Starting with rogue ninjas, building the insect kingdom.

Chapter 140 The War Ends, the Grass Country Disappears

The Konoha ninja alliance retreated, but this battle was indeed a major defeat for the three-nation alliance. Afterwards, the leadership changed hands, with Shimura Danzo taking over and the standoff continuing.

Hiruzen Sarutobi led a team of elites to the battlefield of the Night Country.

The Third Raikage was so clever; as soon as he heard that Hiruzen Sarutobi was coming, he immediately sounded the retreat, packed his things, and headed home.

However, before leaving, he still plundered the Night Kingdom completely.

When Hiruzen Sarutobi arrived in the Land of Night, he saw only wailing and lamentation everywhere. Ordinary people were alright, only frightened or unintentionally caught in the crossfire of the Land of Lightning ninjas.

The nobles suffered terribly—they were burned, looted, and smashed. Some beautiful women were abducted by ninjas from the Land of Lightning.

It is said that the Kingdom of Night is rich in handsome men and beautiful women, and they want to take them back to improve the genes of their people.

Looking at the devastation, Hiruzen Sarutobi could only sigh. In the end, he merely condemned the Hidden Cloud Village internationally and took no further concrete action.

They didn't even sign a peace treaty or war reparations this time, since Konoha was the one who started the war first.

Several days later, this war, which involved three major powers and numerous smaller countries, was barely considered to have come to a temporary end.

Konoha regained its dignity and decided not to attack the Three Kingdoms Alliance again—because it would gain nothing from it.

To be honest, the Land of Fire has everything the Three Kingdoms Alliance has to offer. Whether it's people or land, the Land of Fire has plenty. What they lack is simply face, face.

After Danzo took over as commander-in-chief, he launched a series of shady operations on the border. His core strategy was a substitution policy, using ordinary civilian ninjas with little potential to replace the enemy's ninjas.

In any case, after this battle, the number of ninjas in the Three Kingdoms allied forces was less than a thousand. Every additional ninja killed was a further depletion of their strength.

Unexpectedly, a month later, in the Land of Rain, Hanzo of the Salamander officially announced that the Land of Grass would be incorporated into his territory.

The Land of Grass has vanished.

The original capital of the Rain Kingdom will be used as a transportation hub, and all the population will be relocated northward.

When the news reached them, the three little ones who were training alongside Jiraiya were in a daze during their practice.

"This weeping nation... has it truly shaken off its weeping?" Yahiko murmured. "And not through mutual understanding, but through battle..."

Jiraiya looked at Yahiko, who was lost in thought in the distance, and didn't know how to explain it. To be honest, he didn't know that Hanzo the Salamander would do something like that.

In the end, he simply came to the three children, patted their heads, and explained with a smile, "Did you think the Land of Rain had really escaped its predicament? Actually, no. They are still in danger because the Leaf Village's army is constantly surrounding them, and the Land of Fire will refuse to trade with the three countries. Without the support of the Land of Fire, without its abundant and cheap resources, they will grow weaker and weaker."

"Remember, war is irrational; short-term victories will only bring greater disaster."

At this moment, Konan really wanted to ask him why the Land of Fire and Konoha couldn't understand them, stop besieging them, and give them their normal rights so that their people could live a good life.

But she ultimately couldn't bring herself to ask, because she suddenly realized something: her master, Jiraiya, came from the Land of Fire and Konoha Village. Would she really side with them? Probably not.

Seeing his disciples remain silent, Jiraiya smiled again, adopting his gentle demeanor, and reiterated his theory: "Remember, mutual understanding between people is the only path to world peace."

Then he took out some of his unique ninjutsu techniques, even the Leaf Village's precious Shadow Clone Technique. This was the last lesson he could teach them, because Jiraiya was also leaving.

After more than two years together, he had taught them everything he could. The rest was up to them to learn and grow on their own.

This time, he received a message from his teacher, asking him to return to Konoha. His teacher had discovered a promising talent and wanted him to go and teach him.

Jiraiya, ever the opportunist, wanted to see what kind of promising student the Hokage had chosen. If they truly possessed the qualities of a chosen one, he planned to take them on as a disciple.

And so, Jiraiya embarked on his journey home.

The three children tearfully bid farewell to their teacher: "Goodbye, Jiraiya-sensei!"

Xiao Nan said with tears in her eyes, "Teacher, I will definitely miss you in the future."

"Haha, good, I hope that when we meet again next time, you will all be grown up. Your teacher will then have a good drink with you. Nagato, Yahiko, when you come of age, your teacher will definitely show you what adult men should do."

"And Xiao Nan, you must eat well so you can grow up to be beautiful, because only then can you marry a good husband!"

"Teacher, what are you saying!" Xiao Nan scolded and turned her face away, but tears still streamed down her face.

Because they knew that this parting might be the last time they, master and disciple, would see each other.

Just after Jiraiya completely disappeared into the jungle.

Yahiko suddenly stepped forward and said, "Konan, Nagato, I've made up my mind. I'm going to establish an organization to carry forward our teacher's will."

"Our organization is called Akatsuki, the Akatsuki of dawn." Yahiko gazed into the distance, his eyes radiating sunshine. "Now, let's leave here together and head north. First, we need to conquer a city, then become its masters, and that will be the birthplace of our organization."

Xiao Nan asked cautiously, "Is this really okay?"

Yahiko said confidently, "It will definitely work. Hanzo the Salamander is a man of great talent and ambition. Even our teacher Jiraiya praises him. So what he says and what he does are definitely not lies to me."

"The Land of Rain needs fresh blood, it needs ambitious young people like us!"

Three children, around ten years old, exchanged glances, filled with dreams, and headed north. Little did they know that shortly after they left, a pitcher plant would emerge from the ground.

Black and White Absolute laughed and said, "Lord Ban, the first step of our plan has been completed. No, perhaps it's more accurate to say it's my plan. Hehe!"

-

When news of the war had just arrived, Shisei Aburame was still conducting experiments.

In the test tube in his hand, an ancient virus was slowly awakening, which he had created using a chakra environment and his cheat-like abilities.

However, their main function was different from what he had imagined. They were indeed as troublesome as chakra, and they adhered to the human body just as easily.

Its main function is to absorb chakra to accelerate viral division; it has no other disease-causing effects.

It wasn't even targeted at ninjas, but rather at ordinary people who possess chakra genes.