"Winter of Konoha Year 41: The Battle of Kikyō Pass breaks out. Konoha crushes Sunagakure's shinobi there, capturing over a hundred of them. — "Konoha General History, Fourth Edition""
From the perspective of later generations, the Battle of Kikyō Pass might be considered the crucial beginning of the Third Great Ninja War, or at least its key trigger. But in the spring of Year 42, for the people of Konoha, that "war" wasn't really a war at all.
Yes, it was called a chaotic melee, but in reality, it didn't have much to do with Konoha. After Jiraiya led his men to give Chiyo a beating, Sunagakure basically stopped picking fights with Konoha—because they were too busy tearing their hair out dealing with Kumogakure's aggression.
As for the Kumogakure shinobi, they certainly coveted Konoha's resources. But even a village as powerful as Kumo didn't believe it could fight confidently while being caught between both Konoha and Suna.
So, toward Konoha, their policy was more of a stalemate. Both sides would glare at each other across Kikyō Pass every day, but a whole month might pass without even a single battle breaking out.
It wasn't until Konoha Year 43 that the war began to take on a heavier tone. And the reason was simple: Sunagakure was on the verge of collapse.
Over the course of a year, wave after wave of Kumogakure shinobi poured into the Land of Wind. By the time Year 43 arrived, their numbers had swelled to nearly ten thousand.
That force swept through several towns in the Land of Wind with overwhelming speed, their advance heading straight for Sunagakure itself.
The Sunagakure forces who had been searching outside for the Third Kazekage were completely caught off guard and could only flee back to the village in disgrace.
From the very start, Sunagakure had lost the initiative against Kumo's invasion.
Kumogakure already possessed overwhelming overall strength compared to Suna. At this time, Suna was leaderless and low in morale, and on top of that, most Kumo shinobi were trained in both ninjutsu and taijutsu, rendering them unafraid of puppet-users.
With this triple advantage, Kumo's army attacked Sunagakure like a hot knife through butter.
Before Chiyo and Ebizō could even organize a defensive line, digging trenches and setting up camps outside the village, the Kumo forces had already pressed right up to Sunagakure's doorstep.
In such dire chaos, to break free from the "leaderless" state, Sunagakure urgently held an election for the Fourth Kazekage. In this election, Rasa was successfully chosen as the Fourth Kazekage.
With Rasa, together with Bunpuku and the power of the One-Tail Shukaku, Sunagakure at last managed to slow Kumogakure's offensive. But so what?
That was all they could do. Although Rasa had taken on the heavy mantle of Fourth Kazekage, his personal power was only at the semi-Kage level. His ability, plus Shukaku, could suppress Kumo's advance—but only because the Third Raikage had yet to make a move.
Although Kumo's expansion was checked, their forces had already encircled Sunagakure, cutting off its only exit route—just like Hoshiyomi had once done.
If things went on like this, Suna would eventually collapse from within without Kumo having to lift a finger.
Of course, Rasa could not accept such an outcome. But given Sunagakure's internal strength, he had no way to resist. The only option left to him was to seek aid.
First, he sent pleas for help to Iwagakure. But Ōnoki opened his lion's mouth wide, demanding a price so steep it was as if he meant to swallow half of Sunagakure in one bite. Enraged, Rasa cursed him on the spot.
With Iwa out of the question, and unable to turn to Kirigakure either, there was only one option left—Konoha, the very village they had just fought against not long ago.
For Sunagakure to beg Konoha for help… that was something even more unbearable to Chiyo than death. But at this point, Suna had no other choice. No matter how furious she was, all Chiyo could do was swallow it down.
A letter of appeal, written in the most humble of tones, was delivered to Tsunade's desk.
In it, Sunagakure declared that if Konoha was willing to lend its aid in helping them weather this crisis,
then Suna was willing to form a permanent alliance with Konoha. They swore never again to set their sights on Konoha, and even promised to sell the gold mined in their village to Konoha at dirt-cheap prices year after year.
As Tsunade hesitated over this, Ōnoki, who had been observing everything from afar, had already anticipated such a move.
Seeing events unfold exactly as he had predicted, the old man finally bared his fangs.
The crafty little geezer leapt out and, just like last time, issued a public manifesto accusing Sunagakure and Konoha of colluding to disrupt the balance of the shinobi world. Righteously, he declared that as a guardian of peace, he would never allow such a thing to happen.
Then, he launched a massive offensive—this time against Konoha's vassal nations, the Land of Grass and the Land of Fields.
Iwagakure's army marched straight toward Konoha.
Faced with Ōnoki's provocation, the Konoha leadership knew full well it was a trap, but they still chose to enter the fray. After all, they were confident not only that they would not be threatened by this war, but also that they could secure great benefits from it.
At this point, aside from Kirigakure, the Four Great Villages had all entered the stage.
The war, once just a messy skirmish between Konoha, Suna, and Kumo, had now moved into its second phase:
The Lightning–Earth Alliance vs. The Wind–Fire Alliance
...
By this stage, the war was finally starting to look like a real war.
After deliberation, Tsunade issued formal military orders: around 3,000 shinobi were to gather and mobilize, with Jiraiya appointed as the frontline commander to establish camp along the Fire Country's borders.
Although Konoha had allied with Sunagakure, that did not mean they would act as Suna's loyal protector. Far from it. Konoha's role was more about constant harassment.
Their true objective was to weaken both Suna and Kumo without letting either side collapse completely.
They needed Suna beaten down but not destroyed, so that the Sand would remain obedient and not harbor any wild ambitions once the war reached its later stages.
Meanwhile, Konoha's greater focus was on Iwagakure. Compared to Kumo, Iwa's intentions were far more dangerous.
Battles between Konoha and Iwa broke out much more frequently. While clashes with Kumo were still mostly small-scale, with Iwa it was skirmishes every three days, full battles every five.
Still, neither side had yet fought with all their might. So far, no Kage-level combatants had entered the battlefield.
It seemed all three Great Villages were maintaining a tacit understanding:
Kage-level fighters posed a threat too overwhelming for ordinary shinobi. If they were thrown into the fray right from the start, this war might end just as abruptly as the Second Great Ninja War had.
What's more, Kage-level shinobi were far too important to their villages. Losing even one could instantly erase a village's strategic advantage in the war—something neither Kumo, Iwa, nor even Konoha was willing to risk.