MWM Chapter 393

Seeing that Danzo had now taken his side, Leo continued speaking:

“Since the Fourth Great Ninja War is bound to happen sooner or later, it might not be a bad idea for the Land of Rain to start it.

After the last battle, the Rain ninja should realize that they are no match for our Konoha. So next, they will likely target small countries’ ninjas to grow their own strength.

This will inevitably draw the attention of the other great ninja villages, especially Iwa. Those smaller nations also border the Land of Earth.

In this way, the Rain ninja and the Iwa ninja will inevitably clash, and no matter who wins, it will be beneficial to us in Konoha.

If the Land of Rain wins, their strength will be greatly diminished. If the Land of Earth wins, we’ll have removed the threat of the Akatsuki for good, and their power will also take a considerable hit.

With the Land of Rain drawing the fire, it’s actually a good thing for us. Attacking them now would be the least strategic move.”

Hearing Leo’s explanation, Danzo, Hiruzen, Homura, and Koharu all fell into deep thought. They had to admit, Leo made a solid point, though something still felt vaguely off.

“Of course, we must keep a close eye on the Rain ninja’s movements and prepare for war. If they show any signs of attacking Konoha, we will strike them down with swift force!”

Seeing that the four advisors had no further objections, Leo voiced his final stance.

The Rain ninja certainly wouldn’t attack Konoha. In his plan, Nagato and his forces were first to target the smaller nations wedged between the five great powers, annexing them one by one.

If no other nations reacted after they finished annexing the smaller ones, they would then actively declare war on one of the major nations.

And if any country tried to stop them during the annexation process, they would take that country down first, thus triggering the Fourth Great Ninja War and systematically eliminating their opponents.

“In that case, let’s follow the Fifth Hokage’s decision,” Hiruzen finally nodded, accepting Leo’s plan.

After all, the four of them were just advisors. They had the power to suggest but not to decide—the ultimate decision still rested with Leo as the Hokage.

If Leo insisted on having his way, there was little the four could do other than passively resist, ensuring that his orders as Hokage wouldn’t be fully executed.

But for now, after the discussion, they agreed with Leo’s logic.

Once the four advisors left, Leo left behind a shadow clone to handle matters and went back to meditating, drawing spiritual energy from his storage.

A month later, the Rain ninja had conquered both the Land of Birds and the Land of Bears.

With the Land of Birds, Land of Bears, Land of Rain, Land of Grass, and Land of Waterfall connected, they now surrounded the Land of Earth from one side.

After multiple warnings, the Iwa ninja declared war on the Rain ninja.

However, just a day after the Iwa ninja launched their attack, the Cloud ninja also couldn’t resist and declared war on Iwa.

During the Third Great Ninja War, the Third Raikage of the Cloud Village died at the hands of ten thousand Iwa ninja. That grudge was something the Cloud Village would never forget.

The three sides battled for half a month. Initially, everyone thought the Rain ninja wouldn’t last long against Iwa, but to everyone’s surprise, they fought fiercely, holding their five-country defense line and inflicting heavy losses on Iwa.

With the Cloud Village’s attacks added to the mix, Iwa suddenly found itself caught in a difficult position.

At this rate, the Cloud and Rain ninja would undoubtedly emerge as the final victors.

Because of this, the other villages grew uneasy. Without the Fourth Kazekage, the Sand Village, now temporarily under Chiyo’s control, declared war on the Land of Rain.

The Land of Birds and Land of Bears were originally buffer zones between the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth. Now that the Rain ninja had taken them, the Land of Wind feared that they would be the next target if the Rain ninja grew too powerful.

Meanwhile, the Cloud Village suddenly slowed its attacks on Iwa and, strangely enough, declared war on Konoha instead.

The Cloud ninja had realized that powerful Konoha had been staying on the sidelines this whole time, probably waiting to reap the benefits later. With the Land of Rain strong enough to keep Iwa occupied, the Cloud Village decided to drag Konoha into the war as well.

Seeing the Cloud Village declare war on Konoha, the Mist Village of the Land of Water, hoping to seize a piece of the action, also declared war on Konoha.

The Land of Earth and the Land of Rain were fighting the Land of Lightning; the Land of Lightning was at war with the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire; the Land of Fire was at war with the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water; and the Land of Rain was at war with the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth.

Three months after Leo entered the *Naruto* world, the Fourth Great Ninja War had officially begun.

Soon, the entire ninja world, including every minor country and ninja village, was dragged into the conflict.

On the high tower in Amegakure, Leo once again met with Nagato.

“This is a space-time ninja tool. It can transfer large numbers of people instantly, which will minimize casualties. From now on, you can go all out and take down the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind as quickly as possible.

I will lead Konoha to capture the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water.”

Leo handed several keys to Nagato.

Although the Rain ninja had annexed four small countries, they had not yet unleashed their full strength. Even now, while battling the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind, they were only maintaining a stalemate.

If he had released the full force of the hundred thousand White Zetsu from the start, the major nations wouldn’t be embroiled in such chaos now.

But now that the Fourth Great Ninja War had officially begun, all peace treaties were void. Once Nagato dealt with the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind, and Leo took care of the Land of Lightning and the Land of Water, only Konoha and the Land of Rain would remain.

This had to be done quickly, though. If the war dragged on for too long, even though Nagato’s forces were capturing rather than killing, the other countries’ ninjas wouldn’t be as merciful.

That’s why Leo had specially brought Nagato these space-time keys to speed up the process.

“Don’t worry, Leader. Within four days, the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind will be ours!”

Taking the keys from Leo, Nagato confidently made his pledge.

The Sand Village had been left without any standout shinobi after the Fourth Kazekage’s death, with only Chiyo and the One-Tail jinchuriki, Gaara, standing out.

On the other hand, the Iwa ninja had many skilled warriors, especially Ōnoki, the Tsuchikage, whose Dust Release was incredibly powerful. His disciples, Kurotsuchi and Akatsuchi, were also quite strong, and they had two jinchuriki, Roshi and Han.

But even they couldn’t compare to the strength of the current Akatsuki. Plus, with the space-time keys, Akatsuki didn’t have to divide their forces. They could concentrate on defeating the Sand Village first and then transfer all their forces to take down the Iwa ninja.

So, four days was actually a conservative estimate.

“Be wary of Ōnoki’s Dust Release. As for the tailed beasts, once they’re captured, use Life Serum No. 1 to restore the jinchuriki’s bodies like before and lock them up. We’ll deal with them after the war is over.”

After giving his final instructions, Leo teleported back to Konoha.

Now that the war had begun, it was time to start collecting the tailed beasts.

During their attack on the Hidden Waterfall Village, they had captured the Seven-Tails jinchuriki, and after extracting the Seven-Tails and sealing it in the Gedo Statue, they had injected the jinchuriki with Life Serum No. 1.

…

(End of Chapter)

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