The dark night gradually faded, and the sun slowly rose over the earth. But under the influence of war, the air was thick with dust and the stench of blood, making the sky outside appear gray and silent.
Fortunately, the battlefield was within the territory of the Land of Hot Water (Yunokuni). Neither the Land of Fire nor the Land of Lightning had been directly affected by the war.
As for the thoughts of Yunokuni's people, who would have noticed?
This is the sorrow of small nations. They can only linger in the cracks between great nations, and then launch wars against even smaller nations, striving to one day grow into a major power and stand on equal footing with the Five Great Shinobi Nations or even replace one of them.
Fortunately, there are no figures like Nagato or Yahiko in Yunokuni. Otherwise, a terrorist organization no weaker than Akatsuki might have emerged from it.
Or to put it another way, there was no prodigy like Nagato in Yunokuni, and so it never drew the attention of Uchiha Madara.
Chao Yanqian always believed that the final decisive battle in the shinobi world would be a civil war among the Ōtsutsuki clan. The rest of the ninja were merely like retainers of the two branches of the Ōtsutsuki lineage, destined to be cannon fodder.
And Konoha, which inherited the bloodlines of both the Uchiha and Senju clans, is the root cause of the current shinobi world's structure.
Fortunately, after over a thousand years of development in the shinobi world, it is no longer the era when Ōtsutsuki Kaguya ruled the world. Civilization has progressed, history remains history, and those who cannot keep up with the times will ultimately be left behind.
Hiding in his camp, I have been contemplating a lot over the past few days.
War is always a catalyst for the advancement of human civilization, for in war people reflect on what they lack and what they truly need.
This is the state Chao Yanqian finds himself in now, and it has shaped the direction of the war. Chao Yanqian qfeels his heart has undergone purification. Especially in moments of silence, he becomes deeply aware of the shift in his mindset during this war.
Chao Yanqian never fully understood the mental journeys of other strong men, such as Uchiha Madara and Senju Hashirama how their thoughts and feelings changed as they grew from weak to strong.
Were there moments when they became intoxicated by their own power, believing they could solve all problems through strength alone, disregarding the thoughts and lives of others?
In the original story of Naruto, after Naruto Uzumaki gained great power, he was briefly lost in it, but ultimately found his true self again through the words of Uchiha Itachi.
Now, Chao Yanqian is facing such a dilemma. After this war, Chao Yanqian has deeply sensed his own transformation.
After mastering Sage Mode, Chao Yanqian's heart became increasingly arrogant. He no longer held the Third Hokage, Shimura Danzō, or even the major shinobi villages in high regard, believing that with his strength, he could crush any opposition one by one.
Although the Third Hokage and Nara Yakuhisa had tried to dissuade Chao Yanqian, their efforts seemed futile.
"Was it the power that made me lose myself, or was I always like this?"
Everyone who rises from weakness to power must face this question. Some are able to guard their hearts, while others lose themselves more and more along the way.
Lying quietly in bed, Chao Yanqian kept wondering what kind of person he truly was deep inside.
If the Third Hokage knew the question in Chao Yanqian's heart, he might be very pleased because the ability to reflect and question oneself is a significant step toward growth.
It's just that Chao Yanqian himself has yet to find the answer.
Time passed day by day, and the shinobi world at least temporarily peaceful was stirred once more by the conclusion of the war between Konohagakure and Kumogakure.
Although the Fourth Raikage had narrowly survived, the war had ended. The remaining Kumo-nin, carrying their unconscious Raikage, fled back to Kumogakure in disarray.
Now, they faced the tasks of rebuilding their village, healing the Raikage, managing diplomacy with Konoha, and restoring the trust of the Land of Lightning's Daimyō.
Although the Third Hokage spared the surviving Kumo-nin, allowing them to retreat, he fully understood what Konoha needed to do next.
After the war, the Third Hokage returned to the village, where many matters awaited him. But Konoha's ninja forces were already stationed on the border of the Land of Lightning, clearly poised to strike Kumogakure unless it surrendered outright.
However, all of that would have to wait until the Fourth Raikage regained consciousness.
In order to calm the nerves of the other Great Shinobi Nations, the Third Hokage refrained from further aggressive action against Kumogakure. Instead, he left a sizable force at the border enough to serve as a warning.
After decades of development, the shinobi world had long grown used to the Five Great Nations dominating the scene.
Konoha had already gained considerable advantage from the war. To further pressure Kumogakure might break the delicate balance. At that point, the other nations might unite against Konoha, as they would later against the Akatsuki.
Moreover, shinobi villages are, ultimately, the military arms of their respective countries. When it comes to politics, it's the daimyōs who hold the final authority.
Not to mention other lands even the Fire Daimyō would not allow Konoha to destroy other major villages. Because once Konoha ruled the entire shinobi world, there would be no more need for daimyōs.
If that day ever came, the Hokage would become the de facto "king" of the continent and the Fire Daimyō would become a political liability, bound to be removed sooner or later.
Ruling the shinobi world sounds simple in words, but the political interests involved are far too complex. Even Uchiha Madara and Ōtsutsuki Kaguya never succeeded in such a feat.
Despite the crushing defeat of Kumogakure, what truly alarmed the major villages was not Konoha,it was Chao Yanqian of Konoha.
In this war, Konoha's victory hinged entirely on the personal strength of Chao Yanqian.
He first wiped out Kumogakure's 3,000-strong vanguard, then destroyed much of the village single-handedly, and finally subdued the Fourth Raikage. These achievements alone catapulted Chao Yanqian's reputation to unprecedented heights.
After the Sannin perished during the Battle of Nami-no-Kuni's Gate, Chao Yanqian became the strongest of the younger generation and was widely recognized as the most powerful shinobi in the world.
In previous major battles, Chao Yanqian uncovered evidence that Sasori of the Red Sand assassinated the Third Kazekage, then defeated the Third Tsuchikage alongside Be Feng Shuimen, and later unleashed the Three-Tails to destroy Kirigakure. His tactical use of intelligence, strategic alliances, and even tailed beasts showcased how personal strength can sway entire wars.
From espionage to collaboration with elites, from leveraging bijū to overwhelming foes through direct combat step by step, Chao Yanqian had helped lead Konoha to victory in the Third Shinobi World War.
When the other villages reviewed Chao Yanqian's record, they fell into collective silence.
There was no denying it Chao Yanqian was a prodigy, not just in raw strength, but in his strategic understanding of war itself.
What was most frightening was his age just 16. In less than a decade since graduating from the Academy, he had become the most dominant figure in the shinobi world. And he was still so young the future Chao Yanqian would be even more terrifying.
Such a person should have been targeted for assassination but the sheer ruthlessness and might Chao Yanqian displayed deterred any such attempt.
This was the man who had annihilated two great shinobi villages. No one could be certain their village would survive his wrath.
Many villages quietly issued orders that if a mission involved encountering Chao Yanqian, it could be abandoned without penalty. After Sakumo Hatake, the "White Fang of Konoha," Chao Yanqian became the second shinobi to be granted such fear-driven honor.
Both earned that respect through overwhelming personal strength.
For someone so capable of destroying entire villages, the shinobi world had bestowed upon Chao Yanqian a fitting title:
"Demon."
This is a man who cannot be provoked lightly.
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