On the plains, the massive tremors caused by the collapse of the base were bound to attract uninvited guests. They had to leave immediately and return to Konoha.
A group of ninjas supported each other as they headed toward the border. Some had been thoroughly transformed by experiments, their limbs completely mutated, making them unable to walk on their own. The others didn't give up on them; the two ninjas with the least injuries took turns carrying them forward.
After a bumpy journey, they finally reached the border.
The defense of the Land of Fields at the border was practically non-existent. This small country had completely given up on resisting. Every day, they gathered beauties and handsome young men into the manor for pleasure, lording it over the citizens and living a very comfortable life. Ninja from the Great Nations would also consciously avoid the capital of the Land of Fields, never bothering the Daimyo or the nobles.
This was because the Daimyo of the Land of Fields was very clever. He adopted a strategy of indirect survival. He had fathered a large number of fair and beautiful sons and daughters, and after careful grooming, he sent them to the Daimyos of the Five Great Nations for various reasons. The children were ambitious enough, engaging in intrigue within the palace walls and becoming quite skilled at whispering into the right ears.
Therefore, although the ninja village of the Land of Fields was completely rotten and the country's military defense was virtually nil, the group of nobles lived very peacefully. They fared much better than the Land of Rain or the Land of Waterfalls, which had once tried to strive for strength.
The group hid at the border, not because they were afraid of ninjas from other countries, but mainly to avoid Konoha ninjas. They feared that accomplices of Orochimaru and Danzo might be among the front-line troops and would capture them again.
Makiya secretly acted to create two disturbances. Taking the opportunity, the group broke through the defensive lines and slipped into the heart of the Land of Fire.
Makiya didn't need to worry about the rest. Many of them were battlefield veterans, capable enough to lead everyone back to Konoha safely—at most, they would just be a bit slow.
Makiya returned to his base to organize his gains. Moving the coffee machine to his top-floor office, he poured a cup of coffee and began to pull out scrolls to read slowly.
The Eight Branches Technique was a forbidden jutsu Orochimaru valued, but in Makiya's eyes, it was only average. After a few glances, he tossed it onto the shelf to gather dust. He was very interested in the modified Reanimation Jutsu, as well as the unfinished Cursed Seals of Heaven and Earth and the Living Corpse Reincarnation developed by Orochimaru.
Souls in the Ninja World and souls in the Soul Society were completely different concepts. Makiya could only expand his knowledge in this area through the scattered words in the scrolls. Fortunately, Orochimaru had also kept a large number of documents 'scavenged' from Uzushiogakure; their research on souls was even more advanced.
The entire base hadn't undergone modern renovation yet. The light from oil lamps was very unfavorable for reading. Makiya summoned a flame to float above him, illuminating the scroll as he studied every word carefully.
In the past, whether during compulsory education or his undergraduate and master's years, he had never studied so seriously. The only times he truly worked hard were his senior year of high school and the two years preparing for his master's exams. It was now eleven at night. In the past, he would have been playing games or reading novels at this time. Studying? Impossible!
Studying at night always made him sleepy. If it were memorizing English, he'd be sleeping like a baby after ten minutes.
Now, he wasn't sleepy at all. He read the obscure and dry knowledge with great interest. Even the scrolls seemed to drift with a faint, wonderful fragrance. His thoughts followed the words into the laboratory. Although Makiya didn't approve of Orochimaru's morality, his talent was undeniable. His various conjectures and ideas were unimaginably creative and breathtaking.
He simply lacked advanced methodology and mathematical tools; otherwise, Orochimaru's achievements would have gone far beyond this.
While Makiya was studying, startling changes were occurring throughout the Ninja World. Konoha had no idea that a shocking internal strife was waiting for them. Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the war situation maps gathered by the intelligence department, lamenting that the situation had finally stabilized. He planned to further expand their advantage.
The first thing to do was to consolidate forces and concentrate power. Now that the war had reached this point, the friction between Sunagakure—the instigator and master of starting trouble for the Third Shinobi World War—and Konoha had significantly decreased, returning to normal levels.
The Land of Rain was sandwiched between the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire. Through continuous efforts, Konoha had successfully pushed all the front lines into the territory of the Land of Rain. Seeing that they couldn't gain any advantage for a long time, and under pressure from the Daimyo of the Land of Wind, Sunagakure also began to retract its forces.
Most importantly, they also had to face an invasion from Iwagakure. The impoverished Land of Wind and Sunagakure couldn't afford to maintain too many ninjas. Stretched thin, negotiating peace with Konoha became the only option.
Konoha dispatched Jiraiya and a group of high-level clan members to the Land of Rivers, which lay between the Land of Wind and Fire. Sunagakure similarly sent high-ranking officials like Chiyo and Ebizo. The peace talks officially began. The intelligence agencies of both sides competed secretly, desperately trying to gain an advantage for their respective negotiators.
As soon as Jiraiya and Chiyo met, they cordially inquired about each other's parents, elders, and family members, showing deep concern for the reproductive health of their female elders.
In this friendly and pleasant atmosphere, Konoha and Sunagakure held 'frank' discussions regarding the start of the war and various minor and major conflicts. Both sides fully exchanged views. The first day of negotiations ended there, with both sides harboring a belly full of fire. Jiraiya went back and spent half the night writing his erotic novels to let off steam, but ended up even more fired up.
Negotiations continued on the second day. Sunagakure accused Konoha of assassinating the Third Kazekage. Jiraiya immediately retaliated, saying that if a Konoha ninja could successfully infiltrate Sunagakure and assassinate the Third Kazekage, then Chiyo should only be at home babysitting her children.
The scene immediately spiraled out of control. All the negotiators from Sunagakure were high-ranking officials, elders from the same era as Chiyo. Back in her youth, Lady Chiyo was the 'flower' of Sunagakure; the line of men who had a crush on her could stretch from Sunagakure to the ancient kingdom of Loulan. And here was Jiraiya making dirty jokes about her?
Thus, the second day of negotiations ended abruptly. The meeting increased mutual understanding, but both Konoha and Sunagakure held reservations, respecting each other's desire for peace talks while expressing they would seriously consider the possibility of a treaty.
It wasn't until the fourth day, when the group of Konoha ninjas persecuted by their own people had managed to sneak halfway home, that Konoha and Sunagakure finally reached a preliminary consensus. Both Jiraiya and Chiyo knew the true state of their respective villages. Years of continuous warfare had brought their finances to the brink of collapse; they had to end the war immediately to recuperate.
Negotiations were not based on personal preferences. The previous shouting matches were just to rattle the opponent's psychological defenses. But Jiraiya and Chiyo were both battle-hardened ninjas; naturally, they wouldn't get angry just because someone insulted their families.
Well, they did get angry, but everyone understood that the negotiations would conclude successfully with an end to the war as the keynote. The only difference was how much profit they could secure for their villages on that peace treaty.
Jiraiya wanted Sunagakure to cede land and pay reparations to ease Konoha's pressure. Sunagakure, on the other hand, took the stance of someone who had nothing left to lose. They had no money to give, and they certainly wouldn't give their lives. In any case, Sunagakure hadn't suffered too much loss in the war; they refused to admit they had lost and believed both sides were evenly matched.
Jiraiya sneered. Currently, Konoha's strength was even greater than in the original timeline. He spoke with full confidence, his voice even louder, stating that Chiyo wasn't qualified to make decisions on such a major matter and demanded the Third Kazekage speak for himself.
At Jiraiya's demand, the Sunagakure side glared with fury. They had started the war precisely because the Third Kazekage had gone missing. Jiraiya was truly touching a sore spot. The war had gone on this long, and they had searched the entire Sunagakure without finding a single soul, only discovering a curly hair on the Kazekage's seat. Other than that, they had found nothing.
The negotiations between Konoha and Sunagakure were conducted in secret, but in this era, which village didn't have spies from another? Major movements were essentially transparent. Soon, the news of the secret negotiations between the Land of Wind and Fire was known by the other three Great Nations, and even some Daimyos of smaller nations were aware.
Regarding the ceasefire, the Land of Rivers, which was adjacent to both the Land of Wind and Fire, naturally raised both hands in approval. They even thoughtfully sent supplies to the ninja lords at the negotiation site, along with a large number of beauties and handsome men to comfort the army.
Hanzo, the leader of the Land of Rain—which was also caught in the middle—said nothing for some reason. Everyone assumed he had been scared stiff during the Second Shinobi World War and was cowering in the Hidden Rain Village, afraid to take a stand.
Hanzo of the Salamander: 'It's not that I'm afraid to take a stand, I'm just dead!'
Leaving the Land of Rain aside—small countries were of little concern—the reaction from the Land of Water was also abnormal. They must have received news that Konoha and Sunagakure were about to cease fire, yet the Hidden Mist Village continued to send a large number of Bloodline clan ninjas to support the front lines. They seemed determined to fight Konoha to the death. Even though they had previously suffered setbacks and were driven back to the sea by Konoha, had they not been beaten enough?
Kumogakure and Iwagakure expressed that they didn't understand, but they supported the Hidden Mist's decision with both hands. Ohnoki and Raikage Ay both expressed their admiration for the Mizukage, letting it be known that the Hokage was nothing in front of the Mizukage, destined only to be utterly crushed, and looked forward to the two of them settling things on the battlefield.
Hiruzen Sarutobi: "..."
"..."
Yagura Karatachi: "..."
"..."
"..."
Madara Uchiha: "..."
"..."
"..."
Of course, they wouldn't take such inflammatory words seriously, but it also showed that the negotiations between Konoha and Sunagakure had left the Land of Earth and Lightning on pins and needles, desperately hoping that the Land of Water could tie up Konoha's energy.
On the seventh day of negotiations, the Tsuchikage of Iwagakure, Ohnoki of Both Scales, couldn't sit still any longer. He sent his son Kitsuchi as an envoy to Kumogakure, hoping both sides could conduct peace negotiations and preserve their strength to face the potential threat from Konoha.
Wood Release and the Mangekyo Sharingan felt like two great mountains pressing on Ohnoki's heart, preventing him from freely unfolding his strategic plans. After all, he had seen the Wood Golem and Susanoo with his own eyes; he knew that was not a power regular ninjas could match.
Facing Ohnoki's request for peace, the Fourth Raikage directly beat Kitsuchi half to death and threw him back across the border, telling him to ask his own father why the current Raikage was the Fourth and not the Third.
In the Third Shinobi World War so far, only the Third Raikage of Kumogakure had legitimately died in battle. To cover the retreat of the Cloud Ninja army, he was beaten to death by ten thousand Iwa ninjas. The scene was very grand... and tragic.
This incident was always regarded as a disgrace by the Fourth Raikage, Ay. He was determined to make the opponent suffer the same loss before he would stop. The internal conflicts within Kumogakure were also significant; having taken the position of Raikage during wartime, he had to lead the village to a major victory.
His son had been beaten into a pulp; Ohnoki was so furious he was about to burst. He dispatched a large army to the Kumogakure border, and a great battle was on the verge of breaking out.
On the eighth day of negotiations, a group of old, weak, sick, and disabled Konoha ninjas, covered in dust, arrived at the village gates. Each had a complex expression, looking like refugees fleeing a famine. To hide their tracks and avoid their own intelligence network, they had suffered a lot on this journey.
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