The war between Sunagakure and Konoha has been going on for two years, but compared to Sunagakure, Konoha's war-weariness is very strong.
Before the battle with Sunagakure, Konoha had already fought against the Amegakure ninjas in the Land of Rain. Many ninjas were already physically and mentally exhausted. Under such circumstances, it is conceivable that they would be brought into the rhythm of war by Sunagakure. , to what extent Konoha is tired of the war.
Therefore, when the Third Kazekage submitted the settlement letter, according to Shiraishi's estimation, Konoha was very likely to agree.
After all, this has always been the main strategy adopted by Konoha.
Continuing to spend time with Sunagakure will only benefit other ninja village fishermen.
"Really, the fight has already reached this level. All we need to do is defeat Sunagakure in one go. If we hand over the settlement letter painlessly, we will still come back in the future."
Liuli sat on a stone with a look of dissatisfaction on her face.
It had only been more than a month since she came out of the village, and she still hadn't had the pleasure of fighting the Suna ninjas. If the war ended at this time, the mission of Sakumo's team would also be over.
"You can't say that, because the ninjas in many villages in the camp have become war-weary, and Sunagakure is almost the same. A peaceful ending at this time will be beneficial to both parties. As for the future... we will talk about it later."
Out of the considerations a Konoha ninja should have, Shiraishi believed that this was indeed the best solution.
"Great, I thought I wouldn't be able to go back to the village to celebrate the New Year this year. After all, I'm still looking forward to this year's festival."
Ayane said with a smile from the side.
Shiraishi turned his head to the other side as if he didn't hear the words.
"That's true. The war will end soon and we can go back to participate in the New Year's festival... Moreover, I also want to go back and visit Kakashi."
Sakumo heard the three people communicating there and said with a smile.
"Kakashi?"
The three people in Shiraishi were attracted by this name.
"Ah, didn't I tell you?"
Sakumo blinked in confusion.
"No, I have never heard of this person at all. By the way... who is he?"
Shiraishi shook his head.
"He is my son, Hatake Kakashi. Although he is only two years old this year, I believe he will be an excellent ninja in the future."
Sakumo said.
"son!?"
Shiraishi and the other three were stunned and shouted loudly.
This matter can no longer be described as surprise. They have never heard of Sakumo having a son.
"What, is something wrong?"
Sakumo looked at the three of them strangely.
"No... I thought you were still single, Mr. Sakumo, but I didn't expect that not only were you married, but you also had a son..."
Ayane quickly explained.
Shiraishi and Ruri also nodded. In their eyes, Sakumo did have such an image.
"Sorry, I thought I mentioned this already."
"It's okay, I'm just a little surprised to hear it suddenly. After all, this is a private matter. Before graduating from the ninja school, we had no contact with Mr. Sakumo. So, Mr. Sakumo's son is already two years old... Hata Mukakashi, it’s a very good name.”
Ayane smiled.
But I was thinking in my heart: What kind of name should I and Shiraishi-kun’s child have in the future?
"Speaking of it, I'm a bit negligent as a father. I couldn't go back to the village to celebrate my child's birthday in September. In the blink of an eye, it's already November."
"There will be another chance next year. Then it will be great for Mr. Sakumo to treat us."
Shiraishi smiled.
The corner of Sakumo's mouth twitched. When he mentioned the treat, he seemed to suddenly recall some bad memories.
He didn't want to find himself on the verge of bankruptcy on his son's birthday, which was a mixture of joy and sorrow.
"Really? That's great. I'll go there on an empty stomach that day. Get ready, Sakumo-sensei."
Ayane confirmed this with a smile.
Sakumo sighed. It looked like he couldn't save his wallet, and then he looked at Liuli.
"Don't look at me like that. It's your son's birthday party. Wouldn't it be unwise for me to pay for it? After all, you are Lord White Fang."
No, I don't care about face. Hearing Ruri's ruthless rejection, Sakumo complained in his heart.
◎
Two days later, it was the day when Konoha and Sunagakure formally concluded a reconciliation document and signed an armistice agreement.
The weather is clear and sunny.
Sakumo's team set out to return to the Konoha camp on the border of the Land of Fire.
The armistice agreement was signed at nine o'clock in the morning.
It's four o'clock in the afternoon.
In other words, the armistice agreement with Sunagakure has been signed. This news should have been sent back to the camp and will be sent back to the village as quickly as possible.
However, when they returned to the camp at five o'clock in the afternoon, the four members of Sakumo's team felt something was wrong.
Too dull.
Rather, it's grief.
The four of them looked at each other, not knowing what was going on.
Although some people will definitely be sad knowing that the war is over, it won't be so dull.
In this dullness, there is also a rage and murderous intention that wants to devour everything.
"What's going on here?"
"I don't know, what happened?"
Shiraishi touched his chin and began to think.
Is there something wrong with the agreement?
Could it be said that Sunagakure has no intention of fulfilling the agreement?
Otherwise it would be impossible to explain all this.
"You are also a medical ninja, right? Go to the medical department quickly, they are in urgent need of manpower!"
At this moment, a Konoha ninja ran over quickly and said to Shiraishi anxiously.
Shiraishi looked at Sakumo, who nodded, and Shiraishi followed the ninja to the camp where the medical team was located.
"You guys take a rest here while I go find Orochimaru to find out the situation."
Ruri and Ayane nodded and followed Sakumo's instructions.
——The camp where the medical unit is located.
Tragic!
It can only be described as tragic.
Dozens of Konoha ninjas fell bloody and bloody in the tent, and their screams of pain were like ghosts, which made Shiraishi lose consciousness for a moment.
How is this going?
These injuries should have been caused recently... no, today?
what happens?
Shiraishi didn't ask, and immediately followed a medical ninja who was skilled in medical ninjutsu. All of these dozens of ninjas needed emergency surgery.
Moreover, during the first aid process, there must be some seriously injured people who cannot be taken care of and die directly because they cannot bear the pain.
Sobs and wails converged in one place.
Every medical ninja was so busy and sweating profusely that they had no time for unnecessary communication.
The first aid was completed after two hours.
It’s not that the first aid was successful. It ended so early because many people died prematurely before surgery.
Some patients were treated with surgery but still died.
Only a dozen people were pulled back from the gate of hell.
"We tried our best."
The attending medical ninja patted Shiraishi on the shoulder, as if worried about the psychological burden on a young medical ninja like him, and comforted him.
"Well, senior, what is going on? Why does it become like this?"
Shiraishi finally asked the question he wanted to ask the most.
The chief medical ninja knew that Shiraishi was the medical ninja following Sakumo, so it was natural that he didn't understand the situation here.
"We don't know the details. We just know that the mission that signed the armistice agreement with Sunagakure was attacked by unknown people on the way. When they were sent back, they were already like this."
The attending medical ninja said with a heavy face.
"So what happened to the armistice agreement? Was it the Suna Ninja who made the move?"
"I don't know about it either. But we suffered heavy losses this time. I heard that even Jōnin Kato also died."
"Jōnin Kato?"
Shiraishi was startled. With this surname and the fact that he was a jounin, could it be...
"Tsunade-sama is very emotionally unstable right now. The sacrifice of Jōnin Kato has dealt a huge blow to her."
The attending medical ninja sighed.
"Jōnin Kato is so powerful, how could he..."
Shiraishi couldn't understand it.
Kato Jonin is Tsunade's current boyfriend, Kato Dan. Although his reputation cannot be compared with that of Sakumo, who has the name of White Fang, he is also one of the few elite Jonin in Konoha. In a one-on-one situation, it may not be possible. How much worse than the Sannin.
After all, the power of spiritual transformation is very terrifying.
Moreover, it also has a wide range of perception capabilities, so it is very easy to break through and find weak points to escape.
"In order to cover the evacuation of his companions, he chose to fight the enemy alone. By the time support arrived, he was already... dead! Lady Tsunade tried her best, but could not save the life of Jonin Kato."
"Is that so?"
Shiraishi sighed.
Although he and Kato Danjounin were not acquainted with each other, this selfless act to save his companions, no matter from which point of view, people would sincerely admire his spirit.
In this era, life is not a time to be happy, and death is not a time to be sad.
This is the current rule of the ninja world.
He could know that Tsunade was in pain, but he couldn't experience that pain himself.
Human joys and sorrows are not common.
Because he was not familiar with Kato Jōnin, his sigh was only for Tsunade.
The death of his younger brother Naoki, the sacrifice of his boyfriend Kato Dan... and he has been unable to recover since then...
No, he is still a Sannin after all, so that shouldn’t be the case, right?
Shiraishi thought so, but he didn't have much confidence in it.
After all, humans are emotionally fragile creatures.
Seeing that there was nothing to do here in the medical unit, Shiraishi left and went to meet Sakumo and the others at their residence.
Sakumo and the other three were already waiting there and talking about something.
"Sakumo-sensei, I'm back. What's going on? I heard that unknown people attacked the ninja mission that went to sign an armistice agreement with the Suna ninja."
"That's true. Not only that, Orochimaru was also seriously injured. If Kato Jonin hadn't resolutely chosen to cut off the rear, it's very likely that everyone who went to sign the armistice agreement would have been annihilated in the enemy's encirclement. Alright."
Sakumo explained what he learned from Orochimaru in a concise and concise manner.
"It's really outrageous. No matter what, you must maintain the highest level of vigilance."
Liuli had an angry look on her face.
After all, there are lessons learned from this kind of thing. During the First Ninja War, when the second-generation Hokage and Kumogakure's second-generation Raikage signed an armistice agreement, they encountered Kumogakure's radical leader, the Kinaku Ginko Brothers, who led a large number of Kumogakure. Hidden jounin attacks.
The second-generation Raikage was killed on the spot by the Golden Horn and Silver Horn brothers at the signing of the armistice agreement. In order to protect his subordinates, the second-generation Hokage eventually died together with the Golden Horn and Silver Horn brothers and their troops.
This is all because of too much trust in the enemy.
With the Second Hokage's lessons learned, we should be more cautious when signing an armistice agreement.
Who would have thought that Orochimaru, the commander, was seriously injured, and only half of the hundreds of Konoha ninjas returned.
The one who sacrificed the most was Kato Dan. In order to allow Orochimaru to lead the Konoha troops to evacuate, Dan alone fought to the death.
"Now is not the time to blame someone. Have you found out the identity of the enemy?"
Shiraishi looked at Sakumo.
Sakumo sighed, shook his head and said: "No. Their ninjutsu school is very complicated. It is said that one of them is very powerful and seems to be immortal. He can be resurrected after being killed once. Because of this ability, Many of his companions were careless, and he killed several Jonin in one fell swoop."
"Who is he?"
"have no idea."
Baishi and the others frowned slightly.
Such a powerful person, who also has an ability similar to immortality, cannot be unknown in the ninja world.
How could you not know?
"Maybe a black market bounty hunter."
Sakumo was not quite sure who the ninja who led the attack on the Konoha mission was, but he only guessed that the other party might be a ninja running rampant in the black market.
It was a truly dark world where the jungle prevailed, and there were many powerful but not very famous ninjas in it.
The ninja who attacked the Konoha mission this time fit the image of this powerful black market ninja.
"Underground black market? That would be very difficult to investigate. Could it be that the Suna Ninja hired him?"
Shiraishi has also heard of such a dark world.
Existing in the dark side of the ninja world, the bounty hunters who run rampant in the black market are either defected ninjas or samurai. Although there are a lot of garbage, there are also really powerful ones.
The underground black market has a complex network. Every country has a stronghold of this organization, which is deeply rooted in the ninja world.
"It's just a possibility, but we have no evidence to prove this. However, before we came back, the Third Kazekage sent an envoy over to condemn us for not keeping up with the appointment on time, and whether we planned to continue this war."
This incident made many Konoha ninjas angry.
In the eyes of many Konoha ninjas, it was the Suna ninjas who were behind the ambush of their mission.
If Orochimaru hadn't stopped him, the sand ninja envoy would have been torn into pieces by many Konoha ninjas.
After hearing this, the three people in Shiraishi felt a little dull, and they could understand the anger of those Konoha ninjas.
Judging from the current situation, the possibility of Sunagakure going back on his word and planning to catch Konoha off guard is very high.
However, these are all conjectures, and there is no conclusive evidence to prove that this was done by the Sand Ninjas.
It’s really frustrating.
"What did the other side of the village say?"
"The village has just received this news. Because the matter is so important, the higher-ups will definitely be arguing about it. It is estimated that it will take three or four days for the accurate order to be issued."
This is the most conservative time.
Now whether it is a fight or a draw depends solely on the decision of the senior management.
Shiraishi has no objection to this. He is not interested in war in the first place, and how Konoha's top management controls this situation has nothing to do with him.
◎
"Peace talks?"
Three days later, the order from the high-level meeting came down.
Peace talks with Sunagakure.
This made many ninjas in the Konoha camp frown.
But the senior officials gave an explanation - the ambush of the Konoha mission, which prevented the signing of the armistice agreement between Konoha and Sunagakure, was all a conspiracy by Iwagakure.
The unidentified ninja who ambushed the Konoha mission was hired by Iwagakure from the black market.
At this time, Konoha and Sunagakure continue to wage war, and they will only fall into the trap carefully designed by Iwagakure together with Sunagakure.
Therefore, it is necessary to sign an armistice agreement with Sunagakure and guard Iwagakure Village.
"What's going on, Orochimaru?"
Jiraiya asked not quite understanding.
Orochimaru took out another piece of information and said: "This is important information collected by the ANBU. Two days ago, the Sunagakure and Iwagakure ninjas had a small-scale conflict in the Bear Country."
"Sunagakure and Iwagakure...them?"
Jiraiya looked at Orochimaru inexplicably.
Orochimaru replied: "After Sunagakure's supplies were destroyed by Sakumo, Sunagakure cooperated with Iwagakure, hoping that Iwagakure would fund some supplies for them. Iwagakure also agreed to Sunagakure's request, but the supplies were transferred two days ago At that time, the supplies Iwagakure promised to Sunagakure were only one-twentieth of the promised amount. A conflict broke out between the two parties."
Jiraiya was still frowning, feeling that something was wrong.
"Whether this is the plot of Iwagakure's Tsuchikage or the plot of Sunagakure's Kazekage, or whether the two of them are united to plot against Konoha, this matter is no longer important."
"How could it not be important? That guy sacrificed himself to—"
"Don't yell here. Too many people died in the war. Kato Dan is a real ninja, nothing more."
Orochimaru didn't want to hear Jiraiya yelling in front of him, he was in a very upset mood right now.
"Continuing peace talks with Sunagakure is a unanimous decision of the senior management. After all, if we continue to fight, we will not be facing Sunagakure's family, but also Iwagakure."
The words "It's not worth starting a war with Sunagakure and Iwagakure at the same time for one Kato Dan" still didn't come out of his mouth.
But Orochimaru believed that to be the case.
The person behind the previous ambush of the mission was probably Sunagakure.
But Orochimaru was not very clear as to why he came to ambush Konoha once before the end of the war, and even roped in the Tsuchikage to act out the scene so that Konoha did not dare to move at will.
"What is that Kazekage thinking about?"
◎
"It's like doing some kind of warm-up exercise before a fight to slowly heat up the atmosphere."
"warm up?"
There were only two people in the camp. Ayane looked at Shiraishi with a puzzled expression, wondering why he would say such a thing.
"The one who ambushed the Konoha envoy before was undoubtedly the Kazekage. Even if he didn't hire it himself, this strategy must have come from him."
"Is there any basis for this?"
"The warm-up exercise I mentioned is the basis. Before the end of this war, annihilating some of Konoha's elite ninjas will be equivalent to weakening Konoha's power."
"But...if the higher-ups decide to continue the war, wouldn't it backfire?"
Ayane asked rhetorically.
"So Iwagakure was dragged in. This is the situation in the eyes of Konoha's senior officials - Sunagakure's original intention at the beginning was to continue fighting Konoha, because they received Iwagakure's material supplies and could continue fighting. But After annihilating the Konoha mission, Iwagakure suddenly drastically reduced the original supplies, causing Sunagakure to lose the ability to continue fighting. In this way, in the eyes of Konoha's top brass, Sunagakure was fooled by Iwagakure. If Konoha had If Hagakure continues to fight Sunagakure, he will fall into Iwagakure’s trap.”
"The senior officials will not fall for such a simple scheme."
"It doesn't matter whether you are fooled or not. What matters is whether you have the ability to start a war with the two villages of Sunagakure and Iwagakure at the same time. The point is here, the top management of Konoha has no preparations to start a war with the two ninja villages at the same time. This is a naked conspiracy. "
Although Konoha has this ability, the sacrifice would be even greater.
Shiraishi does not believe that Konoha's top management has such determination and will sacrifice Konoha's development in the next ten years and break out a war with Sunagakure and Iwagakure.
It was obvious that the two villages, one overt and the other dark, had already colluded together.
Or maybe Iwagakure was also used by that Kazekage.
Iwagakure did not cooperate with Sunagakure in acting, but Sunagakure was acting unilaterally for everyone to see, deceiving others and shifting the focus of the issue.
"Warming up? That's an apt description."
If it was true what Shiraishi said, Ayane thought the word warm-up was very appropriate.
Annihilating the Konoha mission and asking Iwagakure to act together is a warm-up exercise for the next more ferocious attack on the Land of Fire.
In other words, a few years after the end of this war, Sunagakure will definitely make a comeback. Under the leadership of the Third Kazekage, the offensive will be even more fierce than this time.
Thinking that a long time ago, Shiraishi said that after the Second Ninja War ended, the Third Ninja War would definitely be separated for too long and would still revolve around the Fire Country where Konoha is located, and I couldn't help but admire him.
At that time, it was indeed the best time to leave Konoha.
◎
Sunagakure Camp.
"Is this your future development plan, Kazekage-sama? It's really amazing! No one must be able to think of Kazekage-sama's true intention."
Surrounded by Sunagakure's trusted jounin, after watching the entire plan process, they all showed respect for the Third Kazekage.
Iwagakure and Konoha, both villages were fooled around by their respected Kazekage-sama.
Konoha is even more miserable. So many people have been killed, and yet they continue to sign an armistice agreement with their Sunagakure.
Iwagakure does intend to use Sunagakure to continue the war with Konoha.
The reduction in supplies originally promised to Sunagakure was a real occurrence, and it was not a matter of fraud.
But this was also taken advantage of by the Third Kazekage.
Iwagakure secretly rejoiced, the conflict between Sunagakure and Konoha deepened.
On the Konoha side, it is believed that Sunagakure and Iwagakure have colluded together for a long time. This is a trap for Konoha and cannot be messed with at will. We must continue to sign an armistice agreement with Sunagakure to prevent Sunagakure and Iwagakure from jointly attacking the Land of Fire.
"In the next few years, we will make good use of the abundant resources obtained from the Land of Fire to cultivate more outstanding ninjas for the village to prepare for the next war in a few years. Also to build our own Sunagakure In this prosperous era, please join me in encouraging this."
The Third Kazekage stood up from his seat, his tone full of confidence and encouragement to his subordinates.
"Yes! I will serve you to the death!"
These Sand Jounin also stood up from their seats and looked at the Third Kazekage with fanatical eyes.
It seemed as if they had seen a few years later. Under the leadership of Feng Ying, they once again opened the gap in the Kingdom of Fire and plundered more and better resources.
The era of Sunagakure's real rise is coming soon.
