When the daimyo first heard of the minister's assassination, he was in utter disbelief, finding the whole thing absurd.
But after personally inspecting the minister's corpse and understanding how he had been killed, a chill ran down his spine.
The traces left at the scene, along with the unhidden tunnel entrance, clearly conveyed a message—a warning.
It was evident: whoever had assassinated the minister wanted to show that if they could kill him under such tight protection, they could just as easily kill the daimyo, even with the same level of security.
This realization struck fear into the daimyo's heart.
While he had always known that ninjas were powerful and mysterious beings, he hadn't truly grasped just how terrifying they could be until now.
He had ambitions—he wanted to profit from the chaos of the war—but he feared death more.
Thus, during a meeting later that very day, the daimyo made it clear that his country would abandon any plans to join the Shinobi World War and would instead maintain a neutral stance.
With this, Mochizuki Hui's mission was successfully completed. The goal had been achieved.
Meanwhile, the two squads of Sand Ninja, filled with shame and frustration, were forced to retreat quietly, knowing they had failed miserably.
At least they had been operating in the shadows and hadn't openly declared themselves responsible for the safety of the minister and the daimyo; otherwise, their disgrace would have been even greater.
The daimyo's decision to remain neutral quickly spread to the surrounding smaller nations, triggering a chain reaction.
Upon hearing this, some of the smaller nations also decided to remain neutral, giving up any thought of joining the war. Others, however, chose to side with the Land of Fire, impressed by the strength of Konoha's ninja.
This further shifted the balance of the war, giving Konoha an even greater advantage in the ongoing conflict with Sunagakure (The Village Hidden in the Sand).
The battlefield on this front grew increasingly favorable for Konoha.
When Tobirama Senju received the report on Mochizuki Hui's mission, he was very pleased, and his evaluation of Hui rose even higher.
To be honest, Tobirama hadn't been entirely confident that Hui could complete such a mission.
But Hui had exceeded his expectations, completing the mission flawlessly and demonstrating remarkable skill.
This led Tobirama to make a critical decision.
In truth, it wasn't just the battlefield between Konoha and Sunagakure, or this neutral small nation where Hui had operated that was seeing action. Mochizuki Hui wasn't the only one working in the shadows.
Konoha's ANBU had been relentlessly carrying out missions during this period, targeting war hawks in various nations, and initiating a wave of assassinations.
Though not every assassination had been successful, many had, leading to the deaths of numerous influential figures in other countries who were pushing for continued war.
This string of assassinations caused considerable anxiety among the remaining high-ranking officials in many nations, each one fearing they might be the next target.
At the same time, certain influential figures in these nations, bribed or influenced by Konoha, began to promote the idea that "Konoha is simply trying to end this pointless war. If we stop the war, the assassinations will cease."
This narrative had an impact.
In truth, by this stage of the war, many leaders had long since grown weary of the conflict.
Although the shinobi were the main combatants in this war and the regular armies were largely uninvolved, war still required funding.
And the war expenses for their own shinobi villages were being entirely shouldered by these nations.
If the war had brought significant victories or spoils, the cost might have been justifiable. After all, risks are acceptable when there's a good return.
But this war had become a losing proposition for many, with the tide of battle shifting increasingly against them.
A war that offered no benefits and no clear path to victory was of no use to them.
As a result, with fewer and fewer war hawks standing in their way, many national leaders began pressuring their shinobi villages to end the conflict.
This put the shinobi villages—particularly the Four Great Nations—under high strain.
They wanted to retaliate against Konoha in the same way—through assassinations and political interference—but they lacked an organization like Konoha's ANBU, which specialized in such activities.
Furthermore, the pressure wasn't just coming from their nations' leaders. The war had also begun to breed discontent among their own citizens.
Families were mourning fallen shinobi, and the quality of life had diminished. Anti-war sentiments were growing.
In such an environment, continuing the war became increasingly difficult.
However, the leaders of the Four Great Nations were unwilling to simply walk away in defeat.
After all, Hashirama Senju—the godlike figure who had cast a long shadow over them for so many years—was finally gone. With his passing, they had believed that Konoha was no longer invincible.
They had joined forces, along with countless smaller shinobi villages, to take down Konoha, and yet they had ended up in this humiliating situation.
It was unacceptable.
Thus, under mounting pressure from both their leaders and their citizens, the leaders of the Four Great Nations made a final, desperate decision.
They would not go down quietly. They would stage one last, all-out counteroffensive.
If they succeeded, they would take Konoha down in one fell swoop, seizing the fertile lands of the Land of Fire as spoils of war, perhaps even carving up the Land of Fire itself and erasing Konoha from history.
But if they failed, then they would have no choice but to retreat, admit defeat, and return to their respective nations.
And so, with this decision made, the shinobi world braced for the war's final, climactic battle.
The First Shinobi World War had reached its most critical juncture.
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