On the other side, half an hour earlier, within the borders of the Land of Fire, at the rear of the Konoha border defense line.
A Konoha ninja stood frowning at the vast forest stretching to the horizon. His position was on a plain, and beyond it lay the boundless interior of the Land of Fire, completely outside the patrol zone and surveillance range.
"They haven't returned yet."
The Konoha Chunin glanced up at the sky and muttered the words quietly to himself. His companions had gone to the forest base to report on their routine mission. Logically, they should have been back long ago.
Something was strange.
He waited a little longer.
At that moment, an insect suddenly flew to his side, circling him several times. The man initially moved to shoo it away, but quickly recognized it as an insect controlled by a member of the Aburame clan through their secret technique.
He extended his finger and the insect landed on his fingertip. Then it flew down to the ground beside his feet and began slowly wriggling across the earth, using its body to form letters in the soil, spelling out a brief message.
The Konoha Chunin read it clearly.
In an instant, cold sweat broke across his entire body. His eyes, filled with terror, fixed on the distant tree line.
A second later, without looking back, he fled at full speed.
Late that night, Sarutobi Hiruzen had finished a busy day and was preparing to rest when his office door was pushed open by a guard. The guard's expression was barely controlled panic.
"Hokage-sama, it's terrible! Our border with the Land of Rivers has been occupied by the Sand Village army!"
Even the usually composed Sarutobi's eyes widened instantly.
After a brief moment of shock, he said in a low voice, "Summon everyone."
"Yes!"
The guard obeyed and left.
Sarutobi rubbed his eyes and settled heavily into his chair, his face weary. A dark cloud of furrowed brows settled over his expression.
The Hidden Sand Village's army had launched a surprise attack on the Land of Fire.
The village had received no prior intelligence warning of any kind. Was the Land of Rivers involved? Had the Sand Village reached some kind of secret cooperation agreement with the Land of Rivers?
Even for Sarutobi, who prided himself on staying composed, the situation rattled him. Once a war broke out like this, clear thinking was difficult.
They had already received a signal. And they had used this method of all things. Moreover, it was still considered the most difficult scenario to respond to, being attacked by an enemy who had taken the initiative to strike first.
In an instant, Sarutobi's thoughts began tracing back through all the intelligence and information related to the Sand Village from recent times.
The Sand Village's sudden military campaign, appearing as a complete surprise attack. Given the village's current state after losing its Kazekage, any attack of this scale must have been planned long in advance.
"Since when did this begin?" Sarutobi narrowed his eyes and muttered to himself.
The Sand Village no longer had its Kazekage. Without a leader, a village should naturally be in a weakened state. Yet they had clearly not allowed that situation to paralyze their development.
Who had given them this strength? Whoever was responsible for this could not possibly have been unaware of the price of war. If they had dared to attack, they had come fully prepared.
Very quickly, the entire senior leadership of Konoha arrived in response to the summons. The speed was remarkable. Not only Utatane Koharu, Mitokado Homura, and Danzo, but also Orochimaru. All the major clan leaders. The heads of each village agency.
And those among the younger generation who had already demonstrated their talent and stepped onto the battlefield. The village had begun relying on this new generation to represent its fighting capacity.
Everyone was ready for battle. The atmosphere was heavy.
They had already received the relayed battle reports and studied them. The conclusion reached caused everyone's spirits to drop further.
It could now be confirmed that their border had completely fallen. Conquering an entire war zone in that amount of time, even accounting for the limited number of troops stationed there, was enough to prove that the Sand Village had arrived with an overwhelming force and had planned this campaign well in advance.
"Judging from the timing of the battle reports, the situation is very unfavorable for us," a senior official said in a low voice. "Our people must have been almost entirely wiped out by the Sand Village, otherwise we would have received the news far earlier.
Who is commanding the Sand Village army to achieve results at this level? The Three Kazekage?"
The question hung in the air.
Could the Kazekage still be alive? Could the entire disappearance have been a staged deception designed specifically to mislead the outside world in preparation for this very attack?
"No. From our intelligence analysis, the Third Kazekage has genuinely disappeared. For quite some time now, the village's affairs have been managed by that elder, Chiyo. The scale of the commotion within Sunagakure during that period was too significant to have been fabricated. It does not appear to be a performance."
"The village immediately enters full combat readiness!" Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe, not participating in the discussion further, and gave the order to his subordinates.
After speaking, he looked at one specific person. "Mobilize troops and proceed to the combat zone as quickly as possible."
"I have already notified them," the person replied.
"Not only the border of the Land of Rivers, but also the borders with the Land of Earth, the Land of Lightning, and even the coastal areas must be prepared for defense," Sarutobi said, his voice measured and deliberate.
"The great war has broken out, and the enemies Konoha will have to deal with are definitely not limited to the Sand Village. News of this war will spread quickly, and it is possible other villages already know about it.
Once the rumors circulate fully, these old rivals of Konoha will certainly seize the opportunity to invade. Remember, because of the disappearance of the Third Kazekage, the Sand Village stirred considerable unrest throughout the ninja world and already planted the seeds for a war that could escalate to a full-scale conflict involving all the great villages.
Several villages have been sensing the coming of war for some time now."
He paused.
"When conflict erupts, it comes down to who takes the first step. In other words, Konoha is not currently in a position to commit its forces fully to the Sand Village's battlefield alone.
Even with a significant disparity in military strength, annihilating an entire Sand Village army would not be accomplished in a day or two. Moreover, the enemy came well prepared.
If we cannot return forces to defend our other borders or mobilize troops in time, then the situation of the Sand Village's army breaching a border could repeat itself on a different front. We must prepare for potential enemy movements from every direction."
He looked around the room.
"This applies not just to Konoha, but all Five Great Ninja Villages must exercise extreme caution right now. We were caught completely off guard by the Sand Village's ambush."
Thinking of this, Sarutobi's gaze moved briefly to Danzo.
He was fully aware that Danzo, having already assessed the Sand Village's current condition, had been certain they would never dare to initiate a war. And yet they had.
Not only had they chosen to attack, they had struck first. And their first move had been ruthless.
Danzo noticed the gaze from his old friend and was completely unmoved by it. His expression showed no remorse or unease whatsoever. His face was calm and expressionless as though the circumstances were simply a problem to be solved rather than a mistake to be acknowledged.
Sarutobi was not in the mood to settle accounts with Danzo right now. The war took priority over everything else.
Looking at the people assembled before him, he felt something even more clearly than before. Compared to the previous Great Ninja War, this conflict meant the village could not appoint many of its key figures to simultaneously assume large responsibilities across multiple fronts.
The entire border region of the Land of Fire could become a series of large-scale battlefields simultaneously.
Under circumstances of insufficient top-tier combat power at the very highest level, the only viable approach was to allow the new generation to fill the gaps and begin receiving genuine battlefield experience. For the younger generation, this was also an opportunity, as painful as the circumstances creating it were.
"Orochimaru, you will immediately lead your troops toward the Land of Rice Fields and pay close attention to the movements of the Hidden Cloud Village."
He continued without pause.
"Ichiro, Ibaraki, Aokiji, you will lead your respective groups to the Land of Grass to defend against any potential attack from the Hidden Stone Village."
Sarutobi laid out the battle plan quickly and precisely. Konoha was deeply experienced in this type of warfare. The lessons from the Second Great Ninja War were embedded in everyone present. These people knew what needed to be done and what had to be avoided.
"Yes."
The acknowledgments came one after another.
Sarutobi Hiruzen then turned his gaze to the younger faces in the room.
...
Bonus@900