Despite the many dissatisfactions in his heart, facing the strong determination of the Daimyo of the Land of Wind and the Daimyo of the Hidden Mist Village to go to war, he could only bury these emotions deep in his heart, grit his teeth, and then make the decision to deploy troops.
As the Daimyo of the Land of Wind and the Daimyo of the Land of Water stubbornly pursued their own course, the entire Ninja World was drawn into this whirlwind of war.
Like giant waves stirred up by a fierce wind, the situation became increasingly chaotic and unpredictable.
The flames of war spread rapidly, covering almost half of the Ninja World.
All the countries in the center of the continent were embroiled in it.
People's lives were completely disrupted, and countless lives perished in the war.
However, amidst this chaos, a few countries were able to escape the calamity, such as Snow Country, You Country, and Land of Demons, as well as the Land of Rouran, which was discovered by outsiders.
The main reason these countries were able to avoid the war was their special geographical location; they were either in rugged terrain or sparsely populated, and they also possessed a certain degree of self-preservation capability.
They were neither in the direct battle zones nor involved in the struggle for decaying resources, and they had natural barriers as protection, making it difficult for enemies to easily breach them.
Furthermore, these countries themselves possessed sufficient strength and confidence to protect their territories and people.
At the very least, rogue Ninja who went to these countries because of the war's impact could not possibly affect a normal country.
This was because, as early as the initial division by First Hokage, during the first peace talks, when organizations like Ninja Villages emerged, even the most incompetent Daimyo of small countries created their own Ninja Villages, dispatching missions to manage their country's Ninja and legitimately bring this military power under control.
Therefore, even remote countries like You Country, Land of Demons, and Snow Country had their own small Ninja Villages; at the very least, they possessed Jonin-level Ninja combat power.
Thus, as long as they were not facing invasions from the Ninja Villages of the Great Nations, they were more than capable of holding their own and preserving themselves.
As for the small countries that lacked these conditions, they remained peaceful, like forgotten corners of the world.
Of course, peaceful small countries were only occasional.
Among them, countries like Bird Country, Waterfall Country, Mountain Country, Valley Country, and Land of Rain, despite possessing certain defensive capabilities, naturally became targets of the Great Nation Ninja Villages' covetous eyes due to their rich resources and their geographical proximity to the Great Nations.
In the face of the Great Nations' immense pressure, these small countries appeared incredibly fragile.
They were like sheep surrounded by wolves; no matter how much they struggled, they could not escape the fate of being devoured.
The war between the Great Nations, like a fierce storm, swept through mercilessly, engulfing these small countries and leaving them no chance of escape.
In this storm, the territories of the small countries suffered severe trampling, and their people endured great hardships.
The Great Ninja Villages fought indiscriminately within these countries, completely disregarding the sovereignty of these small countries and the safety of their people's lives.
The defensive forces of the small countries appeared so vulnerable under the Great Nations' fierce attacks; their resistance was almost futile, merely a desperate struggle.
Facing such a situation, the small countries had to make a choice between the warring Great Nations.
However, this was not an easy decision.
No matter which side they chose, it meant enduring the wrath and retaliation of the other side.
Moreover, even if they chose one side, there was no guarantee that their country would escape the calamity.
They might even have to face the possibility of being purged if their chosen Great Nation lost the war.
Because of this, for a time, the small countries that had once been misled by First Hokage's peace treaty all suffered.
They had originally thought that peace had arrived, but they did not expect it to be merely a temporary truce; the shadow of war still loomed over them.
Furthermore, the scale and brutality of this war were greater than ever before.
All these tragedies made the leaders of these small countries' Ninja Villages deeply realize that only by strengthening themselves and becoming self-reliant could they survive in this world full of war and violence; while accepting the cruelty, the seeds of hatred also began to sprout and take root in the hearts of the small country Ninja Villages.
Thus, at this moment, forced into a corner, they secretly resolved not to rely on the protection of the Great Nations but to defend their own countries and people with their own strength.
Unbeknownst to them, the hearts of all the small country Ninja Villages, under the hatred, had sown the seeds of the Second Ninja World War.
On the other side, Hidden Mist Village dispatched eight thousand Ninja, and Sand Ninja Village dispatched seventy-five hundred Ninja, quickly joining this Ninja World War.
Among them, Hidden Mist Village used the Land of Waves as a stepping stone, dividing their forces into three routes, landing operations from the Land of Hot Water, the eastern side of the Land of Fire, and the Land of Whirlpools respectively.
The force directly invading the eastern side of the Land of Fire was led by First Hokage Byakuren with three thousand Ninja, while the force invading the Land of Whirlpools was led by the future Third Mizukage with twenty-five hundred Ninja, and the force invading the Land of Hot Water was led by the Second Mizukage Hōzuki Gengetsu with twenty-five hundred Ninja, totaling eight thousand Ninja.
On Sand Ninja Village's side, First Kazekage Retto led twenty-five hundred Ninja to attack River Country, the future Second Kazekage Shamon led two thousand Ninja to attack Land of Rain, and several elders led two thousand Ninja to attack Bird Country, competing with Rock Ninja Village for territory in Bird Country to plunder more resources.
Do not think that the leaders of these two countries and Ninja Villages were crazy to make such clear choices; in reality, the root cause of the entire war was the insufficient resources within their respective countries and the depletion of raw materials, reaching a critical moment where they had to acquire resources from other countries.
Therefore, unlike the original history where the war was instigated by the various Great Ninja Villages, this war was instigated by the Daimyo, and naturally, the division of troops during the war was a result of the war's objectives.
Everything was for the purpose of plundering more resources.
In this process, even Konoha Ninja Village, which claimed to be self-preserving and peaceful, adopted the strategy of drawing the battlefield to the small countries outside, living off the land, and resolving all resource consumption as much as possible in foreign territories to avoid too severe resource depletion within their own country.
Therefore, among the small countries adjacent to the Land of Fire, Konoha's defensive Ninja forces also plundered their resources under the guise of protection.
For a time, the raging war fires swept through these neighboring small countries, causing widespread wailing among the people; all areas they passed through were plundered and burned, turning into ruins.
Watching everything either being collected and plundered by the Land of Fire under the name of protection, or being looted and killed by Ninja from other Great Nations, the survivors of these small countries could only leave their own countries with sorrow and hatred in their hearts.
“Land of Whirlpools, remember to drop those special military ration pills into the Land of Whirlpools, making sure as many Ninja from the Land of Whirlpools as possible eat them; even in different timelines, perhaps the development of sealing jutsu can lead to different paths!” Uchiha Tenxiu said, not expecting that these countries had already fully engaged in war before even a day had passed.
He had not instigated this.
Speaking of which, how scarce were the resources in the Ninja World for them to wage a war on the scale of the Sixteen Kingdoms?
It was either complete plundering or slaughtering cities to consume, for fear that these populations would consume the food they might seize.
When Uchiha Tenxiu asked this question, Uchiha Yukino simply took out a document, looking at the data written on it; apart from the nobles of various countries having enough food, everything else had been purchased by Great Zhou through various means.
What the various countries in the Ninja World possessed internally was only wealth and money.
But while this wealth and money represented the accumulation of materials, they could not buy real materials; where the represented resources were was already self-evident.
“I didn't expect them to be so greedy; I only thought Great Zhou would collect resources as much as possible, but I didn't expect them to actually dare to sell so much! They dare to sell anything!”
Uchiha Tenxiu couldn't help but exclaim at the audacity of these Ninja World officials; burning granaries with fire was a common occurrence!