What the hell is making games in the Ninja World?.

Chapter 432 The Hidden Cloud Village Tryes to Threaten the Hidden Leaf Village into Retreating (2 Updates, 4K6)

Gaara knows some things because of Naruto Uzumaki.

Because of Naruto's relationship with him, and also because Naruto believed that Gaara would become their companion.

For this reason alone, Naruto decided to tell Gaara something.

Of course, before that, Naruto Uzumaki found Gaara and gave him many instructions. He also warned Gaara very seriously that if Gaara wanted to back out after knowing certain things, at the very least, his memories of those things would be erased.

Gaara agreed without hesitation.

The reason is simple: it's the bond between him and Naruto!
The bonds of the ninja world are truly invincible.

Of course, the main reason is that Gaara believes there must be a reason for such a major change in Konoha, and Naruto's staring is actually a veiled hint that if Sunagakure wants a future, it must follow in Konoha's footsteps.

Gaara didn't know why Naruto was giving such a hint, but he believed that Naruto must have his reasons. Just as the original story says, for Gaara, Naruto was his salvation, the one who had saved him many times. Therefore, he was willing to give Naruto a level of trust that transcended the village and the family feud, and to create a new era with Naruto.

So, Gaara quietly arrived in Konoha. Then, through Naruto's connection, Gaara learned the secrets hidden in the Genjutsu Game, the existence of parallel worlds, and was even sent to a parallel world to see what was happening there.

Upon witnessing the prosperity and power of Konoha in the main world, and learning that the two Konoha had quietly cooperated, Gaara knew that neither of the ninja worlds had the power to resist Konoha. No matter what Konoha wanted to do to either ninja world, Sunagakure would be powerless to resist.

Given this trend, Sunagakure can only secure a place in the future by closely following in Konoha's footsteps.

Especially after Naruto Uzumaki stated that the Akatsuki organization had indeed been destroyed by Konoha and that all the spoils of war had been obtained by Konoha, Gaara became even more certain of this fact.

Therefore, Gaara made a statement, declaring in his capacity as Kazekage that he was willing to stand with Konoha through thick and thin.

It was for this reason that Gaara successfully met Shukaku, the One-Tailed Beast, who was living a fulfilling life and traveling around disguised as a chubby little boy, in the illusion network.

After being 'educated' that time, Shukaku finally behaved himself. After all, he couldn't resist Tamamo-no-Mae's tyranny and would be roasted if he wasn't careful. Even if he was stubborn, he had to behave himself, otherwise he would just suffer a setback, which was not a happy thing.

Ultimately, Shukaku received the same treatment as the other tailed beasts. After donning a disguise, it could freely roam the illusion network and illusion games, and there was even a place like the 'Great Illusion World,' which subjectively made it more enjoyable than being free to move around in the real world.

After all, freedom in the real world would inevitably attract fear and covetousness from humans, leading to constant trouble. In the illusionary world, however, there is no need to worry about these things, and one can move about freely.

Undoubtedly, this experience turned Shukaku into a staunch supporter of the idea that "there's nothing wrong with the world of illusions."

Gaara met Shukaku under these circumstances. After their meeting, both were lost in thought, and their senses were completely different.

The two were once sworn enemies, but after the Akatsuki attack, the One-Tailed Beast was removed, and Gaara died once, their mindsets have changed.

They couldn't help but wonder if the outcome of that battle would have been different if they had reconciled earlier and achieved mutual trust.
Probably.

After all, Deidara only used Sunagakure to threaten Gaara, causing Gaara to expend a lot of his own chakra to protect the village, which gave Deidara an opportunity. If Shukaku had already reconciled with Gaara at that time, he could have directly used Shukaku's chakra to deal with the situation, or even directly entered the complete tailed beast transformation mode.

Unfortunately, all of this is just a regret that can never be realized. Shukaku, who finally gained freedom in the illusion world, can never return to Gaara's body.

However, the two sides will spend a lot of time together in the future. Not to mention, after Sunagakure in World 2 is connected to the internet, Gaara can enter the genjutsu network at any time to find Shukaku.

Even Shukaku's true form could be returned to Sunagakure in World 2.

The reason is simple: Gaara has surrendered with Sunagakure, so the network there must be connected. To maintain network stability and ensure a seamless connection between the genjutsu network across worlds and the main world, a stable base station is needed, and Shukaku can serve as that base station.

However, the situation in the Second Shinobi World is currently unstable, and even if Gaara were to bring Sunagakure to join, he would need to resolve some internal issues and unify the internal situation before he could do so, which would take time.

Therefore, Shukaku cannot be released for the time being. If Sunagakure Village #2 wants to get internet access, it can only temporarily use floating base stations as a substitute.

While this network will experience some latency and cannot directly connect across worlds, it can still connect to the genjutsu network of Konoha 2. Currently, Konoha 2 has built a large number of base stations, and the Nine-Tails inside Naruto also exists as a stable cross-world network base station. Therefore, the network there can basically be synchronized with the main world. However, in order to conceal the existence of the two worlds, the external network is currently blocked, and Konoha 2 cannot connect to the genjutsu network of the main world.

Of course, for the Ninja World No. 2, which has just come into contact with illusion games and illusion networks, this is already a revolutionary thing, something that is enough to shake the tradition of the entire Ninja World.

It was under these circumstances that news suddenly came from Kumogakure that Konoha had destroyed Akatsuki, and various forces were misled into speculating that Konoha had seized Akatsuki's legacy, including the Rinnegan and various tailed beasts.

This discovery was quite significant. Konoha had become the biggest beneficiary of the Akatsuki's attack. Some even maliciously suggested that the Akatsuki might have been fostered by Konoha to weaken other villages, acquire all the tailed beasts, and then be wiped out once the Akatsuki's usefulness was exhausted.

That's absolutely vicious!
Yes, this is malicious speculation, and it can be said without any scruples. After all, Konoha's influence in World 2 is far less than that of Konoha in the main world. Moreover, Konoha 2 has been weak for more than ten years. Although it has recently recovered its strength, it is far less powerful than before the Nine-Tails' attack. Therefore, many people do not take Konoha seriously and can freely smear it.

Many factions even believe that Konoha, faced with such a media storm, will try every means to prove its innocence, thus falling into a self-proof trap to clear its name and avoid public outrage.

After all, the Hyuga clan incident back then was truly infamous throughout the entire ninja world. Konoha was clearly the victim, but because the village was too weak, it was afraid to start a war and thus backed down against Kumogakure, even losing the life of a branch family head of the Hyuga clan, becoming a laughing stock of the entire ninja world.

Later, Orochimaru's Konoha Crush plan led to the sudden death of another Hokage, resulting in the deaths of the Third and Fourth Hokage. Afterwards, due to various reasons and concerns, Sunagakure, one of the culprits, was let off lightly, and Sunagakure did not receive any punishment. Meanwhile, Orochimaru, the other culprit, was allowed to roam freely for several more years without any repercussions.

What prestige could Konoha possibly have? It's on par with Kirigakure, where you'd have to sit at the children's table.

In some ways, it's even worse than Kirigakure. At least Kirigakure's Blood Mist Village policy, while seemingly insane to others, is terrifying enough. Moreover, Kirigakure is located overseas, making it easy to defend and difficult to attack. Even if there are any problems, they will only be ridiculed and are unlikely to face direct threats.

Only Konoha, located in the most fertile Land of Fire in the center of the ninja world, has been extremely weak for the past ten years or so. Although those smaller countries still respect Konoha's power, they mostly ridicule and disdain it, feeling that Konoha is already finished and now is the time for it to be replaced.

Therefore, many people believe that Konoha Shinichi will back down again in the face of this situation.

Some were already considering what valuable items they could obtain from Konoha during this opportunity, and soon some set their sights on genjutsu games and genjutsu networks. After experiencing these two things, all factions knew that they were incredibly valuable, and obtaining the related technology and physical objects would undoubtedly bring immeasurable benefits.

Anyway, that's what the Hidden Cloud Village thinks, since they have indeed gotten benefits from Konoha through threats before.

As a result, this time, Konoha chose to ignore all the outside noise and malicious speculations.

Yes, they simply ignored it. Konoha 2 chose to ignore all these statements, only responding with "no such thing" when faced with inquiries from other villages.

In terms of attitude, the main selling point is aloofness, as if saying "believe it or not."

Such an attitude and reaction shocked the entire ninja world, even making them feel incredulous. Clearly, no one expected Konoha's response to be so tough and indifferent, leading many to have the strange thought, "This isn't Konoha, what kind of village is this?"

Then, under these circumstances, the promotion for the brand-new illusion game "The Last Ninja" arrived, letting all factions know that Konoha was about to release a new game. The promotional content for the new game was also unprecedented, with scenes of Konoha ruins that left these factions feeling bewildered and astonished.

The inability to understand and comprehend, especially given the superficial understanding of illusion games and the fact that many of their knowledge and understanding are far inferior to that of the main world, has only added to the confusion among the various factions.

That's so strange, let me take a look...

It's still too strange, let me take another look...

This is the true reaction of all parties involved.

Then, under these circumstances, after careful consideration, the Fourth Raikage, A, slammed his hand on his desk and decided to unleash his traditional skill in a wild manner: just like when he scared Hiruzen Sarutobi and other Konoha high-ranking officials, he threatened Konoha with war.

This is a path dependency.

This is the news we received from the main world that Konoha #2 is in trouble.

Of course, this is just troublesome. As for the current Konoha No. 2, although they are far less powerful than the Konoha in the main world, they are not someone that the mere Kumogakure can bully, much less the weak and easily bullied Konoha of the past.

Faced with the threat of war from Kumogakure, the high-ranking officials of Konoha held an emergency meeting, and the Fifth Hokage, Tsunade, ultimately responded to Kumogakure's provocation on behalf of Konoha.

Those diplomatic statements were not short, but the gist of it was that we have already responded to this. As for your disbelief and your threats of war, then so be it. Konoha is not afraid of you.
Then, Kakashi Hatake, assisted by the Hokage, led Konoha's elite forces to the border of the Land of Fire, setting up a standoff and demonstrating that Konoha was not afraid to take action.

At the same time, the message was also sent to the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, indicating that Konoha would stand firm on this matter and hoped that the Daimyo would stand firmly on their side.

The Fire Country Daimyo was somewhat bewildered by this, truly not expecting that the once weak Konoha would suddenly become so tough. After all, more than a decade had passed since the Nine-Tails' attack, and the entire ninja world had become accustomed to Konoha's weakness and vulnerability, including the current Fire Country Daimyo.

Incidentally, this Fire Country Daimyo is not the same person as the Fire Country Daimyo in the main world. He is his son, who succeeded him after the Third Shinobi World War. During his reign, Konoha was already in a weak state, and he had become accustomed to it, believing that Konoha was just like that.

Seeing such a strong Konoha now, the Daimyo of the Land of Fire is still quite unaccustomed to it.

However, although he was surprised and unaccustomed to it, the fire country daimyo was still very happy about this, because Konoha was, after all, the ninja village under his rule. It had always been weak and easy to bully, which made him, as the daimyo, feel ashamed in front of the daimyo of other great powers.

Now that Konoha has proven itself, the Fire Country Daimyo will naturally choose to fully support it—at least, he'll have something to brag about next time he sees other Daimyo!
Yes, for the daimyo, the struggles between ninja villages, the so-called Ninja World War, were actually far removed from them; they were merely a war game for them.

Winning would bring sufficient benefits and considerable gains from other countries, while losing would only result in the loss of some benefits and face. Compared to the ninjas fighting on the battlefield, the daimyo were in a completely safe state, far removed from war and unaffected by it.

This led the daimyo to be indifferent even to events like the Fourth Shinobi World War, which could overturn the entire shinobi world. They even had the leisure to engage in entertainment and play cards, completely disregarding the war as if it were just a vacation.

This situation reflects the division caused by the millennia-long solidification of class in the ninja world, meaning that noble daimyo, ordinary people, and ninjas do not live in the same worldview.

This is also why the main world reformers, led by Minato Namikaze, wanted to completely change the ninja world system.

Right now, it's just that the winds of change haven't reached the Second Ninja World yet.

As for the current situation, we should just solve the problem using the traditional methods of the ninja world.

A week before the release of The Last Ninja, a standoff broke out on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rice in the Ninja World #2.

The Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire do not border each other; several small countries lie between them. When large countries confront each other, the smaller countries automatically become battlefields, as has happened in every Shinobi World War.

The small countries that used to be interspersed between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Fire were all vassal states of the Land of Fire. However, after the Nine-Tails' attack, Konoha's power shrank, and it was forced to compromise with Kumogakure. Ultimately, all of these small countries became vassal states of the Land of Lightning.

Now that the Hidden Cloud Village is causing trouble for the Hidden Leaf Village, the Hidden Cloud Village naturally sends people across several countries to the border of the Land of Fire, giving the Hidden Leaf Village and the Land of Fire a terrifying and overwhelming force.

At least for now, more than two thousand ninjas from Kumogakure are stationed on the border of the Land of Fire, displaying a strong posture that suggests they could invade the Land of Fire at any time, putting enormous pressure on the surrounding small countries and the Land of Fire.

However, Konoha did not panic in the face of this situation. Kakashi Hatake led more than a thousand people to confront Kumogakure at the border. Although they did not launch an attack, their attitude was strong and they did not back down from Kumogakure at all.

Such a strong stance and decisive response stunned the entire ninja world. No one expected Konoha to be so powerful. It was as if the entire village's management had been replaced. No one could understand why Konoha dared to do this, or what gave them the right to do so.

However, regardless of the reason, this assertive stance did indeed disrupt the plans of the Hidden Cloud Village and completely threw off the plans of other forces.

For a time, the entire ninja world entered a strange pre-battle calm.

(End of this chapter)