Near the Land of Fire border by the Land of Fields, the area was already engulfed in war.
Kumogakure had mobilized almost its entire force, leaving only 3 to 4000 shinobi to guard the village and bringing roughly seventy percent of their elites to the front.
They were now truly the second-strongest nation in the shinobi world — their overall strength was second only to Konoha.
And in the previous Great Ninja War, it was the Gold and Silver Brothers from their country who killed the Second Hokage, Tobirama Senju.
On top of that, most of their borders were coastlines.
If they launched an invasion, they had almost no rear pressure to worry about.
The only potential threat came from Kirigakure's forces at sea.
But Kirigakure's naval movements were extremely slow.
Even at their fastest, a fleet heading from overseas to the Land of Lightning would need at least three days.
Kumogakure had plenty of time to respond.
At this point, Konoha's small force near the Land of Fields had already been completely wiped out.
Usually, the Land of Fields relied heavily on Konoha and rarely caused trouble,
so the "border guard unit" stationed there was symbolic at best — only twenty to thirty people.
The captain stationed here was only jōnin-level, so when they made contact with Kumogakure's army, they were instantly crushed.
Dozens of shinobi facing over 10000, plus the fastest man in the shinobi world — the Third Raikage — meant their deaths were inevitable.
Looking at the burnt remains of the outpost, the Third Raikage spoke with open disdain:
"Konoha… so this is all they amount to."
His arrogance wasn't without reason.
Since the founding of the Land of Lightning, they had almost never lost to Konoha.
Even the mighty Second Hokage had died at their hands.
A masked ANBU-like operative approached.
"Raikage-sama! We received intelligence: Konoha's next force is three kilometers away — total numbers around three thousand. They'll arrive soon!"
The Third Raikage nodded and asked the question that mattered most to him:
"What about Arata Itsuki? Is he with them?"
The operative shook his head.
"We haven't seen anyone matching his description yet. But according to our intel, Arata should be the leader of that unit."
The Raikage nodded again.
"Pass down the order. Everyone prepare for combat. Only three thousand shinobi coming to face us? Hiruzen is underestimating us."
Originally, Kumogakure had no intention of joining this war.
But after they received intelligence about Arata —
information claiming he might have mastered the Lightning Armor —
the Third Raikage couldn't sit still.
Lightning Armor was an absolute-secret technique of Kumogakure, created by the Second Raikage —
a masterpiece among Lightning Style jutsu, equivalent to Iwagakure's Dust Release or Sunagakure's Magnetic Sand.
To hear that this technique had leaked out of nowhere?
Unacceptable.
The Raikage had already executed numerous internal purges trying to find the traitors.
But the most important culprit — Arata — had to be eliminated.
And since Kumogakure had entered the war, they weren't planning to just kill Arata and leave.
The Third Raikage intended to carve Kumogakure's mark onto Land of Fire territory
and show the world the true power of the Land of Lightning.
...
Meanwhile, on Arata's side…
After several days of marching, Arata's three-thousand-man unit finally reached the border before Kumogakure's full invasion.
But after such a long forced march, the unit had already lost at least half their combat capability.
They were already outnumbered.
Now, exhausted and weakened, they had essentially no chance of winning a frontal battle.
Kumogakure's troops had been resting and preparing in advance —
charging into them now was no different from suicide.
Arata began ordering the unit to set up defensive lines, planning to abandon some territory and fight deeper inside the Land of Fire.
But before preparations were finished, a messenger from Konoha arrived with new orders.
Arata opened the mission scroll and wasn't surprised in the slightest.
Instead, he gave a cold smile.
"Sarutobi Hiruzen… you really will do anything to eliminate a political rival."
The order stated clearly:
Another unit will handle the defensive line.
Arata's entire 3000-man force must immediately advance to engage the enemy.
Arata had already been waiting for this.
Once he showed this order to the troops, their loyalty would shift entirely to him.
As expected, he gathered the unit, read the order word for word, and held it up for all to see.
The reaction was instant.
The three-thousand-man force erupted:
"Damn it! This is the Third Hokage?! He's treating us like animals!"
"I quit! I'd rather revolt than be sent to die!"
"All that talk about kindness and morality — and this is how he treats us?!"
"Maybe the Hokage has his reasons… we are facing four villages—"
"Shut up! If manpower was short, he could've pulled back the line! This is clearly ordering us to die!"
"No wonder the clan shinobi are all fighting in the Land of Rain. That must be the safest battlefield! We civilians are just disposable pieces!"
"Arata-sama! Please stand up for us civilians!"
Arata closed the scroll.
He had no intention of following that order.
If he won the war, these 3000 shinobi would vouch for him.
He would never end up like Sakumo Hatake, who saved his comrades only to be condemned by his own village.
Arata raised his voice:
"My fellow shinobi! The Third Hokage was born into a great clan - he's long been used to ignoring us civilian shinobi! Today, as someone who came from civilians myself - I will stand up for you!"
"You stay here and complete the defensive line. As for the Kumogakure army—I will go alone. If I don't make it back alive, remember that you once had this captain.""
His declaration set the entire force on fire.
"Long live Arata-sama!"
"Sarutobi Hiruzen? He's nothing! Arata-sama should be Hokage!"
"Leadership? Arata-sama has more courage than Hiruzen ever will!"
"Arata-sama, don't go! That's an army of ten thousand-this is no different from dying!"