While terrible news were coming from Suna, the rest of the world was busy with its own problems.
Kiri was in turmoil after losing its Seven Ninja Swordsmen, then their Three-Tails Jinchuriki, and then their Third Mizukage.
The village was in chaos, and the new Fourth Mizukage had taken the helm. Under his rule, Kirigakure had started its phase of the Bloody Mist. The village became known further for its harsh training and brutal traditions. But the Bloody Mist was not keen on just being bloody itself. It wanted to make the other villages bloody too.
So it started another small war with Konoha and Suna, the two villages that had given it the most damage during the Third Great Shinobi War. Kiri's forces attacked border outposts and tried to raid supply lines. The fighting was fierce but limited at first.
However, with Suna and Konoha allying with each other, they managed to easily hold out against Kiri. Joint missions between the two villages helped push back the attackers. The alliance proved strong, and Kiri's ambitions were checked for the time being.
But that was the case until a disaster struck Konoha. The news about Konoha's destruction at the hands of the Nine-Tails spread throughout the shinobi world like wildfire.
Reports came in of massive destruction, countless deaths, and the loss of key figures.
The Fourth Hokage and the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki had both died in the attack. Minato was hailed as the strongest shinobi of Konoha and with his death people felt that Konoha had taken a very big hit.
The village was left weakened and grieving. The damage to the infrastructure would also limit the amount of funds they would have for a long time. It was the perfect time to strike for Konoha's enemies when the strongest shinobi village was in turmoil.
Kumo and Raikage A, seeing the death of the Fourth Hokage as a situation to exploit, prepared their army and sent it to the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning.
The Cloud Village saw an opportunity to gain territory and weaken their old rival even further.
The Third Hokage, seeing the other villages' actions, took his position back to bring some stability to Konoha. The old leader stepped up once again to guide the village through this dark time.
Konoha was on high alert, and the shinobi world watched closely to see what would happen next.
But everyone knew that if another war starts, Konoha would not be able to survive with the death of so many of their shinobi with the nine tails attack.
--
As Shota got the information about the Nine-Tails attack, he could only sigh. He sat alone in his room in the village, reading the report that had just arrived. The words on the paper brought a heavy feeling to his chest. "So it begins, huh. We are officially entering canon," Shota murmured to himself.
He could not help but sigh about the various lives lost in the Nine-Tails attack. So many innocent people, shinobi and civilians alike, had died that night.
Families were destroyed, and the village would take years to recover. There would always be a regret in him that he did not do anything to change it. He had known what was coming, yet he had stayed silent and did nothing to change it.
But he had valid reasons for doing so. At least, he thought of them as valid reasons.
Yes, he could have given this information out to Minato, but why would they believe him? They might even consider him a threat if they started believing that his dojutsu could allow him to see into the future.
The risk of being hunted or locked away was too high by the Yellow Flash himself. The next reason was that what if Minato failed to kill Obito, which would be very possible considering Obito could escape into the Kamui dimension easily.
And thus Obito would then search about how Minato got information about him, and thus Shota himself would become a target of Obito to prevent any more failures. It was what Shota would do if he was in Obito's position after all.
Another reason was that by interfering in such a big canon event, the entire future timeline might change drastically.
Even if Obito died, Black Zetsu would be out there with another unknown plan in mind. It was better to face a known threat than an unknown one. Shota kept repeating these reasons to himself, trying to ease the guilt in his heart.
But Shota knew that the main reason was something else. It was selfish.
If Suna were to become a powerhouse in the shinobi world, then the villages had to become equal in strength, and the Nine-Tails attack was a great equalizer with how many shinobi it killed in Konoha.
'I guess I would just have to live in regret. I guess that is what Itachi felt after killing his entire clan to protect his village. I have to do the same,' he thought. He knew that he had to somethings that he would regret for Suna, his home.
The sadness in his heart was deep. He imagined the faces of the people who died that night, mothers holding their children, kids full of dreams, and families torn apart.
The weight of those lives pressed on him, and a quiet tear rolled down his cheek. He wiped it away quickly, but the regret stayed with him. He had chosen the path that he believed would make Suna stronger, but the cost of that choice hurt more than he wanted to admit.
The decision weighed on his young shoulders as he stared out at the desert night.
The village continued its recovery and preparations. Shota knew that the future held many challenges, but he was ready to face them for the sake of Suna.
--------Author Notes---------
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