Chapter 82: The War is Over, Even if it's Temporary
"Lord Kazekage," a scout reported, "Konoha... Konoha has been defeated! They're retreating back to the Land of Fire."
The Third Kazekage was stunned. "So soon?" he asked. "What's the situation with the Stone?"
"I don't know, my lord."
Before he could say another word, another scout burst into the tent. "My lord, they've been defeated! They've been defeated!"
"Yes, I know."
"Ah? You already know, my lord? It's unbelievable!"
"Yes," the Kazekage sighed. "Who would have thought the invincible Konoha would fall so quickly. In just one day..."
"Ah? What are you talking about, my lord? I'm talking about the Stone! They've been defeated!"
The Kazekage froze. "The Stone? Defeated by whom?"
"By the Hidden Cloud!"
"What?! Is this information reliable?! The Cloud is fighting on two fronts?! How many troops did they send?" he asked in a rapid-fire succession.
"Four."
"Four?"
He stared at his subordinate as if to say, "Are you sure you're not under a genjutsu?" He even checked to see if he was some clumsy spy in disguise. But in the man's eyes, he saw only three parts earnestness, three parts shock, and four parts "my worldview has been shattered."
"...Tell me what you saw," he said, his voice low. "Every single word. Don't leave anything out."
After listening to the detailed report, the Third Kazekage was silent.
"My lord, what are your orders?"
He hesitated for a moment, then, gritting his teeth, said, "Retreat. Leave the Land of Rain."
Land of Fire, Hidden Leaf Village
Danzo Shimura, left in charge of the village, was handling its affairs.
He was carefully reviewing the mission records of the Uchiha clan, not missing a single line.
The feat of the Cloud's Eight-Tails Jinchuriki single-handedly suppressing an entire village had shocked the ninja world. After Orochimaru had escaped, he had reported to the village that the Jinchuriki possessed a three-tomoe Sharingan.
Konoha's leadership had concluded that the Jinchuriki's sudden ability to control the tailed beast was likely due to the Sharingan. After all, the Jinchuriki of all the villages had been the same before: powerful but unusable. And the village still had records of Madara Uchiha, and even older texts, that supported this theory.
Others might have wondered where the Cloud had gotten those eyes (the captured Uchiha, Tetsu, had only had a two-tomoe Sharingan), but Danzo knew. It was the very same three-tomoe Sharingan that he had been forced to hand over for the sake of Konoha's negotiations.
But the origin of the eyes was not the point. The point was the Jinchuriki's terrifying combat power. If the Eight-Tails was this powerful, then how much more powerful was the Nine-Tails, the so-called strongest of the tailed beasts?
Hiruzen would never dare to transplant the Sharingan into a Jinchuriki. He would never openly do such a thing. But he, Danzo, would.
If he could just get his hands on another three-tomoe Sharingan and secretly (or forcibly) implant it into the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, he would not only gain a top-tier weapon, but the Jinchuriki would also become a creature of the shadows, to be managed by his Foundation. A win-win.
With Hiruzen on the battlefield, it was difficult to make a move. He would have to find an opportunity through a mission. But besides the battlefield, the Uchiha rarely left the village. They were usually working for the Military Police Force.
As he was contemplating how to get the Uchiha out of the village more often, an ANBU agent appeared at his side.
"Lord... Lord Danzo!" he said, his voice filled with panic. "A report from the front! The Third Hokage's forces were attacked by Cloud ninja in the Land of Rain! They've been defeated and are retreating back to the Land of Fire! They need support!"
"What?!" Danzo slammed his fist on the table and shot to his feet.
"Defeated?! How is that possible?! Didn't the Cloud just arrive in the Land of Rain?!"
"The information is confirmed. A detailed battle report has not yet been received," the ANBU said with difficulty.
Danzo stood there, speechless, for a long time.
Konoha had been defeated?
Konoha had been surrounded, beaten, but never defeated. A full retreat back to the Land of Fire meant a complete and utter defeat.
But after the initial shock, a slow realization dawned on him.
Konoha's first defeat. And it was Hiruzen who had been leading the army.
"The heavens are on my side!"
"Sensei, why are you so happy today?"
The tall ninja took a large gulp of sake and wiped his mouth. "The war is almost over, Nagato! The ninja world is about to return to peace."
"But won't that mean we'll have fewer mercenary jobs?"
"Tsk, tsk. You don't like peace?"
"Of course I do. But... I want to earn some money to send to my parents."
The tall ninja clapped him on his small shoulder, nearly knocking him over. "You've just learned a few ninjutsu, and you're already thinking about earning money. You're too impatient."
"But didn't you say I was a genius?"
"A genius that I taught."
He then threw him a heavy coin purse. "Consider this an advance," he said. "I'll deduct it from your future mission shares. Find a chance to send it to your parents. But don't get scammed."
Nagato's eyes lit up. "Thank you, Sensei!"
"The war is about to end. There won't be many jobs in this area. We're going to the Land of Hot Water. Its prosperity will amaze you!"
"Yes, Sensei!"
The news spread like wildfire. The Hidden Cloud was filled with a sense of joy and pride.
"My dad is in the Special Attack Force! He's super strong!"
"What's so great about that? I'm going to be one of the Three Hundred Spartans of the Cloud one day," a fatherless child retorted.
"Run! Sabii's here! Sabii's here!"
"Don't call me Sabii! My name is Killer! Killer Bee, the ninja killer!"
The western and southern "armies," which were more like training corps, had just left the Land of Lightning when they received the news of the Cloud's victory. The commanders were both overjoyed and confused. They had just set out, and the war was already won. Should they keep going?
But they received the order to proceed as planned. The western forces, in particular, which were supposed to cross five countries, set out on their journey again, though their mindset had changed.
As the various powers learned the details of the two battles, a sense of disbelief spread. Not to mention the observers who were terrified by the Cloud's power, even the participants, Konoha and the Stone, found it absurd.
"Konoha was defeated by just three hundred men?! Are they a bunch of pigs?!"
"What? Four men defeated 20,000 Stone ninja?! Twenty thousand pigs would have put up a better fight!"
Onoki and Hiruzen, almost simultaneously, expressed their contempt for each other.
But no matter how contemptuous they were, they had to swallow the bitter pill of defeat. They both realized that even if they were to ignore the war-weariness and resentment in their own villages and force another battle, they still couldn't defeat the Cloud. Konoha lacked a proper Jinchuriki to counter Blue Bee, and the Stone lacked the ability to suppress top-tier fighters and speed-type ninja. And if they were to split up their forces, Blue Bee could just start firing at their villages.
And so, in the middle of Konoha's 40th year, with Konoha and the Stone defeated and the Sand quietly retreating, the Second Great Ninja War, which had been raging for so long, suddenly came to a halt. The various villages began to send envoys to sue for peace.
But in secret, they were all analyzing the Cloud's displayed strength and the intelligence gathered from the war. Some were looking for a way to counter the Cloud, others for a way to replicate their power. The ambitions were only temporarily dormant. The undercurrents were still swirling.
But no matter what, the Second Great Ninja War, which had lasted for nearly four years and had involved all five of the great villages, had come to an end.
And the title of the "strongest hidden village," in the mouths of the people of the ninja world, had gradually changed hands.
Whether it was the largest was debatable, but after this war, the Hidden Cloud had established its name as the strongest.