Spring, Year 45.
More than three months had passed since Konoha's victory over Suna.
The Shinobi World War, which had briefly cooled down during the New Year, once again began to heat up. It had become a seasonal war at this point.
At the forefront was the fierce battle between Kumogakure and Iwagakure.
The Third Raikage's son, along with the perfect jinchūriki Killer B, displayed overwhelming might on the battlefield. Their combined technique, the "Double Lariat" became the nightmare of Iwa shinobi.
Under the assault of these two, Iwa — already stretched thin on two fronts — suffered one defeat after another. But then something completely unexpected occurred.
Ōnoki truly lived up to his reputation as the "Fence-Sitter". Somehow, he managed to turn the tide, finding an opportunity even in Iwa's disadvantage. He gathered his forces and completely surrounded the army led by the Third Raikage.
The Third Raikage was nothing short of a true warrior. To protect his men, he fought alone against tens of thousands of Iwa shinobi. In the end, he exhausted his strength and fell.
Even so, he successfully held back Iwa's army long enough for his men to escape and return to Kumogakure alive.
Thus, the battle between Kumo and Iwa came to an end—with Iwagakure emerging victorious. Through this war, Iwa became one of the only two villages so far in this great conflict to have defeated one of the Five Great Hidden Villages.
But the matter did not end there.
Following their defeat, the people of Kumo were furious. To redirect their internal unrest, Kumogakure launched another war—this time against Konohagakure.
That is the situation unfolding now.
In response to Kumo's challenge, Hiruzen convened a council of the village's jōnin.
Though called a "jōnin assembly" not all jōnin were qualified to attend. Only a small number were permitted to gather in the Hokage's office to directly participate in discussions.
The rest of the jōnin merely held voting rights on the resolutions passed at the meeting. Of course, most of them cast their votes carelessly — after all, those excluded from the meeting were largely subordinates of the few allowed in.
…
"Chirp, chirp, chirp—"
On a tree branch, a red-tailed spotted bird leisurely preened its feathers, occasionally letting out sharp cries.
What it didn't know was that a predator already had its eyes on it.
"Shukaku, you're being too loud."
"Shut up, partner. I'm almost there."
Indeed, the one stalking the bird was Shukaku himself. At this moment, the tanuki crouched low on a branch, slowly creeping closer to his prey.
When he was less than half a meter away, a single leaf drifted down. Now!
"Go, Shukaku!" Mitsuki shouted.
"Wahoo!"
Shukaku instantly leapt from the branch, pouncing toward the bird.
But the spotted bird didn't even move. Instead, Shukaku failed miserably—he barely made it ten centimeters into the air before plummeting straight down to the ground.
"What the hell are you two doing…?" Tsunade, who had been frowning the entire time, finally couldn't hold back. Covering her face with one hand, she released a soul-deep sigh.
The whole fiasco had started because, with the arrival of spring, this noisy bird had begun showing up every day in the Senju compound, screeching endlessly.
Driven to the edge of irritation, Mitsuki wanted it gone. Shukaku then volunteered, claiming he would blast the annoying bird with Sand Bullets.
But Mitsuki objected. Since Shukaku was a tanuki, wasn't it disgraceful to use ninjutsu just to catch a bird?
Offended that his partner would look down on him, Shukaku decided he would prove his worth with his own claws. Otherwise, people might really think he was nothing more than a pile of sand.
And thus, the humiliating scene just now.
The bird, still perched on the branch, continued to chirp mockingly.
Even Shizune had to admit that Lady Tsunade was right.
Rin, seeing Shukaku fail his first hunt, hurried over to scoop him up, comforting him.
"It's okay, Shukaku. You were really close just now. You almost had it."
"Uuugh… my battle for honor…" Shukaku whimpered, covering his face with both paws.
Rin cast a pleading look at Mitsuki.
Sighing, Mitsuki had no choice but to step in and join Rin in consoling the sulking tanuki. In hindsight, it would've been better to just let Shukaku blast that damn bird from the start.
…
While everyone was enjoying the lighthearted moment, an Anbu operative arrived, handing Mitsuki a scroll.
"Mitsuki, this is from the Hokage. He instructed me to deliver it to you and Lady Tsunade."
"Got it. Thank you."
After sending off the Anbu, Mitsuki returned to the courtyard and unrolled the scroll with Tsunade.
Once they finished reading, both of them sighed in unison.
"Another war, huh…"
The scroll was simple: they were to report to the Hokage's office at 8 a.m. the next day.
…
The next morning, just before eight.
Mitsuki and Tsunade arrived on time at the conference room inside the Hokage building. They casually picked a pair of seats.
Many others had already gathered—most of them were clan heads or representatives of Konoha's noble families.
Among those Mitsuki recognized were Hiashi of the Hyūga clan, Fugaku of the Uchiha clan, and an old acquaintance — Danzō, who for once had deigned to show his face outside of Root.
As for the rest, Mitsuki couldn't identify them just by appearance—except, of course, the Akimichi clan.
While he quietly observed the others, they in turn studied this young jōnin. As a powerful rising shinobi of commoner origin, he had drawn quite a lot of attention.
Just moments ago, the representatives of the Ino-Shika-Chō trio had even come over to exchange pleasantries with him.
"Cough, cough."
Seeing that everyone had arrived, Hiruzen began the meeting.
…
Unlike his public speeches, Hiruzen's words here were concise.
In summary:
First, a leader must be chosen to command against Kumogakure.
Second, reinforcements must be dispatched to the increasingly fierce Kirigakure front—preferably also led by a powerful shinobi.
There was no third issue. As for Iwa, they were unusually quiet for now, and Orochimaru was more than enough to hold them in check. In fact, Konoha almost owed the Third Raikage thanks for that.
So, the problem now was simple: who were the strongest available shinobi in Konoha?