Ninja Ice House

Chapter 542

A fierce battle that barely caused a ripple in the secular world, and was barely known even by a few small ninja villages, yet it stirred up a massive wave among the five great ninja villages.

The reason is simple: the power balance between ninja villages is at risk of collapsing.

The Five Kage Summit, a product of the Warring States period, was held to discuss important matters and effectively determined the basic order among the major ninja villages, thus influencing the entire ninja world.

The Five Kage Summit is essentially a gathering of the leaders of the five strongest ninja villages. A large part of the weight of the Five Kage's words comes from the strength of the ninja villages behind them, and secondly from their individual strength.

In the past, there have been powerful ninjas who could be compared with the Five Kage, but they were either rogue ninjas who fought alone, lone wolves, or exceptional geniuses who appeared unexpectedly in small ninja villages. For example, Hanzo of the Salamander from Amegakure was so powerful that he was called a "demigod". The three young ninjas were almost powerless against him when they joined forces, and they only survived because the other party held back.

However, neither Hanzo of the Salamander nor Amegakure behind him could support the backbone of the "Sixth Ninja Village," and individual strongmen could not play the crucial role of making the final decision.

But this time the situation is different.

Jinchuriki, pseudo-Jinchuriki, various genius teenagers, Jonin elites, and even valiant veterans—none of them gained the upper hand in the conflict.

Ultimately, it comes down to the fact that the geniuses and elites of several major ninja villages, along with S-rank rogue ninjas, have joined forces and begun to possess the strength to directly challenge the five major ninja villages.

Aside from Konoha and Kumogakure, whose strength and deep foundations allowed them to withstand the pressure, Kirigakure, Iwagakure, and Sunagakure were relatively weak. Even if one of them stepped forward, it would be no match for Akatsuki or the Eight Orochi, whose members were almost all capable of fighting the Five Kage one-on-one for hundreds of rounds.

This is not a challenger like the former Grass Village, Rain Village, or Waterfall Village, which were relatively strong but lacked skilled fighters and were slow to develop. This is a force that can truly shake up the ninja world.

Those who joined were not just any ordinary people; almost everyone had an incredibly impressive track record, including Orochimaru, Itachi Uchiha, Kisame Hoshigaki, Ringo Ameyuri, and Sasori Akasago, all of whom were powerful figures with considerable influence and influence.

As for the legendary "Sage's Eye," it may have been thought to be just a rumor in the past, but now that more people have seen it, most of the higher-ups in the ninja world know that there is indeed such a person who calls himself Pain and is the mastermind behind several major incidents in the ninja world in recent years.

If the "Eight Heroes" are a dangerous organization that has only been exposed in the last two years, the "Akatsuki" organization is even more deeply hated by the five great ninja villages, especially after the One-Tailed Shukaku was stolen from Sunagakure.

The headquarters of one of the Five Great Ninja Villages, with its heavy security, was breached from the front, and the One-Tailed Jinchuriki was captured in full view of everyone. This is simply outrageous.

The Sand Village was able to infiltrate Konoha and kill the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, not because the Sand ninja were particularly strong, but because Orochimaru was more powerful. In addition, Danzo Shimura stood by and even actively provided assistance, and with the help of a bunch of traitors, they were able to accomplish this.

The likelihood of the five great ninja villages being attacked at their core is extremely small. If it were to happen, it would most likely be due to traitors or internal saboteurs, rather than a significant difference in strength between the two villages.

The kidnapping of Gaara by Deidara and his gang completely shattered people's understanding of this matter.

It turns out that the status of the five great ninja villages is not so taken for granted, nor is it unchallengeable.

In the past, only one of the five great ninja villages could meet the challenge of one of them. Now, people have realized that the rogue ninja organization can be so powerful that even just two people, at the right time and with the right tactics, can completely outmaneuver the formidable Sunagakure. Even when Konoha sent a strong reinforcement team, they couldn't get their revenge.

The vast gap between large and small countries, and the absolute dominance of large ninja villages over small ninja villages, no longer seem so obvious.

The model of cooperation between the daimyo, secular countries, and ninja villages in maintaining order in the ninja world is essentially a gentleman's agreement. Once most people feel it is unfair, or even want to use force to seize more, a ninja world war that engulfs everything becomes inevitable.

The most fundamental reason for turning peacetime into war is the perception that others are weak while one's own strength has increased. When everyone thinks this way, war is only a matter of time.

……

In Konoha Village, after finishing her village affairs, Tsunade went to the special care ward again to check on Jiraiya's condition.

The messages coming in one after another from the Sunagakure reinforcements were really giving people a headache.

The Sand Village, our currently reliable ally, is too weak. Our regular ninja forces and reserves should still be able to keep up. With their skillful poisoning and puppetry techniques, they should be quite formidable in a suitable combat environment.

However, they struggled to deal with rogue ninja organizations like Akatsuki and the Eight Orochi.

Simply put, there are too few top-tier experts.

Unable to suppress those powerful S-rank rogue ninjas, they struggle to defend against the invasion of a few exceptionally strong ninjas.

Next, the defense systems of each major ninja village will shift from preventing infiltration and sabotage to resisting individual super-powerful ninjas.

Konoha began its transformation more than a decade after the Nine-Tails' attack, and the expansion of the Anbu and the Root organization's laissez-faire attitude were not without this consideration.

External offensives are relatively rare in peacetime; focusing main efforts and energy on internal suppression and maintaining stability is more cost-effective and efficient.

As for the negative effects, it's hard to describe in a few words.

The strength displayed by Mizuki, the representative of the "Root" organization, was also quite surprising.

Most of the Jonin in the village are not as strong as Mizuki has shown, and only a very few experts such as Kakashi Hatake and Might Guy can be compared to him.

The appearance of a powerful Jonin in the village was certainly gratifying, but the thought that this person was Danzo's "trump card" made Tsunade feel a little uncomfortable.

The retired elders are indeed the cornerstone of the village's stability.

It's a bit of a shame that young people are growing up so slowly; it seems like we can't count on them.

Tsunade certainly has no shortage of strength and prestige, and is confident enough to deal with challenges from all sides.

But as the Fifth Hokage, she couldn't possibly worry about such things every day. Managing these "arrogant and fierce soldiers" was no easy task.

"I don't know how these three generations of old men are so good at 'balancing the water' (approaching things), managing to keep the interests of all parties quite harmonious."

Looking at himself, his former genius teammate Orochimaru has already defected, and it's unknown whether he's still alive.

Jiraiya, their greatest support, remained unconscious, and no one knew when he would recover and regain his fighting ability, which calmed the restless hearts of the people.