On February 18th, Year 2 of the Alliance Calendar, the third day of the qualifying matches.
Asuma was watching the battles in the morning when suddenly, an urgent message sounded from his Pokédex.
There was only one way to communicate quickly between different worlds: connecting via the Pokémon Global Terminal using a Pokédex. Without a Pokédex, communication between worlds could only be achieved through some interdimensional courier services.
'The ninja war has begun, the situation is complex, return to Konoha immediately for a jōnin meeting with the exchange team!'
"So soon?!"
Asuma's face darkened instantly.
Anyone with some experience outside the village could see that a major conflict in the ninja world was inevitable.
However, none of them expected the situation to escalate this quickly, and the war to break out so suddenly.
Asuma had thought they would at least be able to complete their exchange mission first.
What's more, in a month, the Pokémon in the village would have grown stronger, and Konoha would have an overwhelming fighting force. At that point, they wouldn't fear any other ninja village.
Even if Kumogakure and Iwagakure teamed up, Konoha wouldn't be afraid.
As for Sunagakure, although they had engaged in intense battles during the Third Shinobi World War, the two villages were now on ambiguous terms. At least in the early stages of the war, Sunagakure wouldn't participate.
Kirigakure, meanwhile, was separated by a sea and plagued by internal turmoil. The Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, had started significant reforms alongside the elders and had overthrown many previous policies. No useful information had been disclosed from Kirigakure, and the reasons remained unknown.
If the war had been delayed by just one month, Konoha would have been more than prepared to handle Kumogakure and Iwagakure.
But now the situation was different.
Most of the Pokémon in the village hadn't matured yet, and at best, they were only at the level of genin.
Plans couldn't keep up with the rapid changes, and Asuma had no time to think. He immediately gathered the Konoha exchange team and ordered their return to the ninja world.
Naruto and Hinata, having somehow learned about the situation, insisted on returning to Konoha to defend their homeland after discussing it with their companions.
Initially, both the Monkey family, Z, and Asuma strongly opposed this.
Asuma's reasoning was simple: Naruto and Hinata wouldn't be much help in the war, so it would be safer for them to stay here, far from danger.
Asuma didn't have the same cunning as his father, Hiruzen, who was a true inheritor of the Will of Fire, always thinking about how to protect the next generation.
The Monkey family and Z's opposition stemmed from their concern for the children.
In the maritime world, there was no concept of children needing to go to war, especially in the eyes of seasoned marines like Garp and Z. Sending children to the battlefield was an abomination, and anyone who thought otherwise deserved severe punishment.
However, Naruto and Hinata were stubborn, insisting on going back.
The two elders, knowing that if they forcibly denied their request, the kids would find a way to sneak back on their own, had no choice but to relent.
While they couldn't intervene in the ninja world's affairs directly, the Pokémon could accompany the children.
Thus, Garp sent three Fighting-type Pokémon: Machamp, Hitmonchan, and Hitmonlee.
Due to the ongoing Alliance Battle Tournament, many Gyms were temporarily closed, so sending Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee back with Hinata wasn't an issue.
Machamp, being at Lv.48, already possessed strength surpassing most elite jōnin in the ninja world, comparable to Konoha's legendary Sannin during the Second Shinobi War.
The other two Pokémon also had combat abilities ranging from jōnin to elite jōnin level.
With these three powerful bodyguards, Hinata's return could be likened to a princess arriving with a royal escort.
This pleased both Hiruzen and Hiashi.
They hadn't interfered when the powerful individuals from the maritime world took children from their village, including Naruto, the jinchūriki of the Nine-Tails.
One reason was that they couldn't win in a fight. The other was that this arrangement worked in their favor.
Hinata was now considered half an immunity pass for the Hyuga clan. If Konoha were to fall, Hiashi could leverage the Monkey family backing Hinata to secure their safety.
If other ninja villages had any sense of intelligence and learned what the Pokémon Alliance was, they would think twice before causing trouble.
Originally, Ace and Luffy also wanted to go back, but Garp disciplined them, making them stay.
As high-ranking members of the Pokémon Alliance, Garp understood the law well.
Ace and Luffy were entirely residents of the maritime world, strictly prohibited from interfering in the ninja world's "domestic affairs."
Previously, they could go because it was considered family business between the Monkey and Hyuga clans.
Now, they couldn't go because this involved the entire ninja world's conflicts.
If Ace and Luffy were found on the battlefield, Garp himself would have to arrest them and send them to the Alliance prison.
Ace and Luffy sighed deeply.
They were frustrated that they couldn't participate like their fellow Pokémon from Mount Golbo, who were accompanying Sabo to the tournament. They regretted not having trained Pokémon themselves.
As for Z's side, only Arcanine and the still-young Vulpix could go with Naruto.
In the past year and a half, Z had focused entirely on training Arcanine, without raising a second Pokémon.
Although Vulpix lacked combat power, Arcanine was extremely powerful, reaching Lv.55.
At this level, Arcanine was at the same stage as Kage-level fighters, though not quite as strong as the likes of Hiruzen, Danzo, Jiraiya, Killer B, or the Fourth Raikage.
However, Arcanine could hold its own against figures like Kakuzu, younger Danzo, Kisame, Chiyo, and later Mei.
Both Garp and Z had instructed Machamp and Arcanine to exercise restraint, avoiding direct involvement in the ninja world war. Their primary task was to protect Naruto and Hinata and keep them away from the battlefield as much as possible.
They also informed Dak about the situation, hoping for a turning point.
That turning point, of course, was Dak stepping in with the Pokémon Alliance to forcefully impose the Pokémon era on the ninja world, just as he had once brought down the World Government and stood at the pinnacle of the sea.
Dak's idea was to make the world adapt, realize the value of peace, and understand its beauty. The most critical step was to empower those who genuinely desired peace, especially ordinary people suffering through hardship, by allowing them to become Trainers and gain the strength to protect that peace.
This was similar to what Hashirama had once tried. He had the invincible strength to bring temporary peace to the ninja world, but ultimately, he failed.
There were two reasons for this.
One, he didn't live long enough.
If Hashirama had lived for a hundred years and suppressed the ninja nations for a century, the people would have grown numb, and wars wouldn't have erupted so easily.
But Dak was different.
Even if Dak wanted to die, his Pokémon wouldn't let him, possibly even going against his wishes to keep him alive.
The Pokémon Alliance was an eternal force hanging over everyone, preventing most people from even thinking about rebellion. Only a select few with rebellious tendencies would dare entertain such thoughts.
Two, in Hashirama's time, only a few ninja and samurai had great power.
It was like the maritime world. Hashirama simply hadn't realized this issue.
If everyone had power, or no one had power, no one would dare easily make a move.
This was the case in the maritime world, where everyone had strength, and on Pokémon Island, where no one had power.
To break this peace and disrupt this era, one would have to confront the countless Trainers in the ninja world who longed for peace and hated war.
That was how Dak had achieved peace in the past, and it had worked out reasonably well.
However...
Dak might have forgotten how he had brought peace to the maritime world.
Since destroying the World Government and the Celestial Dragons, Dak had largely left Pokémon Island to its own devices, letting the various departments, navy, and army handle most things.
He hadn't cared as much about the ninja world as he once had about the maritime world.
Back then, the maritime world had been his only option, but now, with three worlds, his focus naturally shifted to Pokémon Island, his main world.
To put it bluntly, even if the ninja world were destroyed, Pokémon Island and the maritime world would remain intact, and Dak could always explore other worlds. With such an option, he didn't feel the same determination as before.
This situation might continue until after the Pokémon Battle Tournament, when Dak would see the devastation in the ninja world and realize his mistakes. Only then would he begin to intervene and address the problems there.
This event would also remind Dak that he wasn't the "Creator God" or "omniscient, omnipotent being" that everyone claimed him to be.
He was just a person.
For now.
Dak knew about the situation but wasn't inclined to get involved.
Without the masterminds behind the scenes, as long as the ninja nations had conflicting interests, war was inevitable—whether sooner or later.
Dak even wanted to see if the ninja world could unify itself on its own.
Moreover, with the Pokémon Battle Tournament in full swing, Dak was personally stationed in the monitoring room to prevent any incidents or underhanded tactics from players during the battles.
He didn't want anything to go wrong in this inaugural tournament, so his attention was entirely focused on it, leaving no energy to spare for the ninja world's affairs.
As the Konoha exchange team departed Pokémon Island, Dak, seated in the monitoring room, frowned.
"I have a bad feeling…"
Dak took a deep breath, suddenly feeling a bit tight in his chest.
As a top-tier psychic, it wasn't surprising for him to have some latent precognition abilities.
(End of Chapter)
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