**Chapter 151: Civil Strife (1)**

**Fire Shadow Village!** 

**Wood Shadow!**

In just a few short days, mentioning this name again, no one dares to underestimate it.

Because of its power!

The Shadow of this village, Uchiha Itsuki, truly possesses the strength of a top-tier ninja in the world.

They also have the Two-Tails, a tailed beast.

In the war against Konoha and Cloud Village, they first defeated Cloud Village and then scared off Konoha.

From this point on, two of the Five Great Shinobi Villages were defeated by Fire Shadow Village.

Fire Shadow Village has officially risen to be on par with the Five Great Shinobi Villages, becoming the sixth great village in the ninja world.

The title "Wood Shadow" has also been recognized by the ninja world.

As for Itsuki, he remained calm and said, "If anyone doesn't recognize it, I'll personally take the cat and pay them a visit."

"The hairballs my cat spits up have great practical value—guaranteed to be something everyone loves."

A blatant threat. Will you submit or not? 

Because they have the strength! 

But!

In contrast, the other shinobi villages looked grim.

Sand Village and Stone Village only snorted coldly at Fire Shadow Village and stopped paying attention.

At least, for now, there isn't much conflict between them, and it's not worth starting a war.

But Cloud Village and Konoha were different.

One had their tailed beast taken.

The other had their territory divided.

Can they tolerate this? 

It wasn't just one tailed beast that was taken, but two.

Cloud Village only had two tailed beasts in total, both of which were captured by Itsuki.

How can that stand?

Konoha, despite having a large enough territory, couldn't accept suddenly losing a piece of it.

If they accept this, who's to say someone won't come and take another piece next time? 

You have to understand that clans like Uchiha and Nara, which have been around for a long time, all have their own traditional territories.

If you cut off a piece today and someone else cuts off a piece tomorrow, how much can Konoha lose before it's gone? 

Even the daimyo wouldn't accept it.

A new armed force suddenly appearing within his jurisdiction—could he be happy about that?

---

**Cloud Village!** 

"Ya-ya-ya-ya!" 

With an angry roar, Raikage slammed his fist down.

**Boom!**

The table in front of him was smashed to pieces once again.

"Damn Uchiha! Damn Konoha!"

He roared furiously.

This latest defeat had completely made him lose control.

He could never have imagined that things would turn out like this.

Just a mere Uchiha, just a mere Fire Shadow Village! 

He sent out three thousand elite troops, even sending his brother into battle.

He didn't deny that Uchiha was strong, but was Cloud Village that much weaker?

He knew how powerful his brother was—being Raikage, he knew all too well.

And what happened? 

Out of three thousand Cloud Village ninjas, only about five hundred came back, and none were injured.

Because the injured ones all died.

His brother, Killer Bee, the perfect jinchuriki of the Eight-Tails, was captured alive.

"Mabui!"

Raikage's voice was cold. "Summon everyone we can mobilize, every available person. I want to flatten Fire Shadow Village! I want them all dead!"

"Raikage-sama!"

Mabui spoke solemnly, "Konoha withdrew their troops this time without suffering any real losses. I suspect Fire Shadow Village and Konoha have been in contact all along."

"If we attack Fire Shadow Village now, there's a high chance Konoha will strike from behind."

She opened the map of the ninja world and made a few marks.

Directly opposing Raikage's decision to send troops would provoke a fierce reaction—Mabui, having served as his secretary for so many years, knew this too well.

So, she tried to dissuade him indirectly.

It worked.

Raikage squinted dangerously, staring at the map. "Are you saying Konoha and Fire Shadow Village teamed up to set a trap for us?"

The map showed that if Cloud Village attacked Fire Shadow Village and Konoha intervened, the two villages could surround Cloud Village, and even with their strength, Cloud would suffer heavy losses.

"This is my suspicion, but I can't rule out the possibility!" 

Mabui's voice was calm.

"Keep going!" Raikage ordered coldly. "Mabui, lay out all your suspicions."

"Yes!"

Mabui spoke in a low voice, "First, we're positioned further from Fire Shadow Village than Konoha, but they attacked Cloud Village first, which doesn't make sense."

"They should know Konoha better."

"If Cloud Village was weaker, that'd be one thing, but we even sent out Killer Bee, and compared to Konoha's four thousand ninjas, we're definitely stronger."

"Second, though Konoha did suffer some losses in this battle, it was within acceptable limits."

"Finally, Konoha and Cloud have been engaging in small-scale skirmishes, both openly and covertly, for quite some time. Just when it seemed they were about to clash fully, this happens."

Raikage fell silent, clenching his teeth after a long pause. "Killer Bee…"

Mabui let out a quiet sigh of relief.

She knew she had persuaded Raikage.

The only thing he couldn't let go of was Killer Bee.

"Raikage-sama, it's said that Killer Bee hasn't been captured by Fire Shadow Village."

Mabui quickly added, "It seems Uchiha Itsuki teleported him away using the Flying Thunder God technique."

"Find him!"

Raikage gritted his teeth. "Find out where Killer Bee is as soon as possible, then mount a full rescue."

"Understood!"

"And…" 

Raikage thought for a moment. "Gather all our ninjas at the border of Konoha. If Konoha doesn't give me an explanation, I'll take them out first!"

"Yes!"

Mabui breathed another sigh of relief.

Compared to Fire Shadow Village, Konoha, though stronger, always presented itself as the kind, benevolent old man to the outside world.

Fighting them didn't carry the same burden.

What they didn't know was that Konoha itself had fallen into chaos.

---

**"Tap, tap, tap!"**

Accompanied by the sound of footsteps, Nara Shikaku sat at a table, quietly sipping tea.

Several members of the Anbu walked in, speaking in low voices. "Nara Shikaku, the Hokage wants to see you. Come with us."

"Alright."

Shikaku calmly replied, standing up and following the Anbu out.

"Shikaku!" 

Akimichi Choza and Yamanaka Inoichi exchanged worried glances, clearly wanting to say something but hesitating.

Shikaku waved them off. "Watch the house. I'll be back soon."

The two of them exchanged looks, and after years of fighting side by side, they instantly understood what Shikaku meant. They nodded slightly. "Understood."

Shikaku followed the Anbu, his expression calm as he entered the Hokage's office.

At that moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi was smoking.

Danzo Shimura had also been called back and sat to the side, his face gloomy.

Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado had also returned to Konoha, but they refused to step foot inside the Hokage's office.

Their clans no longer existed.

After working so hard for so many years and just when they were about to reap the benefits, their entire clans had gone off to reincarnate.

How could they accept that? 

Regardless of whether Hiruzen or Danzo were involved, they no longer wanted to see either of them.

"Shikaku."

The Third Hokage looked up, his aged face calm, eyes deep. "Why did you gather the Ino-Shika-Cho trio? What is your intent?"

Shikaku responded calmly, "Hokage-sama, I don't understand what you mean. The Ino-Shika-Cho trio has always been a unit, even before the First Hokage founded Konoha."

"Heh."

The Third Hokage chuckled coldly. "You know exactly what I mean. Your three clans may be united, but you've always lived separately. Now you've moved in together. Why? Who are you guarding against?"

His words dropped like a stone.

A chilling killing intent filled the office.

(End of the Chapter)