Keshi Nara acted surprisingly fast.
In what felt like half a day, he successfully gathered and tactically arranged elite ninja from seven operational squadrons totaling nearly five hundred men. Additionally, he obtained a substantial amount of ninja supplies from Hyuga Soushu.
Hyuga Soushu was equally pleased with Keshi Nara's perceptiveness, since muddying the waters suited his own agenda perfectly.
At the same time Keshi mobilized his forces, he joyfully celebrated with Kohai Sarutobi, both anticipating the imminent outbreak of war. Their personal troubles would become negligible flaws amidst the full-scale clash between two great ninja villages. Of course, ideally they'd defect from the Northern Border Defense Force right after the surprise attack on Hakone Prefecture but before the overall Hidden Leaf war broke out—then bid farewell to Hyuga Soushu forever!
Although neither side fully understood the other's secret plans or true intentions, at least in terms of actual actions taken, it could truly be described as mutual pursuit.
Of course, as Chief of Staff of the Ninja Force, Keshi naturally didn't neglect intelligence work.
Though he had previously delegated his intelligence duties to Uchiha Takahiro—and though Takahiro had purged every last spy Keshi had planted—Keshi still prudently acquired vague reports about Hakone Prefecture currently being under martial law directly from Takahiro, which increased Keshi's sense of luck—and caution.
"It might simply mean heightened readiness," he speculated while traveling covertly toward the Land of Lightning, discussing Kumo intel with the seven jonin commanders. "Or it could mean Kumo forces are already approaching."
"Whatever the case, we mustn't cling to hopes that Kumo is all city and no defenses. We must prepare ourselves for brutal combat!"
"These people are our real capital!"
One jonin commander muttered discontentedly, "And we've commanded them for years now. Can't exactly force these loyal subordinates into suicidal missions."
"Yeah," another jonin quietly added, "that'd make us the kind of person we used to hate most."
Five other jonin commanders—including Kohai Sarutobi—nodded in agreement.
"You actually dare mention the [Will of Fire]?"
Keshi almost sneered in disbelief.
Greedy? Selling secrets? Keeping quiet on purpose? Even working with Kumo? As long as I say '[Will of Fire],' I'm still a good Leaf ninja, right?
"All right, enough chatter," quickly interjected Kohai Sarutobi, attempting to mediate this argument before internal conflict brewed.
"I shouldn't need to lecture you lot about preparedness versus disaster!"
But Keshi wasn't done—not by a long shot. His face darkened further as he scolded, "Whether Kumo's prefecture is already on guard or not, if any of you lack determination for life-or-death battle, then all you'll receive from Kumo will be crushing retribution!"
"Kumo is nothing special. We've seen their kind before."
Clearly, although they came from the same interest group, opinions among these mission-leading Jonin were not unified.
"Hmph! Putting that aside, those brutes from Kumo did show some grit during the annihilation of the camp in the Land of Rice Fields."
Another leading Jonin decided to shift the topic.
"Sigh... If only we had Byakugan users under our command! Then we wouldn't need to sneak forward so painstakingly."
Then, without missing a beat, they shifted the conversation collectively into a grumbling session about how disgracefully Hyuga Soushu had treated veteran leaders of the Ninja Force.
As for Nara Keshi's warning about preparing for bloodshed—sure, they heard him, but did they really take it seriously? Not exactly.
Sarutobi Kōhei simply patted Nara Keshi on the shoulder, subtly indicating to this chief of staff—who lacked field command authority and thus wasn't taken seriously—to keep his remarks to himself.
"Speed up!"
With a frustrated growl, Nara Keshi activated [the Shifting Body Technique] and surged ahead of the vanguard units, despite the risk of exposing their position.
Inside the city of Hakone Prefecture, a Kumo scout ninja swiftly flickered through the southern sky, leaping over the towering city walls. Under escort by Kumo shinobi stationed within the city, he arrived at A's secret command center.
Through combined efforts from A and several Kumo Jonin, they had successfully formulated a plan for a lightning raid into the Land of Fire and a surprise strike against Konoha's border forces. Now, the troops were already prepared and just waiting for nightfall to begin covert operations.
They had no choice but to march under the cover of darkness—to evade Konoha's Byakugan scouts. While nighttime didn't significantly impair the long-range vision capabilities of the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, splitting forces into smaller waves during movement could at least decrease the likelihood of detection.
Moreover, despite having stealthily advanced all the way from Raimei Canyon, base of Kumogakure, A—who led the operation—felt no fatigue due to his powerful abilities. However, many middle-ranking Chunin serving as the backbone of his forces couldn't keep up with the relentless pace for long. Rest was essential.
"Honorable One!"
Arriving at the command post, the Kumo scout wasted no time with formalities and rushed to report, "There's been a communication blackout at civilian watch posts in the southern region. We haven't received any carrier pigeon messages from the border toward the prefectural city for nearly an hour!"
"What?!"
A's expression immediately turned grim.
The outposts maintained by Kumo weren't composed solely of shinobi.
Besides patrol units from the Border Forces, the Land of Lightning had also mobilized large numbers of armed civilians along the borders. These people often lived as hunters or herdsmen, performing patrols around the frontier while regularly releasing carrier pigeons to send reports to ninja watchtowers.
Meanwhile, Keshi Nara's unit, which had stealthily approached with the aim of seizing Hakone Prefecture city, moved relatively covertly—but even with five hundred ninja, complete concealment was impossible. Since initiating stealth infiltration, Keshi Nara's unit had automatically entered combat readiness mode, eliminating every person they encountered along the way.
However, even someone as intelligent as Keshi Nara hadn't anticipated that Kumo would directly use such massive numbers of ordinary citizens for defense, nor expected them to carry so many carrier pigeons for instant message transmission.
And just as those civilian patrols were easily eliminated by the advancing Konoha ninja, what had once been an airtight border across the Land of Lightning now revealed a critical blind spot directly pointing toward Hakone Prefecture city. For the Kumo ninja responsible for intelligence operations, there was no doubt that a mysterious force from the south was now moving northward!
So what are you waiting for?! Run back to the city first!
"Why didn't you release a ninja hawk to report earlier?"
Another Kumo Jonin inside headquarters questioned sternly, "You're delaying the battle!"
"The moment I released the hawk, it was shot down."
The Kumo scout ninja answered calmly without anger, "Moreover, the other comrades from our watchpost who covered my retreat should have all sacrificed themselves for the village by now."
"I was wrong!"
Without hesitation, the Jonin who had questioned him immediately apologized to the scout.
Criticism is one thing, but so are mistakes — and it's precisely this balance of fairness and courage, from the Raikage down, that keeps Kumo united.
"Do you know how many of them there are?"
After pondering briefly, A asked another question.
At the same time, he made a hand signal ordering the squad leader Jonin inside the command center to go outside and summon the Ninja Force to prepare, leaving behind only his personal trusted ninja.
"Cannot confirm"
Shaking his head, the scout honestly replied, "What we can confirm for sure is that the first one who stormed into our watchpost was Keshi Nara, the Chief of Staff of Konoha's Border Forces!"
"A Ninja Force Chief of Staff"
A's eyes widened slightly in shock, speaking in an almost surreal tone, "In that case, Konoha has already launched an undeclared war against us!"
"How underhanded!"
The trusted ninja quickly chimed in, "But when faced with true power, those Konoha weaklings will shatter like fragile eggs striking against mountains before our brave Kumo ninja!"
Ignoring his sycophantic aide, A continued asking, "Also, how much time did it take for you returning to the city?"
"Approximately forty minutes"
The scout answered immediately.
"Forty minutes"
Looking at the map on the table, A suddenly broke into a sinister grin, "Looks like those Konoha ninja should be arriving shortly!"
Just as he finished speaking, deafening explosions erupted from all directions
"BOOOOM!!! BOOOOM!!! BOOOOM!!!"
Ear-splitting detonations rang out as explosive tags exploded. Hakone Prefecture city's walls shattered into pieces, flung high into the air like sandcastles caught in surging waves!
Consequently, shockwaves resembling raging ocean tides spread outward, even shattering glass within the command center!
"Just how many explosive tags did they use?"
Staring wide-eyed, the trusted ninja couldn't help exclaiming.
"The Sarutobi and Uchiha clans from Konoha produce the highest-quality explosive tags in the entire Ninja World"
Standing up, A explained while twisting his neck which cracked loudly, "Nevertheless, explosive tags are nothing but children's toys; for our loyal and courageous Kumo ninja, only our intrinsic taijutsu and ninjutsu serve as foundations securing our survival and strength!"
"My men!"
Taking a deep breath, A roared out with a voice shaking the battlefield, "Follow me and kill the enemy!"
Before he could finish shouting, A had already leapt forward first, drawing attention from every Konoha ninja present!
"There he is!"
Standing atop a building's vantage point overlooking the entire city, Keshi Nara immediately spotted the sudden appearance of a black-skinned Kumo ninja. His expression instantly changed.
As Chief of Staff for the Border Forces, Keshi had considerable knowledge about their hypothetical enemy — Kumo. Although they'd never met before, he'd at least seen intelligence images of A and was quite familiar with his physique and physical features.
But what he hadn't expected was for such an influential figure from Kumo to coincidentally appear in Hakone Prefecture city!
"Could the intelligence be wrong?"
Keshi quickly realized something might be off, drawing in a cold breath as he felt the situation becoming complicated.
Yet there was no turning back now. At the same time earth-release ninjas were dispatched to destroy the city walls, Konoha ninjas had already entered the city in squads, engaging in brutal combat with the defending Kumo ninjas stationed throughout various locations. With fighting already underway, retreat had become impossible.
"Whoosh!"
Without hesitation, Keshi fired a blue signal flare into the sky.
Immediately afterward, he used the Shadow Clone Jutsu to replace himself with an illusion while his real body slipped underground using the cover provided by the Shadow Secret Jutsu.
This signal flare carried no specific meaning — it was simply launched to create confusion and disrupt the morale of the Kumo forces.
"Border Forces, have three platoons move southward to provide perimeter security!"
However, to the unaware A, this blue signal flare clearly signaled Konoha summoning reinforcements!
Therefore, based on his elite-level ninja training, A quickly made what he believed was the appropriate response.
Then he immediately Body Flickered straight toward Keshi who was still at the vantage point.
[Four-Finger Drill!]
The moment he engaged, A immediately unleashed a close-combat technique unique to the Raikage lineage of Kumo. He released chakra through his fingers which merged together, forming a chakra-infused hand blade that aimed directly at Keshi's chest!
[Shadow Imitation Technique!]
But just as A attacked while moving through the air, Keshi seized his opportunity, controlling A's body through the Shadow Secret Jutsu by manipulating the shadow cast on the ground below!
But before Keshi could follow up with stronger techniques, the restrained A suddenly vanished in a puff of blue smoke!
"What?"
Keshi's face instantly turned pale!
In an instant, a shadow appeared behind him.
"Puchi!"
A thick palm pierced straight through Keshi's chest!
At some unknown moment, A had already replaced himself with a clone using a secret technique, leaving only a decoy to attack, even deliberately allowing himself to be captured.
Meanwhile, his real body had already positioned itself directly behind Keshi, piercing through his chest with Four-Finger Drill to kill this formidable enemy.
But right at this moment, A's expression also dramatically changed!
"The feel is wrong!"
Experienced killers understand well that the sensation of striking a real human body is completely different from hitting a shadow clone, just like how a ninja's flesh and blood feels entirely unlike a Shadow Clone.
An experienced fighter like A immediately sensed something was off about Keshi from the feel of the strike.
"Bang!"
Keshi likewise dissipated into blue smoke under this critical hit!
"It's actually a shadow clone!"
A's eye twitched suddenly. He sensed things were getting tricky!
Throughout the Ninja World, Nara clan shinobi were always seen as tactically brilliant and intelligent, but people often forgot their combat artistry forged through intellectual dominance.
At this moment, A's true body also felt completely numb, instantly becoming unable to move at all!
Yet in that split second, A forced his chakra out violently to escape the Shadow Imitation Technique's grip.
[Shadow Strangulation Jutsu!]
As he sensed the binding power of the imitation technique about to break, Keshi Nara immediately unleashed an upgraded version of the Shadow Secret Jutsu. The shadow coiled upward along A's legs, creating stronger sealing and restraining sensations wherever it passed. It reached his throat, aiming to finish him off in one swift move.
[Lightning Release Chakra Mode!]
A roared furiously, exploding with chakra violently and shattering the Shadow Secret Jutsu's hold!
[Lightning Rage: Horizontal Cut!]
Breaking free, A rushed forward in a flash, propelled by explosive chakra toward what seemed to be Keshi Nara's real body, and slammed an elbow into him, sending his opponent soaring!
Yet again, Keshi Nara simply dispersed into midair as a puff of blue smoke!
"Another shadow clone!"
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