Black Naruto: Shadow Moon

As the news of the Third Kazekage of the Sand Village in the Land of Wind's successful annexation of the River Country spread throughout the ninja world, the Third Tsuchikage Ōnoki of the Iwagakure Village in the Land of Earth began to plan a similar expansion move.

After discussing with the top leaders of Iwagakure, he decided to follow the example of the Third Kazekage and expand his territory and resources by invading surrounding small countries.

After some discussion, they decided to first invade the Grass Kingdom, which borders the Earth Kingdom.

The Third Tsuchikage Ohnoki found a reasonable excuse for this invasion: accusing the Grass Country of plagiarizing the important ninjutsu of the Hidden Rock Village. The Grass Country's high-level officials have always been known for their opportunism, and are used to playing both sides between the big countries, learning and imitating the ninjutsu techniques of other countries. This behavior has caused the Grass Country to frequently break its promises, and has accumulated dissatisfaction from many ninja villages.

The accusations made by the Land Kingdom were quickly accepted by many countries, and some even adopted a tacit attitude towards it.

The Grass Country is not a stable and reliable ally, and many countries believe that their betrayal is bound to lead to suppression by major powers.

The Grass Kingdom is located at the junction of several major countries. As a small country, it has been struggling to survive under the oppression of various countries.

The villages of the Grass Country like to survive by learning ninjutsu from neighboring countries. However, it is this opportunistic strategy that has made the Grass Country a target of disgust by major countries.

In the original plot, the Land of Grass was also the place where Uzumaki Karin's mother died. Because of her mother's physical condition, the Uzumaki clan continued to suck her blood, causing her vitality to disappear and she died. However, the existence of Uchiha Kagezuki changed this fate - due to Kagezuki's intervention, most of the Uzumaki clan did not scatter after the attack on the Land of Grass, but were united in the Land of Grass by Kagezuki, including Uzumaki Karin's mother.

After confirming the silence of the surrounding major powers, the Third Tsuchikage Ohnoki decided to personally give orders to send an elite ninja force from the Iwagakure Village to directly invade the Land of Grass.

Their goal was clear - to quickly occupy the Grass Kingdom through powerful military force and incorporate it into the territory of the Earth Kingdom.

Although the Land of Grass has many ninjutsu, its strength is not strong enough. Facing the attack of the powerful ninja village Iwagakure, their defense looks shaky.

Ōnoki hopes that through this rapid war action, he can not only increase the territory of Iwagakure Village, but also bring more resources and strategic advantages to Iwagakure Village.

At the same time, the Hidden Cloud Village in the Land of Lightning did not sit idly by, and the Third Raikage Ai was also unwilling to miss this expansion trend.

Influenced by the Third Kazekage of the Land of Wind's annexation of the Land of River and the Third Tsuchikage of the Land of Earth's invasion of the Land of Grass, the martial arts faction of the Land of Lightning began to frequently put pressure on the Third Raikage Ai, demanding that the Land of Lightning improve its status in the ninja world through military expansion.

The Third Raikage Ai has always been known for his toughness and decisiveness.

Under his leadership, the ninja power of the Hidden Cloud Village became extremely powerful, especially the fighting faction, which almost controlled the main direction of the village.

During the discussion among the top leaders of the Hidden Cloud Village, the Raikage decided to follow the example of other major powers and conquer neighboring countries by force, forcibly incorporating them into the territory of the Land of Lightning.

His target is the small country bordering the Land of Thunder.

There are different small countries to the west and east of the Thunder Country, and most of these small countries are weak and have scarce resources, so they have long relied on the military protection of the Thunder Country.

The strategy of the Third Raikage was to take advantage of this and force these countries to become vassals of the Land of Lightning, thereby further consolidating the regional hegemony of the Hidden Cloud Village.

The elite ninja troops of the Hidden Cloud Village were sent to the border and quickly took control of several small countries through forced suppression.

The military deterrence of the Third Raikage forced the leaders of these small countries to surrender in order to protect themselves.

"Either surrender or perish." The Third Raikage conveyed his will to these countries with an extremely tough attitude.

This almost overbearing expansion strategy allowed the Land of Lightning to gradually gain control of the surrounding strategic resources and geographical advantages, enabling it to maintain its strong strength during the turbulent times in the ninja world.

The expansionist behavior of the Third Raikage aroused the vigilance of other ninja villages, especially Konoha and Sand Village.

The rapid expansion of the Hidden Cloud Village forced these major powers to re-examine the intentions of the Land of Lightning.

Although all countries have not yet entered a full-scale war state, the military deterrence of the Land of Lightning has undoubtedly added new instability factors to the ninja world.

Against this backdrop, the Hidden Cloud Village's aggressive expansion strategy allowed the Land of Lightning to gain huge gains in territory and resources in a short period of time, but it also made the tension in the ninja world more complicated and dangerous.

As the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning successively expanded their surrounding countries through force, the Third Mizukage of the Land of Water was not willing to lag behind.

He saw that other major powers were expanding their territories through war, and decided to take advantage of the current opportunity to completely bring under his rule the small islands around the Water Kingdom, which nominally belonged to the Water Kingdom but were actually under weak control.

The Water Kingdom is surrounded by the sea and has many small islands.

These islands are only nominally subject to the Water Kingdom in peacetime, but in reality, the Water Kingdom has tenuous control over these islands.

The residents and local lords on the island usually have considerable autonomy. Although they recognize the rule of the Water Kingdom, they rarely truly obey its orders.

There are also some independent small island countries in the west, which are far away from the Water Kingdom. Although they have occasionally had conflicts with the Water Kingdom in history, they have remained independent most of the time.

Seeing the successful expansion of the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning, the Third Mizukage felt that he could not fall behind the other great powers.

He understood that in this turbulent era, territorial expansion meant growth in power, and controlling more island resources would also enhance the economic and military strength of the Water Kingdom.

The Third Mizukage decided to use military means to completely incorporate these nominally surrendered small islands and independent island countries into the territory of the Water Kingdom.

He did not make any official announcement, but instead used far-fetched excuses such as "these islands have not fulfilled their obligations to the Water Country" or "the resources provided to the Water Country are not enough" to send the ninja troops from the Hidden Mist Village and suddenly launch an invasion.

The military operations of the Water Country Ninja Force encountered little resistance.

The military strength of these small islands is limited and they are simply unable to compete with the powerful Mist Village.

Through a series of swift military actions, the Third Mizukage quickly brought these small islands and surrounding island countries under the actual rule of the Water Kingdom.

The expansion of the Third Mizukage not only consolidated the Water Country's strategic advantage in the sea, but also brought rich resources and territorial expansion to the Water Country.

He used this opportunity to further strengthen the military strength of the Hidden Mist Village and won a lot of support for his expansion plans in the Water Kingdom.

The expansion of the Water Country has aroused the vigilance of other major countries. Although these islands belong to the Water Country in name, the situation among the countries has become more tense due to the sudden military action of the Water Country.

The major powers such as Konoha, Iwagakure, and Kumogakure realized that the actions of the Water Kingdom and the Hidden Mist Village were likely to further aggravate the turbulent situation in the ninja world.

At the same time, the expansionist behavior of the Third Mizukage also made him one of the focal points of the ninja world. His ambition and decision-making enabled the Water Kingdom to occupy a strong position in the ninja world, but also made the shadow of war in the ninja world increasingly imminent.