"You've all worked hard these past days."
Jiraiya nodded as he spoke.
With the fortress finally completed, he couldn't help but feel satisfied. Once it was fully stocked with supplies, Konoha would be ready to launch an all-out assault on Amegakure. That meant more opportunities for him to earn military merits—far better than just sitting here and waiting for Ame-nin to come knocking.
"Jiraiya-sama, this is nothing compared to what you've done. We've had it easy."
A Konoha Chūnin quickly responded with respect.
"Has the vanguard unit from the village arrived yet?" Jiraiya asked.
A while ago, the village had sent word that over five hundred shinobi would be dispatched to the fortress, with more reinforcements to follow.
"They've arrived, along with a large shipment of vital war supplies," the Chūnin reported.
Jiraiya nodded. "Good. With the vanguard here and the fortress complete, it's time for me to return to the village."
Now that so many Konoha shinobi were stationed here, and the fortress was fortified, he had essentially completed the task Sarutobi Hiruzen had assigned him. Even if Amegakure sent a force to infiltrate via the river, they wouldn't be able to take the fortress down—not unless they launched an all-out assault with thousands of shinobi.
But given Amegakure's current situation, that was highly unlikely. The small nation was already surrounded by powerful enemies. Sending such a large force into the Land of Fire would be a reckless gamble—one they couldn't afford. If they suffered heavy losses, the damage would be irreversible.
Amegakure barely had over ten thousand shinobi in total. Losing even a thousand would cripple their military strength by a significant margin. Their leader wouldn't take such a risk.
Instead, Amegakure had shifted strategies. They were consolidating their forces, fortifying key cities, and preparing for a prolonged war—dragging the three great nations into a bloody stalemate. After all, the Land of Wind, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Fire would never truly unite against them. Sooner or later, tensions would arise between them.
As long as those three great nations clashed, Amegakure had a chance to push back the invading forces.
In the original timeline, it was Konoha that ultimately crushed both Sunagakure and Iwagakure's forces in Amegakure, forcing them to retreat. But in the end, the Sannin were defeated by Hanzō the Salamander, leading to an inevitable ceasefire.
Though the battle in Amegakure ended, the Second Shinobi War only escalated from there.
Kumogakure, which had remained neutral until then, suddenly launched an attack on Iwagakure. At the same time, Sunagakure provoked Konoha at the border—only to be crushed and forced into retreat. Konoha even pushed deep into the Land of Wind.
That year marked the end of the Second Shinobi War.
As victors, both Kumogakure and Konoha seized significant spoils from Iwagakure and Sunagakure.
The reason Konoha agreed to a ceasefire with Amegakure was simple—Hanzō.
No matter how many shinobi Konoha sent, they couldn't overcome the legendary leader of Amegakure.
In their final battle, Hanzō single-handedly wiped out every Konoha shinobi except for the Sannin. The only reason he spared them was that he feared the consequences of killing them outright. If he slaughtered all three, Konoha would only respond with overwhelming force.
Although in the original story, Hanzō admired the Sannin's potential and chose to let them live, the reality was that if he could've eliminated them without consequences, he would have.
Amegakure had only managed to resist Konoha's invasion because Konoha's true elites—the Hokage and the village's strongest warriors—had remained behind to defend the village. If Hiruzen and Konoha's true powerhouses had marched into Amegakure, even the "Demi-God" Hanzō wouldn't have been able to hold out.
But now that Jiraiya had transmigrated into this world, things had to change.
If he wanted to become Hokage, he had to secure as many advantages for Konoha as possible. The more victories he could claim, the smoother his path to power would be.
If he truly wanted to unify the shinobi world and put an end to endless warfare, it had to be done through absolute force.
Especially when it came to Amegakure—a nation trapped between three great powers. Unless it was fully integrated, it would always be a battleground.
The only way to bring peace to Amegakure was to conquer it entirely.
Jiraiya turned back toward the fortress.
Konoha had built the structure on a massive scale, its black stone walls towering ominously like a sleeping beast. The speed at which it had been completed was largely thanks to the efforts of Earth Release users.
Over the past few weeks, those skilled in Earth Release had been working tirelessly—some of them nearly collapsing from exhaustion.
As Jiraiya entered the fortress, he took note of the five hundred shinobi stationed there. The Uchiha and Hyūga clans made up a significant portion of the force, while the rest were from smaller clans or civilian-born shinobi.
True to their nature, the Uchiha remained aloof, isolating themselves in their own section of the fortress.
The Hyūga, on the other hand, integrated more naturally with the rest of the Konoha shinobi.
The leader of the vanguard unit was a Uchiha—an elite jōnin.
Even though Konoha's leadership had become wary of the Uchiha, their combat prowess and tactical skill were undeniable.
"Jiraiya," the Uchiha jōnin called out coldly as soon as he saw him. "The Hokage sent a message. Your mission here is complete. You're to return to the village immediately."
Jiraiya wasn't surprised by the man's tone.
That was just how the Uchiha were—proud, distant, and convinced of their own superiority. It was precisely this attitude that made the village wary of them.
More importantly, the very nature of the Uchiha's power required intense emotional turmoil to awaken. Every Uchiha had a certain… instability. Under the right conditions, they could become incredibly dangerous.
Jiraiya simply nodded in response and turned to chat with the civilian-born shinobi.
If he wanted to become Hokage, he couldn't afford to rely solely on the major clans for support. Their votes wouldn't be in his favor—unless Hiruzen himself ordered them to back him.
And if he did become Hokage, the major clans would only see it as a threat to their own influence.
A leader born from the civilian shinobi would undoubtedly shift power away from the clans—redistributing resources more evenly among the village.
And that was something the great clans of Konoha would never willingly accept.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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