Logically speaking, everyone here is an elite ninja. Even if the five great villages have gathered together, things should still look orderly.
However, reality was the opposite.
The ninjas from the five great villages were clearly hostile toward each other.
It couldn't be helped. Not to mention the countless lives lost in the three Great Ninja Wars—just during normal missions, there were already many killed by ninjas from other villages.
And those who died could very well have been the friends or family of the ninjas standing here now.
As the saying goes, enemies meeting face-to-face burn with rage.
The fact that no fights had broken out between the villages was already thanks to the leadership of the respective Kage.
Fortunately, this tension didn't last long.
The next morning, Gaara, the commander of the Allied Shinobi Forces, gave a passionate speech.
His words helped the ninjas temporarily put aside their past grudges and begin to accept the reality of turning enemies into comrades.
"Hokage, about the reinforcements you mentioned—why haven't they shown up yet?"
At the command center, just as Gaara finished his speech and the army was preparing to move, Raikage A was still brooding over the reinforcements Tsunade had mentioned the day before.
"Raikage, why are you panicking? The reinforcements should arrive around two in the afternoon."
Satisfied with the answer, A stopped asking.
But Ōnoki couldn't help but ask, "Hokage, can you at least tell us—how strong are these reinforcements you spoke of?"
The forces sent by the five great ninja villages were already at their limits.
In the Konoha camp, Ōnoki had seen Kakashi, Might Guy, and other well-known shinobi of the ninja world.
He truly couldn't figure out how Tsunade still had any reinforcements left.
Don't tell me she's planning to send out freshly graduated genin to fill the ranks?
If that's really the case, then they're not reinforcements—they're cannon fodder.
"Relax. Their strength will definitely surprise you."
To be honest, even Tsunade wasn't sure which ninja would be coming with her Second Grandpa and Jiraiya.
But what she was sure of was that her Second Grandpa, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru would definitely be coming.
As for the others, she wasn't certain.
"Since the Hokage says so, I guess I'll look forward to it then."
Seeing that there was no point asking more, Ōnoki stopped questioning and waited quietly to see how the battle would unfold.
"Speaking of which, today is actually my birthday!"
Today was Ōnoki's seventy-ninth birthday—also the day the Fourth Great Ninja War began.
Under Gaara's lead, the Allied Shinobi Forces began charging toward the Akatsuki's territory.
Kankurō led the surprise attack unit and moved ahead of the main force.
They were the first to run into a squad made of Edo Tensei (Reanimation Jutsu) versions of Deidara, Sasori of the Red Sand, and Sai's older brother, Shin—summoned by Kabuto.
The battle started with Deidara using Shin's body as a bomb, which enraged Sai.
Using Sai's Super Beast Imitating Drawing technique and Kankurō's coordinated attack, they defeated Deidara. Sasori and Shin's souls were also released, ending the Reanimation on them.
That fight went relatively smoothly for them.
But as they pushed forward, they ran into a second wave of Edo Tensei enemies—made up of Pakura, Zabuza, Haku, and Gari.
Luckily, Kakashi's Third Division arrived in time and reinforced them.
If they fought based purely on strength, the Allied Shinobi Forces would've taken out those four with minimal losses.
But those four didn't fight fair.
Seeing Kakashi and the others arrive, Pakura and Gari summoned another group of Edo Tensei—[the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist].
Still, even with that, after a bit of "friendly exchange" and a not-too-intense battle, the reanimated enemies were successfully eliminated.
With those enemies taken care of by Kakashi and the others, it marked the official start of the Fourth Great Ninja War.
Almost at the same time, the Allied Forces began their own battles across various locations.
Kitsuchi, leading the Second Division, encountered a White Zetsu army drilling up from underground.
Gaara, leading the Fourth Division, came face-to-face with the Edo Tensei Four Kage — the Second Tsuchikage, Second Mizukage, Third Raikage, and Fourth Kazekage.
Darui, leading the First Division, ran into the infamous Cloud Village traitors — the Gold and Silver Brothers.
If it were just those two, it wouldn't be that bad — but along with them appeared Kakuzu, Hyuga Hizashi, Sarutobi Asuma, Dan, and another White Zetsu force.
You could say that, except for the Second Division, every unit had encountered extremely troublesome enemies.
This situation made Raikage A seriously consider heading to the front lines himself.
Fortunately, Shikaku managed to stop him from acting on that thought.
But Raikage A clearly wasn't satisfied.
He frowned and looked over at Tsunade, asking seriously, "Hokage, where's the reinforcements you mentioned?"
"Judging by the time, they should be arriving any minute now."
Just as she finished speaking, several dark figures suddenly appeared inside the Allied Forces' command center.
"Who are you people?"
Raikage A slammed the table, his chakra bursting out instantly — ready to attack at the slightest sign of danger.
"Don't be so aggressive, we're here specifically to help you."
Hearing this, and seeing what these people looked like, Raikage A widened his eyes as if he had just seen something unbelievable.
"These are the reinforcements you mentioned, Hokage?"
That's right — the ones who had just arrived at Allied Headquarters were Konoha ninjas from the timeline of the Third Hokage.
Tsunade smiled faintly and said to Raikage A, "So? Surprised? Happy to see them?"
"This ain't happiness — this is shock!"
Raikage A looked a bit agitated. He pointed at the people in front of him and shouted, "Can you tell me why the dead—Orochimaru, Jiraiya, Minato Namikaze—are standing here? And… why are there two Tsunades?"
"Well, that's…"
Tsunade (the Fifth Hokage) rolled her eyes, clearly thinking of lying.
But just as she opened her mouth, Orochimaru interrupted her.
"Our time is limited. Are you sure you want to waste it on this?"
Only then did Tsunade remember—the people who traveled here from other timelines could only stay for an hour.
Considering the time they spent coming from Konoha's border, they had less than fifty minutes left.
"Raikage, we'll explain everything later. Right now, the most important thing is sending them to support the front lines."
Raikage A stared deeply at Tsunade, then nodded. "Fine. I'll leave this place to you."
After saying that, he turned and walked out.
As he passed by Minato Namikaze, he looked him over carefully.
He realized these people weren't summoned by the Reanimation Jutsu—they were real, living people.
Whether they were truly the originals or not, that was still unclear.
"Time is short. Tsunade, take me to the place where the twenty death row inmates are being held."
"Alright."
Tsunade nodded, then turned to Shikaku and said, "They have less than fifty minutes. You handle who goes where to support the front."
Shikaku didn't know why they only had fifty minutes, but he didn't ask.
He picked up a thin wooden pointer and started assigning people on the sand table map.
"No need to assign Jiraiya."
Hearing this, Shikaku looked up in surprise at the Fifth Hokage, only to find her gazing affectionately at Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya, just stay here and wait for me. When I get back, let's have a good talk."
"No way."
Hearing that, the Third Hokage Tsunade was absolutely furious.
Why did she even come here in the first place?
Wasn't it just to keep an eye on this old woman who's two years older than her?
She knew herself too well. After the incident with Jiraiya's death, there's no way she would let this version of Jiraiya go.
"No way? Who do you think you are? This is my turf—I make the rules!"
After saying that, the Fifth Tsunade ignored the Third Tsunade and turned to leave with Orochimaru, heading toward the place where death row prisoners were held.
"Damn it! That old woman is seriously the worst!"
With a loud crash, the Third Tsunade slammed her fist through the wall in anger, leaving Shikaku and the others drenched in cold sweat.
Shikaku: What the heck is going on? This Tsunade-sama doesn't seem like a fake at all...
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