Konoha: The Soul King from the Uchiha Clan

Chapter 121 A Ninja's Hell, A Noble's Paradise

Shortly after Obito received the intelligence, other major forces in the ninja world also received the news one after another.

The small village was merely gloating, not daring to make any provocative moves; after all, even a starved camel is bigger than a horse.

Even if Konoha suffers heavy losses, dealing with them will be a piece of cake.

Even Amegakure, the strongest village among the smaller villages, didn't make any moves. Firstly, Hanzo was preoccupied with his own problems, and secondly, Amegakure's strength was insufficient.

Upon receiving the news, the four major ninja villages simultaneously convened meetings of their leaders, with Sunagakure making the decision the fastest.

There's no other reason than that Sunagakure was also preoccupied with its own problems at the moment.

One reason is that the Sand Village suffered heavy losses in the Third Shinobi World War, and the Kazekage has not been found to this day, so he is most likely dead.

Secondly, due to the disastrous defeat in the Third Shinobi World War, the Daimyo of the Land of Wind reduced military spending, and with Konoha taking away a portion of their mission quota, their finances were strained, and they were currently unable to even launch a small-scale war.

Thirdly, there is currently a fierce competition within Sunagakure for the position of Kazekage.

For various reasons, Sunagakure was powerless to do anything, and dared not even make any small moves, and could only wait and see.

Of course, some schadenfreude was inevitable, after all, many ninjas had died at the hands of Minato Namikaze during the Third Shinobi World War.

After their meeting, Kirigakure also decided to wait and see how things develop.

However, unlike Sunagakure, Kirigakure secretly dispatched more ninjas to infiltrate Uzushiogakure, and began mobilizing resources within the village.

The Hidden Cloud Village, which suffered the least military losses among the four great ninja villages, took a more aggressive action than the Hidden Mist Village.

At the end of the Third Shinobi World War, the Hidden Cloud Village had already stationed a force of about a thousand men on the border, causing trouble from time to time.

Upon receiving news of the Fourth Hokage's death, after discussions among the higher-ups, Kumogakure (Hidden Cloud Village) directly dispatched a thousand-strong force from the border into the Land of Rice Fields, advancing towards the border of the Land of Fire. However, their progress was slow, and they made no attempt to conceal their movements.

After a meeting, Iwagakure decided to remain inactive, sow discord, and act according to circumstances.

The cunning Onoki directly sent people to spend money, intending to hire ninja groups active in the ninja world through the black market and other channels to impersonate ninjas from other ninja villages and sow discord between Konoha and other ninja villages.

Onoki's instructions were to have the hired ninja group focus on sowing discord between Konoha and Kumogakure, followed by Kirigakure, Iwagakure, Sunagakure, and smaller ninja villages.

That's right, Onoki is such a jerk, he doesn't even spare Iwagakure and small ninja villages.

The former was to confuse the public and prevent any suspicion from falling on Iwagakure, while the latter was to cause as much trouble as possible for Konoha.

Although the smaller ninja villages are unlikely to provoke Konoha, Onoki is hoping to take the risk.

What if the leader is mentally unstable or incredibly audacious?

This incident quickly stirred up undercurrents in the otherwise relatively peaceful ninja world, creating a tense and oppressive atmosphere.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and other high-ranking officials of Konoha responded forcefully to the Kumogakure ninja forces' direct incursion into their territory.

Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others weren't fools; each one was cunning and shrewd, and they understood that Kumogakure was testing Konoha's attitude...

If Konoha shows the slightest weakness, Kumogakure will immediately take advantage of it!

The Hidden Cloud Village doesn't have a high reputation in the ninja world and is known as a bandit village.

Because the Hidden Cloud Village always schemes to seize the bloodlines, ninjutsu, and secret techniques of other ninja villages and independent clans, they are like a pack of perpetually hungry wolves.

Their covetousness for Konoha's land resources is no less than that of Sunagakure, which is mostly desert, and Iwagakure, which is mostly Gobi Desert. In fact, their greed might even rank first among the four great ninja villages!

Upon receiving the order, the Konoha border troops immediately mobilized a force roughly equivalent to that of the Kumogakure troops and stormed into the Land of Rice Fields.

With a roughly equal number of people, it would demonstrate Konoha's strength and confidence without excessively provoking Kumogakure.

As for Tanokuni's opinion, it was not within the scope of consideration for the two villages' higher-ups.

The daimyo of the land of fields was already used to it; as long as you didn't come to the town to fight to the death, he would let you fight as you pleased...

If the damage spreads to towns, then he will have to... protest to the daimyo of the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning!

There was nothing else the daimyo of the Land of Rice could do but protest to the daimyo of the two kingdoms, indirectly influencing the leaders of the two villages. Protesting directly to the leaders of the two villages would have a smaller effect.

Before Orochimaru established the Sound Village, there were no ninja villages in the Land of Rice Fields, and the country was generally in a state of chaos.

Of course, the chaos was only for ordinary people; for nobles, it was still quite safe.

The conflicts between ninjas would affect commoners, but rarely affected nobles.

Due to deeply ingrained beliefs, ninjas always kept their distance from nobles.

Aside from a few audacious "madmen," ordinary ninjas wouldn't dare to set their sights on nobles.

If a nobleman dies at the hands of a ninja, nobles from their own country and other countries would not mind joining forces to kill the ninja who committed the crime and those associated with him.

The cruel and bloody consequences serve as a warning that ninjas who use their skills as tools must not kill their masters!

When dealing with ninjas who commit crimes, nobles usually don't need to send their own armed forces, such as ninjas, samurai, or the army; instead, they simply use money to bribe them.

The nobles will post bounty missions on various village platforms and the black market, using ninjas to fight ninjas.

Hunted by both the righteous and the underworld, few ninjas survive. Even those who do live a miserable life, constantly trembling with fear of being hunted down...

In addition to posting missions on both legitimate and underworld platforms, nobles can also use personal connections to hunt down ninjas who commit crimes.

Some ninja clans were originally members of noble families, such as the Senju, Uchiha, and Hyuga clans. Naturally, there were connections and interactions between noble families.

For various reasons, the nobles of this world live very comfortably, even more so than the nobles of ancient times.

Because of the suppression by ninjas with extraordinary power, as long as you don't offend the major ninja villages, you don't have to worry about being overthrown by the people at the bottom.

People from the lower classes are far too vulnerable when facing ninjas.

A transformation technique that can easily disrupt an organization's structure and cause internal strife can easily suppress unrest.

If Uchiha Gen had transmigrated into a traditional noble family, he might have chosen to become a spoiled brat and live a life of leisure.

Anyway, as long as it doesn't affect the protagonist's development, everything will be fine.

Unless they are extremely unlucky, nobles generally do not die violent deaths; they usually only suffer financial and material losses.

It was a hell for ninjas and a paradise for nobles!

Closer to home.

The ninjas from the two villages were stationed in the wilderness of the Land of Rice Fields, facing each other, neither intending to make the first move.

The Fourth Raikage, A, appears rude, impulsive, and easily angered, but in reality, he is a shrewd and cunning man beneath his rough exterior.

Without other ninja villages making any moves, they won't easily take the lead, for fear that other ninja villages will take advantage of them and exploit any loopholes.

Unfortunately, once some things happen, they are beyond the control of those at higher levels.

Onoki's mercenary group, built with money, began to impersonate Konoha and Kumogakure ninjas and cause trouble by any means necessary.

Although some were discovered, the tension between the two sides continued to escalate until it became uncontrollable.

During the stalemate, the Fourth Raikage, A, realized that everyone was waiting to see what would happen and for someone to make the first move.

If the Hidden Cloud Village, which maintains the largest military force, doesn't take action, other ninja villages are unlikely to follow suit.

Confident in the strength of his village, the Fourth Raikage, A, chose to take the initiative and strike first.

However, the Fourth Raikage, A, did not initially intend to escalate the war; he planned to test Konoha's strength with small-scale battles.

If there's an opportunity, then expand the scale of the war and take a gamble; other ninja villages will gradually grit their teeth and follow suit.

If not, then use them for military training; it will make ending the war in the future much easier.

News of the outbreak of war quickly reached Konoha...

(End of this chapter)