Konoha, reported by the Fourth Hokage at the start.

Chapter 187 The Ninja World Shakes, Before Dawn

"Quickly, send a letter to the Third Hokage and ask him to send more ninjas over."

"No, have the Third Hokage bring them here personally!"

After hearing from his steward that the Daimyo of the Land of Water had been wiped out overnight by an unknown ninja, the usually composed Daimyo of the Land of Fire panicked.

He immediately sent a message to Konoha, requesting that more ninjas be sent to protect him, and even that the Third Hokage come in person.

Damn it!

On this day, the fear that the God of Ninjas had once instilled in them returned, and was even more intense.

Because the God of Ninjas wouldn't attack them without a reason.

However, the ruthless person who wiped out the Daimyo clan of the Land of Water will definitely take action against them.

Therefore, the daimyo of the Land of Fire was completely panicked.

Not only the daimyo of the Land of Fire, but also the daimyo of the Land of Water, whose clan was wiped out as time passed, caused panic among the daimyo of the other five great nations, or rather, all the daimyo and nobles of all the nations.

They all strengthened the ninja guards around them.

At the same time, financial support for Yincun was increased.

For a time, the various hidden villages were somewhat stunned by this sudden benefit.

A strange, wicked thought arose in their minds.

If the Daimyo Prefecture cuts off their village's financial support again, could they pretend to be wandering ninjas and attack the Daimyo Prefecture?

Hmm... that wouldn't do. If things go too far, it'll really be the end for us.

Those in the hidden villages who harbor evil thoughts should quickly discard their ill intentions. Right now, the priority is to find that audacious individual who dared to annihilate the Daimyo clan of the Land of Water.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain to Daming Prefecture.

In an instant, all the major hidden villages in the ninja world mobilized their ANBU ninjas to search for suspicious persons.

At the same time, all the hidden villages, especially the five major hidden villages, immediately expanded their reserves of combat supplies, such as kunai, shuriken, and explosive tags.

The Second Shinobi World War was only a ceasefire; it did not end.

Apart from some small countries being destroyed, such as the Sky Country.

Apart from the destruction of some small countries' hidden villages, the five major countries and five major hidden villages all suffered losses, but none of them achieved their strategic objectives, or rather, none of them gained any benefits.

The major powers are also dissatisfied, and it is believed that the Third Shinobi World War will begin soon.

It's very possible... because Li Yao's annihilation of the Daimyo's clan in the Land of Water will cause the Daimyo of various countries to increase their financial support for the Hidden Villages, which will make the Third Shinobi World War come earlier than in the original story.

However, none of this concerns Li Yao anymore.

Amidst the upheavals in the ninja world, he had already devised a plan to join Nagato and his group.

The Land of Rain, truly living up to its name, never has a single sunny day.

Nestled in the middle of a brown rocky valley is a small village with a dozen or so households.

Because of the frequent rain, the houses in the Land of Rain all have round roofs to facilitate the drainage of rainwater.

At this moment, half of the roofs of more than a dozen round-roofed houses have been torn open, and there are still several large puddles on the ground of the village that have not been filled in.

All of this tells us that the trauma of war has not yet disappeared from this village.

At this moment, a light rain was falling. In the village below, the villagers had all taken refuge inside their houses. Those with doors kept them tightly shut, while those without doors hid in dark corners, waiting in fear and helplessness for the outcome outside.

At the village entrance, two groups of people are facing off.

A standard configuration of two men and one woman.

Although the boy in the lead had the appearance of a teenager, his expression exuded the composure of an adult, which made people feel inexplicably trusting and at ease.

The woman was beautiful; although she was a young girl, her figure was already quite well-developed, revealing a hint of the allure that only adult women possess.

The remaining boy, with long red hair obscuring his eyes and obscuring his face, stood beside the boy with brown hair. He appeared somewhat timid, but his upright posture suggested he was not a coward.

These three were naturally the three children that Li Yao was looking for: Nagato, Yahiko, and Konan.

After Jiraiya left, the three children began traveling through the Land of Rain, originally intending to find Hanzo and join his Amegakure village to contribute to the peace of the Land of Rain.

However, many of the villages they saw along the way were destitute and their food was being robbed by various ninjas from the Land of Rain who were rebelling against Hanzo.

From some of the Rain Country ninjas they had stopped and defeated, Yahiko roughly understood the situation in the Rain Country at this time.

Before the Second Shinobi World War, Hanzo was a god who brought peace to the Land of Rain, protecting them from the threat of a war between the three great shinobi nations with his immense power.

However, Hanzo's sudden declaration of war against the three great nations during the Second Shinobi World War, which began a six-year-long civil war, caused immense war damage to the Land of Rain, shattering countless families, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries, and leaving orphans everywhere.

As a result, many ninjas who survived the war began to question Hanzo's decision to start the war, believing that Hanzo was responsible for the current state of the Land of Rain.

If Hanzo hadn't been so arrogant in thinking he could defeat the hidden villages of the three great nations, the Land of Rain wouldn't have been so badly beaten and so many people would have died.

The ninjas of the Land of Rain, whose loved ones had died innocently in the war, began to disobey Hanzo of Amegakure.

As for ninjas, they are a group of warriors who only know how to fight. To survive and have food and drink, they can only steal.

The Land of Rain now resembles a country whose government has lost its authority, amplifying the malice in many people's hearts, with arson, murder, and looting occurring in various places.

Amegakure was also overwhelmed, having suffered heavy losses in the war as well. This resulted in the Land of Rain remaining in chaos, as if it were still at war, even after the war ended.

Upon seeing these things, Yahiko changed his mind.

He didn't want to join Amegakure and fight against the ninjas of the Land of Rain, since they were all from the same country. What difference would that make from fighting each other?

Moreover, many villages need stability and recuperation.

So Yahiko decided that he would protect these villages.

And so, from the day the decision was made, Yahiko, Nagato, and the other two began wearing headbands from Amegakure and, as ninjas, accepted the villagers' requests to protect the village.

Their commission is also very cheap; all you need is some food.

However, they did not gain the trust of the villagers at first.

Their reputation only began to spread after they voluntarily helped five villages drive away the invading wandering ninjas, refusing money and food.

Today marks their first official commission: to protect the village behind them for a month. The commission fee... is just enough to keep them from starving.

At this moment, Yahiko and his group were confronting a group of five ninjas who were also wearing Amegakure headbands. Both sides wore Amegakure headbands, but none of them were from Amegakure.

At that moment, the young male ninja leading the group, holding two kunai and with blue markings painted on his face, frowned and asked Yahiko and the others, "Who are you?"

"The village's bodyguards."

Yahiko stood before him, leaning on his sword with both hands. His young face exuded an aura of authority as he calmly stated, "From today onward, this village will be under our protection."

"I'm warning you, leave the village immediately."

Yahiko's words were filled with absolute confidence, or rather, a determination to protect the village behind him at all costs.

This confidence and determination spurred on the young male ninja leading the opposing team. Once upon a time, he was also a hero who protected the village, but now, in order to survive, he had to become the very person he once hated most.

Seeing the conviction in Yahiko's voice, he felt a sudden pang of conscience after committing numerous evils, and became enraged.

"Go! Kill them!"

After saying that, he charged towards Yahiko with kunai in both hands. The other four companions were all young, around seventeen or eighteen years old. Two of them charged towards Yahiko with him, while the other two charged towards Nagato and Konan respectively.

It's clear that this isn't the first time these five have fought together.

The five players cooperated well and made the right tactical choices.

The three of them should focus on eliminating Yahiko, who appears to be the strongest leader, while the other two should hold off Nagato and Konan.

After killing Yahiko, they will then support their two companions in killing Nagato and Konan.

Unfortunately, in the world of ninjas, the gap between geniuses and ordinary ninjas is too great.

"Water Release: Water Chaos Wave!"

With one hand forming a hand seal, Yahiko spat out a large stream of water, instantly neutralizing the three's attacks.

Konan used her paper magic to easily block the kunai that was being shot at her, and then used her paper magic shuriken to force the person to stop moving.

The person who rushed towards Nagato was even more powerless and was easily blown away by Nagato's Wind Release technique.

If Yahiko, Nagato, and Konan hadn't been caught off guard and hadn't been unprepared to kill these people, they would have been dead in the blink of an eye.

(End of this chapter)