They're promoting the "Konoha threat" theory, and spouting nonsense about the Hidden

Chapter 234 An iron curtain, stretching across the ninja world and besieging Konoha, has already descended.

Undeniably, Konoha is an insurmountable mountain for all forces aspiring to become the number one ninja in the world.

From the very beginning of Konoha's founding, with its two founders, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, who swept across the era, Konoha has always stood at the pinnacle of the ninja world.

Everyone initially thought that Konoha's strength would weaken after the deaths of these two powerful figures, but the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, Mito Uzumaki, and Tobirama Senju, once again stepped forward to defend Konoha's interests.

Moreover, it wasn't until after the deaths of Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha that the various forces in the ninja world suddenly realized that Konoha's strength wasn't just in its top-tier ninjas; with the support of numerous ninja clans, Konoha also boasted the largest number of mid-to-high-level ninjas in the ninja world.

However, all of this was overshadowed by the brilliance of the two powerful figures, Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha. It was only after their deaths that Konoha, which had been suppressed by their brilliance, began to shine.

Therefore, during the First and Second Shinobi World Wars, many forces unanimously prioritized attacking Konoha.

The only difference is that during the First Shinobi World War, they fought independently, while during the Second Shinobi World War, it was a three-way alliance.

The failure of the Second Shinobi World War to besiege Konoha made everyone realize that to defeat Konoha, either the four great ninja villages had to unite, or they had to first devour the other ninja villages to strengthen their power before fighting Konoha in the final battle.

Now, having failed to blockade Kirigakure and Sunagakure, and unable to suppress their strength before the Third Shinobi World War so as to quickly annex them during the war and then declare war on Konoha.

The most realistic solution facing Kumogakure was for the four major ninja villages to unite and destroy Konoha first.

If we want to defeat Konoha and reach the top of the ninja world, fulfilling the long-cherished wish of three generations of Kumogakure, this method is the most realistic and feasible solution.

As the head of a village, the Third Raikage could not possibly be a brainless brute.

Or rather, his years of training in Lightning Release chakra mode have given him unparalleled decisiveness. When he realizes that he cannot economically blockade Kirigakure and cannot achieve his previous plans, he will decisively terminate the plan and turn to another path.

In the original work, his willingness to stay behind alone to block the 30,000-strong army of Iwagakure is a manifestation of this decisiveness.

"Hmm... In that case, Tsuchitai! Without further ado, let's go and discuss the alliance with them now!"

After pondering for a while, the Third Raikage suddenly had an idea and immediately ordered Tsuchida to deliver his handwritten letter to the leaders of the other three ninja villages.

"Konoha has been sitting on the throne of the strongest ninja in the world for too long... It's time for Kumogakure to sit on this throne."

The Third Raikage looked at the Hidden Cloud Village, which was faintly visible amidst the floating clouds outside the Raikage Building, with a resolute expression.

"Each generation has its own mission... Dragging Konoha into this mess is our generation's mission, and we can't pass that trouble on to the next generation..."

The Third Raikage hated nothing more than the phrase "leaving problems to future generations to solve," seeing it as irresponsible and lacking in accountability.

The reason why seniors are seniors to juniors is to protect them from the wind and rain and resolve their conflicts.

Can someone who discovers problems but doesn't solve them, leaving loopholes for future generations, and calls it "believing in the wisdom of future generations" really be called a predecessor?

Now that you've discovered a problem in your position, you must do everything in your power to solve it. Otherwise, why would the village elect you as the Raikage?

Although the position of Raikage in Kumogakure has effectively become the property of the Yotsuki clan, since the villagers all recognize him as the Raikage, the Third Raikage will not let them down.

This is the governing philosophy of the three Raikage!

The Raikage is always at the forefront of the charge.

Raikage is someone who shoulders responsibility with unwavering resolve!

This is also the fundamental reason why, in the original work, no high-ranking rogue ninja has appeared in Kumogakure since the Third Raikage!

"I swear to use the village's sword to claim land for the village's plow!"

-

In Iwagakure Village, at the Tsuchikage Building, Onoki is worrying about the village's economy.

Each village in the ninja world has a different founding philosophy, but they all basically share a common philosophy: quality should be more important than quantity when it comes to ninjas.

The ninja villages of Konoha, Kirigakure, and Sunagakure all practice this philosophy, but due to economic reasons, the number of elite ninjas in each village varies.

However, among all the ninja villages in the ninja world, Iwagakure is definitely an exception.

Since the time of the first Tsuchikage, Ishigawa, Iwagakure has adhered to collectivism.

The "Will of Stone" it advocates emphasizes that individual will should be as tenacious as stone, and that everyone is a stone and can be replaced. Only when many stones are united can they form an indestructible mountain.

Guided by this ideology, the number of ninjas in Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village) was the largest in the ninja world.

Normally speaking, Iwagakure would be defeated in a battle involving fewer than fifty people.

In battles involving around one hundred people, the outcome of the war between Iwagakure and the other ninja villages is roughly even.

If there are more than one hundred people, then Iwagakure will have a high probability of winning.

This is Iwagakure Village, where collectivism prevails.

However, this trend also brought great drawbacks to Iwagakure. First of all, the prevalence of collectivism inevitably led to a lack of powerful experts.

Then there's the issue of military spending.

Maintaining such a large ninja army would require a considerable amount of funding, as one can easily imagine.

The Land of Earth is mostly mountainous, and arable land is extremely scarce.

Although these mountains contain many mineral veins, the Land of Earth needs to spend a large sum of money every year to buy food from outside, and the amount of military funds the country can give to the Hidden Stone Village is limited.

After creatively developing a second application area for the ninja profession in Kirigakure and seizing a large sum of money from the Land of Water, Onoki also thought of following Hozuki Shingetsu's example and establishing a construction and development company in Iwagakure.

However, the predicament he faced was even greater than that of the Third Raikage.

The reason is simple: the cities in the Land of Earth are surrounded by mountains. Building roads between these cities would mean cutting through mountains and breaking rocks, and the cost of that would make the Daimyo of the Land of Earth despair.

Furthermore, the Land of Earth's daimyo wasn't as obsessed with being the best ninja in the world as the Land of Lightning, so Onoki's attempt to emulate Hozuki Shingetsu's approach was aborted.

"Father, it's time for dinner."

Just then, Onoki's son, Kotsuchi, carrying a food tray, knocked on the door of the Tsuchikage's office and walked in.

"Eat, eat, eat! All you do all day is eat! You're going to eat the whole village out of business!"

Onoki, who was worried about the village's funds, became furious after hearing his son's words.

Upon seeing his son, he was immediately reminded of another major concern plaguing Iwagakure: the lack of a suitable successor.

His son's strength was not bad. Although he could not learn his bloodline elimination technique "Dust Release", he could barely reach the level of a Kage with his talent.

But the key issue is his brain; he's too stupid.

As the leader of a village, strength is certainly important, but the most crucial thing is to have at least some political acumen!

But his own son was quite something; he was so stupid that he didn't seem like his own son at all.

Onoki was known as the "Two Scales" in the ninja world, so how could he have given birth to such a stupid and incompetent son?

Thinking of this, Onoki couldn't help but sigh. How come other ninja villages are so lucky to have so many heirs?

Of the other major ninja villages, Konoha goes without saying.

The root cause of Konoha's internal strife is that the prestige of Konoha's successor is too high, which aroused Hiruzen Sarutobi's suspicion.

Although that brat from the Yotsuki clan in Kumogakure is still quite reckless, that's just how Kumogakure is, so there's nothing wrong with him being the leader of Kumogakure.

Chiyo and Ebizo from Sunagakure are not yet old, and the younger generation also has Rasa and Pakura, both of whom are strong contenders for the position of Kazekage.

As for Kirigakure, needless to say, Hozuki Shingetsu and Yotsuchi are the same age, and they have already been in actual control of Kirigakure for six or seven years.

Moreover, putting aside their strength, their strategies and ideas for developing the village are endless. Kirigakure's development in recent years has been remarkable. If their foundation hadn't been so weak, they might have already surpassed Iwagakure.

Sometimes, the more Onoki wanted to deal with Hozuki Shingetsu, the more disgusted he looked at his son.

The two men are the same age, but one has developed Kirigakure into a thriving village, while the other only knows how to eat. The difference between them is so great that it's no wonder that Onoki is now looking at his son with disgust.

"Hey, Dad, there's saury in today's meal!"

Huang Tu didn't care at all about his father's complaints. After all, ever since Hozuki Shingetsu rose to power, Onoki would scold him every month, and Huang Tu had long been used to it.

"Hey...you!"

Seeing his son like this, Onoki could only sigh helplessly and reach out to pick the fish off his plate and give it to Huang Tu.

For the Land of Earth, a land with many mountains, few rivers, and far from the sea, saury is undoubtedly a rare luxury. It is clear from Onoki's actions that he does not truly dislike his son.

Soon, the father and son finished their lunch. Just then, the sound of the secret agents knocking on the door came from outside.

"Lord Tsuchikage, an envoy from Kumogakure requests an audience."

"Kumakushi Village? What's that guy A up to now?"

Onoki was puzzled by the purpose of the envoy from Kumogakure, but he still ordered his men to bring the person in.

Soon, the envoy from Kumogakure entered the room. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the envoy directly took out a letter written by the Third Raikage and handed it to Onoki.

"Hmm... Plans changed. Should we try to form an anti-Konoha alliance by bringing in Kirigakure and Sunagakure?"

Onoki quickly finished reading the Third Raikage's letter and learned the purpose of the visit from Kumogakure.

To be honest, Onoki was originally opposed to forming a "vertical alliance" to suppress a "horizontal alliance".

It's very simple. Iwagakure's strength is already weaker than Konoha and Kumogakure. Even if they really wiped out Sunagakure and Kirigakure, it's hard to say how much benefit Iwagakure would gain. Even if they did gain a lot, it wouldn't be as much as Kumogakure and Konoha!

Unlike Kumogakure, whose strength was only slightly inferior to Konoha, Iwagakure was not so lucky. In a desperate gamble on the village's fate, if it had absorbed enough resources from Sunagakure and Kirigakure, it might have been able to defeat Konoha.

Unfortunately, Konoha and Kumogakure have already made their decisions, unless Iwagakure is willing to join Sunagakure and Kirigakure in a pointless war of attrition against Konoha and Kumogakure.

Otherwise, it would be better to hope that after the destruction of both, it will act as an important balancing force between Konoha and Kumogakure, swaying back and forth!

Now that Kumogakure has decided to take the lead in withdrawing from this "alliance" and wooing Sunagakure and Kirigakure to form an anti-Konoha alliance, it's simply wonderful for Iwagakure.

If Konoha is truly destroyed, then Iwagakure will become second. If it gains enough benefits in the war to destroy Konoha, surpassing Kumogakure to become number one is not difficult.

not to mention……

Onoki glanced at his son, who was standing blankly to the side without any particular expression, and couldn't help but sigh.

"If Iwagakure continues to lack a suitable successor, and we don't eliminate Konoha while I'm still young and capable of fighting, I'll probably find Iwagakure falling into someone else's hands when I get old and can't fight anymore!"

Like the Third Raikage, Onoki also wanted to complete the task of destroying Konoha in his generation.

However, unlike the Third Raikage, his starting point was not that each generation has its own mission and that it cannot be left to future generations.

Rather, it was forced upon them by the terrible state of Iwagakure's successor.

He was terrified that if he didn't take advantage of his remaining fighting ability to eliminate Konoha, he might have to go to the battlefield when he was seventy or eighty years old, and he might not even find peace in death!

After all, Konoha possesses the incredibly evil Impure World Reincarnation technique. Who knows, those despicable villains in Konoha might take my ashes and summon me from the Pure Land to fight the Iwa ninja!

The thought of that tragic scene sent a chill down Onoki's spine, and he immediately agreed to the Kumogakure's anti-Konoha alliance plan.

-

Sunagakure naturally had no objections to Kumogakure's initiative in extending a friendly gesture and invitation.

Despite the fact that Sunagakure's economy did not decline due to the blockade by the "Alliance" with the help of Kirigakure, the psychological pressure on Sunagakure was still enormous, as the two villages behind the Five Great Shinobi Villages were facing an alliance composed of the top three villages.

Upon hearing that Kumogakure not only wanted to lift the blockade but also invited them to form an anti-Konoha alliance, they were overjoyed and readily agreed to Kumogakure's request.

As for Kirigakure, Hozuki Shingetsu naturally had no reason to object to the invitation from Kumogakure.

After all, opposing Konoha is his consistent political ideology, so he naturally wouldn't cause any trouble at this time.

Thus, with the help of various forces, the two major ninja groups, "Vertical Alliance" and "Horizontal Alliance," disbanded in less than a year.

Instead, an anti-Konoha alliance was formed, consisting of the four nations of Wind, Earth, Lightning, and Water.

Hozuki Shingetsu commented with great interest:

"From the deserts of the Land of Wind to the plateaus of the Land of Lightning, from the mountains of the Land of Earth to the oceans of the Land of Water, an iron curtain has descended across the entire ninja world, besieging Konoha."

(End of this chapter)