One year after the Great Ninja War broke out, in the forty-eighth year, although the entire ninja world remained embroiled in fierce fighting, the overall situation had broadly stabilized into recognizable patterns.

Konoha was fighting against the Sand Village, the Hidden Cloud Village, the Hidden Stone Village, and the Hidden Mist Village simultaneously.

The Sand Village was engaged against Konoha, the Hidden Mist Village, and nominally the Hidden Stone Village. But on the actual battlefield, the Sand Village’s only truly fierce ongoing engagement was with Konoha.

In reality, the Hidden Stone Village maintained a state of carefully managed calm with the Sand Village. Although both sides deployed a certain number of troops on the front lines and there were minor skirmishes, compared to every other active battlefield in the ninja world, these were almost negligible in scale.

The two villages had effectively reached an informal truce through the medicinal resource trade, though neither dared to fully lower their guard given the broader chaos surrounding them.

The Hidden Mist Village, meanwhile, was too preoccupied with the enormous pressure of combined Hidden Stone and Hidden Leaf.

Although the Hidden Mist had sent some ground troops to infiltrate the coastal areas of the Land of Wind, their total strength committed to that direction was limited.

The Hidden Mist’s primary strategic focus was using the Land of Water’s geographical advantages to intervene in the most intense battles between the other villages, leveraging their position between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning to implement their own agenda.

Although friction existed between the Hidden Stone and Hidden Mist Villages, it was considerably smaller in scale compared to their respective conflicts with Konoha and the Hidden Cloud.

The historical grudge between them, rooted in the mutual destruction of the Second Mizukage and the Second Tsuchikage, meant their level of fighting was not trivial, but it remained secondary to everyone’s primary engagements.

The most concerning situation was the Hidden Cloud Village’s position. The Eight-Tails Jinchuriki Blue B had died at Orochimaru’s hands. Ai was constantly moving between every front line the Hidden Cloud Village was managing, and had even fought directly against Minato Namikaze without gaining any advantage.

This battle had made Minato’s name even more dazzling and the title of Konoha’s Yellow Flash even more widely feared.

It was worth noting that at this point in time, Ai was the Raikage, which made Minato’s victory over him carry considerably more weight than it would have otherwise. This further reinforced the reputation Konoha had rebuilt after suffering so heavily in its earlier engagements with the Sand Village.

Looking at the overall situation across the entire ninja world, the Five Great Ninja Villages were all genuinely embroiled in chaos. But the one experiencing the least pressure and the most comfortable wartime conditions was without question the Sand Village.

Only three parties were truly engaged against the Sand Village. The Hidden Stone Village was largely putting on a performance while the real action was elsewhere. The Hidden Mist Village had committed the majority of its energy to the Land of Rice Fields and the Land of Water, leaving only minor harassment forces operating within the Land of Wind.

The only party genuinely fighting a fierce battle against the Sand Village was Konoha. And even there, the Sand Village remained positioned at the center of the stage without bearing the same brutal costs as every other village involved.

During this period, Yuji had been spending more time traveling outside the village than sitting in the Kazekage’s office. All of it was for the village’s basic infrastructure development, securing cooperation projects with various small nations, acquiring necessary resources, and managing internal village affairs.

This included settling the newly arrived population, helping Kimu and the others adapt and integrate into village life, and continuing the various bloodline development arrangements.

The disguise surgeries performed on the Uchiha clan members had proceeded quietly and without incident. Marriages had been arranged for them, and they now had families within the village.

Of course, their marriage partners had been put through strict screening by the village’s senior officials, and the families involved had been consulted and had agreed, receiving additional privileges and compensation in return.

In short, everything was progressing smoothly.

On the financial side, the Hidden Stone Village was fighting intensely on multiple fronts, and with prices rising steadily throughout the ninja world, they were paying the Sand Village large sums of money at regular intervals for continued pharmaceutical supply.

Furthermore, the treatment being administered to the Daimyo of the Land of Wind was only partial. He had not been completely cured, and whenever the village needed funds, the Daimyo would send a message that appeared on the surface to be a request for support. In reality, it was an implicit acknowledgment of the leverage being held over him.

Because the Daimyo’s serious illness was of a nature that, if he did not cooperate, would progress toward death, and not just his own but potentially affecting those closest to him as well. The entire Daimyo’s Mansion was effectively dependent on Yuji’s continued willingness to maintain the treatment.

"Lord Kazekage, there is news," an Anbu member entered and reported while Yuji was occupied approving documents.

"The students from the Leaf Village’s ninja academy have graduated early and have begun participating in the battle."

The Anbu member knelt on one knee upon entering the room.

"Understood," Yuji said, setting his hand down on the document and nodding.

One should not be deceived by the fact that the ninja world’s situation had broadly settled into recognizable patterns. The actual level of conflict among the various factions was incredibly fierce and brutal, far surpassing the Second Great Ninja War in its intensity.

For Konoha especially, fighting one against four with no party showing mercy had caused their troop depletion to reach extraordinary levels. In just one year, they had already reached the point of sending newly graduated academy students to the battlefield early.

During the Second Great Ninja War, Konoha had only resorted to this measure when the war was nearing its end and they had no other options. But now, in the Third Great Ninja War, they had reached the same desperate point in just one year.

The greatest overall troop depletion was being suffered by the Hidden Stone and Hidden Cloud Villages.

The Hidden Cloud Village’s situation in particular needed no elaboration. Being attacked from multiple directions simultaneously, having lost the Third Raikage and the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki within the same conflict, had left the Hidden Cloud Village in an increasingly precarious position with each passing month.

However, like Konoha, the Hidden Cloud Village was also a large and powerful force. Even with the pressure of being attacked from multiple directions, relying on their inherent battlefield advantages and the excellent military training their village had always been known for, they had managed to hold on until now.

"Have you found any information about the person I asked you to locate?"

After a moment of thought, Yuji regained his composure and looked at the Anbu member.

"Not at all, Lord Kazekage. Lord Ebizo has instructed the intelligence department to gather every available clue, but firstly the external situation is extremely chaotic right now, secondly it has been some time since the destruction of the Land of Whirlpools, and furthermore the Uzumaki clan was nearly completely wiped out.

To find any surviving members, I am afraid it will require considerably more time."

The Anbu member bowed his head.

"Then have the intelligence agency focus its attention on the Land of Grass. On the other hand, contact the Land of Grass directly and tell them that if they discover any members of the Uzumaki clan, the Sand Village is willing to pay a very high price to acquire information about them.

Money, medicinal resources, whatever conditions they set."

He continued speaking.

Yes. He was preparing to begin implementing the special talent acquisition program. The first person he had his eye on was Karin’s mother.

According to the original plot, Karin’s mother had been discovered in the Hidden Grass Village. Finding her would take at least some time, but the longer he waited, the more he worried about butterfly effects from his own presence in this world potentially causing the Uzumaki bloodline to be lost entirely. Finding her sooner would be considerably more reassuring.

"Yes," the Anbu member nodded.

"What about the Hidden Mist Village?" he continued.

"My apologies, Lord Kazekage. The Hidden Mist Village is currently under extremely strict internal lockdown and our intelligence cannot penetrate it at all.

However, their domestic situation is clearly deteriorating. The Hidden Mist Village’s military consolidation is not holding firmly, and by all accounts many local clans are deeply dissatisfied with the Hidden Mist Village’s heavy-handed rule. Furthermore..."

The Anbu member paused.

"What?" Yuji pressed.

"Furthermore, the Third Mizukage of the Hidden Mist Village appears to be in some kind of trouble, possibly suffering from a serious illness. However, this information has not been confirmed, so we cannot determine whether it is true or false at this time. They have placed their internal communications under heavy defensive alert."

He paused again briefly.

"What we do know is that because of the uncertainty surrounding the Third Mizukage’s condition, various factions within the Hidden Mist Village are already coveting the position of the next Mizukage, which has caused internal conflicts. This has indirectly led to some of the major clans in the Land of Water stirring up trouble as well."

"I see."

As he listened, Yuji interlaced his fingers and revealed a thoughtful expression.

The bloodline clans of the Land of Water. The Hozuki clan was straightforward enough to account for. But Shikotsumyaku and Ice Release were a different matter entirely.

"It is not yet clear whether the true controller of the Hidden Mist Village is the Third Mizukage or Danzo pulling strings from behind the scenes. Furthermore, the Hidden Mist Village’s internal structure is already deeply complex, and I cannot rely on my memory advantage to make proper judgments and analyses of their current situation. Negotiating with them is clearly not feasible under these conditions."

"Furthermore, among certain figures within the Hidden Mist Village, quite a few are genuinely unstable. They do not have the same reliability as the Hidden Stone Village, and this is not the right time to attempt any kind of deal with them."

After thinking it through, an idea came to him.

He instructed his subordinate. "Have the infiltrators operating in the Land of Water try to locate the Ice Release bloodline limit."

"Together with..."

He stopped halfway through the sentence, frowning slightly.

"Actually, let me go myself."

"Huh?"

The kneeling Anbu member was stunned.

"Lord Kazekage, this kind of task would be better handled by our people. You should not..."

"It is nothing. I am going out for a walk and some exercise. I have been so buried in various affairs lately that I feel like I have forgotten what it is like to be out on a mission."

He smiled.

Then he raised one finger toward the person in front of him and brought it to his lips.

"Remember. Do not tell anyone. Keep this secret for me."

"Uh..."