No one expected that the Shinobi Alliance, on whom everyone had placed high hopes, would be utterly defeated.
No.
It would be more accurate to say they were completely annihilated rather than merely defeated.
The bombardment of the Eight-Tails' Tailed Beast Bomb, the charge of the Third Raikage, Fugaku Uchiha, Ay, and Sakumo Hatake… and especially Uchiha Yuzuru's final strike, which directly claimed the lives of thousands of Shinobi Alliance members.
Of the ten thousand Shinobi Alliance members, only fewer than a hundred survived, excluding the commanders in the rear.
Even those who miraculously survived were now enveloped in shadow.
Danzo Shimura, Genshi, and others didn't even hold a meeting to discuss the aftermath; they simply went their separate ways.
If, at the very beginning, when facing the Third Raikage and others, they still had confidence in achieving victory through continuous reinforcements,
then Uchiha Yuzuru's awe-inspiring final strike completely shattered their hopes of revenge.
Although using such immense power couldn't be without a price, no one wanted to gamble with the lives of their village comrades to see if Uchiha Yuzuru still had 'bullets in his gun'.
The news of the Shinobi Alliance's defeat spread throughout the ninja world as ninjas from various villages returned.
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Iwagakure.
Kitsuchi looked at Onoki with admiration.
This time, when the Shinobi Alliance attacked Kumogakure, they only sent out a thousand ninjas.
Most of them were genin, and the few chunin were all past their prime, ninjas unlikely to achieve much more.
Although their deaths were still saddening, compared to other villages, Iwagakure's losses were almost negligible.
"Tsuchikage-sama, you truly have foresight."
"You didn't see it, but Uchiha Yuzuru's strike at that time was simply too terrifying."
"Thousands of people! They were instantly turned into specters by that single strike!"
Kitsuchi still felt a lingering fear even now.
If Danzo Shimura hadn't insisted they remain in the rear, he might have already died at Uchiha Yuzuru's hands.
Hearing Kitsuchi's lament, Onoki slowly sighed.
"It's not that I have foresight; I simply witnessed the power of the Mangekyo Sharingan firsthand."
"You wouldn't understand the sense of despair I felt when my sensei and I faced Madara Uchiha back then."
As if recalling something unpleasant, Onoki shook his head.
"From what I know of the Uchiha clan, this matter will definitely not end here."
"Kitsuchi, stockpile more food, and you might need to prepare some money for reparations."
Hearing Onoki's instructions, Kitsuchi looked troubled: "Father, our village's funds seem a bit insufficient."
To maintain the number of ninjas, the village usually didn't have much available capital.
Now, they not only had to buy food but also pay reparations… it was impossible to manage.
After hearing Kitsuchi's words, Onoki snorted coldly and said in a deep voice: "Did you forget what I told you earlier?"
"What Kumogakure can do, Iwagakure can do as well."
"As long as we take control of the entire Iwagakure from the Daimyo, will we still lack money?"
It was one thing in the past, but now that Kumogakure had set a good precedent, why should they foolishly continue to obey the Daimyo's orders?
Wouldn't it be better to be their own masters?
He didn't believe that after this incident, Sunagakure, Kirigakure, and Konohagakure would form a Shinobi Alliance to attack Iwagakure, just as they had done against Kumogakure.
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Kirigakure.
Mizukage Building.
"Fourth, we failed this time; almost all the ninjas we sent were killed."
"Kumogakure's power has exceeded our imagination."
Looking at the disheveled Genshi, Yagura Karatachi, with his youthful face, rarely showed a hint of a smile.
"Genshi, isn't this a good thing?"
He wasn't very concerned about the outcome of this battle.
Nor did he care how powerful Kumogakure was.
From beginning to end, his goal was only one—
To weaken the ninja clans within the village who possessed bloodline limits.
Now, it seemed the plan was progressing smoothly.
Seeing Yagura Karatachi's expression, Genshi was somewhat conflicted: "Although our goal has been achieved, what should we do next?"
"Kumogakure is full of warmongers."
Hearing this, Yagura Karatachi put away his smile and said coldly: "Our most important task now is to firmly grasp power within the village; as for other matters, it's not too late to discuss them later."
Short-sighted!
Genshi cursed inwardly, then said in a deep voice: "The ninja clans from our village who were sent out suffered heavy losses; they will definitely not let this go."
"Fourth, you'd better start thinking about what to do soon."
After Genshi finished speaking, he turned and left the Mizukage's office.
Only after he left did Yagura Karatachi sigh.
How could he not know that a formidable enemy was at their doorstep?
But what could he do?
If he also had power like Uchiha Yuzuru, he would have many ways to make the ninja clans in the village obedient.
But he didn't!
Neither in strength nor prestige would those ninja clans submit to him.
If they couldn't be subdued, then they could only be eliminated entirely.
However, Genshi was right; those ninja clans had suddenly lost so many elite ninjas and would certainly not let it go.
He would have to offer them something as compensation.
Thinking of this, Yagura Karatachi clapped his hands, and an Anbu appeared before him.
Yagura Karatachi said in a deep voice: "Go tell the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist that within a week, I want to see the Daimyo's corpse!"
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Sunagakure.
The Third Kazekage punched the wall, his expression ferocious.
Ebizō had just brought news: all three thousand ninjas they had sent out had been killed!
It was important to note that to seize more territory after defeating Kumogakure, he had sent out the village's elite ninjas.
It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they were the backbone of Sunagakure.
But now, all three thousand of them had died on the battlefield.
The Third Kazekage felt his heart bleeding.
Chiyo said coldly: "Third Kazekage, our village has suffered a severe blow this time, and the dissatisfaction among the villagers is growing. What are your plans?"
The Third Kazekage raged: "What plans can there be? We'll follow Kumogakure's example, kill the Daimyo, and use his money to appease the villagers!"
"And Rasa, tell him to go out and collect more gold dust."
"If it weren't for that bastard, we wouldn't have suffered such losses. The Daimyo must be held responsible for everything."
Hearing the Third Kazekage's words, Chiyo scoffed.
He had pushed all his responsibilities away with a few words. Who was it who had strongly supported the Daimyo's decision back then?
Seeing the atmosphere grow tense, Ebizō quickly interjected: "If you ask me, all the blame should be placed on those bastards from Konoha."
"If Konoha hadn't handed over the Uchiha clan, Sakumo Hatake, and others to Kumogakure, then the ninja world wouldn't have seen a ninja village so strong that it could break the balance."
Hearing Ebizō's words, the Third Kazekage and Chiyo nodded in agreement.
That's right, the real root cause was Konoha.
If the people of Konoha weren't as stupid as pigs, how could so many problems have arisen in the ninja world?
However, despite their complaints, the Third Kazekage and Chiyo felt somewhat relieved.
They were already heartbroken over the loss of three thousand ninjas; what would Konoha feel after suddenly losing nearly four thousand elites?
Most importantly… Uchiha Yuzuru and Sakumo Hatake, who had displayed such divine power in this battle, were originally supposed to be Konoha's strongest ninjas.