Chapter 652: Alliance and Crisis
The meeting proceeded exceptionally smoothly.
All the Kage believed that the war no longer needed to continue, and they agreed to stop all military action and form an alliance.
Ōnoki would have the Iwagakure Ninja Force withdraw from the Land of Grass, while the Third Raikage stated that he would immediately order Kumogakure forces in the Land of Hot Water to cease fighting and withdraw.
As for the Fourth Kazekage and the Third Mizukage, they stated that they would cease all actions against the other Great Ninja Villages, strengthen friendly exchanges, and promote the common development and prosperity of the Five Great Ninja Villages.
However, the specific compensation still required a fierce debate before it could be finalized.
"History will remember today. A new era of peace is coming," Hiruzen said with a smile.
As the Second Five Kage Summit and the second alliance of the Five Great Ninja Villages, the scene of their current meeting was enough to enter history textbooks.
"Yes, a new era is coming," Ōnoki said, glancing at Mugetsu and sighing slightly.
Mugetsu's rise was already unstoppable. The coming era would be Mugetsu's era, and Konoha's era.
Ōnoki could not predict whether that time would bring peace or an unprecedented, terrifying war.
Because all of that depended on Mugetsu himself.
Mugetsu and Konoha could not be viewed separately. As long as Mugetsu himself did not truly reject the position of Hokage, then the Fourth Hokage would inevitably be Mugetsu.
"This might be the best era," the Third Mizukage said with a smile.
He had already made up his mind to firmly align with Konoha and stand resolutely on Konoha's side.
Since it was no longer possible to surpass Konoha, it was better to take this opportunity to fully join forces with Konoha. At the very least, they could gain some benefits.
When Hidden Mist stood against Konoha, everything went wrong.
After cooperating with Konoha, Hidden Mist's situation immediately improved. Not only would they receive war reparations, but Konoha was also willing to return the five captured Ninja swords to their original owners.
The Third Mizukage had already thought about how to develop relations with Konoha.
They could continue jointly hosting the Chunin Exams with Konoha. After that, they could also send Ninja to each other's villages for study, and they could even undertake some joint missions with Konoha.
"Hmph," Rasa snorted softly and remained silent.
He was very unconvinced by the Third Mizukage. He felt that if not for the Third Mizukage, their encirclement and assassination plan might have succeeded.
However, Rasa's mind was still clear. He knew he belonged to a defeated village, so he merely snorted to express his disdain for Hidden Mist.
It was just clinging to Konoha's coattails. If it were up to him, he definitely would not do worse than Hidden Mist.
"If that's true, then that would be best," the Third Raikage said in a deep voice, crossing his arms.
He also had worries similar to Ōnoki's, but he was equally powerless.
Mugetsu's momentum of ascension was already unstoppable.
"Konoha will strive toward the best era," Hiruzen said, standing up.
The other four Kage also stood up and walked out of the meeting room.
At this point, the great free-for-all among the Five Great Ninja Villages that had lasted for several years truly ended, and the Five Great Ninja Villages formed an alliance.
After the meeting, Ōnoki, the Third Raikage, and the other Kage arranged for their subordinates to withdraw from the Land of Grass and return to their respective Ninja Villages.
As for Ōnoki and the others, they did not need to leave yet. They still had to go to Konoha to discuss a few more matters.
The outcome of this major campaign, in which all Five Great Ninja Villages participated and all Five Kage were involved, quickly spread throughout the Ninja World.
The Ninja Villages of various small countries were all excited.
This was because it meant they no longer had to worry about their countries becoming battlegrounds for the great powers' games.
Of course, not all Ninja Villages thought this way. Some ambitious small Ninja Villages felt it was a pity, believing that this war had not lasted long enough to give them an opportunity to overtake others.
Land of Rain, Shinobi Sect.
After Yahiko received the news that the Five Great Ninja Villages had successfully negotiated peace, he was extremely excited and immediately found Nagato and the others to express his joy.
"There really is hope for peace in the Ninja World! If the Five Great Ninja Villages can maintain a long-term alliance, then the Ninja World will be free from major wars forever!" Yahiko said excitedly.
Eternal peace was very difficult.
Aside from wars between the Great Ninja Villages, there were also conflicts between small countries and small Ninja Villages. But wars between small countries and small Ninja Villages could not affect the entire Ninja World the way wars between the Five Great Ninja Villages could.
"Overall, there is indeed a trend toward improvement," Nagato nodded.
After studying under Mugetsu for a long time, Nagato was no longer only a Ninja who knew how to fight. He now understood how to analyze the situation of the Ninja World.
"However, this peace will be difficult to sustain for long. If Konoha has an idea, it could easily start another major war, perhaps one even more terrifying than the war that just ended," Yahiko then said, showing a thoughtful expression.
He did not lose his rationality just because peace was about to arrive. He was still considering the flaws in the current structure of the Ninja World.
"If our Shinobi Sect could take root in other small countries and coordinate the strength of those small countries, that would be great. This way, we could further promote peace in the Ninja World while also gathering the strength of the small countries to pose a threat to the great powers, making them afraid to act rashly."
Yahiko believed that achieving peace in the Ninja World by relying on the Great Ninja Villages was almost impossible. Those people only cared about profit. If peace were possible through them alone, the Ninja World would have been peaceful long ago.
In the end, their Shinobi Sect still had to become powerful.
Powerful enough to supervise the Five Great Ninja Villages.
"Isn't that exactly what Teacher Sōsuke is doing? Leader Kakuzu is currently developing the Shinobi Sect in the Land of Birds," Konan said after thinking for a moment.
Yahiko was slightly startled. After careful thought, it was indeed true.
"Never mind the Land of Birds or anything else. Who is going to explain Danzo Shimura's matter to me clearly?" Kakuzu heard the voices of the three and asked directly.
The Land of Birds had fewer Ninja and was a remote, out-of-the-way place in the Ninja World, so news regarding Ninja was quite blocked. Kakuzu only learned that Sōsuke had done such a major thing some time after he left, after Danzo had died.
So Kakuzu quickly dealt with most of the urgent work he needed to complete, then rushed back to the Land of Rain.
"Danzo Shimura? Oh, right, he assassinated Teacher Sōsuke and was then killed by Teacher Sōsuke," Yahiko said, his expression changing.
Because Hanzō had died together with Danzo, Yahiko's mind had been completely focused on the deceased Hanzō and Amegakure. Coupled with Konoha being busy with the war and not coming to trouble the Shinobi Sect, Yahiko had left little impression of Danzo's matter.
"Forget it. I'll go find Sōsuke," Kakuzu said, looking at Yahiko's expression and deciding to go talk to Sōsuke directly.
Sōsuke was a rational person. It was impossible for him to kill Danzo without a reason.
As for being assassinated and then killing the assassin, Kakuzu did not think that was a very good reason.
With Sōsuke's strength, sparing Danzo's life would not have been a problem. He could also have used Danzo's life to exchange for some benefits with Konoha.
Killing Danzo truly yielded no benefits, but instead caused a lot of trouble.
Yahiko also followed.
If it were his former self, he would definitely think that Sōsuke killing Danzo, who had come to assassinate him, was only natural, and that Konoha was in the wrong.
But the current Yahiko understood that sometimes this world did not talk about reason, only fists.
Or rather, sometimes fists were reason.
.....
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