Chapter 186: The Stone Ninja's Surprise Attack, Hiruzen Sarutobi's Decision
Konoha 44, March.
As if stimulated by the news of the Mist's defeat, the Cloud, who had initially kept some of their forces in reserve to guard against the wavering Stone, had now completely deployed their massive force of over 8,000 to the Land of Rice Fields battlefield, engaging in a fierce battle with Konoha.
Under the leadership of the Third Raikage, they had almost broken through to the forest on the northern border of the Land of Fire. If it weren't for the timely support of the forces freed from the Land of Whirlpools battlefield, the Cloud would probably have already reached the Land of Fire's territory.
Even so, the situation on the northern front was still not optimistic. The main reason was that the Third Raikage was too strong, so strong that even Minato and Jiraiya combined could not stop him. Even with the addition of Hiashi Hyuga and the others who had rushed to the scene halfway, they could only barely stop the Cloud's advance.
As for Kyosuke, he did not immediately rush to the northern front. It was not that he was unwilling, but that Konoha, in order to guard against a counterattack from the Mist, had chosen to let him stay at the station in the Land of Whirlpools.
To this, Kyosuke himself did not have any particular opinion. After all, his two main goals in coming to the battlefield, gaining military merit and enhancing his strength, had basically been completed. So, he was happy to be able to avoid fighting the Cloud.
Of course, he could avoid fighting the Cloud, but he could not ignore the subsequent Stone. Not to mention anything else, Kyosuke himself could not just watch as Obito, who he had a good relationship with, became a pawn in Uchiha Madara's hands.
Even if the action of saving Obito might make the subsequent plot completely different, with Kyosuke's current strength, he was already qualified to jump out of the chessboard and play a game that was dominated by his own will.
Although he said this, to have Kyosuke face the current Uchiha Madara, his heart was still a bit afraid. Even if Madara's body was already old and his Rinnegan had been given to Nagato, his strength, with the bonus of the Ten-Tails' husk and Hashirama's cells, was still difficult to estimate. So, Kyosuke needed to prepare some countermeasures to deal with him.
During this period, besides familiarizing himself with his "new abilities" in the dungeons and carrying out his daily guard duty, Kyosuke had spent almost all his time studying the forbidden jutsu scroll.
As for his purpose, it was to master the "Flying Thunder God Technique" as much as possible before facing the threat of Uchiha Madara. For this, he had poured all the experience he had gained in the past period into "Ninjutsu Theory," and had successfully raised it to Level 6.
Kyosuke's idea was simple. Even if you, Uchiha Madara, are so awesome that I can't beat you in your old age, can't I still outrun you?
This Flying Thunder God was the strongest trump card Kyosuke had prepared to deal with Uchiha Madara.
In May of the same year, the situation on the northern front was still dire. The many Konoha ninja were almost using their lives to stop the madly attacking Cloud, desperately holding them at the border.
Konoha, seeing that the Northern Army was already unable to resist, couldn't help but have the idea of letting Kyosuke lead a team to support them. But just then, the Mist suddenly made another move.
A small but not-to-be-ignored army had once again assembled on a deserted island a few dozen kilometers away from the Land of Whirlpools. That was the front-line outpost of the Land of Water.
This situation also made Konoha temporarily give up on the idea of transferring Kyosuke, and instead, they instructed him to keep a close watch on the movements of the Mist army.
But strangely, in the following month, the Mist army did not show any intention of launching an attack. They just kept them on a string, sending people to harass them from time to time, as if they were preparing for a final assault, but they just wouldn't attack.
Kyosuke himself also expressed a certain degree of doubt about this. His mind even had the idea that Yagura's brain had been damaged.
But a subsequent event made Kyosuke understand the intention behind the Mist's actions.
Konoha 44, mid-June.
The Stone had secretly assembled a large force in a station near the border. By the time Konoha had obtained definitive intelligence, the Stone's army had already marched toward the Land of Grass.
For this, the panicked Konoha quickly contacted the Tsuchikage, Onoki, preparing to ask him what he was up to.
Unfortunately, the cunning old Tsuchikage did not pay any attention to Danzo's letter, which made Danzo and Hiruzen Sarutobi's hearts jump.
The development of events was just as they had feared. At the end of June, the Stone attacked without a declaration of war, directly launching a surprise attack on the outpost set up by Konoha in the Land of Grass.
This move completely shattered the last shred of hope in Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others' hearts. Although Konoha was very angry at Onoki's treachery, the cruel reality was before them. Even if they were unwilling to believe it, they could only send troops to stop the enemy's invasion.
But Konoha's current military strength was already stretched thin. Even if Hiashi Hyuga's thousand-plus team was transferred to the Land of Grass again, it would only be a drop in the bucket.
Helpless, Hiruzen Sarutobi could only personally write a letter, asking Orochimaru to transfer some men to support the Land of Grass's battlefield.
Fortunately, at this time, the situation on the southwestern front had gradually become clear. With the Kazekage missing and the deaths of Bunjin, Pakura, and other experts, it was not difficult for Orochimaru to resist the Sand's invasion. So, he gritted his teeth and transferred a team of about 500 from the Southwestern Army, led by Uchiha Ukyo, to support the forces in the Land of Grass.
But with just this total of less than 2,000, they could only delay the Stone's invasion. It was absolutely impossible to stop them.
For this, Konoha could only do what they had been unwilling to do all along, which was to send many young ninja to the Land of Grass's battlefield.
This move received a fierce backlash from many clans and commoner ninja, but in the end, they were all suppressed by Hiruzen Sarutobi with force.
Konoha was at a critical juncture of life and death. Now was not the time for those clans to be unwilling. Hiruzen Sarutobi, who had always been a good old man, was extremely cold and iron-fisted this time. Anyone who dared to raise an objection was dealt with by various means. In an instant, the various clans of Konoha were as quiet as cicadas in winter. Even the famous clans like the Uchiha and Hyuga were the same.
At this time, whoever dared to make the slightest move of insubordination, what awaited them would be the extermination of their clan.
It could be said that Hiruzen Sarutobi, for the sake of Konoha's safety, was already a bit desperate. No matter what the final outcome of this war was, his political career had come to an end. It was inevitable that he would step down once the war was over.
And so, this war mobilization, which had lasted for more than half a month, once again gathered a team of more than 2,000 and successfully arrived at the northwestern front at the end of July.
From this, it could be seen that Konoha, which had the largest number of clans, its war potential was much higher than it appeared on the surface. At the same time, it could also be seen that the previous clans had not actually sent all their hidden strengths to the battlefield.
At this time, on the northwestern front, Konoha had already gathered a ninja army of 4,000, and had finally successfully stopped the Stone's advance.
But Hiruzen Sarutobi believed that this was not enough. At least, in terms of high-end combat power, the two sides were still far apart. For this, he sent several consecutive orders to the various forces, one of which was passed to Kyosuke.
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