After the peace treaty between Konoha and Sunagakure was officially signed, Tobirama returned to the camp and received intelligence sent from Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Hiruzen Sarutobi and Akimichi Torifu were the supreme commanders of the Earth and Water battlefields; ordinary orders did not need Tobirama's approval and could be decided on the spot.
Usually, they only provided a summary report once a week, but the last report was only three days ago, which meant the intelligence sent this time must be very important and needed to be made known to Tobirama immediately.
At first, Tobirama wondered if there had been some change on the battlefield. Since they had just disengaged from the Sunagakure battlefield, if Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others needed it, he could send people over immediately.
However, when he finished reading the contents of the report, he let out a sigh of relief and said to the others who were somewhat nervous, "The Second Tsuchikage and the Second Mizukage have perished together on the battlefield."
Although the situation in the Ninja World was different from normal history, the fate of those two had not changed.
The Second Tsuchikage Mu and the Second Mizukage Hōzuki Gengetsu, these two old rivals from the Warring States Period, had very similar strength, and without the interference of other unexpected factors, it was estimated that this would still be the outcome.
"The newly enthroned Tsuchikage and Mizukage both have thoughts of a ceasefire; they will probably sign an agreement to end the war before long," Tobirama said.
"In other words, the Ninja World War will end soon."
Everyone had thought they would have to go to the Earth and Water battlefields to fight once more, and their expressions were somewhat grim.
Having experienced such a long war and seen the deaths of many companions, they were more or less war-weary, and the news of an imminent ceasefire made everyone very happy.
Tobirama believed that Hiruzen Sarutobi and Akimichi Torifu were sufficient for the Earth and Water battlefields, so he did not intend to send anyone to support them.
He looked at everyone present and ordered them to pack their bags and return to Konohagakure to rest.
There would be no large-scale battles in the future, at most only localized conflicts, so there was no need for people to sleep in the open; these frontline soldiers deserved a good rest.
Although there were still the reparations, land, and mineral veins from the Land of Wind, as well as the Medical Ninja in the Land of Rain, these could be handled by the people of the Fourth Division who were under less pressure.
In any case, there were no large-scale troop movements, and with the Samurai Corps on the border, there was no need to worry.
Even if Sunagakure suddenly tore up the treaty, there would still be room for maneuver—of course, Tobirama believed that Sunagakure would not go back on its word; if they really did, Sunagakure would have to be prepared to pay an even greater price.
Although the battles in the Earth and Water countries had not completely ended, the result was already clear.
The Fire and Earth alliance had defeated the three nations of Lightning, Wind, and Water that had disrupted the peace of the Ninja World.
The so-called righteous war had achieved a complete victory, while the other nations had paid a huge price: Kumogakure due to civil war, Sunagakure due to ceding land, Hidden Mist due to the death of their leader, and Iwagakure was the same—
Konohagakure appeared to be the greatest winner, but in reality, because of challenging multiple nations many times, the casualties of Konohagakure were not low at all.
The Ninja Clans suffered heavy casualties; some clans were basically left with only a few people, and clans like the Sarutobi and Shimura also saw their numbers plummet from hundreds to less than a hundred.
The Senju, Uchiha, and Hyuga were the top major clans in Konoha, and their populations were also numerous.
Because the Hyuga took on more investigation duties, the casualty rate was not high, but they still lost nearly a quarter of their population.
Although the Uchiha did not send many people, they were the elite of the clan.
The Bloodline Limit of the Sharingan was difficult to awaken within the clan; even a single-tomoe Sharingan would be cultivated as an excellent child of the clan, let alone a three-tomoe Sharingan.
At the peak of the Uchiha Clan, there were only a few dozen such people, and after the establishment of Konohagakure, only a dozen or so possessed this high-level Sharingan.
The most severely affected was the Senju. Being at the forefront of the battlefield, they bore the greatest pressure.
Compared to the Uchiha and Hyuga, who still had a population advantage, the Senju population had dropped to only a few dozen, which shows how huge their losses were on the battlefield.
In terms of scale, the First Great Ninja War was not the largest among all the Ninja World Wars, because in the future, a large number of Civilian Ninja would support the grassroots strength.
However, under the current situation where the grassroots were mainly composed of Ninja Clans, even if future Ninja World Wars were counted, this level of loss could be considered the most tragic of all the Ninja World Wars.
There was only a ten-year gap between the Second Ninja World War and the Third Ninja World War, while there was a twenty-year gap between the First Great Ninja War and the Second Ninja World War, which fully demonstrates the tragedy brought by the First Great Ninja War and how long it took to recover from it.
From Fūmori Masaki, Tobirama knew of Hashirama's thoughts.
Seeing the current situation of the clan, he was also considering whether he should find a way to eliminate Hashirama's influence on the Senju Clan; no matter how powerful a clan was, it could not withstand such losses.
Of course, these things still needed to be discussed thoroughly with his sister-in-law Mito, Tobirama thought.
Upon returning to Konoha, there were still many things to handle, such as those localized battlefields, the civilians flowing into the Village, negotiations with the Daimyo, and so on; none of these could be decided overnight.
After returning to Konohagakure, Tobirama did not have time to rest and began to handle matters, while everyone else intended to get some good rest.
Fūmori Masaki and Satomi returned home together.
Unlike last time, this time they really didn't need to consider anything and could just lie on the bed and sleep.
Fūmori Masaki's body never felt tired, but the mental pressure was always there.
After waking up that time, he had been preparing for the First Great Ninja War, day and night, just hoping that he could survive the war, and now, he finally confirmed that he had survived.
This was the first time in several years that he felt the burdens on his entire body had been lifted.
Although other challenges were waiting for him in the future, he did not want to think about such things right now.
In the coming period, Fūmori Masaki did not intend to take up arms again.
The Village was currently in ruins waiting to be rebuilt, so he should participate more in administrative work.
If he fought again, he felt like he would soon develop war trauma.
Although administration was troublesome, it could at least alleviate his mental stress.
There was one more thing: Fūmori Masaki felt that his power was gradually reaching a bottleneck.
His Sage Art seemed unable to go any further; it wasn't that it couldn't be improved at all, but rather that it lacked an improvement in realm.
If it were the Chakra system, Fūmori Masaki at least knew that the highest realm of Chakra was the Bloodline Web formed by combining seven attributes.
Although in the Ninja World, there were basically only those who combined two attributes, the only one who combined three attributes was Ōnoki, and those who combined four attributes had never appeared at all, but no matter how difficult it was, there was at least a direction to move forward.
But as for Sage Art, he did not know what its peak was like.
The only thing known was the Six Paths Sage Art, but it was too obscure, leaving people unsure of how to proceed.
Fūmori Masaki felt that he should investigate the secret texts of the Shinobi Sect as soon as possible.
If he could find some clues about the Six Paths Sage Art, perhaps his Sage Art realm could reach a new level of improvement.
"Masaki, is the war really over now? Will it happen again in the short term?" At this moment, Satomi, who was lying next to him, asked.
Fūmori Masaki's many predictions had all come true.
No matter how unbelievable Fūmori Masaki's words were, Satomi would believe them, so she was looking forward to Fūmori Masaki's answer.
"Hmm, it's over. At least there won't be any war for ten years. If we're lucky, it might even be delayed for twenty years." Fūmori Masaki did not speak too definitively.
In the original work, the Second Ninja World War only happened after twenty years, but no one could guarantee that it would be the same now.
"That's great!" Hearing this, Satomi was full of joy and rubbed her head against him.
"Then, can we live a good life for at least ten years?"
"Yes, we can live a good life for a while." Fūmori Masaki smiled, his gaze towards Satomi filled with warmth.
the new third hokage of konoha