Although the Land of Rain was locked in fierce fighting, its position adjacent to the Land of Fire, the Land of Grass, and the Land of Earth meant it bordered the most intense battlefield in the entire ninja world.
As a result, Akatsuki paid considerable attention to external developments. Minor matters might pass without notice, but any war of meaningful scale found its way back to the organization.
"Konoha destroyed the Kannabi Bridge?"
"What?"
"That was the Hidden Stone soldiers' primary supply route. It carried enormous strategic value. This move by Konoha was clearly designed to force the Hidden Stone forces to halt their advance and gradually pull back. The one who led the mission was that Yellow Flash of Konoha."
"Namikaze Minato."
"That's him."
Yuji listened to the discussions behind him and understood clearly. The Third Great Ninja War was approaching its end. Onoki had committed over a thousand troops to the assault on the Land of Fire, the largest single military investment of the entire conflict, and after all this time they had still failed to break Konoha. There was no longer any realistic hope of victory. There was no point in continuing.
The pressure on the battlefield had reached extraordinary levels. Among the great ninja villages, new recruits were graduating at nine years old, undertaking missions at seven, and stepping onto battlefields at five. That was not a normal situation by any standard. It was proof of how desperate the manpower shortage had become. Dispatching over a thousand troops had been the Hidden Stone Village's final gamble, and it had yielded nothing.
Konoha had once again demonstrated the same extraordinary resilience it had shown during the Second Great Ninja War. Only this time, the ones carrying Konoha's glory were no longer the Three Legendary Sannin and the White Fang, but the new generation led by Namikaze Minato.
Although Orochimaru had made significant contributions to Konoha throughout the war, in terms of overall achievement he had been genuinely overshadowed by Minato. The ninja world had always directed its attention toward new faces.
"That old man must be resentful. Perhaps he blames the Sand Village for selling medicine to Konoha. Otherwise, from his perspective, the Sand Village would have kept fighting to the end."
He thought to himself that the person he was referring to was the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki.
This was a strategic matter. The Sand Village had never intended to become deeply entangled in the battlefield from the beginning. Had it done so, the losses would have been devastating and the development of the past several years would never have been possible.
Furthermore, the other four great ninja villages, including the Hidden Stone Village, had always been targets he intended to weaken through mutual attrition. He had wanted them to grind each other down. That weakening was the prerequisite for the next phase, the strategic campaign against the Land of Rain, which required the other villages to be too exhausted to interfere.
"It seems the war in the Land of Grass will end soon. Once the Hidden Stone Village retreats, the Hidden Cloud Village will already be in a severely weakened state."
The only variable that still required attention was the Hidden Mist Village. But the Land of Water was geographically distant from the mainland, the Hidden Mist Village's own internal situation was troubled, and the impact of the continental war on them was inherently limited. No matter how much pressure they had applied, they had never been able to genuinely threaten Konoha in a decisive way.
"The Sand Village withdrew from the battlefield long ago and has already reached ceasefire agreements with several villages."
"It seems the Great Ninja War, which has dragged on for years, is finally coming to an end."
"We should also push harder."
"Yes."
Yuji rose slowly to his feet and walked back into the depths of the cave.
Looking back across the years of war, the most serious damage Konoha had sustained had still come from its conflict with the Sand Village.
His presence in this world had triggered a butterfly effect that had reshaped the entire trajectory of the war, including a version of the Battle of Kikyou Mountain that had severely damaged Konoha's strength. That had been a joint effort between the Hidden Stone and Hidden Mist Villages rather than a direct Sand Village attack, but his hand had been behind the conditions that made it possible.
"Now the fight should become very interesting."
The people who had been discussing moved aside as Yuji approached. His thoughts turned immediately to Namikaze Minato.
Since ascending to the position of Kage, Yuji had naturally been keeping a constant eye on developments throughout the Great Ninja War, and Minato's most dazzling achievements had been impossible to ignore.
Yuji himself had withdrawn from the battlefield roughly two and a half years ago.
Over those two and a half years, under the constant pressure of facing various dangers while shouldering the responsibilities, Minato's strength had grown rapidly and substantially.
With the further development of his Flying Thunder God Technique and his mastery of the Rasengan, his combat power had transformed to an entirely different level. He was no longer simply the quick and clever fighter who had lacked precision in his attacks and counters during their earlier encounters. He had become something considerably more dangerous.
The Battle of Kannabi Bridge had only accelerated the end of the Third Great Ninja War. It had not ended it directly. A series of smaller engagements followed in its wake.
Every time a Great Ninja War drew to a close, even when the villages outwardly ceased fighting, the resulting chain reactions continued for some time afterward. The previous war had been the same. But with the supervisory figures of the ninja battlefield now involved in overseeing the conclusion, news could only reach Akatsuki through secondhand village communications.
Akatsuki's energy, which had been partially drawn outward by the Great Ninja War, began concentrating inward again, directed toward the task of fully liberating the Land of Rain.
Not long after, he received the news that Nohara Rin had died at Kakashi's hands.
Rin and several others had been imprisoned by a cursed seal. Under that seal, they were unable to take their own lives. Only death at another's hands could free them. This had been one of the methods used to manipulate certain individuals connected to the Hidden Mist Village's operations.
"Quickly."
He destroyed the letter in his hand, then looked out into the forest at two swaying figures moving between the trees according to their own will, summoned through the Impure World Reincarnation technique, and muttered quietly to himself.
"What is happening? Did I not already die?"
"This feeling. I am being controlled."
Although both figures were operating under strict external control, their words still carried their own thoughts and will. They cursed continuously even as their bodies moved against their wishes.
He formed a hand seal and spoke a single word.
"Release."
A second later, both figures lost all animation simultaneously, their souls returning to the Pure Land.
"Not much difference from natural usage at this point. The power is still somewhat weak, but it is basically comparable. Even at this level, it remains impossible to completely erase their will."
Yuji assessed the result quietly.
This experimental site was a desolate mountain forest far from the Akatsuki base. He turned and began walking back.
On the way, he encountered Akatsuki members who had come out searching for him.
"Yoru, Lord Yahiko is looking for you," the Akatsuki member said respectfully.