Rumble—Rumble—
The sky seemed to explode, clouds rolling as lightning flashed and thunder roared.
At that moment, whether they were eating, sleeping, attending class, carrying out missions, or even creating life...
Without exception! Everyone instinctively looked up!
A curtain of light had appeared in an instant, like a giant sheet of paper stretching across the heavens, suspended high above their heads.
It had no thickness—thin as a veil.
But strangely, no matter which direction people looked from, what they saw was the same flat surface.
This phenomenon appeared in the eyes of everyone across the entire Shinobi World.
The great shinobi villages and ordinary villagers alike were filled with curiosity and confusion at this sudden and inexplicable event.
Rustle—Rustle—Rustle—
The "paper" suddenly lit up, and lines of glowing text appeared across it, each word shimmering with mysterious light.
Before people could figure out what this strange object was, they were already shocked by the words displayed above.
[There have already been three Great Ninja Wars.]
[Because of profit, because of hatred, because of greed... slaughter has stained this land.]
[War—Destruction—Truce—Recovery—War—Destruction—Truce—Recovery...]
[Again and again, each conflict growing larger—first fought by adults, and later even children were forced onto the battlefield.]
[This is an era of war that surpasses the Warring States Period itself!]
[The great ninja villages, like massive war machines, train ninja one after another and hastily send them to battle.]
[To seize... to protect...]
[The scale of sacrifice has reached an intolerable level. The world can no longer stand by and allow a Fourth Great Ninja War to occur.]
[That would be...]
[A war capable of destroying half the entire shinobi world!]
[A world filled only with cries and mourning is a wrong one!]
[To prevent it from spiraling into the worst possible outcome, the world itself has been forced to take measures.]
[This is the vessel for transferring conflict—perhaps even the creation that will likely bring an end to the ninja era itself.]
[The Ninja Mobile Game! Has been born!]
At that moment, the gaze of the entire world converged upon this never-before-seen phenomenon.
Unbelievable—truly earth-shattering!
An existence so astonishing that it left people shaken to their very core, a mix of absurdity and tension welling up inside them.
A pure, instinctive fear of the unknown!
...
Konohagakure
Inside the Hokage's office, the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, sat enveloped in a cloud of smoke, his face obscured.
That old, weathered face was full of complexity as he stared deeply at the glowing curtain of light and sighed helplessly.
"War, huh."
Having fought in all three Great Ninja Wars himself, he knew well what "sacrifice" meant—and what it meant to exist as a ninja.
Even though he hated war, looking at the message on the light screen… was it implying that the existence of "ninja" itself would be stripped away?
No one knew what kind of power this was, and no one dared to determine what exactly it meant.
But there was one thing they could be sure of.
This might very well become a gust of wind strong enough to change the fate of the shinobi world—blowing toward an unknown future.
...
Sunagakure
In the Kazekage's office, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, stood with his arms crossed, silent, though unease filled his heart.
Of all the great villages after the war, Sunagakure had undoubtedly recovered the worst.
Even as its leader, Rasa hadn't dared to relax for a single moment in recent years—especially considering the situation in the Land of Wind...
The thought of it made Rasa's head ache. And when he thought about that utterly useless son of his, he couldn't help but rub his forehead.
"All he knows is cutting budgets... rampaging again and again... that's about the extent of your worth!"
Even a man who bore the title of Kage would complain when alone in his office.
...
Kumogakure
Suddenly, a loud crash came from the Raikage's office. The shinobi passing by outside didn't even flinch—they were already used to it.
"Don't mess with me! Are you telling me that thing is saying the world has its own consciousness—and that it's trying to stop wars on its own? What kind of joke is that?!"
The Fourth Raikage, A, slammed his fist down, shattering his desk. Furious, arcs of blue lightning began to dance faintly across his body.
It was, indeed, hard to believe.
First, it had come too suddenly, without a single warning or sign—appearing out of nowhere.
Second, it was precisely that suddenness and impact that made the reaction so huge.
After all, who could do something like this?!
"Raikage-sama, regardless of what it is, we shouldn't act rashly—at least, not for now," his secretary Mabui said calmly.
A took a deep breath and sat back down.
Even if the Sage of Six Paths himself appeared, he wouldn't believe it easily—but he'd keep watching for now.
...
Iwagakure
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, was far calmer than the Raikage, sitting quietly behind his desk in thought.
First of all, whoever was behind this clearly disliked—perhaps even despised—war, to the point of going to such extremes.
But what exactly was this "Ninja Mobile Game"?
Ōnoki couldn't make sense of it. Just staring at those words made his scalp tingle.
He turned to the bodyguard who had just arrived and said, "Suspend all out-of-village missions for now. Those already out should avoid conflicts with foreign shinobi as much as possible."
...
Kirigakure
The Mizukage's office was crowded. The current leader, Terumī Mei, sat alongside her two trusted aides:
Ao, the "Byakugan Killer," and Chōjūrō, the so-called "ordinary man."
But right now, none of the three spoke. They all looked toward the elderly man sitting in the main seat.
Genji—an elder who, though not the Mizukage, still held power.
"This might be quite the opportunity for our village," Genji said slowly.
Mei and the others nodded. In any case, for Kirigakure, things couldn't possibly get much worse.
...
Amegakure
At the top of the tallest tower in the village, Pain and Konan stood side by side, gazing up at the light curtain in the sky.
"Do you believe what it says?" Konan asked.
"I do," Pain replied calmly. "The world has acknowledged our ideals. This will become the foundation for true peace."
Why wouldn't he believe it?
If the world itself had suffered from war, then someone had to eliminate it.
That's right—the one who could bring peace to the ninja world… was Akatsuki.
The one who could accomplish all of this was a god.
...
While the people across the shinobi world were filled with anxiety and unease, somewhere in a dark corner of the world, a being not quite human was utterly baffled.
"What the hell is this?" Black Zetsu muttered, looking the glowing screen up and down in disbelief.
He'd lived for countless years, yet had never seen or heard of anything like it.
Could it be those two unfilial brats?
He thought for a moment, then shook his head. Impossible. He had confirmed that the Sage of Six Paths and his brother were long dead.
Of course, if anyone in the world didn't believe in the light screen, it was Black Zetsu—beyond any doubt.
End war? What nonsense!
Without war, how would he manipulate Akatsuki into collecting the Tailed Beasts? How would he push forward the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan? How would he save his suffering mother?!
Just as Black Zetsu was thinking this, the glowing screen began to shift again, drawing everyone's attention.
That day, under the collective gaze of all, the dawn of a new era was about to begin!