Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 326 The battle begins with the bombing of the Sky Ninja Village.

For Konoha, Kumogakure, Kirigakure, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure, the ninja world experienced three major ninja wars, but there were periods of peace between the wars.

But for those small countries situated in the buffer zone, there has never been peace.

Even during times of peace for major powers, the five great ninja villages would still wage war against smaller nations. Kumogakure was the most likely to do this, while Iwagakure was slightly less likely.

Meanwhile, smaller countries are also constantly at war, frequently vying for the meager benefits that larger countries have managed to squeeze out.

The war provided an opportunity for the Akatsuki to grow stronger and also created a market for the arms trade in the Land of Iron, supporting tens of thousands of blacksmiths and samurai.

Under the powerful suppression of the Fifth Hokage, the ninja world achieved three years of complete peace, with only sporadic wars occurring between small countries on the very periphery of the ninja world.

The Akatsuki members were able to travel there to participate in the war and earn war commissions, but the Land of Iron couldn't do arms business there because the shipping costs were too high.

Small countries enjoying peace have seen their military equipment deteriorate, remote small countries cannot afford shipping costs, and even the five major powers have reduced the amount of arms they purchase.

As a result, the Land of Iron went bankrupt.

Although Admiral Mifune and the samurai didn't understand the intricacies of the economics, they knew that their businesses had been struggling since the Fifth Hokage convened the Shinobi World Peace Conference.

So the samurai vented their resentment over bankruptcy on Xia Zuo.

Cutting off someone's livelihood is like killing their parents.

In order to return to the days when they could make money effortlessly, the samurai were determined to kill the Fifth Hokage and were willing to risk their lives for it.

The warriors of the Land of Iron became the most resolute force opposing Konoha within the Akatsuki organization.

Compared to the samurai, the two leaders of Akatsuki were working for the peace of the ninja world. They actually admired the Fifth Hokage very much. If it weren't for their different paths, they would have been comrades.

The other core members of Akatsuki each had their own agendas, and they could be said to have all sorts of ideas, but none of them wanted to fight Xia Zuo to the death.

For example, Deidara, who spends all his time researching how to blow up a country, has extreme admiration for the Fifth Hokage's Great Explosion of Loulan. If the other party were willing to teach him, he would definitely switch sides immediately.

Only Obito Uchiha and Itachi Uchiha truly wanted to fight Konoha to the end, but their goals were different. Obito wanted to destroy Konoha, while Itachi only wanted to defeat the Fifth Hokage.

Itachi Uchiha has grown up and is no longer the naive 13-year-old he once was.

He had long realized that the current Konoha Village and Uchiha clan were exactly what he had envisioned, and even Uchiha Sasuke's development was better than he could have imagined.

Uchiha Itachi was actually quite satisfied with Konoha and had no intention of changing anything. His resentment was focused on one point: why was this wonderful situation achieved without his involvement?

His reason for wanting to defeat the Fifth Hokage, Natsume, was that naive.

Shinno of the Sky Village also harbored resentment towards Konoha, but that hatred stemmed from the Second Shinobi World War. Not to mention that the Sky Village was paid to launch a sneak attack on Konoha, 30 years had passed, and even the greatest hatred couldn't withstand such a long period of wear and tear.

If Shennong's resentment was real, then his Kongren were merely observing the overflowing resentment.

These kids had never interacted with Konoha ninjas before. Their greatest hatred for Konoha was actually driven by their lack of money. They wanted to become famous through Konoha and then make a lot of money based on that fame.

If people are not of one mind, they cannot form a united force.

The Akatsuki organization was formed because Konoha Village, having unified the ninja world, felt unprecedented pressure and was forced to unite and fight together.

Because their thoughts and intentions were too different, no one tried to form a united force; they were content as long as they could resist the attacks from Konoha Village.

Not long after, the Sky Ninja brought back their intelligence. This time, they cleverly recorded the Allied Shinobi Forces' march using cameras sold in Konoha.

From the aerial footage, squads of ninjas, like small dragons, advanced in perfect order along different paths, maintaining almost perfect spacing between each other.

General Mifune of the Land of Iron turned pale. He recognized where he was. The Allied Shinobi Forces had already entered the Land of Iron by 400 kilometers, and were less than 700 kilometers away from where the meeting was being held.

The blade is about to pierce your heart before you feel any pain at all.

Admiral Mifune jumped up and shouted, "Emergency mobilization! Emergency mobilization! Issue the highest emergency assembly signal!"

Chakra is not exclusive to ninjas. When the Sage of Six Paths first created the Ninshu sect, he did not specifically target ninjas when absorbing chakra.

On the contrary, the original Ninja Clan was filled with priests, shrine maidens, and samurai. Ninjas, being such lowly and unworthy individuals, could never even get close to the Sage of Strength.

It's not that the Sage of Six Paths is materialistic and disdains the poor; rather, they are educated and literate, and can resonate with him intellectually and help him manage the area.

They occupied the core of the Ninja Cult because they were useful and easy to use.

But when the Sage of Six Paths returned to the Pure Land, the ninjas defeated the three noble professions, relying on their high speed, high agility, and high attack, which were more in line with the characteristics of chakra.

Samurai suffered too much in this regard, so they naturally developed things to counter the high mobility of ninjas, such as this "Supreme Emergency Assembly Signal".

This is a communication tool developed based on the resonance propagation characteristics of chakra.

Although it cannot transmit complex signals, it can transmit information to the entire Land of Iron within ten minutes.

The samurai of the Land of Iron, who harbored the deepest animosity towards Konoha, began to assemble, but it was the ninjas of the Sky Village who were the first to engage in battle with the Allied Shinobi Forces.

Although their attitude wasn't the most proactive, the maneuverability advantage brought by flight was too great, and by dropping explosives and detonators from a high vantage point, they could create chaos and cause heavy casualties to the enemy, without having to take any risks themselves.

Moreover, the explosives were provided by the Land of Iron, and the detonating tags were provided by the Akatsuki organization. The Sky Ninjas naturally used them with great gusto, blowing things up with great gusto.

When the second round of bombing began, Deidara, unable to contain himself, joined in.

If the explosives of the Land of Iron are scary, and the Akatsuki's explosive tags are only good for harassment, then Deidara's explosive clay is far more powerful.

Whether it was the bird, the spider, or the centipede, they were all high-end weapons with great power and precision. One round of bombardment resulted in the deaths of more than 70 ninjas and injuries to more than 300 others.

This kind of power is not just a harassment that slows down speed. What angered the injured and killed ninja even more was that they were Iwagakure ninja!

Hidden Stone Ninja!

Who wouldn't recognize this as Deidara's explosive clay?

Just minutes after the second round of bombing ended, intelligence was transmitted to the front-line command center via radio, and the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, was furious.

Ignoring the throbbing pain in his back, the old man roared and rushed out, boarding his personal raw stone and chasing after the attacking combat spaceship.

The Fourth Raikage joked, "This old guy keeps complaining about back pain and being dead, but he seems to be in good spirits. He can live for at least another 10 years."

The Fifth Mizukage covered his mouth and chuckled: "The Third Tsuchikage is almost 80 years old, and even his act of acting like an old man is so amusing."

The Fifth Kazekage remained silent, his eyes fixed on the screen in the center of the large table, watching the movements of the Sand Village ninja army.

The Fourth Raikage suddenly patted the armrest of his chair and sighed, "These airships are really good things. Once there are more of them, the natural barriers of our Hidden Cloud Village will probably become easy roads."

The last sentence made Mei Terumi's smile vanish instantly: "It's all the same, it's all the same. With this, neither the desert nor the sea will be an obstacle."

"Sigh, when will Konoha's rapid development end? If this continues, the people of Kirigakure will fall apart."

The four Raikage asked, "Isn't the Land of Water known for its isolationism? Why don't you start doing that again?"

"How is this possible?" Terumi Mei collapsed weakly onto the large table, her long, wine-red hair falling loose.

"This time, I brought all of Kirigakure's resources with me. They've seen what Konoha is like and enjoyed its support. How can I still maintain a policy of isolationism?"

"Forget about closing the country off; I don't even know how I'm going to face my ninja subordinates when I return to Kirigakure after winning the war."

The Raikage asked curiously, "What's wrong with the Hidden Mist ninja?"

The Fifth Mizukage was even more surprised than the Raikage: "You don't know the Fourth Raikage?"

The Fourth Raikage's expression changed drastically: "You mean it wasn't just the Hidden Mist ninja who were involved?"

The Fifth Kazekage suddenly spoke up: "The problem the Fifth Mizukage mentioned, is it that the logistical supply standards for Konoha's ninjas are too high?"

The Fifth Mizukage nodded dejectedly: "That's the problem. Fighting for Konoha Village not only provides three meals a day and a midnight snack, but also unlimited access to ninja tools, medicine, clothing, and even one explosive tag every day."

"Oh, right, the reward money for completing the combat mission will also be paid in full, directly to each ninja."

"My God, how can Konoha Village support 17 combat ninjas, plus countless support ninjas and other civilians? Just how rich is Konoha?"

"When I get back, how am I going to feed these ninjas who've developed such spoiled tastes?"

"Even if I sold my future husband, I couldn't raise that much money!"

The Fourth Raikage laughed heartily: "You? How much could your husband be worth?"

But the Raikage's laughter didn't last long before turning into a sigh: "I've noticed, but there's nothing I can do about it."

"The Fifth Hokage's plan was a calculated move. He had enough money to throw at people. I knew it would cause unrest among the Cloud Village ninja, and all I could do was watch helplessly."

"Anyway, I can't refuse Konoha's money on behalf of the Cloud Village ninjas; that would be the worst possible response."

The Fifth Mizukage chuckled coldly: "So, after all this time, you're just having a good laugh because you're powerless."

"I thought you might have some ideas that I could use as a reference, but I was really disappointed."

The Fourth Raikage said helplessly, "Although I never saw the First Raikage in person, I can now understand his feelings very well."

"There were also four other First Hokage. They must have felt just as helpless and frustrated as we did when facing the combination of the First Hokage and Madara Uchiha."

The Fifth Mizukage said with a sense of sympathy, "I remember that the first person to convene the Five Kage Summit was the First Hokage, Hashirama Senju. The First Mizukage, Byakuren, must have felt very wronged and helpless at that time."

The Fifth Kazekage glanced at his two predecessors, but felt nothing.

As one of the two worst-ranked ninja villages among the five great ninja villages, Sunagakure, while not as miserable as Kirigakure, had its Kazekage succession interrupted twice.

The Third Kazekage died in an assassination attempt by Sasori of the Red Sand. Although the Fourth Kazekage who succeeded him was skilled in Magnet Release, he was not a disciple of the Third Kazekage, and many historical traditions that originated from the First and Second Kazekage were lost.

The Fourth Kazekage was forced to his death by the Fifth Hokage's entrapment scheme. Although the succeeding Fifth Kazekage was his son, he had not received his father's education. This time, apart from the Magnet Release technique, all other inheritances were lost.

The Fifth Kazekage, Gaara, knew nothing about the First Kazekage, so of course he couldn't empathize with him now.

The frontline command center fell silent again.

Deidara is a Kage-level ninja without any fancy moves, and he developed the [Exploding Clay Giant Bird] technique from a young age, giving him a level of mastery over aerial ninjas.

After participating in the air ninja's attack, he impressed them with his dazzling low-altitude flying skills, accurate bombing precision, and astonishing explosive power.

By the third sortie, Deidara was leading the charge, followed by the Sky Ninja squadron.

-

Deidara is one of only two Iwagakure ninjas who can fly. His obsession with creating explosions everywhere makes him prone to causing a lot of trouble.

Therefore, many people in Iwagakure dislike him, and Kurotsuchi, who likes him, is not able to play with him and is constantly disciplined by her teacher, Onoki.

Deidara disliked Iwagakure as a result and became withdrawn. He eventually defected from Iwagakure at the age of 9, becoming the youngest rogue ninja.

He joined Akatsuki for two reasons: firstly, he was attracted by Konan's flying skills and the explosive tags; secondly, Nagato didn't care about him and let him cause explosions outside Amegakure.

However, as a maniac, no one in the Akatsuki organization liked Deidara. Even Sasori, who also pursued art, often argued with him about artistic ideas.

Today was different. Deidara was with the Sky Ninja, receiving cheers and adoring gazes for his flight and explosions.

The air ninjas even showed strong admiration and earnestly followed Deidara to learn flying and bombing techniques.

For the first time in his life, Deidara received respect and admiration, and he was overjoyed, laughing so hard his eyes were almost closed.

He passionately led the air ninja in the third bombing raid, and generously shared his flying skills.

"Air, the key to flight is air, not power!"

"Your flight is too barbaric and wasteful!"

"Flying is not about reckless action."