352. The Yellow Group

The next day, the Shinobi World United News issued a notice regarding the joint military exercises conducted by the allied forces of various nations near the borders of Konoha.

Konoha's stance was clear: this was a blatant and forceful interference in the internal affairs of the Land of Fire, an act of extreme dominance and tyranny!

The path of the people of the Land of Fire should be determined by themselves.
They would never allow, nor be coerced by, external forces.

If the great nations believed that they could intimidate Konoha into submission through such actions to achieve their own objectives, then they were gravely mistaken.

The people of the Land of Fire would not be defeated!

Furthermore, the aggressive conduct of the joint forces at the borders was illegal.

If they continued to act recklessly, Konoha, for the sake of its own security, would take all necessary measures, including but not limited to:

Launching special military operations,

Striking preemptively,

Eliminating all security threats surrounding the Land of Fire.

Accompanying this statement, a 500-strong elite Konoha force, led by Aburame Ryoma, swiftly arrived at the border.

At a single command from Danzo, this force, along with Shisui, stationed in the Land of Fields, could encircle and crush this ragtag allied force completely!

As for the consequences that might follow?

Would the Four Great Nations truly go to war with Konoha over this?

That was not something Konoha’s forces needed to concern themselves with.

Their only duty was to execute Danzo’s orders.

Upon witnessing Konoha’s firm stance, the major ninja villages immediately backed down.

The first to retreat was Onoki.

Without the financial backing of his Daimyo, he had no desire to get caught in this mess.

Soon after, Sunagakure and Kirigakure also issued similar statements—
They believed that the days-long exercise had already served as a deterrent to Konoha.

There was no need to escalate it into an actual conflict, let alone spark a new war.

With these three villages pulling out, the most aggressive of the four—Kumogakure—was forced to concede as well.

The result?

Retreat!

And just like that, the multi-day joint military exercise came to an end.

Konoha’s forces, deployed along the border, also stood down, and the ninja world returned to its previous state.

A crisis that could have engulfed the entire ninja world—even dragging it into the abyss—seemed to have dissolved into nothingness.

However, anyone with a brain knew that this was merely an illusion.

Although Danzo had not yet officially abolished the One Country, One Village system, the reality was that it was already on the verge of collapse.

And the consequences of this incident would gradually unfold over time.


Soon, under Danzo’s directives, various newspapers across the nations began reporting on the event.

Some even framed the withdrawal as an act of national humiliation, highlighting discord between the Daimyo and the ninja villages.

These reports claimed that the voluntary retreat of the joint forces was a disgraceful diplomatic failure for the four great ninja villages!

It signified their complete submission to Konoha—a cowardly compromise.

They had utterly lost the will to challenge Konoha.

Moreover, this incident further exacerbated tensions between the ninja villages and their respective capitals.

After all, the formation of the joint force was a decision made by the Four Great Daimyo to pressure Konoha.

Yet, not only did the ninja villages fail to put in real effort, they unilaterally ended the exercise, humiliating their own nations’ nobility.

Their actions were an undeniable declaration to the world:
"We, the ninja villages, do not want war. Even if our Daimyo commands it, we will refuse to fight."

This made the esteemed Daimyo furious.

"That damn Onoki, what exactly is he doing?"

"Could it be that he’s really planning to rebel like Danzo?"

The Daimyo of the Land of Earth flew into a rage upon reading the reports.

Before Onoki had decided to withdraw his troops, the Daimyo had explicitly ordered him not to retreat!

Yet, Onoki had outright rejected the command, citing a lack of military funds as his excuse.

This immediately infuriated the Daimyo, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Even though he controlled the nation's finances and was the official supreme leader of the Land of Earth, when he thought about it carefully, the only way he could restrict Onoki was by cutting military funding.

But what else could he do?

Send a horde of samurai to attack Iwagakure?

That would be suicide.

As for reducing military funds, the Daimyo was hesitant—it might be too extreme.

If Onoki was pushed into a corner, he might rebel just like Danzo, and that would be disastrous.

Just as the Daimyo was fuming but powerless, a guest’s arrival sparked a new idea in his mind.

"Allow me to introduce myself, Lord Daimyo. I am Shukan, the leader of the Yellow Group."

A young man with silver-white hair stood before the Daimyo, introducing himself.

This Shukan had heavy oil paint smeared on his face, and a tail swayed behind him like that of a monkey, giving him a mysterious aura.

Alongside him were four other individuals, each sporting different types of tails.

They were none other than the mercenary group Yellow Group, whom the Daimyo had hired at great expense through the underground bounty network.

"I hear that you are the rising stars of the black market, and that since your debut, your mission success rate has been 100%?"

The Daimyo asked with great interest as he studied the five strange individuals before him.

In response, Shukan smiled slightly.

"If Lord Daimyo has any doubts about our strength, you are more than welcome to send someone to test us."

Seeing Shukan's confidence, the Daimyo narrowed his eyes slightly.

With a small movement of his fingers, a ninja swiftly emerged from the shadows.

This ninja was someone the Daimyo had poached from Iwagakure with a high salary—an Elite Jonin.

He was the perfect candidate to test the Yellow Group's capabilities.

Yet, as the Iwagakure ninja stepped forward, Shukan's expression remained completely unchanged, his composure unshaken from start to finish.

"Very well then, allow me to give you a small demonstration."

Facing the ferocious gaze of the Iwa ninja, Shukan casually snapped his fingers.

However… nothing happened.

Realizing that he was being mocked, the Iwa ninja couldn’t hold back his anger.

Chakra surged violently from his body, and just as he was about to use a Body Flicker Technique to take down Shukan—

A sudden, terrifying pain erupted from his abdomen!

The next second, his stomach swelled uncontrollably, as if something unknown was rapidly growing inside him, violently squirming and writhing!

"Damn it… When did this happen…?"

The Iwa ninja’s face twisted in agony.
He wanted to say something, but before he could, the excruciating pain overwhelmed him, forcing out a bloodcurdling scream.