Starting with the Uchiha clan, they began cultivating demonic arts.

Chapter 160 Pre-Battle Preparations and Kusagakure

"Get ready to forward the letter to the others! I believe the other ninja villages won't just stand by and watch Konoha completely crush us!"

Tsuchitai spoke calmly, and Killer Bee nodded in agreement.

This was also part of the initial plan made by the Cloud Village in case the plan failed. If they failed to frame the Rock Village and were discovered by the Leaf Village instead, then the Cloud Village would have no choice but to drag other ninja villages into the mess.

Among the five great ninja villages, Konoha is the strongest. Among the five great nations, the Land of Fire is also the most powerful, and its population is almost the sum of the other four nations!

Once the nationwide chakra plan is implemented, it is clear that the Land of Fire will produce the most geniuses and grow stronger the fastest.

Konoha's strength and foundation already ranked first among the five great ninja villages. When combined with the geniuses emerging from the Land of Fire, it truly had the potential to unify the entire ninja world.

Tsuchikage and Killer Bee believed that not only they could not tolerate such a thing, but the other three ninja villages would also absolutely not tolerate it. Therefore, although they might be reprimanded by Konoha, they would definitely not suffer any real serious damage!

"Okay, I will send letters to the other three ninja villages."

"There's one more thing, Raikage-sama. Iwagakure, like us, has offended Konoha. We can't let our family bear the brunt of this!"

Although they had long been prepared to drag other ninja villages into the fray, the depth of the descent was also carefully considered.

Some people might only get their shoes wet from the waves, while others might be pulled into the pool. Clearly, the Hidden Stone Village was one of those who might also be pulled into the water.

Even when the four major ninja villages joined forces against Konoha, there were varying degrees of contribution. The Mist Village and the Sand Village would at most send some troops to the border to contain Konoha's strength. For the real battle against Konoha, apart from the Cloud Village, it was the Iwa Village that truly stood out!

"Onoki is cunning and treacherous. Although the Iwa ninja share our ill intentions, they haven't actually caused any real harm to Konoha and aren't Konoha's primary enemy..."

"Lord Raikage, the damage we've caused to Konoha is one thing, but at the same time, the threat we pose to Konoha is no greater than that of the Iwagakure ninja!"

Tsuchitai was speaking the absolute truth. This wasn't from the original story. While the Iwa ninja suffered heavy losses in the Third Shinobi World War, those were only the losses at the grassroots level; none of the strong ninja died.

The Cloud Ninja suffered far more losses than in the original story. Most importantly, A, who had not yet become the Fourth Raikage, died!

The death of the Raikage and his successor in a battle caused a long period of turmoil in the entire Cloud Village. Killer Bee was strong enough, but his reputation and connections were far inferior to his sworn brother, and he was also a Jinchūriki. It took him a lot of time just to sort out internal affairs.

Therefore, even now, the Hidden Cloud Village has not recovered from the losses of the Third Shinobi World War—in fact, it is only three or four years since the Third Shinobi World War, so it is normal for the Hidden Cloud Village to be unable to recover.

The fact that the government was able to restore order and quell internal turmoil in such a short time is all thanks to the unity within the Cloud Ninja and Killer Bee's outstanding strength!

Therefore, if we only consider the threat posed, Iwagakure is definitely a greater threat to Konoha than Kumogakure.

"That makes sense. We should try to amplify the threat posed by Iwagakure so that Konoha will also pay attention to our old rival. That way, Konoha won't just be focusing on us."

It has to be said that after being brutally beaten down by reality for a period of time, Kiraby, a rap baby, has gradually come to understand some of the ways of power and tactics. At least he is no longer the naive boy he used to be, and he has even given up his love for rap.

"Great, I'll take care of it right away!"

……

Both Iwagakure and Kumogakure came up with their own plans, but to their surprise, Konoha had already begun to act before their plans could be implemented.

Moreover, they didn't just target one ninja village, but attacked two ninja villages simultaneously!

After several years of recovery, Konoha's ninja force, which originally numbered only 2, has now recovered to around 6. This is naturally far less than its peak, but it still gives it the confidence to launch some small-scale wars.

However, in the minds of the two ninja villages, Iwagakure and Kumogakure, the most likely scenario is that Konoha would launch a preemptive attack on a ninja village. Otherwise, with over 6 ninjas, even with a large reserve force under the universal chakra policy, there is still a high risk of a shortage of personnel.

Unexpectedly, Konoha launched a direct attack on two ninja villages, sending an army of 2 men to the Land of Grass and the Land of Frost, and invading the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth.

Hmm? You're asking why entering the Land of Grass and the Land of Frost is considered an invasion of the Land of Lightning and the Land of Earth?

Sorry, but these so-called small countries are the very battlefields where the major powers fight. The vast majority of battles take place within these small countries. Even during the Ninja World War, it was rare for ninja forces to enter the other side's territory.

Therefore, it is quite clear in the manga that the citizens of the five great nations are basically able to survive, and even countries like the Land of Fire are able to maintain a certain quality of life.

However, those small countries, whether they are the Land of Rain or the Land of Grass, are mostly in dire straits, especially those with ninja villages. In order to prevent trouble, the major ninja villages weaken the strength of these small ninja villages, making them very easy battlefields.

In this situation, the small ninja villages had no right to refuse. The only ninja village leader who dared to resist was Hanzo of the Salamander. As a result, he was taught a lesson by Konoha, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure in turn, and the Land of Rain became the country with the worst security environment.

However, this time, of the two battlefields chosen by Konoha, the Land of Frost was acceptable, but the Land of Grass was a place that Uchiha Tou deliberately chose.

During the Fourth Shinobi World War, Uchiha Touya sent one of his four Chaos Treasure Boxes to the Land of Grass, along with some unused Qi and Blood Pills to the leader of the Land of Grass who had pledged allegiance to him. This directly resulted in the emergence of three Kage-level powerhouses in the Land of Grass.

Those Qi and Blood Pills were made by the ninjas of the Land of Grass, and even the so-called Hunyuan Treasure Box was made by the Box of Bliss. At that time, Uchiha Touyu was essentially getting something for nothing, and he just casually created a leek garden for himself.

However, despite Uchiha Tou's lack of interest, after several years of development, the Grass Village has greatly increased in strength, but the number of ninjas has not increased much, and has even decreased somewhat, with less than 2 ninjas. However, most of these 2 ninjas are Chunin, and there are nearly 200 Jonin.

This number is almost comparable to the number of Jonin and Chunin in Konoha during its normal peak period. Unfortunately, in this atmosphere of demonic cultivation where people can be made into medicine, there is no room for the growth of Genin in Kusagakure. Even in the current peaceful era, the number of ninjas is decreasing.

Anyway, Uchiha Touyu's Hunyuan Treasure Box accepts all comers. Whether you capture some rogue ninjas or wandering ninjas outside, or secretly capture members from other great ninja villages, or even directly target the Grass Ninja Village, as long as you bring the prisoners over, Uchiha Touyu can refine pills for you.

Undoubtedly, under such circumstances, targeting the ninjas of their own village is the most convenient and quickest way. Even if the three village leaders have some restrictions on this, there are always ways to circumvent them. As long as those weak ninjas are labeled as traitors or spies, they can still be refined.

In this atmosphere of internal strife, the strength of the ninjas in the Grass Village has certainly improved by leaps and bounds, but the mortality rate has also increased significantly, and various factions have even emerged, with each seeing the other as a stepping stone to progress.

It can be said that, in terms of internal strife alone, the current Grass Village is absolutely unmatched by any other ninja village.

The Land of Grass, the Village of Grass Ninja.

A spatial vortex instantly emerged from the void, and Uchiha Touyu, wearing a mask and followed by Tsunade, walked out of the Kamui dimension.

Last time, Uchiha Hiu swept through the entire Kusagakure village, destroying almost half of it. Several years have passed, and Kusagakure, which was originally almost half ruins, has almost recovered.

However, the number of ninjas walking around the village has decreased significantly, and they are all in a hurry, fully equipped, with wary eyes and a murderous aura.

These ninjas maintained a safe distance from each other. Even ninjas who should have belonged to the same squad showed absolutely no tacit understanding, replaced instead by endless indifference and vigilance.

"Who are you?!"

As Uchiha Hiu and Tsunade suddenly appeared, several ninjas from Kusagakure immediately surrounded them, their eyes flashing with surprise and uncertainty.

There's no way around it; space-time ninjutsu is practically legendary in these small countries. It's definitely one of the highest-level ninjutsu, and a ninja who can skillfully use space-time ninjutsu should at least be a quasi-Kage.

The Grass Ninja weren't completely ignorant; they could tell that Uchiha Touya was using a space-time ninjutsu. That's why they were so wary instead of rushing forward immediately.

Uchiha Touya casually took out a token from his hand. The sealing runes on the token formed a complex pattern and emitted strange chakra fluctuations. Several ninjas changed their expressions drastically upon seeing the token and knelt down respectfully.

"Greetings, sir! What are your orders?"

"Take me to your leader!"

"Yes, I understand!"

Seeing the respectful demeanor of these ninjas, Uchiha Touya remained expressionless, while Tsunade seemed quite surprised:

"The atmosphere in Kusagakure isn't great, but their strength is pretty good. They respect you so much, it's probably because you helped them improve their strength!"

"That's not the only reason. I killed quite a few ninjas here back in the day."

"I remember now. I recall that Konoha received intelligence that the Grass Village was attacked by a mysterious ninja a few years ago... But that was during the Fourth Shinobi World War, so Konoha didn't pay much attention to it."

"So it turns out it was you, you evil Uchiha brat, who did it!"

Tsunade made a couple of teasing remarks, and Uchiha Tou raised an eyebrow, not seeming to care much:

"It was indeed me who did it. After subduing the entire Grass Village, I used genjutsu to control the three current leaders of Grass Village, and then left behind the Hunyuan Treasure Box."

"Unfortunately... the value of the Land of Grass has been almost completely exploited over this period of time. Whether it's wandering ninjas or rogue ninjas from the underground, they have all been devoured by these people."

"Actually, the benefits I received from Kusagakure have declined sharply since the end of the Fourth Shinobi World War..."

The result of mutual slaughter is that ninjas have no trust in each other, making it difficult to unite and cooperate in hunting. Under such circumstances, the only way out for the Grass Ninja Village is to directly launch a war and continue the path of war to sustain itself through large-scale warfare.

However, in order to ensure a long-term solution, Uchiha Hiu suppressed the idea of ​​the Grass Village launching a war. In fact, this was easy to do, because apart from the upper echelons who could see the development problems of these ninja villages, the lower-level ninjas didn't care about such things at all. They were just thinking about how to get more prisoners so that they could obtain more Qi and Blood Pills.

"In this situation, rather than leaving the Hunyuan Treasure Box in Kusagakure, it would be better to move it to another location. As for the ninjas of Kusagakure, it would be better to take them to the battlefield and sacrifice them as well."

"Anyway, these ninjas have already reached the point of killing each other."

Uchiha Touyu spoke cruel words, but the two grass ninjas leading the way seemed not to hear him at all.

In fact, they didn't hear anything at all, because Uchiha Hiyu had manipulated their hearing with genjutsu, so they naturally wouldn't react.

"It just so happens that Konoha doesn't have many ninja right now. We can bring these people to the battlefield to make up the numbers and avoid arousing suspicion from other ninja villages."

"By the way, give me a list of the Konoha ninjas you sent to the battlefield. Those without potential, those suspected of being spies, and those who weren't very obedient—I'll sacrifice them for them too."

Uchiha Touyu spoke casually, and a slight look of guilt flashed across Tsunade's face, but she still nodded without hesitation:

"Okay, I understand. What's the exact quantity?"

"We can't let the other two ninja villages find out something's wrong... If it's a seemingly evenly matched war, and Konoha doesn't lose a single ninja, or the number of ninja who die is less than three digits, even a fool would realize there's something fishy going on."

"Let's set the number of sacrifices at around 300. Sacrificing 300 ninjas with no potential or problems on each battlefield won't affect the development of Konoha Village."

Upon hearing the number, Tsunade muttered "evil brat of the Uchiha" again, without offering any rebuttal.

Uchiha Touyu turned and glanced at the somewhat sorrowful Tsunade, then said:

"Didn't you already know this would happen from the very beginning?"

"Don't overthink it. Without my help, the number of Konoha ninja who died would have been even greater."

(End of this chapter)