Time keeps moving forward, but never in a straight line. It just loops and twists endlessly, like the world's stuck on repeat.
"In any case, we need to work together regarding Kushina Uzumaki..."
Inside an office at the Ninja Academy, Haseo discussed in detail with the teacher about Kushina Uzumaki not fitting in with the rest of the class.
At first impression, the teacher thought Haseo was terrible—what kind of "parent" kicks a teacher in front of the entire class upon their very first meeting? What kind of image does that give?
However, after talking things out, he found that Haseo wasn't actually so bad. He knew how to say the right things and agreed to cooperate with the school.
The teacher essentially meant the school would try its best to ensure Kushina wouldn't be ridiculed or bullied, while Haseo, as the "parent," should teach her not to hit people easily. That way, they could jointly create a healthy, positive environment for the children's growth…
Yeah, that's just common sense, right?
So naturally, Haseo—who always loves talking reason—readily replied with "Alright, alright" and "Yes, yes." But don't forget, he has one very distinct characteristic: he often says one thing but does another, so his love for reasoning ultimately doesn't matter much.
Just look at how he taught Kushina yesterday—the whole time, his attitude was that as long as nobody gets killed, hitting is fine. He even seemed to imply that as long as no one dies, causing a little trouble isn't such a bad thing.
The Ninja Academy shouldn't be overly harsh, nor too gentle either; otherwise, the shock from the reality of being a ninja would be hard to bear after such a sheltered education. If a ninja needed psychological help later, that would be ridiculous. So letting them face some harsh realities at school wasn't such a bad idea after all...
Well, this kind of twisted logic Haseo often uses is just an excuse—he's simply too lazy to handle all these little details himself.
It was rare to meet a parent so willing to cooperate with school affairs. At this point, the teacher even felt like getting kicked earlier had been worth it, and the embarrassment hadn't been in vain after all. Just when he was preparing to continue discussing the child's education with Haseo further, an unexpected visitor suddenly appeared inside the room.
This person was cloaked head to toe in black robes, their face hidden behind an animal mask, even their hair concealed under a deep hood. They were clearly supposed to be a "mysterious stranger," though in truth, no one really found them mysterious at all. No one might have known their specific identity, yet everyone understood their background and what they represented.
An Anbu ninja from Konoha abruptly appeared, then without hesitation said:
"Lord Haseo, the Third has summoned you to attend an emergency meeting."
The Chunin instructor frowned. If someone ordinary had shown up at this moment saying something like that, he would've shot back something like, "What could possibly be more important than the child's education?"
However, since the speaker was an Anbu agent, there was no way his lessons on teaching would've worked at all.
"Something urgent?"
Haseo wouldn't mind continuing a casual chat with his teacher, but the current situation seemed to make it impossible—he could sense an indescribable tension radiating from this Anbu ninja.
"It's extremely urgent."
"I see… Teacher, looks like we'll have to continue our conversation next time. And I suspect this 'next time' will be far later than you expect. It seems we're both about to get very busy."
Instantly dropping his previous gentle demeanor, Haseo transformed into someone decisively efficient and full of vigor. After uttering that heavily suggestive sentence, he vanished along with the Anbu ninja.
"What happened?"
The teacher felt somewhat confused, yet Haseo's words suddenly stirred a wave of unease inside him… No, at this moment, he needed to stay with his students.
Acting on instinct, the teacher bolted toward the classroom.
"Haseo… Haseo-dono… wasn't his name supposed to be 'Shouyi Uzumaki'?" For some reason, the name "Haseo" sounded familiar in his ears, though he couldn't recall exactly where or when he had heard it before.
Although not universally true, some of the Chunin instructors at the Ninja Academy were quite distanced from the frontlines; apart from information related to their students, they often learned about new developments last—and slowly.
After leaving the Ninja Academy, Haseo and the Anbu rushed straight toward the Hokage's Office. Upon arrival, he found the relatively spacious office already packed with people.
The Third Hokage, two Elders, various departmental supervisors, clan leaders of all sizes—even including the Uchiha…
Except Danzo Shimura.
Despite how crowded the room was, unusually, no one was speaking loudly. As soon as Haseo entered, he simply stood among the crowd, waiting silently for the news he half-anticipated to be officially announced.
Ten minutes later, after several more middle-aged ninjas arrived, the Third Hokage finally set down his pipe and spoke:
"All of us are now here. Important intelligence is about to be shared.
An hour ago, we received shocking news—Sunagakure has launched a large-scale invasion into the Land of Rain from its southwest border...
War has begun."
A brief silence followed, then instantly broke out into noise within the previously quiet gathering.
This news came too abruptly.
Everyone had more or less expected another war sooner or later, based on recent intel. Logically, it made sense. But logic and reality were never the same thing.
When the inevitable truly manifested itself, every person's reaction was surprisingly unified—Was Suna out of their mind?
It had barely been ten years since the last devastating Great Ninja World War… From Konoha 20 to Konoha 30, it had merely been a fleeting respite.
Suna definitely wasn't insane—but they were certainly broke. The entire Land of Wind was impoverished.
In a way, Sunagakure was even acting quite rationally... National consciousness, the idea of countries, and the world map—all these things begin to take root over time. If they don't seize the opportunity to conquer neighboring small nations soon, what Sunagakure achieves in the future will barely amount to conquest without true submission.
During the last Great Ninja World War, Amegakure served as a typical example—it stubbornly defended its own nation.
Due to geographical factors, Sunagakure needed fertile lands from surrounding nations. And if acquiring those lands was inevitable, then naturally the earlier the better—only this way could the Land of Wind steadily and effectively govern them afterward. The reasoning behind Sunagakure and the Land of Wind waging wars was very clear.
Now, Sunagakure was preparing to crush Amegakure.
Moreover, they were smarter than Hashiru had imagined—at least they knew this village couldn't possibly be destroyed by just a handful of ninja, which is why they deployed large-scale forces, aiming for one final strike.
"Be silent!"
The Third Hokage was forced to knock hard on the table to quiet the noisy crowd. After slightly suppressing their murmurs, he continued, "I believe everyone already understands the reason. For long-term considerations, we cannot allow our strategic rival to realize its intention of invasion. Otherwise, it would be tantamount to suicide.
Nobody wants to see a prosperous and powerful Land of Wind.
Therefore, we must stop Sunagakure's move—Danzo Shimura has already led the first batch of Konoha ninja into the Land of Rain.
We do not intend to expand this war. As long as we can defeat Sunagakure's offensive intent at the earliest opportunity, that will suffice. Therefore, Konoha aims for a swift resolution… We are only responding to war unwillingly—we absolutely do not wish for this conflict's scale or duration to once again escalate to the level of The Great Ninja World War."
"Hokage-sama, what about the scale of Sunagakure's deployment?"
Someone asked the question on everyone's mind.
"Not clear yet; we need further intelligence reports, but… possibly two thousand, or even four thousand."
The Hokage's answer made everyone fall silent again. The initial number of combatants deployed can reflect how determined an enemy is about going to war. So now it seemed… the enemy's resolve to fight was unwavering.
If as many as two thousand ninja attacked the Land of Rain immediately, it clearly showed Sunagakure's firm determination. That explained why the Third Hokage insisted on a swift resolution from Konoha—it was likely he had already accepted deep down that this war wouldn't end anytime soon.
After hearing such numbers, everyone reached similar conclusions.
"In any case, I hereby declare in my capacity as the Third Hokage: Hidden Leaf Village is officially entering a wartime state. Immediately issue mobilization orders to frontline combat ninja; all other missions must be put aside. The logistics and medical units must also make thorough preparations. Starting today, the Intelligence Division will have no time for rest..."
No matter how much people expected it, the outbreak of war still sent a chill through their spines. It reeked of blood, making everything feel utterly unanticipated.
Haseo arrived in Konoha at the height of the war-torn era, became a ninja, endured years of chaos and bloodshed, and ultimately brought the war to an end, ushering in peace.
Now he felt as if he had traveled a full circle, coming back to exactly where it all began.
Only time had moved forward a little.
...
In the thirtieth year of Konoha's peace, Sunagakure invaded the Land of Rain. Konoha and Iwagakure responded immediately. The elite forces of the three shinobi superpowers — Konoha, Sunagakure, and Iwagakure — surged into the Land of Rain almost overnight.
Forces from every corner of the world converged — once allied now enemies, their battle-hardened troops packed shoulder to shoulder.
After a decade of peace, the Second Great Ninja War had thus erupted.
The monstrous war machine, capable of grinding bones into dust, roared back to life. Rust, steam, and the blooming crimson haze of blood — the stench of death coiled through them all, seeping into every corner of the world.
From intangible whispers to overwhelming intensity — the shift came before anyone could even blink.
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