Warlock Invasion of Naruto.

Because Sunagakure and Kirigakure are about to completely cease hostilities and form an alliance.

The full-scale war of the Third Shinobi World War has ended, but localized conflicts continue to this day.

It is true that Sunagakure has announced its unconditional surrender to Konoha and formed a new alliance.

That's because in the later stages of the Third Shinobi World War, Iwagakure and Sunagakure clashed at the border due to old conflicts. In order to capture the wild Three-Tails, Sunagakure and Kirigakure fought a great battle in the open sea. Even when Pakura was out of the sea, she unleashed the terrifying power of the Scorching Release.

She not only caused Kirigakure to fail in capturing the Three-Tails, but also killed Kushimaru Kurihara, one of the 'Five Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist'.

Therefore, while fighting Konoha, Kirigakure also sent warships from the open sea to bypass the sea and enter the desert of the Land of Wind to fight Sunagakure.

The Sand Village had already suffered heavy losses in its battles with the Leaf Village, and now it was in continuous wars with the Hidden Stone Village and the Hidden Mist Village, so it was naturally unable to withstand the pressure.

However, recently, Sunagakure first reconciled with Iwagakure, and then news spread that Kirigakure was going to form an alliance with Sunagakure, causing the entire village of Sunagakure to be in an uproar.

To show his sincerity, the Fourth Kazekage sent Pakura to Kirigakure to meet with the Third Mizukage on his behalf and formally sign the alliance treaty.

Whether Konoha would have any objections was beyond the scope of Sunagakure's consideration.

After the three wars, Konoha no longer had much ability to wage war. Moreover, Sunagakure was only making a ceasefire and alliance with Kirigakure, not helping Kirigakure to fight the Uzumaki clan.

"Fourth Hokage, I will definitely complete the mission!"

Amidst the cheers of the crowd, Ye Cang solemnly addressed Luo Sha.

She hadn't expected Rasa to be such a magnanimous person. Back then, the two of them had been at odds and had a very unpleasant falling out in their struggle for the position of the Fourth Kazekage. But after he took over, he not only didn't target her, but also promoted her.

"Please!" Luo Sha said earnestly.

He won by a narrow margin in the election for the Fourth Kazekage and became the Fourth Kazekage.

Since the Third Kazekage and Sasori disappeared together, and Sunagakure was defeated in the Third Shinobi World War, Kazekage advisors Chiyo and Ebizo took responsibility for the defeat and retired together, no longer interfering in the internal affairs of Sunagakure.

Therefore, once Yekura is eliminated, he will be the sole ruler of Sunagakure.

To this end, he went so far as to reach a private agreement with Kirigakure to send Yekura to Kirigakure.

However, instead of forming an alliance with Kirigakure as an envoy, Yekura went to her death.

......

Faced with the invasion of the behemoth that was Kirigakure, the Uzumaki clan, a small and developing ninja clan, issued a strong protest in the ninja world, denouncing Kirigakure's atrocities and declaring that they would fight to the end against the invaders.

One side possesses two top-tier ninjas in the ninja world, but behind them lies the Uzumaki clan, which has only recently been rebuilt.

On one side is Kirigakure, one of the five great ninja villages, led by the Third Mizukage, one of the five Kage of the time, and backed by the powerful Land of Water.

The situation seems to be very unfavorable for the Uzumaki clan.

Fortunately, Konoha, as an ally of the Uzumaki clan, also dispatched the Konoha Allied Forces, led by the Uchiha clan, to provide support to the southeastern coast.

However, Kirigakure seemed determined to send troops against the Uzumaki clan, showing no fear of a joint attack from Konoha and the Uzumaki clan.

The troops stationed on the islands of the Land of the Sea have begun to move by warship to the islands near the peninsula of the Land of Whirlpools.

The war is about to start.

10156026

[Chapter 168. Nine-Tailed Fox Guards the Border! (5200 Medium/Large Cup)]

In the Ninja Continent, the terrain becomes increasingly higher the further northwest you go.

Nestled in a mountain range with steep slopes and towering peaks, Iwagakure, one of the five great ninja villages, is located. Surrounded by numerous rocky mountains forming a top-secret natural fortress, and combined with Iwagakure's signature Earth Release ninjutsu, the entire village is as impregnable as a fortress of iron.

Throughout the various Shinobi World Wars, no village's forces have ever been able to reach the mountains near Iwagakure.

It is precisely because of its natural geographical advantage that Iwagakure is easy to defend and difficult to attack, which is why they are able to control the initiative in the war.

Even if the Iwagakure troops at the front are at a disadvantage, once they retreat to the village, the enemy will need at least ten times more troops to attack Iwagakure's main camp than in a direct confrontation. This is a price that no village can afford to pay, including Konoha, the strongest ninja in the world.

Faced with Kirigakure's sudden attack on the Uzumaki clan, Iwagakure immediately convened a high-level meeting to discuss the benefits they could gain from the incident.

The Tsuchikage Building is entirely constructed from large, light gray stones. The stone from the Land of Earth has always been of the highest quality in the entire ninja world.

In the conference room, the third Tsuchikage, Onoki, sat at the head of the table.

His eldest son, Huang Tu, an elite Jonin from Iwagakure, sat to his left, while on the other side was an advisor elder from Iwagakure.

Compared to the eve of the Third Shinobi World War, there were far fewer elite Jonin present. Many of the Iwagakure elites he had personally trained, such as Hiruzen, Hikari, Oishi, Suma, and Higashi Shijin, had died in the war against Konoha.

The Battle of Kannabi Bridge was the most devastating battle ever fought by Iwagakure.

"The Hidden Mist Village's warships have already sailed to the waters near the Land of Whirlpools, and war between them and the Uzumaki clan is inevitable. I would like to hear everyone's opinions on how we, the Hidden Stone Village, should respond."

Onoki said in a deep voice, looking at the ninjas present.

"Konoha has already sent troops to help the Uzumaki clan. Without the intervention of other villages, Kirigakure is bound to lose. Why don't we take this opportunity to attack Kirigakure as well?" suggested the advisor elder of Iwagakure.

"Makes sense."

"This is the safest approach."

"We can also take this opportunity to gain some benefits and at the same time deepen our alliance with Konoha."

"I agree."

The advisor's suggestion quickly gained traction, as helping the side with the greater chance of victory was a sure-fire way to win. After the three battles, Iwagakure had suffered considerable losses, so this approach carried the least risk.

“I think there’s a lot of risk involved in doing this,” Huang Tu said after a moment of contemplation.

Onoki nodded, and the room fell silent. Huang Tu continued, "The Fourth Kazekage has sent an envoy to Kirigakure, and Sunagakure will formally cease hostilities and form an alliance with Kirigakure."

The relationship between our village and Sunagakure is currently quite tense. If we attack Kirigakure, we are very likely to be attacked by Sunagakure again.

If we are attacked from both sides, even if we win the war, we must consider whether the gains will outweigh the losses.

We must understand that we are quite far from Kirigakure. If we travel by land, we would have to cross multiple countries, which would inevitably arouse suspicion from Kumogakure and Konoha.

"Although the sea route is shorter, naval warfare is the least our forte among the Iwagakure ninja."

"Huang Tu makes a good point, but are we really going to give up this rare opportunity?" The advisor elder was somewhat unwilling.

"If we don't deal with Kirigakure, are we supposed to go after Konoha? After all, it's been confirmed that the Yellow Flash is seriously injured and unconscious, and our ninjas..."

A Jonin from Iwagakure immediately made a suggestion.

However, before he could finish speaking, the surrounding ninjas all turned their gazes to him.

"..."

Although Konoha suffered heavy losses in the Third Shinobi World War, it was still a victorious nation. As its prestige increased, it was able to receive more missions, and the Daimyo of the Land of Fire would allocate more funds, so its strength recovered the fastest.

At this point, Iwagakure has no chance of winning in a one-on-one fight, and they also lack the ability to start a new round of the Shinobi World War.

Even without the Yellow Flash, Konoha is still the strongest ninja village among the Five Great Nations.

“What you all say makes sense, but your vision is limited to the great powers and you haven’t noticed what’s around us.”

Ohnoki suddenly spoke up.

"Lord Tsuchikage, what do you mean...?" The Jonin were somewhat puzzled.

Onoki explained, "Neither standing idly by nor attacking either Kirigakure or Konoha is in our interest. According to intelligence from our spies in the Land of Fire, the reinforcements Konoha sent this time are mainly composed of Uchiha clan ninjas. Do you know what that means?"

No sooner had Onoki finished speaking than a Jonin responded:

"This means that Konoha attaches great importance to the Uzumaki clan, so it sent the Uchiha clan's elite troops to support them, which shows that Konoha and the Uzumaki clan are true allies. After all, in the previous war, the Uchiha clan severely damaged the Kirigakure forces."

Ohnoki: "..."

"This shows that Konoha was not genuinely helping the Uzumaki clan, but was forced to provide aid to avoid affecting its reputation." Huang Tu pondered for a moment before replying, "Because the Uchiha clan has always been at odds with the Konoha leadership, they were sent to the Kirigakure battlefield during the Third Shinobi World War."

It's important to know that most members of the Uchiha clan are skilled in Fire Release techniques. Combined with the Sharingan and genjutsu, this is why the saying in the ninja world goes, "In a one-on-one fight, you'll definitely have to run away."

The Hidden Mist Army's Water Release techniques counter Fire Release, and large-scale Hidden Mist techniques can perfectly counter Sharingan and genjutsu. The Hyuga clan's Byakugan is the most effective weapon against the Hidden Mist Army, but very few Hyuga ninjas go to the Hidden Mist battlefield.

The Uchiha clan was able to defeat the Hidden Mist forces primarily because of their overwhelming overall strength. However, the Uchiha also paid a heavy price for this victory.

"Huang Tu is right." Onoki nodded, his face showing approval. He truly deserved to be the eldest son he had carefully nurtured.

With that, Onoki stood up, his body slowly rising into the air, and he arrived at the center of the huge map hanging on the wall behind him. He pointed to the Land of Rain, which is located at the junction of the three countries, and then shifted to the left, "The place where we can really profit this time is the Land of Demons!"

"Ghost country?"

"The land of priestesses?"

"This is a neutral country. If we send troops to the Land of Demons, it will cause international problems."

"The land of demons is barren, so there seems to be no need to plunder it."

The crowd discussed amongst themselves, wondering what benefits they could gain from the Land of Demons.

Actually, the most crucial reason is that the Land of Demons is a neutral country and also a military buffer zone between the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind.

Given the strength of Iwagakure, it might not even take an hour to conquer the Land of Demons. However, after the conquest, the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind would be on the same side. At that time, any small friction could easily lead to conflict or even war, which is something that neither the Land of Wind nor the Land of Earth wants to see.

Small countries exist in the cracks between major powers. It's not that major powers don't want to or lack the ability to invade small countries, but rather that once they invade a small country, there will be no military buffer zone. If war breaks out, it will either be in their own country or on the territory of the opposing major power, and the war will escalate rapidly.

Unless a major power has the capability to destroy another major power, a military buffer zone is always necessary.

In the current ninja world, no ninja village has the ability to directly destroy other ninja villages, not even Konoha.

“The Land of Demons is not the same as it used to be.” Onoki said in a deep voice, “According to intelligence, a pharmaceutical company called ‘Snake Spirit’ has emerged in the Land of Demons in recent years. In just a few years, this pharmaceutical company has become a large pharmaceutical group spanning several countries, and the profits it makes every year are astonishing.”

The medicines they developed, as well as the medical ninjutsu scrolls, were all unique to Konoha before, and some of them were even unknown to Konoha, which is very suspicious.

In peacetime, this wouldn't be a problem, but if another Shinobi World War were to break out, these would be strategic resources, potentially even tipping the scales of victory or defeat.

"Lord Tsuchikage, are you saying that Konoha is supporting this pharmaceutical group behind the scenes, preparing for war in advance?"

Everyone was shocked upon hearing this.

Although the five great ninja villages all rely on mission commissions and funds allocated by the daimyo to operate, they all have their own industries to varying degrees, although not many, which can only be considered as a slight supplement to 'household expenses'. If they could achieve true self-sufficiency, then the daimyo would have sleepless nights.

The five great ninja villages each have a population of 100,000 or even hundreds of thousands, and their standing ninja armies number in the tens of thousands. It is unrealistic for them to be completely self-sufficient.

Konoha's actions are extremely dangerous; they could even be seen as preparations for the next Shinobi World War, which should make people wary.

“As far as I know, this pharmaceutical group is probably closely related to the Uzumaki clan. To be precise, the people behind it are probably Yagami Shiroha and Uzumaki Kushina, since Yagami Shiroha was the true inventor of the medical ninjutsu scroll.” Onoki speculated, “We can take advantage of the opportunity of the war between Kirigakure and the Uzumaki clan to test the Land of Demons.”

"Is the reason given that the Demon Kingdom is attempting to gain independence and is hiding forbidden techniques of mass destruction?"

People quickly realized what was happening.

"In that case, we should take advantage of the situation and try to control this pharmaceutical company. Even if the pharmaceutical company in the Land of Demons is controlled by Konoha or the Uzumaki clan, they are currently at war and their defenses are definitely insufficient. At the very least, we should try to obtain the drug formulas and the methods for making medical ninjutsu scrolls, which would be of great significance to the village."