The unrest in Sunagakure had finally come to an end.
The Sunagakure shinobi who had attempted to storm Konoha's base during the night had been forced to stand down by Uchiha Fugaku, who had delivered Kizaru's warning.
Elder Iwatani of Sunagakure had secretly colluded with other hidden villages and used the incident as an opportunity to provoke further conflict. After his conspiracy was exposed, he resisted arrest and was killed by Ebizō.
Using the Spiritual Transformation Technique, Dan Katō transmitted a complete account of everything that had happened that night back to Konoha.
The tense atmosphere inside the Hokage's office immediately eased.
Once they had relaxed, Hiruzen Sarutobi and the two village advisers turned their attention towards Kizaru.
Without appearing in person, Kizaru had suppressed an uprising in Sunagakure with nothing more than his name and a single warning.
His presence alone was beginning to resemble that of the First Hokage—a figure whose overwhelming strength was enough to deter an entire hidden village.
"Now that the situation in Sunagakure has been resolved, we should begin preparing for the succession ceremony."
Hiruzen was the first to break the silence.
He looked towards Homura Mitokado.
"Homura, the village council will convene in three days. You will be responsible for notifying everyone and making the necessary arrangements."
Homura nodded before turning towards Kizaru with a warm, friendly smile.
In another month, Kizaru would officially become Hokage.
More importantly, he would become an exceptionally powerful Hokage.
Homura naturally had to consider what that would mean for both his own future and that of his clan.
Hiruzen noticed the subtle change in Homura's attitude but did not comment on it. After all, he was also considering the future of the Sarutobi clan.
"Koharu, you will be responsible for contacting the daimyō. Once the village council has met and the jōnin council has completed its vote, Kizaru and I will travel to the capital to meet him."
Like Homura, Koharu Utatane nodded before giving Kizaru a pleasant smile.
After assigning the preparations for the succession, Hiruzen turned towards Kizaru.
"Kizaru, during this period, you and Tsunade will visit the homes of the major shinobi clans and the village's senior jōnin."
Kizaru's shoulders sagged slightly.
"Ooh… I understand."
Although his tone remained relaxed, he sounded thoroughly inconvenienced by the idea.
Early the following morning, the still-sleeping village of Sunagakure was shaken awake by a startling announcement.
Elder Iwatani had acted for his own selfish interests. He had colluded with other hidden villages, abducted fellow shinobi, planned an attack on the Konoha garrison and attempted to provoke a war between Sunagakure and Konoha.
The moment the news spread, every shinobi associated with Iwatani's faction began to panic.
Most of Sunagakure's other shinobi and civilians were furious.
The people of the hidden villages understood the cruelty of war better than anyone, particularly the shinobi who were expected to fight on the front lines.
No one wanted another war unless it was absolutely unavoidable.
That was especially true when their potential enemy was Konoha, which was currently at the height of its power.
Everyone understood that if Iwatani had successfully provoked a war, Sunagakure would have been the one to suffer defeat. The disparity between the two villages was so great that Sunagakure would have had almost no chance of victory.
Furthermore, during the three years that Konoha's forces had been stationed in Sunagakure, they had never abused their authority or harassed the local population.
Instead, they had genuinely helped protect the village and the Land of Wind.
The Konoha shinobi also regularly spent money within the village, providing local merchants and businesses with a considerable source of income.
Under those circumstances, the majority of Sunagakure's shinobi and civilians had no desire to start a war with Konoha.
Some shinobi still felt humiliated that their village required a permanent Konoha garrison. Even they had to admit, however, that preserving the current arrangement was far more beneficial to Sunagakure than provoking another conflict.
Therefore, when Chiyo and Ebizō publicly revealed everything Iwatani had done, the elder became the target of widespread hatred.
When the villagers learned that he had been killed while resisting arrest, many openly celebrated his death.
Chiyo and Ebizō immediately took advantage of the opportunity to carry out a large-scale purge of Sunagakure's leadership.
Anyone suspected of belonging to Iwatani's remaining faction or secretly colluding with another hidden village was dismissed from office and placed under house arrest.
Several of them refused to surrender their authority and attempted to resist by force.
Every last one was killed by Chiyo and Ebizō.
With their strength, there were few shinobi in Sunagakure capable of opposing either sibling. More importantly, both of them commanded a large number of loyal subordinates.
In the past, Chiyo and Ebizō had lacked a suitable reason to remove their political opponents.
Iwatani's conspiracy had now provided them with the perfect justification.
In less than a day, the upper levels of Sunagakure's administration were completely purged.
The senior shinobi belonging to the political faction left behind by the Third Kazekage were stripped of their authority and confined to a large estate on the outskirts of the village.
As for the lower-ranking shinobi associated with them, Ebizō chose to make use of them rather than waste valuable manpower.
Those who had been deeply involved were reassigned to the borders of the Land of Wind, where they would remain stationed for an extended period of time.
Those who had merely been associated with the faction were transferred into the intelligence organisation under Ebizō's control. They would continue performing missions under strict surveillance, using their service to atone for their involvement.
After the purge, Sunagakure was completely under the control of Chiyo and Ebizō.
No one remaining in the village possessed enough authority to challenge them.
The purge also produced another, less obvious consequence.
As a disciple of the Third Kazekage, Rasa suddenly found himself in an extremely awkward position.
Out of respect for the late Third Kazekage, Chiyo did not directly target the young Sunagakure prodigy.
However, Rasa was still a potential figurehead around whom Chiyo's political enemies might gather in the future.
Because of that, his prospects within Sunagakure had become bleak.
As for becoming Kazekage as he had in the original course of history, Rasa no longer had any hope of reaching that position.
After stabilising the village's internal affairs, Chiyo immediately met with Danzō.
The two held an extensive discussion regarding the romantic entanglements and misconduct involving Konoha shinobi and Sunagakure villagers.
After a lengthy but relatively peaceful negotiation, the two sides finally reached an agreement.
If both individuals involved were unmarried and their relationship was consensual, neither side would punish them. They would also be permitted to marry normally in the future.
Cases involving adultery or infidelity would be handled differently.
The person responsible for the betrayal would be required to provide financial compensation to the wronged spouse. At the same time, everyone involved would be punished separately according to the regulations of their respective villages.
The outcome was not enough to satisfy every individual involved, but the majority found it acceptable.
At the very least, the matter had been resolved peacefully.
Uchiha Fugaku, who had arrived carrying Kizaru's instructions, also succeeded in saving the life of his cousin's husband from Danzō.
After consulting Sunagakure's leadership and the people directly involved, Fugaku also prepared to escort a pregnant Sunagakure kunoichi carrying an Uchiha child back to Konoha.
Fugaku had complicated feelings towards the kunoichi, whose name was Chinatsu.
From his cousin's perspective, Chinatsu was the other woman who had nearly destroyed her family.
However, Fugaku's opinion of her improved slightly after hearing her explanation.
Chinatsu openly admitted that she had slept with Uchiha Kōsuke solely to take revenge on Iwatani, the man who had killed her lover.
Her only reason for returning to Konoha with Fugaku was to protect the child growing inside her.
Once she arrived in Konoha, she had no intention of continuing any relationship with Kōsuke.
She planned to live as a single mother and raise the child by herself.
After speaking with her, Fugaku's impression of Chinatsu changed considerably.
She was a woman who pursued freedom like the desert wind—unrestrained, unpredictable and perhaps more than a little reckless.
Uchiha Kōsuke, the other person responsible for the entire scandal, did not take the truth nearly as well.
When Fugaku informed him that Chinatsu had merely used him as a means of taking revenge on Iwatani, Kōsuke was devastated.
He had genuinely believed that Chinatsu had been captivated by his charm.
In his mind, she had approached him because she was attracted to him. Their emotions had then overwhelmed them, causing both of them to make a mistake that should never have happened.
Kōsuke felt deeply apologetic towards his wife.
However, buried beneath that guilt had been a small trace of pride.
Some part of him had been pleased that another woman had found him attractive enough to pursue.
As their relationship continued, Kōsuke had also become emotionally attached to Chinatsu and developed genuine feelings for her.
He had believed that she was drawn to his appearance and that the feelings between them were mutual.
Instead, she had informed him that he had been nothing more than a convenient tool for her revenge.
The revelation struck Kōsuke harder than any physical blow.
He became despondent and was soon consumed by endless guilt and regret towards the wife waiting for him in Konoha.
Fugaku looked down at Kōsuke, who sat lifelessly on the floor, but offered him neither sympathy nor comfort.
In Fugaku's eyes, the man had brought every part of his current misery upon himself.
Had his cousin not been kind enough to consider their years together and the children they already shared, Fugaku would have personally encouraged her to throw the unfaithful man out of her life.
After giving Kōsuke one final glance, Fugaku turned and left the room.
Because of his connection to Kizaru, Danzō had begun placing greater trust in Fugaku and had assigned him numerous responsibilities.
Fugaku was far too busy to waste any more time comforting a man who had created his own problems.
Two days later, news of the incident reached Iwagakure in the neighbouring Land of Earth.
As the leader of the nearest great nation, the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, was the first of the other Kage to receive a detailed intelligence report from Sunagakure.
When he learned that the Sunagakure faction willing to join the alliance against Konoha had been completely purged, irritation immediately rose within him.
A collection of fools.
No wonder Sunagakure continued to weaken with every passing year.
Ōnoki had explicitly instructed them to maintain the status quo and avoid drawing attention to themselves.
When the war finally began, their only responsibility had been to provide intelligence from within enemy-controlled territory.
Instead, they had acted recklessly and destroyed everything.
Not only had the entire faction been eliminated, but the existence of the hidden-village alliance had almost certainly been exposed.
Konoha would now become vigilant and begin making preparations of its own.
The more Ōnoki thought about it, the angrier he became.
They had been incapable of accomplishing anything, yet perfectly capable of ruining everything.
He threw the intelligence report onto his desk, rose from his chair and floated into the air.
With his hands clasped behind his back, Ōnoki drifted towards the office window and stared at the village outside.
Although he had accepted Kirigakure's proposal to form an alliance and attack Konoha, doubts had continued to trouble him.
Whenever he remembered Kizaru's overwhelming strength and extraordinary high-speed mobility, he felt an instinctive sense of dread.
To defeat Konoha and surround Kizaru, they first had to restrict his movement.
But how were they supposed to restrain someone capable of moving at such terrifying speed?
Kirigakure's proposal was to trap Kizaru inside a powerful sealing barrier before sending the strongest shinobi from every allied village inside to surround and kill him.
Ōnoki was far from convinced that such a plan would succeed.
First, there was no guarantee that the barrier could trap Kizaru at all.
Even if they assumed that the first stage of the plan succeeded and Kizaru was sealed inside, another problem remained.
Leaving Sunagakure aside, if Iwagakure, Kumogakure and Kirigakure gathered their strongest shinobi and entered the barrier, would they truly be capable of defeating him?
Kizaru's accomplishments from three years earlier remained vivid in Ōnoki's memory.
He had captured the Raikage, killed the Kazekage, subdued the Two-Tails and suppressed the Eight-Tails.
Could a man capable of such feats truly be brought down through numbers alone?
More troubling still, Kizaru had taken control of two tailed beasts—the One-Tail and the Two-Tails.
If necessary, he could summon both of them inside the barrier.
Could the allied shinobi truly defeat Kizaru while simultaneously contending with two tailed beasts?
There was another factor that could not be ignored.
Kizaru was still young.
The last three years should have been a period of rapid growth for him.
He had already possessed monstrous strength three years ago.
How powerful had he become now?
The longer Ōnoki considered the situation, the less confidence he had.
Eventually, he released a heavy sigh.
Kirigakure's plan to surround and eliminate Kizaru did not have a particularly high probability of success.
Even so, the war had to be fought.
If they continued waiting, both Konoha and Kizaru would only grow stronger.
Eventually, the other hidden villages would lose even the slightest hope of defeating them.
Ōnoki had carefully observed Konoha's development during the past three years.
The nutritional supplements being sold throughout the continent by the Land of Fire's Noble Chamber of Commerce were clearly being produced with Konoha's support.
Nutritional supplements, Konoha Hospital, the Bandai Chamber of Commerce—Ōnoki could only imagine how much money Konoha had earned through the enterprises it had established during the last three years.
Then there was the White Fang of Konoha.
By promoting him as the village's foremost representative in the mission market, Konoha had successfully taken countless high-value commissions away from the other hidden villages.
If the situation continued, Konoha would control an ever-growing share of the mission market.
At the same time, the village would continue earning immense profits through its various commercial organisations.
With more money and more missions, Konoha could train a larger number of shinobi and strengthen its military even further.
Ōnoki had watched all of it unfold, and the sight filled him with growing anxiety.
Konoha could not be allowed to continue developing at its current pace.
Otherwise, within several years—or perhaps a little more than a decade—Konoha would possess enough power to confront the entire shinobi world by itself, even without Kizaru.
That was not a future Ōnoki could accept.
Nor was it one the other great hidden villages would tolerate.
The shinobi world possessed a limited amount of wealth and a limited number of missions.
The greater Konoha's share became, the less would remain for everyone else.
As Konoha continued to prosper, the other hidden villages would inevitably decline.
It was only after recognising that danger that Ōnoki had reluctantly joined the alliance proposed by Kirigakure, despite his uncertainty regarding their chances of victory.
If they fought now, they still possessed at least a thirty or forty per cent chance of winning.
If they delayed any longer, even a ten per cent chance might disappear.
It was better to risk everything now than spend the future kneeling before Konoha.
They had no choice but to gamble.
If they won, Konoha's rise would be stopped and the village would fall into decline.
If they lost, then they would lower their heads, concede defeat, surrender territory and pay reparations.
From that point onwards, Konoha would become the undisputed leader of the shinobi world, and the other villages would no longer possess the strength to object.
There was another, deeper reason why Ōnoki was willing to take the risk.
Even if Iwagakure lost the war, Konoha would not be able to annex either the village or the Land of Earth.
The daimyō and nobles of the Land of Fire would never permit it.
Likewise, the other hidden villages, daimyō and noble families throughout the world would never stand by while Konoha completely absorbed another great nation.
It was an unspoken agreement accepted by every major power.
Thus far, no one had dared to break it.
With that safeguard in mind, Ōnoki was willing to gamble everything on one final attempt.
Compared to Ōnoki's careful deliberation, the Third Raikage of Kumogakure, located far to the north in the Land of Lightning, did not consider nearly as many possibilities.
He had agreed to join the alliance for one reason alone.
Revenge.
Revenge against Konoha.
And above all else, revenge against Kizaru.
Kumogakure was a village that respected strength and direct action.
The Third Raikage understood that if he rejected the alliance against Konoha because he was afraid of the risks, the consequences would be severe.
Should that information ever become public, his reputation within the village would suffer an immense blow.
His prestige had already been damaged by Kumogakure's defeat during the previous war.
If rumours spread that he had become afraid of Konoha, remaining in the position of Raikage would become almost impossible.
Even his son's position as the future successor to the title could be threatened.
Kumogakure could accept a Raikage who was defeated.
It could accept a Raikage who died in battle.
What the village would never tolerate was a Raikage who allowed fear to prevent him from fighting.
Understanding that reality, the Third Raikage had accepted the Mizukage's invitation without hesitation.
Unlike Ōnoki, he was not particularly doubtful about their chances.
His son, A, had grown considerably stronger during the past three years.
Blue B, the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki, had also become increasingly proficient at controlling Gyūki's power.
Both possessed strength comparable to that of a Kage.
Together with the Third Raikage himself, Kumogakure could field three Kage-level combatants.
When Ōnoki, the newly appointed Fourth Mizukage and the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were included, the alliance would possess an overwhelming number of powerful shinobi.
With so many elite fighters gathered together, the Third Raikage believed they had more than enough strength to defeat Kizaru.
All they needed was the correct opportunity.
If they could lure Kizaru into an ambush and successfully surround him, they could turn the battle into a perfect encirclement and annihilate him before Konoha had time to intervene.
More than a dozen elite shinobi against a single man.
No matter how powerful Kizaru was, the Third Raikage was convinced that the advantage belonged to them.
--------------------------------------
Support me at patreon.com/Arthorain and read upto 50 Advanced Chapters and R-18 Content!
--------------------------------------
Update schedule: 7 chapters/week
Every 100 power stones = 1 Extra Chapter
By voting with [power stones], you can easily get double the number of chapters.