Escaping the Mist Ninja starts with backstabbing your teacher.

"What?! The Sand Village has surrendered!" Danzo's pupils dilated in shock.

Unfortunately, the Root ninja kept his head down and didn't notice Danzo's reaction at all, simply replying, "Yes, Lord Danzo!"

This sudden news caught Danzo off guard, and his face immediately darkened: "Fine, I understand. You may leave!"

They're all useless. I thought the Sand Village could hold out for a while, but I didn't expect it to be so short-lived; they surrendered so quickly.

In this way, the war will end, Hiruzen will step down, and the next Hokage will be elected. He doesn't have much time left.

"The bad news just keeps coming, it's really unpleasant."

"Someone, inform Orochimaru!"

After arranging for someone to go and inform them, Danzo's single eye kept flashing with a thoughtful look.

Orochimaru was Hiruzen's most beloved disciple, while Tsunade and Jiraiya had no desire to become Hokage, and Minato was merely Jiraiya's disciple.

Logically speaking, Minato's achievements and seniority are inferior to Orochimaru's, so the advantage lies with me.

If Orochimaru is willing, and with his help, the position of Fourth Hokage will definitely be no problem.

After pondering for a while, Danzo slowly stood up. As the Hokage's assistant, he also had to address the matter of Sunagakure's surrender.

Then we'll sound out Hiruzen's thoughts and what he'll decide.

……

On the other side, in Sunagakure.

After losing the financial support of the Daimyo of the Land of Wind, Rasa could only rely on his own efforts to pan for gold dust to continue the war.

But in the end, he couldn't hold on any longer. Now, he not only faces a huge funding gap, but also various tedious affairs in Sunagakure, leaving him overwhelmed.

He looked much older, with dark circles under his eyes and a somewhat listless demeanor.

The returning Yashamaru dealt him another heavy blow; the mission failed, and Maki and his entire army were wiped out.

This caused Luo Sha to have a mental breakdown. The situation was already difficult to maintain, and now he had lost one of his important left and right hands.

Unable to continue any longer, he had no choice but to reluctantly surrender. Had he continued, he would have become the first Kazekage to die from overwork.

His village has fallen!

His ambitions are gone!

His life has turned dark!

Rasa was in immense pain, and his trump card, the Jinchūriki, the monk Bunpuku, had also passed away.

In this way, the Sand Village's last resort also disappeared. What's the point of fighting now? They have no money, no trump cards, and no strong fighters.

This completely demoralized Luo Sha, leaving him dejected and gloomy, and he didn't even take any action against the scroll.

For him, the most important value of the other party, the point that attracted Yekura, had disappeared.

A mere genin is useless without this skill.

They simply sent people to the place where Yashamaru and the others encountered Yekura to investigate and see if the others were still alive.

That was all he could do. He had to focus on negotiating with Konoha. As a defeated village, Sunagakure could only talk things out at the table if they wanted to maintain their dignity.

……

The surrender of Sunagakure marked the end of the Third Shinobi World War, ushering in peace for the shinobi world.

Meanwhile, at the Aloe Vera Gold Mine, where they had built a base, Izumi and the others were also looking at the intelligence in their hands.

"The Sand Village has surrendered, and the all-out war in the ninja world has finally come to an end."

Handing the intelligence report to Yekura, Izumi leaned back in his chair, slowly closed his eyes, and began to recall the current situation in the ninja world.

With the surrender of Sunagakure and the end of the war, apart from the Cloud Village, the Rock Village, and the Hidden Leaf Village, which still had some friction, the three villages that were hostile to him had no time to pay attention to him.

The Hyuga clan, now that Hizashi, the head of the branch family, has failed, there is no possibility of capturing him unless the main family is mobilized.

As for the Mist Ninja, with Mei Terumi providing intelligence and Ao, his teacher, behind them, there's nothing to worry about.

As for the Sand Village ninja, they're already doing well enough to take care of themselves; to think they'd care about them is really wishful thinking.

"Yakura, let's start preparing too. Our current strength isn't enough to achieve our plan."

Hearing Izumi's words, Yekura nodded slightly, her eyes revealing a hint of fervor. She had already experienced the benefits of the [optimization] many times.

That's why her strength improved so quickly, as did her mastery and development of the Scorching Release technique.

Izumikawa's next goal was simple: Uchiha Shisui and the Jinchūriki who were about to leave the village and wander the outside world.

One sought the other's eyes, the other sought the chakra of the tailed beasts—both were the foundation for becoming stronger.

The Sharingan needs no introduction; its uses are naturally immense. As for the Tailed Beasts, they are creatures formed from the special chakra of their opponents, aggregates of chakra.

This ability to be reborn after death makes them virtually immortal, with no limit to their lifespan.

Izumi was very interested in this existence and wanted to know how it was done.

If one could thoroughly study it, one might be able to achieve immortality, or even be reborn after death, which would be incredibly powerful.

"It does have a bit of the feeling of the fourth generation of the God Body in Super God Academy. Even if it is blown to pieces, the chakra can locate each other and eventually reunite to revive.

"However, the potential problem is that, in addition to the ninja world, there is also an enemy from outer space, the Otsutsuki clan."

This left Izumi Kawa somewhat speechless. He was practically invincible, and the next chapter would feature an alien visitor. It was really hard to keep up.

"But in any case, the tailed beasts must be studied. No one can refuse immortality, and then there is youth."

"As for that, when will that big-breasted girl leave Konoha? That's something to look forward to."

He was also very interested in Tsunade's Yin Seal, as it was the only method in the entire ninja world capable of accumulating chakra.

However, the drawback is that once the seal is broken, the accumulated chakra will be released and needs to be re-accumulated.

If optimization could be performed...

Izumi placed his hand on his abdomen, where the second heart formed from chakra could be further enhanced.

Now, by simply relying on cultivation to strengthen himself and raise his upper limit, this speed is comparable to the decades that Madara Uchiha took to develop the Rinnegan.

Yin seal, Hashirama cells, and tailed beasts are all shortcuts to rapid advancement.

The Sharingan, Byakugan, and Shikotsumyaku are techniques—methods to raise one's potential and protect oneself.

After all, the so-called ninja world is ultimately just a huge breeding ground, and someone will come to harvest it in the end.

To truly break free and become a tree planter, one must grasp all these things and ultimately transcend them.

The next step is to wait, let things settle, and wait for the right opportunity.