On the fifth day, the battlefield of Kikyo Mountain was filled with a heavy atmosphere.
At the Sunagakure camp, everyone suddenly received a message: today, a full-scale attack on Konoha would be launched.
Either completely occupy Kikyo Mountain and force Konoha to abandon its final line of defense, Or… die charging forward on the battlefield.
There was no third path to choose.
Many Sand Shinobi participating in war for the first time began to get nervous.
Even if their hands had already been stained with much blood before, war always managed to reflect the preciousness of life.
Some couldn't help but miss their family, friends, and lovers far away back home.
Some muttered encouraging words over and over again,
Using words to strengthen their beliefs.
Some smiled in relief and, instead, relaxed at this moment.
A thousand people, a thousand states of mind.
Of course, because of Minato's continuous harassment over the past few days, no one let down their guard.
The strange thing was, it should have been a good chance for a surprise attack, but on the eve of war's outbreak, the figure of the Yellow Flash was nowhere to be seen.
As if he too were silently waiting for something...
In the afternoon, at the Sunagakure camp, a large number of troops finished gathering.
The Fourth Kazekage Rasa stood in front of the formation, delivering the final war declaration.
He said loudly, "While Kumogakure invaded our homeland, Konoha took advantage of the chaos to steal the mission quota that rightfully belonged to us."
"So today, we will resolutely go to war with Konoha. We will make the nobles, merchants, and rulers across the Land of Wind see that they made a wrong choice!"
"At the same time, we will make Konoha pay the price for their despicable actions!"
His impassioned speech made the Sand Shinobi's blood boil.
Perhaps the Land of Wind didn't have the Will of Fire, after all, the sprouting of ideology is built on sufficient material foundation.
Sunagakure was too poor, so poor they still worried about their livelihoods.
Many people ran themselves ragged just to fill their stomachs.
But precisely because of this, the people from Sunagakure understood even better, if they didn't fight Konoha, the consequence would be a slow and silent erosion. In the end, life would get even poorer, even more bitter.
They were unwilling to accept such a future. They would rather die standing than live crawling.
Either explode in silence, or perish in silence.
Everyone shouted.
"MAKE KONOHA PAY THE PRICE!"
"MAKE KONOHA PAY THE PRICE!"
"MAKE KONOHA PAY THE PRICE!"
At this point, even some Sand Shinobi who were still hesitant had their gazes firm up.
At this moment, they had already become a terrifying band of desperate warriors. Any force blocking their path would be crushed.
———
No one noticed that Sunagakure's movements were completely monitored by Obito, who was lurking underground.
After gathering intel, Obito quietly left and transferred back to the Kamui space at a secluded location.
Minato and Kakashi had been waiting there. When they saw him return, Minato immediately asked, "How is the situation?"
Obito thought for a moment and finally just sighed, "This battle might cost many lives. Sunagakure is more troublesome than I imagined."
Minato's expression turned serious, "Why?"
Obito slowly said, "Because their will is strong, and they are united as one."
"Rasa's strength may not be considered top-tier among the Kage level, but I have to admit, he's a competent commander. His war mobilization was well done, and he stirred up the crowd's emotions."
"No wonder he was able to withstand the Third Raikage's assault before."
Minato took a deep breath. This was the result he least wanted to see.
A team with strong will, no matter how weak individual strength may be, once united, becomes terrifying.
Seeing this, Obito asked, "Minato-sensei, it's still not too late. I can still stop this from happening. Tell me, should I stop it?"
Minato looked into Obito's eyes and said seriously, "Obito, do you want to stop it?"
"Danzo is dead, but you still chose to hide in the shadows. In fact, you don't want to stop it, right?"
Obito thought for a moment and said, "Maybe so. Instinctively, I don't want to stop it."
"For one, without solving the root problem, war will continue to break out. So it's better to let it reach a conclusion."
"For another, Sunagakure is only doing this to survive, to fight for a better future."
"I don't think they did anything wrong."
Minato thought for a moment and refuted, "But Sunagakure is the invader. They invaded our homeland."
"Pursuing a better life may not be wrong, but if that pursuit is built on others' suffering, then it is wrong."
Obito shook his head, "If we look purely at the war between Konoha and Sunagakure, why did Sunagakure invade?"
"If you stand from Sunagakure's perspective, they'd ask one question."
"Why can Konoha occupy the most resource-rich land, while they are stuck in the desert? That's unfair." [T/N: BS like this irks me. Fairness is a fragile fantasy.]
"Why does this wealthy Konoha still fight with them over mission commissions in the Land of Wind?"
"Mission commissions from the nobles and merchants of the Land of Wind may make Konoha even wealthier, but lacking them won't stop Konoha from surviving."
"Sunagakure is different. A drop in missions might truly lead to not having enough to eat or wear, or even starving to death."
"Konoha may seem gentle, but through its own strength and some dishonorable means, it builds its happiness atop Sunagakure's suffering."
"Minato-sensei, the Kazekage of the future was so poor he had to go into the desert himself to pan for gold. That's probably a scene that pampered Konoha can hardly imagine. So I'm saying, maybe Konoha didn't do anything wrong, but it's really easy to talk big when you're not the one suffering."
Minato was silent for a moment.
He had to admit, Obito really had a way with words now.
He laughed and said, "Obito, you always manage to approach a problem from some odd angle that makes it hard to refute for a while."
"But I keep feeling that, according to your logic, every mistake can be pinned on Konoha. Then all the great hidden villages would have reason to invade Konoha."
Obito smiled, "That's just because Minato-sensei is truly a good person. You try to understand other people's pain."
"If it were Danzo, he'd just say, 'What does their life or death have to do with us in Konoha? If they're weak, should we Konoha be responsible too? Is it my fault they can't eat or stay warm?'"
"Maybe I'd be speechless then."
Even though it was wartime and their attitudes should have been serious, Minato was still amused by Obito's words.
He merely reminded, "Obito, no matter what, you were born and raised in Konoha. You should consider things from Konoha's standpoint."
Obito thought for a moment and said, "Minato-sensei, in this life, my dream is peace in the ninja world, to create a truly better world."
"The world isn't only Konoha, so I am destined not to think solely from Konoha's perspective," Pausing, Obito glanced at Minato and continued, "Furthermore, there's really only one solution to the imbalance in resource distribution, right? That's to reduce the population."
"Minato-sensei, don't you think that with war constantly breaking out, many people have already realized this issue, so they just tacitly accept the result?"
Minato felt a chill rise from within.
It was hard to say that wasn't the case.
At once, he patted Obito's shoulder and said seriously, "Obito, follow your own will. I might not be able to fully consider things from your angle, but I believe you can drive the ninja world's transformation."
[A/N: Just to clarify, from Minato's mouth I've already hinted, Obito is being sophistic here. His real intention is hoping the war breaks out so Minato can become the Fourth Hokage sooner. It's just not something he can say outright.]
[T/N: Oh, thank God. For a second I thought Obito has gone stupid]
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