The Avengers of the Uzumaki Family

Don't be fooled by the apparent calm on Menma's end. What if this is all part of Menma's plan? Is she waiting until the front lines lose their most crucial "eyes" before launching a surprise attack?

That was an outcome that neither of us wanted to see.

Even if Tokuma leaves, there will be other Hyuga members, but the branch family generally cannot compare to the main family.

"But..."

Just as Tokuma was about to say something more, he felt a sudden urge to speak.

"Tokuma, you must believe in me, and you must believe in the village!"

Jiraiya emphasized his words slightly.

"!?"

This is clearly a statement that sounds like a mandatory command.

Tokuma's expression froze for a moment. After the blue and red colors changed several times in a row, Tokuma could only nod silently and say, "Yes, I understand, Lord Jiraiya."

Then.

After bowing to Jiraiya once again, he turned and left the tent.

Watching Hyuga Tokuma's departing figure.

Jiraiya rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on.

"Inoichi, I'll need you to keep a close eye on things from now on, especially with Takigakure Village. We absolutely cannot allow any more problems to arise."

Jiraiya said this very solemnly.

"Yes, Lord Jiraiya, please rest assured!"

Hai Yi also bowed and replied hastily.

"Menma, Orochimaru, what exactly are you trying to do?!"

Jiraiya frowned as he silently pondered to himself.

The sudden appearance of the snake caused a stir, and the situation became increasingly unpredictable. This great battle, in which all five major ninja villages were involved to varying degrees, entered an even more perplexing phase.

Because, judging from the current situation...

Only Kirigakure completely abandoned the will to fight. Although there was no public declaration of withdrawal from the war, the fact that all the remaining Kirigakure ninjas retreated to the Land of Water was the best proof of their attitude.

This is already a sign of weakness from a major ninja village.

Moreover, it is foreseeable that Kirigakure's retreat will be difficult to reverse in the short term. Through this battle, the world will clearly recognize Kirigakure's weakness. So many Kirigakure ninjas were lost in one battle, yet they could only swallow their anger. In addition, as news of the loss of the Three-Tails and Six-Tails gradually spread throughout the ninja world, Kirigakure's status as a major power will become increasingly precarious.

Withdrawing from the war was a choice they were forced to make.

But only the Hidden Mist Village exists.

In the northern region, the Hidden Stone Village and the Hidden Cloud Village are still engaged in a fierce battle. The Hidden Stone Village, which has mobilized almost half of its main forces, has already fully invaded the Land of Lightning in the first attack.

The area of ​​influence previously radiated by Kumogakure.

Now they are all under the control of the Iwa ninja.

The Iwagakure ninja are now launching a fierce attack on the largest stronghold of Kumogakure located on the western border. Once they can break through this stronghold, the large area they previously occupied will be swallowed up by Iwagakure. From the Land of Frost in the north to parts of the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Hot Springs in the south, none of these areas will be under the control of Kumogakure.

This large area will become part of Iwagakure's territory in the future.

The power of Kumogakure will be greatly reduced.

This is the strategic goal that Ohnoki has always wanted to achieve.

It is also a place that Kumogakure cannot easily abandon. The Fourth Raikage, upon learning that Iwagakure had intensified its offensive, disregarded his injuries and still led another batch of elite Kumogakure ninja to support the front line.

Even during the most difficult period after his father died in battle, he did not lose this rich region.

It's even less likely that we'll give up so easily now.

Whether a ninja village can maintain its strength in the long term is directly related to the size of the area it can control!

Lost here.

The Hidden Cloud Village is about to lose a significant portion of its missions and many supply depots, which is already extremely devastating. Not to mention that this is a crucial strategic location that can influence the course of the war, and losing it would be disastrous.

From now on, their Hidden Cloud Village will be constantly threatened by the Hidden Stone Ninja.

This is like having a Damocles' sword hanging over one's head, something the Fourth Raikage absolutely cannot accept.

Therefore, the Fourth Raikage was determined to fight to the very last moment.

The battle between the two great ninja villages thus became even bloodier.

The surrounding Land of Hot Springs, Land of Frost, Land of Fields, and even the northernmost Land of Iron, which has always maintained permanent neutrality and is exclusively for the samurai, are all in a precarious situation, constantly worrying about being affected by the battle between the two great ninja villages.

In fact, in every battle between major ninja villages, the smaller ninja villages suffer the most. Not only do they have to provide the major ninja villages with corresponding manpower and resources, but each battle also brings great destruction to the smaller countries in the war zone.

Many innocent people will lose their homes and loved ones as a result.

This is what Nagato repeatedly told Naruto in the original work about the suffering that large countries bring to small countries.

But these small countries can only choose to silently endure it.

The major powers at war don't care about the feelings of these small ninja villages.

The Hidden Stone Village and the Hidden Cloud Village only had eyes for each other, while in the southern region, the Hidden Leaf Village and the Hidden Sand Village had only temporarily retreated to a relatively delicate area, not truly ending the war.

The situation in Sunagakure was better; under Maki's orders, everyone exercised restraint.

But here in Konohagakure...

Local clashes with Takigakure will still occur from time to time. As long as Tsunade in the village does not issue an order to withdraw troops, the war will continue, just like the three Shinobi World Wars that have broken out in the past few decades.

It seems that each instance will last for several years.

But 99% of the time it's similar local battles.

This was a trial and a surprise attack from various angles, but also a judgment made out of unwillingness to accept defeat.

The goal is to delay as long as possible, to see if the enemy country will reveal any weaknesses due to a lack of patience.

The current state of Konoha Village reflects a similar mentality.

But how long this can last is a big question mark, as ninja warfare is also very reliant on logistics.

Under normal circumstances, each country needs to bear the majority of the logistical supplies, and the remaining supplies are provided by the ninja village itself.

Even if the Land of Fire is a large and powerful nation, it cannot supply indefinitely.

Not to mention, the conflict between nations and ninja villages has always existed. The infighting among the Twelve Guardian Ninjas that once occurred in the Land of Fire is unknown to ordinary people, but it is not a secret among the high-ranking officials of various countries.

Therefore, in any war, Konoha needs to consider more factors than other ninja villages, but this is a problem on Konoha's side.

The freckles wouldn't care at all.

If Konoha wants to continue the war, then he will accompany them; if they want to continue the stalemate, he doesn't care either. As long as it's not a war of collapse, once a stalemate is reached, the defending side will always be under much less pressure than the attacking side.

The fact is that Menma already has the leisure to consider other aspects of the issue and plan some special arrangements for her next steps.

Menma's Takigakure faction's calm and collected approach is giving Konoha a major headache. They simply can't find any opening to attack. They want to forcefully suppress them? They couldn't do it before with the help of Kirigakure and the restraint of Suna. Now that they're fighting alone, it's even more impossible.

This wasn't a one-on-one fight in the true sense; Konoha had far too many issues to consider.

Not to mention the strength that Menma is currently demonstrating.

Even Jiraiya felt it was difficult to make a move.

We can't really go and self-destruct with Takigakure, can we? That would require a really crazy decision.

This is one of the consequences of completely losing control of the war.

After the two sides remained deadlocked at the front lines for more than half a month, the situation was resolved.

As news arrived that the Iwa ninja had officially defeated the Cloud ninja army gathered at the front lines in the northern battlefield and seized the Fengzhui stronghold controlled by the Cloud Village, the news came that...

Tsunade, far away in Konoha, pondered for a long time, also on the advice of Shikaku, who had just recovered and returned to work.

Left with no other option, he ordered the Konoha ninja army at the front line to retreat immediately.

In fact, not issuing an order now would only be a pointless waste of war resources. In Sunagakure, the main force had already retreated to the heart of the Land of Wind with Maki, leaving only the most basic garrison troops on the front lines.

Troops could be transferred from Kusagakure at any time.

Although they weren't particularly elite ninjas.

But once the numbers get big enough, they can overwhelm people.

Despite Danzo's strong opposition, Mitokado Homura and Utatane Koharu still supported Tsunade's judgment this time.

That's it.

As the thousands of Konoha ninja troops gathered at the front lines, led by Jiraiya, retreated back to Konoha Village.

This so-called Fourth Shinobi World War officially came to an end after lasting just over a month.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter 342 The End

A great victory for Iwagakure on the northern battlefield.

The withdrawal of Konoha Village from the southern battlefield.

These events swept across the entire ninja world in a short period of time. As one of the parties involved, Menma naturally dispatched personnel to keep a close eye on the movements of the major powers. Among these major powers, the withdrawal of Sunagakure was the fastest.

In Maki's own words, "You'll do as much as you're paid for." It's ridiculous to talk about personal relationships between nations and ninja villages. In the original work, whether it was Hashirama Senju or Naruto Uzumaki, the so-called peaceful era created by mutual understanding was entirely based on the strength of their individuals. Perhaps they were indeed moved to varying degrees by Hashirama and Naruto, but if the two didn't have corresponding strength and status, would the Kage of these major ninja villages have been moved?

To be honest, it's not a question of whether or not I'm moved.

The real question isn't whether they dare to act or not.

Leaving aside Naruto and Sasuke's Six Paths level power, even if they were at the same so-called Kage level, ten Onoki or ten Third Raikage wouldn't be enough for Hashirama Senju to defeat with one hand. The so-called level below the Six Paths and above the Kage level must be separated into a separate category, which refers to Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha back then.

Strength is always the only means to uphold justice.

Truth always lies in the hands of the strong.

At least in this world, that's the most accurate way to put it.

Therefore, it is impossible for the five great nations to have any friendship, let alone maintain eternal peace. The alliance between Konoha, Kirigakure, and Sunagakure in this war is the best proof of this. At least Kirigakure still has its own core interests—the Six-Tails.

Sunagakure is definitely all about money.