It had been nearly two months since Tsunade led reinforcements to support Jiraiya's unit.
Although numerous skirmishes had occurred over the past two months, they were mostly hit-and-run tactics.
The anticipated large-scale battle hadn't broken out yet.
In a dense forest near Amegakure, Konoha ninja had set up a temporary camp.
The endless drizzle continued, turning the forest paths into muddy trails.
The Konoha ninjas stationed at the frontline wore uniforms that were dirty and, in some cases, even tattered.
That was proof of their battles.
Inside a certain tent beneath dim lighting, Tsunade and several others sat around.
"What exactly are those guys planning?" Tsunade leaned forward, her hands pressing against the wooden table before her, her eyes filled with serious concern.
She had come as reinforcement upon receiving messages from Jiraiya, reporting that the other two of the Five Great Ninja Nations couldn't remain idle either.
Yet over these past two months, although there had been several confrontations, the other ninja villages didn't seem intent on starting a full-scale war.
Considering the national resources behind each village's respective country, sustaining large-scale ninja warfare for an extended period would certainly be a heavy burden.
The longer this dragged on, the more advantageous it became for the Land of Fire's side.
After all, this kind of war of attrition was exactly what the Land of Fire was least concerned about.
This was precisely Tsunade's confusion—surely the commanders of the other villages weren't foolish enough to engage the Land of Fire in a war of attrition.
So then, what exactly was the purpose behind their recent half-hearted performance on the battlefield?
Under the circumstances where interests among various parties were not balanced—thus triggering this Great Ninja War—no side would easily retreat without suffering significant damage.
After all, their opponents were also members of the Five Great Ninja Nations. A ninja world war involved not only interests but also prestige.
In fact, during the First Great Ninja War, The Second Mizukage of the Land of Water and The Second Tsuchikage of the Land of Earth both refused to admit defeat to each other, ultimately leading to their mutual destruction.
"We can't continue like this," Sakumo spoke, "delaying further will bring unforeseen changes. Although we've suffered no major casualties so far, the mental toll cannot be undone."
Constantly fighting in a foreign land with no fixed residence—Even a ninja would struggle with it.
Let alone being here in the Land of Rain, where it constantly rained.
"Yeah, but we mustn't act recklessly either," Jiraiya nodded in agreement, then turned his gaze toward the black-haired man beside him and asked, "What about our Intelligence Division? Have they discovered anything valuable?"
The black-haired man was the head of the Uchiha clan—Kai Uchiha.
Due to the natural advantages of the Sharingan from the Uchiha Clan and the Byakugan from the Hyuga Clan in intelligence gathering, ninja from these two clans formed a wartime intelligence division, which Kai Uchiha himself headed.
"No," Kai shook his head, replying, "the vigilance among the various ninja villages is extremely high. Even with our Sharingan and Byakugan, locating traces of enemy main forces has proven extremely difficult—not to mention getting any valuable intel at all."
Tsunade and the others furrowed their brows, but none of this could be blamed on Kai Uchiha. After all, the battlefield was in the Land of Rain. Before the Second Great Ninja War began, this small country—sandwiched between three great ninja nations—had imposed extremely strict controls on outsiders in order to survive.
As a result, even the Five Great Ninja Nations had very little intelligence about the Land of Rain. Even after the war began and each nation continuously gathered and organized information, these efforts moved quite slowly under combat conditions.
The Land of Rain may have been a small country, but hiding within it was surprisingly easy—especially considering that each village force numbered around a thousand ninja.
If simply tracking enemy ninja movements was already so difficult, then gathering valuable intelligence became an even greater challenge.
"The only thing left now is to wait and see how things develop…" Orochimaru rasped out in his distinctively hoarse voice. Konoha's forces assembled at Amegakure were indeed formidable—stronger than those from the other villages.
Among them were five elite ninja: Tsunade, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, Sakumo Hatake, and Kai Uchiha. Under their command were elite squads made up of Konoha's jonin, including former Anbu members.
You could say this entire unit was composed of nothing but top-tier ninja.
Except for the three youths who everyone else regarded as freaks.
...
At the edge of the temporary camp deep within the forest, Minato, Yan Uchiha, and Nawaki had been assigned to the same team.
The reason was simple—on the battlefield, no one would trust their six to three kids.
"So this is what they mean by the Great Ninja World War?" From among the rain-drenched leaves of a giant tree, Nawaki peeked out with a sour expression.
Since arriving at the battlefield, all three of them had been looked down upon.
He understood why—it was simply because of his young age.
He'd hoped to finally prove himself in real battle, but over the past two months, he hadn't even gotten a chance to fight during the minor skirmishes they encountered.
Nothing like the epic battle he'd been dreaming of.
He muttered bitterly to himself, but the forest remained silent. The other two seemed to have hidden even their breathing, and Nawaki couldn't determine their exact positions.
"Hey, you two! Don't you get bored like this? It's already been almost a week!" Nawaki shouted loudly, but still no one responded.
No reply came at all.
Disappointed, he could only grudgingly conceal himself once more.
About ten meters northeast from Nawaki's position, nestled inside a hollow of a large tree, Minato sat quietly in meditation.
Even so, every slight movement within a dozen meters around him appeared clearly in his mind.
Ever since gaining the Nine-Tails' chakra, his sensing ability had improved dramatically. He could now detect things that had once escaped him completely.
Before him stood a specially-made kunai vertically embedded in the ground.
...
And more than a hundred meters away, at the edge of this dense forest, Minato remained concealed among the branches of a huge tree.
The one staying with Nawaki and the others was merely a Shadow Clone. His real body was out scouting, and the purpose of leaving the clone behind was to deal with any Konoha Jonin who might come inspect at any moment.
Since joining the war, Minato had maintained a razor-sharp focus, because the course of events had already diverged greatly from the history he once knew.
Even though his current abilities were limited, and yet history had changed.
He didn't know whether this change was caused by his arrival in this world.
With his present capabilities, he had created a total of three Shadow Clones—one remained at home, while the other two spread out to the outer edges of the forest.
All this was to prevent any surprise attacks from rival ninja villages.
Just as he focused, powerful surges of chakra suddenly entered Minato's sensor range...
Moments later, he raised his eyes and looked. Outside the forest, over a thousand ninja were swiftly converging toward this area.
Judging from their uniforms, they were unmistakably Iwagakure forces!
...
...
Finally back home. I've fallen way behind, but here's what I'm going to do—three chapters today and six tomorrow, I'll make it up in full, promise! (To be continued.)
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