When Hashirama was alive, the conflicts between the major ninja villages were even more intense than they are now.
At that time, the villages had only just been founded, and their systems still had major flaws. Internal strife within each village was constant.
To divert attention from internal problems and stabilize the situation, resources became the top priority. All the villages wanted to expand or plunder externally in order to survive the transition period.
However, everyone only acted in secret, no one started an outright war, no matter how desperate the situation became.
Why?
Because Hashirama stood above them all, forcing every village to bow their heads.
Everyone understood that the "God of Shinobi" was easygoing now, but that title wasn't something he claimed for himself, it was earned through blood and battle.
Those who lived through the Warring States period, especially its final years, knew that it was an age dominated by the rivalry between Hashirama and Madara. Every other shinobi, without exception, had been beaten into submission, including the First Kage of each great village.
The most they could do was say a few harsh words to save face, relying on Hashirama's good temper, but they wouldn't take any excessive actions.
Hashirama knew this too, so he didn't mind.
Later, when he distributed the tailed beasts, the villages made a lot of noise, but in truth they were only probing his bottom line, no one truly wanted to be his enemy.
Back then, the shinobi world seemed full of undercurrents, but in reality, it was calm and peaceful.
It wasn't until Hashirama passed away that the great villages, unable to hold back any longer, ignited the First Great Ninja War.
For the entire shinobi world, his presence was like an anchor in a storm. But for the other villages outside Konoha, it was a stifling, oppressive era.
There were even rumors that Madara had once proposed unifying the shinobi world, only to be stopped by Hashirama, otherwise, those other villages might not even exist today.
Who would have thought that, after so many years, Konoha would produce another figure on par with Hashirama and Madara? How could they not be startled, how could their hearts not tremble?
"What do you think Konoha is trying to do?" The Third Raikage was the first to lose his composure and ask the others. But his voice no longer carried its usual dominance, he truly was shaken.
A year ago, the Eight-Tails went on a rampage in Kumo. He fought the beast, and though he barely managed to subdue it, allowing the sealing squad to reseal it, he was left exhausted, his chest pierced in the battle.
If someone could subdue the Nine-Tails single-handedly, they could do the same to the Eight-Tails. And that meant Shin could likely subdue him just as easily.
"My suggestion is... make contact with Konoha," said Ōnoki, who couldn't think of a better plan. He sighed as he spoke.
Everyone has their psychological scars. For him, that shadow was a single man, Madara.
Subduing the Nine-Tails with one hand, that was something even Madara had never done, at least as far as he had heard.
Didn't this mean that Shin's strength might surpass Madara's at his peak? And on top of that, he'd mastered the Flying Thunder God technique... terrifying beyond belief.
He had no desire to fight such an opponent. Speculating endlessly was tiresome; better to ask the man directly.
He could at least speak with Shin, whatever his private feelings, Shin treated him with a certain outward respect.
The others stayed silent. After a long pause, Hanzō suddenly thought of something, his pupils shrank sharply, but he quickly hid his reaction. Still, his heart was unsettled.
Damn... the group of ninjas plotting against Konoha seems like they're about to make their move. If Konoha finds out, won't everyone involved get dragged down with them?
Would all the great villages just dump the blame on Ame?
As leader of a small village, he never felt secure.
The more he interacted with the leaders of the great villages, the more he realized, no matter how they looked on the surface, they were all cunning old foxes. When the time came, they might sell him out, turning his village into the next Kusa.
He needed to think of a countermeasure.
---
Konoha, eastern research facility.
At this moment, seven figures were quietly gathering there.
Not a single sound was made between them, they communicated only through eye contact. Having rehearsed many times before, they were so in sync that a single glance was enough to convey their meaning.
Reaching the barrier outside the research facility, one of the seven stepped forward, exhaled deeply, then quickly formed hand seals before placing both hands on the barrier.
The small sensory barrier began to melt away like ice, then dispersed into the surroundings.
Inside the research facility, Orochimaru, who was conducting an experiment, suddenly raised an eyebrow.
Then, a wicked smile crept across his lips.
He had long known that the great ninja villages harbored ill intentions toward him and had been scheming for some time.
Originally, he thought these people would have shown up much earlier, after all, Shin had told him that, when the time came, he would let a few people in for Orochimaru's amusement.
But months had dragged by, half a year, in fact, their efficiency so poor it was starting to bore him.
Now, just as he had run out of experimental material, someone had delivered themselves right to his door. This delighted him greatly.
The seven infiltrators slipped into the facility without incident.
But when they saw that the research facility was completely empty, their expressions turned strange.
They had been watching this place for a long time, yet now there wasn't a single soul in sight.
"They must be underground," one person reasoned. "This surface level is probably just a decoy."
The others agreed, and began searching for an entrance.
The process went unusually smoothly, so smoothly that all of them felt a faint sense of unease.
But time was short, and they couldn't dwell on it. They followed a passage downward.
Before long, they began to notice something was wrong.
"Why is this passage so long? We've already gone down nearly a hundred meters, haven't we?"
"Konoha is really cautious, putting the facility this deep underground means it's hard to find, and even if discovered, it's nearly impossible to breach."
After walking a bit more, they finally saw the end of the passage.
The seven exchanged glances, then rushed forward, only to freeze in shock at what they saw.
They had entered a massive underground chamber, a hundred meters across and nearly thirty meters high, and the most infuriating part was that it was completely empty.
"It's an ambush! Fall back!" one of them shouted immediately.
But before his voice had even faded, a snake-like shadow slithered across the ground toward his feet.
The next instant, the shadow erupted from below, forming a giant maw that swallowed him whole before sinking back into the earth and vanishing.
The sight left everyone stunned.
What just happened?
In their moment of distraction, another person was swallowed by the shadow.
The remaining five instantly used Body Flicker to regroup, standing back-to-back with weapons drawn, eyes scanning their surroundings in alert vigilance.
Time passed with no further movement.
But the longer the silence dragged on, the tighter their nerves became, they didn't know when the next attack would come.
When their tension had reached its breaking point, Snap!
All the lights in the underground chamber suddenly went out.
The five ninjas were instantly alarmed. In the darkness, a black mass slipped through the gap between them, expanding in an instant and generating a shockwave that blasted them apart.