Chapter 28: The War Has Broken Out

Harvesting is followed by cultivation.

Kazamatsuri Harume performed the Wood Release: Winter Storage Technique, turning all the green stalks into organic fertilizer, increasing the fertility and thickness of the soil.

Then, the children combined their chakra together, like trickling streams converging into a surging river, and worked in unison to perform the Earth Release: Cultivation Technique.

The amount of chakra, comparable to that of a Jonin, propelled the Ninjutsu, and in an instant, one-third of the terraced fields were plowed and leveled.

The soil became loose and aerated, suitable for sowing.

Performing joint Ninjutsu requires an extremely high level of coordination; the children's lack of control caused several areas of the terraced fields to be damaged.

Fortunately, the damage was not severe, and the four-year-old children quickly repaired the breaches.

When the Rising Sun Organization finished the second round of cultivation and planted the terraced fields full of winter wheat, the work was handed over to the children's parents.

To the adults, this truly fertile land and the winter wheat that had already sprouted were the most trustworthy hope.

But one terraced field was not enough to accommodate all the adults, and if Kazamatsuri Harume did not participate directly, the income from the terraced fields would not be enough to support forty-three families.

Thus, Yamanaka Chujiu led the children to build a workshop to research methods of refining refined salt using Ninjutsu.

Shops in Konohagakure sold refined salt, but the refining technology for refined salt was quite primitive, and the fuel, time, and labor costs consumed in the refining process were enormous.

Therefore, the quantity of refined salt was small, and the price was very expensive, making it a luxury item rather than a daily necessity.

Based on the principle of temperature difference in solution saturation, Yamanaka Chujiu guided the children of the Rising Sun Organization to conduct research and successfully developed the 【Water Release: Dissolution Change Technique】.

Using Ninjutsu to purify crude salt was not only a hundred times more efficient than traditional refining techniques, but it also did not require consuming massive amounts of firewood, reducing the cost to one-tenth of traditional techniques.

The profit in this was too great; once exposed, the small Rising Sun Organization would be wiped out in an instant.

Because both refined salt and crude salt were controlled by the Sarutobi Clan, Yamanaka Chujiu not only tearfully reduced production, limiting the workshop to only one refining production per day, but also sold the refined salt to the Sarutobi.

By sharing profits with the Sarutobi Clan, he suppressed the covetous hearts of other ninja clans and nobles.

He also raised the banner of Orochimaru to suppress the greed of the Sarutobi Clan.

At the same time, Yamanaka Chujiu specifically spent manpower and resources to disguise the situation, creating the illusion of high firewood and water consumption and high production costs.

The children pretended to work hard and barely earn a meager living, making the greedy hyenas feel it was not worth conflicting with Yamanaka Chujiu over this.

Yamanaka Chujiu was a newly accepted student of Orochimaru, so it was only natural for him to occupy such a small amount of profit.

Even Shimura Danzo, that troublemaker, would not offend Orochimaru for such a small amount of money.

Just as everything was getting on the right track, the war that Yamanaka Chujiu had predicted broke out.

The Fourth Raikage of Kumogakure assembled thousands of Cloud Ninja and personally brought the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, Killer Bee, to attack the Land of Fire from the Land of Hot Water.

Although there were more Konoha Ninja blocking their path, there was no powerhouse capable of stopping the Fourth Raikage, nor was there any ninja capable of stopping the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki's rampage.

Led by the two powerhouses, the Cloud Hidden Army beat the Konoha Ninja into a rout, causing thousands of Konoha Ninja casualties in just a few days.

The front line was pushed into the Land of Fire, and only then did the Konoha Ninja manage to reach a stalemate by relying on the terrain, but they certainly could not hold out for long.

Requests for reinforcements poured into the Hokage Office like snowflakes.

The evil consequences of losing the Fourth Hokage were fully presented before the Third Hokage, pressing down on him until he could not breathe.

Almost instinctively, Sarutobi Hiruzen began to consider whether he could use concessions and compromises to exchange for the Fourth Raikage's withdrawal.

The proud Konoha Ninja could not accept compromise; Shimura Danzo, who styled himself as Root, clamored for a counterattack and even went so far as to use rumors to resonate with countless Konoha Ninja.

Feeling immense pressure, Sarutobi Hiruzen was furious; he caught Shimura Danzo and gave him a thrashing, cutting off half of his Root budget, which made Shimura Danzo instantly obedient.

Just as Sarutobi Hiruzen was hesitating about whether he should compromise and how to communicate with the Fourth Raikage Ai, Kirigakure also launched an attack.

The Fourth Mizukage personally led the team and captured the Land of Waves in one morning; the Daimyo of the Land of Waves surrendered immediately.

Having obtained the best springboard for attacking the Land of Fire, Kirigakure launched a large-scale landing operation and pushed the front line into the Land of Fire with almost no fighting.

Konohagakure fell into a two-front war, and the situation became precarious, even more dangerous than when the four great ninja villages besieged Konoha two years ago.

Almost overnight, everyone in Konohagakure felt the crisis of extinction.

At this point, Sarutobi Hiruzen could no longer deceive himself; he could only seriously mobilize troops, assign tasks, and form the Konoha Ninja Army to launch a counterattack.

But as the Konoha Ninja on the northern and western lines were drawn away, the Sand Hidden Ninja, who had had their spines broken, actually began to stir.

Iwagakure, which had been left soul-broken during the siege and killing of the Third Raikage, also began to become active at this time, with Rock Ninja sneaking around in the Land of Rain.

Sarutobi Hiruzen no longer believed in any armistice agreements; he did not even dare to trust the actions of his ally, Sunagakure.

As for the previously signed armistice treaty, when Konohagakure was in danger, it was just a piece of waste paper filled with words waiting to be torn up.

Sarutobi Hiruzen could only abandon his illusions, seriously prepare war supplies, mobilize Konoha Ninja on a large scale, and do his utmost to draw resources from the ninja clans.

The thousand and one tasks kept him so busy he was going crazy.

At this time, the Third Hokage's wife passed away, and Sarutobi Hiruzen did not even need to return home; he lived directly in the Hokage Office, working frantically day and night.

Whenever he was exhausted, he would go to the balcony to smoke a pipe, and his numb brain would always involuntarily recall that year: how exactly was that crisis of being besieged by the four great ninja villages resolved?

Oh, he remembered.

It was Orochimaru commanding the Konoha Ninja Army to hold off the Rock Ninja in the Land of Rain, buying enough time for Konohagakure to destroy the Sand Hidden Army.

It was Minato Namikaze erupting with extraordinary combat power, breaking the Sand Hidden Army at the most dangerous and critical node.

It was the Third Tsuchikage, Onoki, who made a wrong judgment and, with the mindset of celebrating victory halfway through, chose to suddenly backstab his arch-enemy, Kumogakure.

The Rock Hidden Army even exhausted the Third Raikage to death through three days and three nights of siege.

Now that Minato Namikaze had sacrificed himself and Orochimaru had been hurt, would Onoki make a mistake again after suffering a loss?

The more the Third Hokage thought, the more guilty he felt; he had no confidence in achieving victory, and the thoughts of compromise in his heart surged like waves.

He could not help but sigh: "Sigh, Wind Shadow, Tsuchikage, Raikage, Mizukage, why can they not understand me and give up their covetousness for the Land of Fire?"

"Why do your ninja not yearn for peace, and why are they even less willing to stop the war voluntarily?"