Inside Konoha Village.
At the top floor of the Hokage building, a tense meeting was underway. The atmosphere in the room was heavy. Sarutobi Hiruzen sat at the center, while Danzo sat to his side.
"Sunagakure refuses to believe our explanation. They're convinced we're directly responsible for the disappearance of the Third Kazekage. The new Fourth Kazekage has already mobilized a large force and is advancing toward the borders of the Land of Fire. We must respond," Hiruzen said gravely, his eyes gleaming with concern.
The Third Kazekage had vanished, this had occurred roughly a month ago. Sunagakure had tried to keep the news under wraps, secretly searching everywhere for their Kazekage. But with no results, they ultimately concluded that Konoha had abducted him in secret, and formally declared war!
Sunagakure's declaration dramatically escalated the situation. Initially, Iwagakure's actions in the Land of Grass had only involved a small advance unit, little more than a probe with minor harassment and strategic positioning, not a full-scale confrontation.
But Sunagakure wasn't pulling any punches, they launched straight into an all-out assault!
"The Fourth Kazekage himself is leading the charge. I believe, Lord Hokage, that you should personally go to the front lines…" one elite Jōnin suggested solemnly.
Hiruzen's expression remained serious. He had, in fact, considered leading the frontline forces himself. But with Sunagakure's full-scale invasion now underway, there was no guarantee that Kirigakure or Kumogakure wouldn't make a move as well.
The countries housing those villages didn't border the Land of Wind and wouldn't benefit from invading it. If they took action, it would only be to exploit the Sunagakure offensive by launching raids against the Land of Fire.
"I'll go," Jiraiya said, rising to his feet. His expression was solemn and resolute. "Sensei, it's better if you stay in the village to deter any other villages from taking action."
Hiruzen looked at Jiraiya. He knew Jiraiya's strength well and would be reassured having him on the front lines. Still, with the scale of Sunagakure's attack, it would be a daunting task for Jiraiya alone.
"Danzo, go with Jiraiya," Hiruzen said, turning toward Danzo.
Danzo sat with his cane, eyes calm. He was just about to speak when Jiraiya interrupted.
"Danzo-dono should stay and keep an eye on Kirigakure. As for Sunagakure, if Minato and I go together, we can handle it."
"Hmm." Hiruzen considered for a moment, then nodded.
Danzo and Jiraiya had always been at odds, and it would be counterproductive to send them into battle together. Minato accompanying Jiraiya was a much better match.
"Next, we need to talk about troop allocation…"
Hiruzen's eyes swept across the room. In addition to elite Jōnin, many clan leaders; Uchiha, Hyuga, and others, were in attendance.
The true purpose of this meeting was to lay bare the seriousness of the situation and pressure the major clans to send their forces.
"If this is total war, then we'll follow the Hokage's commands," said the Uchiha clan leader calmly.
The Hyuga clan leader echoed the sentiment.
They all understood why they'd been summoned. With war looming, sitting on the sidelines wasn't an option.
"Good."
Seeing that all the clans had expressed their support, Hiruzen nodded in satisfaction and began distributing personnel files to organize the frontline defense against Sunagakure.
Just then, a member of the Anbu appeared, kneeling before Hiruzen and presenting a scroll with one hand.
"Lord Hokage! urgent report from the front!"
"Battle status?" Hiruzen asked, pausing and lowering his gaze to the Anbu ninja, his eyes flashing.
The Anbu nodded.
"Hmm. Then it should be good news."
Hiruzen accepted the scroll and unrolled it.
With Orochimaru leading the unit and Might Duy, a powerful wild card on hand, Hiruzen was confident that Iwagakure's plans wouldn't succeed.
As he skimmed the first few lines, his brow relaxed, confirming his expectations. He began reading aloud.
"Frontline report… Konoha's advance unit reached the border, tracked Iwagakure's forces, engaged them in the Wasteland Zone, and ultimately repelled them. over half of the enemy ninja were killed, and the Iwagakure vanguard was dealt a major blow."
The first line alone lifted the mood in the room. The clan heads visibly relaxed.
With Sunagakure launching a full-on invasion, receiving such a major victory against Iwagakure was a huge relief. The situation on the Land of Grass border was now stable, and there was no longer an urgent need to send reinforcements. They could wait and see how Iwagakure responded.
This allowed Konoha to focus most of its strength on confronting the Sand.
And for the clans, that meant fewer casualties.
"Well done, Orochimaru," Danzo remarked calmly, glancing toward Hiruzen.
From Danzo's perspective, the victory at the border was also a blessing. With Konoha's forces able to concentrate on defeating Sunagakure first, even a two-front war wouldn't be an issue.
"That guy Orochimaru is still dependable when it counts," Jiraiya added with a smirk. "Leave the Sand to me. I won't let them run wild!"
He and Orochimaru had always competed with each other. Now that Orochimaru had secured such a solid victory, there was no way he could fall behind.
Hiruzen continued reading the report, which included more detailed battle information and Konoha's casualties.
"…In this battle, our advance unit lost eleven men, with four seriously injured and twenty-one lightly wounded."
At this, Hiruzen's initial joy dimmed slightly.
Casualties were inevitable in war.
Losing eleven and seriously injuring four, in exchange for wiping out over half of Iwagakure's advance unit, was undeniably a massive victory.
"What about the battle details, Hiruzen?" Danzo asked.
Hiruzen nodded and read on.
"Orochimaru led our forces in pursuit of the enemy, located their position in the Wasteland Zone, and launched an ambush. our force numbered about 80, theirs 70, we held the advantage… However, nearly 30 elite Hidden Stone ninja were lying in wait, half of them Jōnin. They suddenly emerged from underground in a surprise attack…"
At this point, Hiruzen's voice trailed off slightly.
Danzo and the other clan leaders all turned serious, focusing intently.
Though they already knew the battle ended in victory, a surprise ambush from nearly 30 elite Hidden Stone ninja, including many Jōnin, must have created an extremely dangerous situation.
How had Orochimaru turned it around?
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