Several years earlier, Sunagakure of the Land of Wind ignited the flames of war.
Using the disappearance of the Third Kazekage as a pretext, they sought to redirect their internal conflicts outward.
The first target was naturally the fertile and prosperous Land of Fire—and its hidden village, Konohagakure.
At first, both sides merely conducted small-scale probing battles along the border.
But gradually, the clashes escalated into full-scale war.
During that time, Iwagakure of the Land of Earth and Kumogakure of the Land of Lightning were also watching closely.
Once they saw an opportunity, both villages declared war on Konoha in succession.
At that point, the pressure on Konoha reached an unprecedented level.
Externally, it faced three of the Five Great Nations at once.
Internally, it still had to balance the power of the village's great clans.
Nearly every combat-capable shinobi in the village was deployed to the front lines.
Fortunately, Kumogakure—long infamous as a troublemaker—unexpectedly proved helpful.
First, they launched a surprise attack on Sunagakure.
Then they stabbed Iwagakure in the back.
Their actions bought Konoha a precious opportunity to catch its breath.
Taking advantage of Sunagakure's weakened state—along with the mutual restraint between Iwagakure and Kumogakure—and aided by the battlefield brilliance of Minato Namikaze, Konoha struck with lightning speed.
Sunagakure was defeated and forced to sign a ceasefire agreement.
At the same time, Konoha destroyed Iwagakure's supply lines and crushed its frontline forces, leaving the Hidden Stone Village unable to launch large-scale warfare for the time being.
At this stage of the war, the overall situation had become clear.
Just when Konoha believed the war was nearing its end and the village began to celebrate—
Kumogakure suddenly stabbed them in the back as well.
Kumogakure had suffered setbacks against both Sunagakure and Iwagakure.
Their sneak attack against Sunagakure had been discovered and repelled.
Then, when they attempted to strike Iwagakure from behind, they walked straight into an ambush.
Even the Third Raikage died in that battle.
And after that—
Kumogakure decided to attack Konoha instead.
The decision was so baffling that even the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, could hardly comprehend what those battle-crazed Cloud ninja were thinking.
But the greatest shock for Konoha was yet to come.
At that very moment, the long-silent Kirigakure of the Land of Water suddenly declared war on Konoha as well.
Konoha was dragged back into the abyss.
Although Iwagakure was temporarily unable to launch large-scale warfare, it had not suffered any crippling damage.
The village still possessed a large reserve of shinobi and could reignite the conflict at any moment.
Konoha therefore had to station large forces along its border with the Land of Earth.
Meanwhile, although Sunagakure had signed a ceasefire agreement with Konoha—
That agreement was little more than a worthless piece of paper.
If Sunagakure saw even the slightest opportunity, they could tear it up and declare war again.
So Konoha also had to maintain defensive forces along the Land of Wind border.
With the war against Kumogakure still ongoing, Konoha simply did not have enough manpower left to resist Kirigakure's invasion.
With no other options remaining, Konoha's leadership finally turned their attention to two clans they had long been wary of:
The Uchiha Clan and the Hyūga Clan.
Both were among Konoha's most powerful noble clans.
Their immense strength and rigid internal structures had always made the village leadership uneasy.
The Uchiha Clan, in particular, possessed a notoriously rebellious temperament.
Influenced by the ideology of the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju, Konoha's leadership had long kept the Uchiha under tight restrictions.
There were two main reasons the leadership had avoided sending the Uchiha clan to the battlefield.
First, they hoped to politically isolate the clan and prevent them from gaining influence through military achievements.
Second, the Sharingan, the Uchiha clan's bloodline limit, had a unique trait.
Its power awakened and evolved through intense emotional upheaval.
And few places generated stronger emotions than the battlefield.
Where other shinobi might grow weaker from prolonged war—
Uchiha warriors could actually grow stronger.
The clan might lose members during war, but the quality of their survivors would dramatically increase.
For example—
During this very war, two members of the Uchiha clan awakened the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan.
Either one of them alone could rival an entire army.
Under such circumstances, Konoha's leadership naturally tried to avoid letting the Uchiha participate in the war.
But Kirigakure's declaration of war pushed Konoha to the brink.
In the end, they had no choice but to deploy the Uchiha clan to defend the border against Kirigakure's invasion.
Looking across the entire Third Great Ninja War, the other great nations mostly fought intermittently.
Only Konoha had been fighting continuously, facing one opponent after another.
For nearly eight long years, the entire village had endured relentless exhaustion.
And now—
The war was finally about to end.
"So, Ren… what should we do next?"
Minato Namikaze quickly composed himself and turned to Uchiha Ren.
"Should we take them back to Konoha?"
The war had not officially ended yet.
They couldn't afford to lower their guard.
Ren thought for a moment instead of answering directly.
"What do you think?"
Minato hesitated briefly before speaking.
"The Third Raikage is dead, and the position of the Fourth Raikage has not yet been formally decided."
"Kumogakure is currently leaderless."
"If we want the war to end, someone must return to organize their leadership."
"I've noticed that A and Killer B share a deep bond. If A returns to Kumogakure to take command, it will make negotiations much easier."
Minato was suggesting that they release A.
Within any village, there would always be different factions.
Especially when leadership was uncertain, opportunists would inevitably emerge.
If A returned to stabilize the situation, then Killer B—as a hostage—would hold far greater negotiating value.
Under normal circumstances, this reasoning made perfect sense.
But Ren only smiled.
"Minato… you're overlooking one thing."
"Your plan would work with any other village."
"But Kumogakure is different."
He continued calmly:
"Do you believe that if we release A today, that hotheaded brute won't gather an army tomorrow and threaten us with total war until we return Killer B?"
Minato froze.
Thinking about Kumogakure's usual behavior…
He realized he couldn't argue.
After all, everyone knew the Cloud Village was full of war fanatics.
Ren continued:
"A is the candidate for Fourth Raikage, and Killer B is the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki."
"Neither of them is someone Kumogakure can afford to lose."
"Only by holding both of them will Kumogakure sit down obediently at the negotiating table."
Minato frowned slightly.
"Are you certain the Kumogakure leadership will agree on that?"
Ren understood the implication behind Minato's question and sighed softly.
"Kumogakure's leadership isn't like Konoha's."
"They're far more united than we are."
"And the Raikage's chief advisor, Tōdai (Tōdai / Dodai), is a very clever man."
"He won't allow anyone to act recklessly."
"So for now, we should bring both A and Killer B back to the village."
After a pause, Ren suddenly added another instruction.
"Oh, and one more thing."
"When you report this mission… don't mention me."
"Just say this was the accomplishment of your squad."
Minato's pupils shrank in surprise.
"Ren… don't tell me this mission wasn't ordered by the Third Hokage?"