I am the new Hokage of Konoha.

According to the Cloud Ninja, the outcome is likely grim.

So even the high-ranking members of the Cloud Ninja, and even the two most important Jinchuriki of the Tailed Beasts, are gone?

So what's left of the Cloud Ninja?

The Fourth Raikage, A, desperately wanted to return to the front lines and risk his life to bring back all those crucial to Kumogakure, in order to atone for his sins in this battle.

Even if he couldn't bring it back, he should have died fighting alongside his Cloud Ninja brothers on that land.

However, faced with the earnest persuasion of the Cloud Ninja, he also knew that the Cloud Ninja would need him at this crucial moment.

In the end, the usually short-tempered Fourth Raikage, A, surprisingly refrained from his tantrums. His eyes, now bloodshot, scanned the people around him, and drops of blood dripped from his clenched left palm.

He buried his dignity deep in his heart and placed his sense of responsibility first, uttering a single word with great emphasis:

"go!"

The group of Cloud Ninja quickly surrounded the Fourth Raikage, and without even glancing at Minato Namikaze, they ran frantically towards the Land of Lightning.

Seeing this, Minato could only shake his head.

Now that he doesn't have much chakra left, he knows he can't keep the Raikage who wants to leave.

However, some interest still needs to be collected.

So in the following period, Minato, relying on the Flying Thunder God Technique, appeared out of nowhere to the left and right of the Fourth Raikage's team, and from time to time, he would take the life of a Cloud Ninja.

Even so, having experienced a crushing defeat, the Fourth Raikage, who had matured considerably in an instant, still gritted his teeth and continued running at full speed.

The Cloud Ninjas, who had clearly escaped from the battlefield and were already demoralized, suddenly became like different people. They silently guarded around him from beginning to end, willingly sacrificing their lives to ensure their leader's safe return.

This is the manifestation of prestige as the shadow of a village.

If the Fourth Raikage hadn't been taken away by Minato, even if the Cloud Ninja later displayed great power, the Cloud Ninja army would never have collapsed so easily.

This is also why Yun Ting, when he had the idea of ​​expanding the victory, proposed to consider the current situation of the Fourth Raikage.

Unfortunately, it was ultimately impossible to achieve what I wanted.

After chasing for a good twenty or thirty kilometers, Minato, whose chakra was almost depleted, stopped. Looking at the few remaining Cloud Ninja beside the Fourth Raikage in the distance, he felt admiration despite their being enemies.

It's time to go back.

Exhausted, Minato swallowed another soldier pill to recover some chakra. He glanced at the rock behind him not far away, shook his head, and then his entire body vanished instantly.

The very next second, Hidan, whose mouth had been tightly covered by the elder behind the rock, finally broke free from his grasp and said with great displeasure, "Elder, why did you stop me from speaking? Didn't you see how powerful that person was? If we could persuade him to join the cult, the True God would be very happy!"

The elder of the Jashin Cult gave Hidan a deep look.

He didn't know if the latter was genuinely foolish or simply too devout to the true God, which led to such thoughts.

However, considering that the other party received the favor of the true god not long after joining the religion, it should be the latter.

"You can't persuade someone like that." After giving a brief explanation, the elder looked in the direction the Cloud Ninja had fled and exclaimed, "The Cloud Ninja have been defeated!"

"Now that the Cloud Ninja has lost, shall we go back to Yugakure? You know, their missionary work there has finally started to improve!" After a moment of initial frustration, Hidan rallied and asked again.

The elder hesitated and shook his head: "The Cloud Ninja are gone, and the Land of Hot Springs belongs to Konoha. Let's see how the Hokage of Konoha deals with the Village of Hot Springs first."

"We have to wait again!"

Hidan sighed helplessly.

Great God, I am truly sorry, the spread of Your glory will have to wait a little longer.

Chapter 117 The Fate of the Land of Soup and the Land of Frost

Inside the main tent of the Konoha army.

After listening to Minato Namikaze's report upon his return, the Konoha members in the main tent were filled with regret.

As expected, Heaven did not forsake the Cloud Ninja.

Yun Ting, who was sitting in the first seat, also shook his head. Since the Fourth Raikage had already escaped, the idea of ​​launching a surprise attack on Kumogakure and annihilating it in one fell swoop had to be abandoned.

It seems the plan needs to be changed.

After telling the exhausted Minato to go and rest, Yun Ting turned to look at the large map of the ninja world hanging behind him.

In the entire ninja world, the Land of Fire is rightfully located in the center of the continent, while the Land of Lightning is located in the northeast corner.

The two great nations are not connected; instead, they are separated by the Land of Soup and the Land of Frost.

Previously, when the Cloud Ninja held the upper hand, both of these small countries were controlled by the former.

Now that the Cloud Ninja has suffered a major defeat, although the Raikage's escape means that a quick victory is no longer possible for the Land of Lightning and the Hidden Cloud Village, the Cloud Court has no interest in dragging the war out any longer.

But given that the Land of Hot Water and the Land of Frost are within easy reach, he and Konoha behind them would certainly take them without hesitation.

"If I remember correctly, the Tang Ninja and Shuang Ninja also joined the Yun Ninja camp and participated in the recent battle, right? What are the casualties of the Tang Ninja now?" Yun Ting inquired.

"Yes, Hokage-sama." The female secretary, Ritsuko Yamanaka, who had just finished organizing the information on the prisoners, nodded and said, "According to the prisoners, the vast majority of the ninjas in Yugakure were driven by the Kumogakure and had no choice but to participate in the battle against our Konoha. After the battle, the Yugakure suffered heavy losses, with almost 90% of its personnel either killed or captured. Now, the strength of Yugakure can be completely ignored."

Yun Ting nodded knowingly.

That's how tragic it is for small countries.

Not only are they far inferior to the five great nations in terms of the number of ninjas and individual strength, but even their idea of ​​settling in one place can only be shattered under the intervention of the great nations' will, forcing them to participate in a war that is far too cruel for them.

The Land of Rain was like this in the past, and the Land of Hot Water is like this now.

As a member of Konoha, Yun Ting had no interest in sympathizing with Tang Ren.

Not only that, he also wanted to take advantage of his illness to kill him.

"Since the Hot Spring Ninja have suffered heavy losses, and the strength of the Land of Hot Springs is negligible, as punishment for colluding with the Cloud Ninja to oppose Konoha, let's swallow them whole. Shisui!" Yun Ting ordered.

Uchiha Shisui stepped out of the ranks and awaited orders, saying, "Hokage-sama!"

“Since Yugakure is hailed as a ninja village that has forgotten war, let it remain a reality forever.” Yun Ting looked at him and gave the order: “I’m assigning you fifty ninjas to control the people of Yugakure. Anyone who disobeys will be killed.”

"Yes!" Shisui replied immediately upon receiving the order.

With the addition of the fifty Konoha ninja and Shisui, controlling the severely weakened Yugakure village was more than enough.

Once he has the time, Yun Ting will make the Hidden Hot Spring Village and its ninja clans disappear from history, while the Land of Hot Springs will be forever under the control of Konoha.

Meanwhile, the Konoha people present who witnessed the whole process were both surprised and delighted.

They were surprised by Yun Ting's intolerance of Tang Ren, which was completely different from the more moderate attitude of the previous three generations when they were in power.

The good news is that if the Hot Spring Ninja is discontinued, then Konoha will undoubtedly take all the missions from the Land of Hot Springs. This is a great thing for the vast majority of Konoha ninjas who still rely on mission rewards for income.

Furthermore, for the more powerful ninja clans, the fact that the Land of Hot Springs opened its doors to them meant they could reap even greater benefits.

Therefore, none of the Konoha members present objected to Yunting's decision to abolish the Tang Ninja.

In war, it's perfectly normal for the victor to reap some benefits.

It's just that Tang Ren had the misfortune of siding with Yun Ren.

Yun Ting was well aware of what everyone present was thinking. He smiled and said, "Not only the Land of Hot Water, but we will also take over the Land of Frost in one fell swoop. We'll rest for one night, and the Konoha army will continue its march early tomorrow morning. This time, Konoha will feast to our hearts' content!"

"Yes!"

The group of Konoha ninjas were filled with excitement.

......

The Land of Frost, nestled between the Land of Lightning and the Land of Hot Water, is little known in the ninja world.

However, the arrival of three thousand Konoha ninja today has quickly spread the name of this country throughout the entire ninja world.

As a small country, the Land of Frost is not large in area, even smaller than the Land of Hot Springs.

Yun Ting led the Konoha army out early in the morning, and arrived in the country in just over two hours.

They encountered no obstacles along the way.

The Cloud Ninjas have disappeared without a trace, as have the ninjas of the Frost Country.

Sorry, but this force, which has always been aligned with the Cloud Ninja, was almost completely wiped out in the previous battle.

Even Konoha didn't really do any statistics, simply because the Frost Ninja's strength was even smaller than the Hot Spring Ninja's.

As the only country on land bordering the Land of Lightning, the Cloud Ninja, given their temperament, while tolerated the Land of Frost's own ninja power, could only imagine the extent to which this power could develop.

It can be said that the Land of Frost has always been an appendage of the Land of Lightning.

However, due to the great defeat of the Cloud Ninja, the long-standing relationship between the two countries was about to change on this day.

The Fourth Raikage, who has now returned to the Land of Lightning, has limited power. In order to ensure the safety of the Land of Lightning, he has recalled all the Cloud Ninja who were stationed abroad.

The Cloud Ninja garrison, which was originally supposed to be stationed in the Land of Frost, also withdrew overnight.

Therefore, when the Konoha ninja entered the capital of the Land of Frost, and even the Daimyo's residence, they encountered almost no resistance.

"Lord Hokage, the Daimyo of the Land of Frost requests an audience," a Konoha ninja reported to Kumo-tei.

Yun Ting waved his hand and said, "Tell the Daimyo that I am busy right now. Just tell him to take good care of everything in the country. Konoha will ensure his safety. There is no need to worry about anything else."

It's just a minor country with a big name; he doesn't have time to bother with it right now.

What we really need to be concerned about at this moment is the intelligence that came back from the Land of Lightning: the Fourth Raikage called for the extermination of the last Cloud Ninja to resist the Konoha invaders.

"They really won't give up until they're completely defeated. It seems we need to put even more pressure on the Cloud Ninja!"

Yun Ting smiled coldly and gave the order: "Send word to the Leaf Village army to move to the border between the Land of Frost and the Land of Lightning and prepare for battle. Also, have the Cloud Village's Tsuchishiro brought from the rear."

Yun Ting is willing to stop while he's ahead, but this requires the cooperation of the Yun Ren faction.

The Fourth Raikage may be blinded by rage and unable to process what he's doing, but if a clear-headed and respected person were there to offer advice, it would likely be very effective.

As a key retainer of the Third Raikage and now a dedicated assistant to the Fourth Raikage, Tsuchishiro undoubtedly deserves this recognition.

The latter, in particular, had witnessed firsthand how the Cloud Ninja army was annihilated in his own hands yesterday. With such a vivid memory, he thought he would know how to persuade the Fourth Raikage when he returned.

"While we have this opportunity, it's time to list out the terms for the peace talks that would end the war and give them to Toshiro to bring back."

Thinking back to the aggressive conditions submitted by the Cloud Ninja peace delegation in Konoha, Yun Ting chuckled and multiplied them by dozens of times!

Not to mention how pale-faced Tsuchida was when he was brought before Yun Ting and heard the latter's terms for the peace talks, his expression became even more unpleasant.

Just as Yun Ting led the Konoha army to advance into the Land of Frost, Uchiha Shisui, who had set off earlier, led fifty Konoha ninjas and had already occupied Yugakure.

Aside from a very small number of die-hards from Yugakure Village who resisted and were killed, the whole process was quite easy.