, so no irreparable harm has been done because of your mistake. Send your men as soon as possible, and we can overlook your previous shortcomings."
Hozuki Mangetsu, seated on Jiraiya's left, watched with amusement. Jiraiya and Suzaku's good-cop, bad-cop routine was obvious even to a young man like him. How could an old fox like Dwarf Sedge not see through it? But even if he did, what could he do? Realizing that the kind-hearted Jiraiya of old would not be swayed by his pleas, he knew his hopes were dashed.
The Grass ninjas couldn't stay out of the war.
"I understand. I'll return and gather the troops immediately," Dwarf Sedge responded with a gravelly voice, agreeing to the Leaf's heavy-handed demands.
He left the tent with the same heavy steps he had entered with.
"Sorry you had to witness that, Mangetsu," Jiraiya said, turning to Hozuki Mangetsu.
"It's nothing! It was rather interesting. I've only read about scenes like this in novels. Unfortunately, the Land of Water has no smaller nations to act as vassals," Mangetsu remarked regretfully.
The small countries like the Land of Grass, Hot Water, Rain, and River existed as buffer zones between larger nations. The Land of Water, surrounded by the ocean, didn't need such buffers. The sea itself was a natural barrier, so smaller nations weren't necessary.
There used to be the Land of Whirlpools, a strategic base for the Second Hokage to guard against the Mist ninjas, but Sarutobi Hiruzen failed to protect it, and it was destroyed.
If the Land of Whirlpools still existed, the Third Ninja War would never have seen the Seven Ninja Swordsmen reach the outskirts of the Leaf Village, only to be driven away by the remarkable Might Duy. The Leaf wouldn't need to guard its long coastline so vigilantly; securing the largest island close to the shore would have kept the Mist ninjas at bay.
"It seems the Grass ninjas are a bit slippery," Mangetsu commented.
"They're just fickle allies," Suzaku said bluntly, showing his disdain for them. "They're clueless about their own strength and position, always trying to play tricks. Do they really think the Stone ninjas wouldn't crush them if we didn't step in?"
If the Stone ninjas advanced southward, the Grass ninjas would have to choose between the Leaf and the Stone. There was no third option. If they declared neutrality, the Stone ninjas would wipe them out to secure a clear path for their invasion.
Aligning with the Stone meant opposing the Leaf... but Dwarf Sedge didn't have the courage for that.
Since the First Hokage's death, the Leaf had won three Great Ninja Wars, regardless of the sacrifices made. No matter how weak the Leaf seemed, Dwarf Sedge couldn't muster the confidence to side with the Stone. If the Stone lost, the Grass ninjas would face retribution from the Leaf.
He hoped to minimize the Grass's sacrifices through minor schemes.
"Self-preservation is human nature," Jiraiya said softly. "Suzaku, don't be too harsh on them! We never expected them to be of much help, anyway."
"It's not about being harsh, Lord Jiraiya. It's that the Grass ninjas have grown too bold, taking advantage of the Third Hokage's leniency and forgetting their place..." Suzaku trailed off, realizing too late that Jiraiya was the Third Hokage's student.
Fortunately, Jiraiya didn't seem bothered and sighed instead. "War! It's truly unpleasant."
Just then, someone rushed into the tent. "Lord Jiraiya, Kakashi Hatake requests an audience."