Land of Hot Water.
At this moment, a large number of Kumogakure shinobi had already been waiting here for quite some time.
"Brother~ When are we, yo, going to attack Konoha!"
Killer Bee, wearing sunglasses, spoke in a strange rhythm to A beside him.
"Bee, soon. Old man sent word— Iwagakure has withdrawn, and he's now organizing troops to join up with us."
"Once the troops arrive, we can launch the offensive."
A clenched both fists, a glint of fighting spirit flashing across his face.
"Yo! I can't hold it anymore! I wanna slice someone up!"
Hearing Killer Bee's words, A nodded. His mind couldn't help but recall the Konoha ninja he encountered back then.
Time-Space ninjutsu, huh?
Hmph! Even if it's Time-Space ninjutsu, his speed fears nothing! This time on the battlefield against Konoha, he must kill him!
...
Hokage Building.
A meeting was underway.
The same familiar four individuals.
Hiruzen Sarutobi, Koharu Utatane, Danzō Shimura, and Homura Mitokado.
"Iwagakure has temporarily retreated. There are now over ten thousand Iwagakure shinobi within Grass Country's borders. Jiraiya's side is under immense pressure, and we need to dispatch a certain number of shinobi to reinforce him. The situation in the Land of Hot Water is also far from optimistic."
"With Iwagakure's withdrawal, Kumogakure will take the Land of Hot Water as their main base, and from there launch their assault on us."
Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was grim. Judging from the intel returned from all directions, Konoha was truly surrounded on all sides.
"In this situation, I suggest redeploying Misono from the River Country front to assist Jiraiya."
"After all, we need to hold off Iwagakure from that direction."
Homura Mitokado nodded and was just about to speak.
The door was knocked on.
"Come in."
A moment later, an Anbu quickly rushed into the room and whispered something in Hiruzen Sarutobi's ear.
Hiruzen's expression instantly darkened—extremely so.
"Hiruzen, what happened?"
Sensing something wrong, Koharu Utatane quickly asked.
Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned heavily against his chair, his eyes filled with fury and concern.
"Hiruzen, speak! Stop playing riddles!"
Danzō couldn't stand seeing Hiruzen like this and roared angrily.
Hiruzen took a deep breath and finally shared the intel he had just received.
"The battlefront in River Country had an incident—Sunagakure deployed a Tailed Beast."
"The forward base has been completely destroyed. Orochimaru led his squad to resist desperately, barely managing to hold the line. But he's injured, and we've suffered over a thousand casualties."
The moment they heard a Tailed Beast had entered the battlefield, all three were visibly shaken.
Even Danzō was no exception.
After all, Tailed Beasts had always been a last-resort force. No one expected Sunagakure to go all in and send one onto the battlefield.
"Damn it, the Third Kazekage is currently missing. Has Chiyo gone mad?!"
"No! Chiyo has been cornered. With the Third Kazekage missing, Sunagakure has been dealing with endless internal turmoil. If they don't keep advancing, things might get even worse for them."
"Chiyo is trying to use the war to suppress all dissent."
Homura Mitokado and Koharu Utatane began to analyze the situation.
And the disappearance of the Third Kazekage was no longer a secret—most major shinobi villages had already received related intel.
Hiruzen Sarutobi leaned back in his chair in silence, while Danzō brought up his usual Tailed Beast argument once again.
"Hiruzen! This is the price of you refusing to use the Nine-Tails!"
"Iwagakure and Kumogakure have long been deploying their Jinchūriki in combat, and now even Sunagakure has unleashed a Tailed Beast!"
"How long are you going to hold back?! Do you plan to wait until the enemy is at our doorstep before using the Nine-Tails?!"
Danzō ruthlessly criticized Hiruzen Sarutobi, until Hiruzen finally couldn't take it anymore.
"Danzō, enough! You know perfectly well what the Nine-Tails is like."
"If we send the Jinchūriki to the battlefield and the Nine-Tails loses control, the ones who suffer will be us!"
Hiruzen slammed the table with a bang, silencing Danzō with a sharp rebuke.
The latter was taken aback by the sudden outburst, glaring at Hiruzen with suppressed fury.
"Then what solution do you have?"
"We're under attack on all fronts—and now there's a Tailed Beast!"
Hiruzen sat down again, his tone extremely somber.
"Deploy the remaining elite from the village toward the Land of Hot Water front."
"Redeploy Misono from River Country to Grass Country."
"Have Jiraiya go support Orochimaru."
"At the same time, inform Hatake Sakumo to prepare to move out to the Grass Country battlefield at any moment."
"That's all."
Though they were facing a Tailed Beast, Sunagakure only had the One-Tail, Shukaku. With both Orochimaru and Jiraiya, they could probably handle one Tailed Beast.
Sigh, the pressure was still overwhelming.
The other fronts too... sigh...
After issuing his orders, Hiruzen Sarutobi sighed deeply.
"What's the situation with Tsunade?"
"If she can also go to the front lines, our burden will be much lighter."
Koharu Utatane brought up Tsunade again.
Hiruzen couldn't help but show a hint of doubt before explaining Tsunade's recent state.
"I'm not sure if I'm seeing it wrong, but Tsunade has recently been moving between hospitals and even seems to be accepting surgery assignments again."
"As for her hemophobia, it still seems to be there—but it looks like it's less severe than before."
The news made the other three slightly surprised.
After all, Tsunade was the granddaughter of the First Hokage and a disciple of the Third—no one in the village ever tried to control her actions.
But now she was actually returning to her old work? That was... a bit strange.
"Who has she been in contact with recently?"
"If someone can cure her hemophobia and bring her back as an asset to Konoha, that would be a huge win!"
A glint flashed in Homura Mitokado's eyes.
Tsunade's combat ability might not be as strong as the other two, but her utility was far greater.
Medical ninjutsu and her slug summon could save countless lives on the battlefield.
"Gekko Chizan...."
Hearing this name, the three were once again stunned—this guy's shadow was everywhere.
Especially Danzō, who nearly ground his teeth into dust when he heard that name.
That promising seedling should have been a Root asset!
Wait—wasn't this kid Orochimaru's disciple?
Hmm... if that's the case, maybe there's a way to work through Orochimaru...
If he voluntarily joins Root, that bastard Hiruzen won't have anything to say...
Suddenly, a grin appeared on Danzō Shimura's face, leaving the others feeling bewildered.
"Danzō, what are you smiling about? At a time like this, you're still laughing?"
"I'm warning you! If the frontlines fall, I'll personally send you to the battlefield!"
Hiruzen was already in a foul mood, and now this bastard was grinning?
It was like he didn't see Hiruzen as a person at all!
"Huh? I can't smile? What, smiling is forbidden now?"
"You bastard! This is the meeting room! Laughing in here—is that appropriate?!"
"You gonna control me? Even if you're Hokage, you can't stop me from smiling! Hiruzen, you've gone too far!"
"I'll control you! I'm the Hokage! What now?!"
Danzō fumed, his breathing ragged, while Hiruzen felt oddly refreshed after losing his temper.
"Have Tsunade lead a team. Gekko Chizan goes with her to command operations in the Land of Hot Water!"
"If Gekko Chizan really can cure Tsunade's hemophobia, he'll be a hero!"
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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