Bonus @400 PS
...
The Hidden Stone Village would soon be drawn in as well. Those who liked to stir up trouble would certainly not sit still once the wider situation deteriorated.
The scenario Konoha had faced during the Second Great Ninja War would repeat itself. Multiple battle lines fighting simultaneously.
Even if Hiruzen did not immediately return to the village, as Konoha's overall situation worsened across multiple fronts, he would inevitably be forced to pull back.
The reason everyone was so wary of Hiruzen on the battlefield was simple. A Kage-level unit was truly not something that could be disregarded.
Compared to the core forces within Konoha's army, the Sand Village's current advantages lay in only two areas: the Puppet Masters and the medical team.
To prove their individual combat capability and to give the Sand Village a genuine path to defeating Konoha, his and Sasori's performance on the battlefield was indispensable.
But as long as Hiruzen remained present, both of them had to act with extreme caution.
Winning the first battle was already something difficult to repeat. With the Third Hokage on the field, if large-scale fighting resumed, the result might be something the Sand Village could not withstand.
And small-scale conflicts were also difficult for him and Sasori to participate in freely, because he was deeply wary of Hiruzen using them as bait to draw him out.
The moment he and Sasori showed their faces clearly, Hiruzen was highly likely to suddenly move against them. Having lived two lives, he was more than familiar with this particular method of drawing out a target.
Although the people of this world were perhaps not as calculating as he sometimes imagined, and retained a degree of relative straightforwardness, caution was still essential.
He could not be fooled by Hiruzen's seemingly kind and benevolent attitude toward the younger generation of the Leaf Village. That warmth existed because they were his own people.
Conversely, if Yuji were in Hiruzen's position, he would absolutely prioritize eliminating himself and Sasori first. He would never leave them unattended on the battlefield.
As time had passed since transmigrating into this world, he had gradually integrated more deeply into it, gaining experience and perspective that allowed him to view people and situations with greater nuance.
As the saying went, the older the ginger, the spicier it gets. Who could have guessed that the seemingly gentle Hiruzen carried what he carried underneath that exterior.
The critical thing was that Hiruzen needed to leave the front line first. Only then would his and Sasori's capabilities have the greatest room to develop and operate.
They could completely overpower the younger clan disciples within Konoha's army without that variable present.
"First, slow down and delay the harassment operations on the Land of Fire border. After the Hidden Cloud Village enters the war, the Hidden Stone Village will follow. I want to see how long the Third Hokage can remain on this battlefield."
He smiled slightly.
"Understood," Shimizu nodded.
"Tell the village to have the factory increase production capacity for the new medicine."
Yuji relayed the instruction to his subordinate.
"Yes."
The subordinate turned and departed.
Their conflict with Konoha was drawing attention from every direction across the ninja world. In the first battle against Konoha, although the Sand Village had been driven out of the Land of Fire, they had inflicted the most severe blow Konoha had suffered in recent memory.
This outcome had been largely unexpected by the other ninja villages watching from the sidelines.
Soon, news of the Sand Village holding its own against Konoha through medicinal resources and the Military Music Dream would spread widely. This would function as the most powerful advertisement imaginable for their new industry.
Not bad at all. Using Konoha as the proving ground to create the most valuable and effective marketing campaign available. It was entirely predictable that with this opening battle as the foundation, other ninja villages seeking to defeat Konoha on their own battlefields would spare no expense purchasing Sand Village medicinal supplies.
When that moment arrived, the money would come naturally.
Time passed slowly, day by day.
Konoha and the Sand Village clashed frequently within the borders of the Land of Rivers, battles that appeared fierce from the outside but were mostly minor engagements.
Beyond the direct fighting, both the Sand Village and the Leaf Village employed a variety of other methods. Assassination operations, intelligence gathering, supply acquisition, prisoner capture.
These were simply the most common tools of a prolonged war. In extended conflict, competition between villages was never purely about military strength and combat power. Intelligence gathering was equally critical.
As time went on, the information both sides held about the other would inevitably become clearer and more complete.
At that point, the situation would revert to something resembling the long grinding conflict between the Sand Village and the Hidden Stone Village. The battlefield would become a more monotonous place.
Without the variable of Yuji and Sasori intervening at key moments, the battle would settle into a stagnant war of attrition, both sides simply seeing who could last longer.
Even the most innovative tactics would gradually lose their effectiveness as both sides grew familiar with each other and their tactical value diminished accordingly.
This situation, however, was genuinely beneficial to him personally.
The outbreak of the Great Ninja War was good for the village, but it was also good for him. With the battlefield multiplier active, the rate and volume of experience points he was accumulating had skyrocketed.
Both categories of experience points were rising rapidly. This left him physically and mentally exhausted at the end of every day.
But before going to sleep each night, looking at the assets panel in the system, he could not help but feel a deep and tangible sense of satisfaction.
That particular mood was disrupted without warning one day by an unexpected development.
The Sand Village's stronghold in the Land of Rivers, which they had arrived at under cover of darkness after receiving the news, was positioned in the relative safety of the rear behind their main front line against Konoha.
For Konoha to infiltrate this location would have been extremely dangerous under normal circumstances. This stronghold served as the Sand Village army's primary supply storage point. A warehouse, to state it plainly.
This included pharmaceutical resources.
A prolonged war consumed tremendous amounts of material. The army's logistics operation had become critical to everything.
The village would periodically transport supplies to the battlefield based on front line needs, ensuring the army received timely replenishment.
Among all the supplies, medicine was the most important and the most valuable to the Sand Village. Their medical team had been relying on these medicines to sustain the survival capabilities of the entire fighting force and had managed to remain locked in this prolonged engagement with Konoha because of them.
And now, every single medicine stored inside the base had vanished without a trace.
Gone completely.
Understanding the situation immediately, he analyzed what had happened.
"Namikaze Minato."
He said the name quietly.
The location of this base was a closely guarded secret even within their own army. Very few people knew of it. Given the critical importance of the supplies, he had intentionally kept them separate from the main army headquarters, concealing them here precisely to prevent this kind of loss.
And yet Konoha had found it anyway.
Fortunately, the volume of stolen medicine was not large. It had been a fresh shipment that had only just arrived from the village. Stocks had not yet accumulated to a significant level. Had the theft occurred later, the loss would have been considerably more damaging.
Within the Leaf Village army, only one person possessed the kind of ability required to accomplish this without leaving a trace. The Flying Thunder God Technique.
Using space-time ninjutsu to navigate directly to the storage point, seal everything into scrolls, and vanish before anyone could respond.
"He is a master of his craft. Capable of transporting that many items at once, sealing them within scrolls during the operation. Only he could have done this."
Yuji pressed his lips together.
"I said it before. During this period, although Konoha appeared to be actively fighting us on the battlefield, their personnel deployment has never been particularly sharp or aggressive.
It seems they were providing cover for a theft operation in the rear, deliberately drawing our attention to the front while Minato moved behind us."
This was genuinely a move he had not anticipated.
"The future Fourth Hokage, famed for the Flying Thunder God Technique. Why not put those skills to use as a thief?"
He narrowed his eyes and cursed internally.
Whose idea had this been? The Third Hokage? Konoha wanted their medicine badly enough that when they could not obtain it through battle, they resorted to stealing it directly. And they had succeeded.
"This is not even a matter of dignity anymore."
He turned and looked at Shimizu standing beside him, slightly breathless from having rushed here after the news arrived, and gave him a look that communicated everything without needing words.
"I told you. That old man is also extremely cunning. We cannot afford to be even slightly careless around him."
Shimizu was silent for a moment, visibly flustered for the first time, gritting his teeth.
"That old man..."
...
Stones PLzzz.
If you're enjoying the story and want to support me, consider joining my P2reon! 35 Advanced chapters are available there, so you can read ahead whenever you like @keepsmiling818 p2reon