Both Kumo's intense reaction and the Leaf's hardline position were beyond Hyuga Soushu's initial expectations.
Legally speaking, after the First Great Ninja War, those buffer states between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning had already been incorporated into Konoha's sphere of influence, becoming one of Konoha ninja's exclusive territories. Within these regions, Konoha enjoyed far more freedom than the local daimyo himself. This was also one of the reasons why the Five Great Hidden Villages were so eager to compete for mission quotas and engage in foreign wars—in short, everyone needed a herd of cows they could keep milking without having to feed.
Therefore, it was only natural for Konoha's Border Force to eliminate unknown intruders within their territory—neither Konoha nor Kumo had any real cause to protest.
But the problem was, Soushu never expected those mid-level Jonin officers within the border forces to be bold enough that their misconduct couldn't simply be described as tolerating enemies for personal gain—they had even reached the point of secretly colluding with foreign villages!
Moreover, previously, in order to smoothly profit from the Northern Border Buffer States, Kumo had spared no effort in bribing various Konoha Jonin officers stationed along the border with generous kickbacks. At one point, the kickbacks received by Konoha Jonin were even greater than what Kumo ninjas executing the actual missions got!
Thus, after Keshi Nara launched a lightning raid to eliminate the infiltration unit, Kumo, which had originally believed it had secured Konoha's commitment and could rest easy, suddenly plunged into complete fury—what followed was no longer just a simple border skirmish as Soushu had initially anticipated.
Of course, what Soushu didn't know was that when they discovered the misdeeds of those Konoha Jonin stationed in the north, Konoha's F4 were furious enough to want them executed on the spot. However, since they couldn't confirm how much evidence Kumo actually possessed, they could only cover up their crimes through war and had no intention of mediating or diffusing tensions.
"That old fox really knows how to roll the dice."
After thinking it through repeatedly without understanding, Soushu could only shake his head in resignation before heading toward the temporary conference hall to give those Jonin officers a lesson.
After dispatching over five hundred elite ninja northward to raid the Land of Lightning, although thirteen operational squads still officially existed within Konoha's border forces across the Northern Border, in reality, fewer than five hundred personnel remained.
After all, despite the element of surprise during the campaign against Kumo's infiltration forces, Konoha's ninja forces still suffered losses. Adding to this were the injured already sent back to the rear base for medical treatment and some elite forces temporarily borrowed by Keshi Nara, leaving only a limited number of active combat units still deployed outside.
Therefore, when Soushu ordered the summoning of these squad leaders, the only thing they could do was obediently comply—even if they arrived at the Daimyo's court in the Land of Rice Fields and still ended up waiting fruitlessly, they didn't dare utter even a word of protest.
When the balance of power is stacked against them, people don't have much choice but to obey.
During the waiting process, the thirteen Jonin officers sat in silence, the atmosphere extremely oppressive.
Creak!
Just as the Jonin officers bored themselves exchanging glances, Soushu finally pushed open the door and entered.
"Lord Soushu!"
The Jonin leaders immediately stood up to bow, their manners nearly impeccable.
"Seniors, your courtesy is too much."
Hyuga Soushu's face beamed with a warm spring breeze; nothing seemed amiss.
"You flatter us. It is merely our duty as subordinates."
However, being addressed as "Sempai" without warning sent a chill down the spines of the Jonin leaders, who immediately feared that Hyuga Soushu was scheming against them again!
"The village has decided—we will fully counterattack Kumo's invasion."
Hyuga Soushu first dropped a bombshell, then began sipping tea leisurely while observing the reactions of the Jonin leaders.
"What!"
Because of the information gap between both sides, these Jonin leaders, already mediocre in strength, had no idea this decision had long been widely known among Konoha's top leadership and clan heads. Upon suddenly hearing this news, they were instantly stunned.
Their first reaction was disbelief—at least outwardly. After all, Konoha's traditional stance, when described generously, was seen as tolerance; more cynically, it was often viewed as cowardice!
Moreover, such an abrupt turnaround was highly abnormal.
For Konoha, which sits atop the prosperous Land of Fire and benefits from numerous vassal states, external warfare offers extremely low returns.
After all, as long as one is diligent enough to take missions, Konoha ninjas generally live quite comfortably during peacetime. Despite many shortcomings within the village and frustrations toward its leadership, at least when it comes to quality of life and safety, Konoha absolutely surpasses the other Four Great Hidden Villages.
Of course, no Konoha ninja had any real desire to pick a fight on their own. Since Konoha's founding, apart from the golden era before Madara Uchiha deserted the village, Konoha had never launched a war against another ninja village.
Therefore, this sudden change left an immense shock on these Jonin leaders!
Yet soon, amid their worries, they secretly felt some joy—if war indeed broke out between villages, wouldn't the little troubles they previously had simply be shelved?
A crisis, after all, brings danger but also opportunity!
Although the Jonin leaders didn't ask further questions, they exchanged glances that conveyed mutual understanding.
After slowly finishing a cup of tea, Hyuga Soushu finally placed his cup down.
Immediately, the Jonin leaders adjusted their sitting posture, composed themselves, and adopted respectfully attentive expressions to await the commander's instructions.
"Keshi Nara, Chief of Staff, has led forces northward—the outcome remains uncertain for now."
Hyuga Soushu spoke slowly, "But based on the latest intelligence... things look dire."
The Jonin leaders couldn't help but let out sharp gasps.
The seven deployed operational squads were already elite units among the twenty stationed at the Northern Border; indeed, these same squads formed the backbone of the Northern Border Defense Force. With such reasoning, if Keshi Nara's raiding force really encountered trouble, wouldn't the entire northern defense line become...
Just thinking about this possibility made the Jonin leaders restless with anxiety.
Their subordinates were still scattered across various buffer states along the Northern Border!
Plus, they had temporarily left their units to attend this meeting. If Kumo suddenly launched an attack, terrible consequences might follow!
"Rather than waiting passively for the enemy to attack us, we should take the war directly into the Land of Lightning."
Hyuga Soushu ignored his subordinates' uneasy expressions and continued, "Besides, even if Chief of Staff Keshi Nara's unit truly encounters disaster, we'll still be able to provide timely reinforcements, preventing our elite forces from being completely wiped out."
The Jonin Squad Leaders grew even more anxious.
Was he planning to lead them—these experienced Jonin—abandoning scattered forces stationed across various locations, and form a specialized Jonin combat unit heading north?
But thinking again, maybe that wasn't such a bad idea after all.
After all, their lower-ranked ninja weren't really capable of much in combat anyway. A full-strength Jonin squad would definitely be more direct and effective!
"Honorable Soushu," one of the Jonin commanders raised his hand cautiously, "is the intelligence reliable?"
After exchanging glances, these Jonin were generally willing to accept Hyuga Soushu's plan of deploying only elite forces—but this acceptance depended entirely on whether the intelligence was trustworthy.
And while the questioning Jonin outwardly wanted to confirm the reliability of the intelligence, what he really needed to know was exactly what kind of attack had struck Chief of Staff Keshi Nara's unit. Could these Jonin reinforcements actually save anyone? That was the real issue. None of them wanted to rush forward only to throw away their lives.
"This intelligence isn't guaranteed authentic."
Hyuga Soushu shook his head and then fully disclosed the information gathered by Uchiha Takahiro. "According to current estimates, approximately 400 to 800 ninja from Kumogakure have arrived from the Hidden Cloud Village headquarters."
"That range is too broad!"
The Jonin commanders exchanged worried glances.
Plus, even when combined with Kumo's existing ninja forces already deployed along the border, those numbers still shouldn't pose a serious threat to Chief of Staff Keshi Nara's unit. Based on traditional experience, even if they couldn't win, Nara—renowned for his tactical brilliance—should at least be able to orchestrate a successful retreat.
So then, was there really any need to redeploy their own elite Jonin northward?
For a moment, the Jonin commanders began doubting both Hyuga Soushu and the village's decision to declare war over just a small number of Cloud ninja. Why rush to declare war so impatiently?
Faced with growing doubt from the Jonin, Soushu calmly added one final sentence: "Sakumo Captain will soon arrive at headquarters to assume command of operations against Kumo!"
"Ssssh…"
The Jonin leaders collectively sucked air through their teeth again.
If the village really did send someone like Sakumo Hatake to the Northern Front, then declaring war must absolutely be a firm and genuine decision!
"Honorable Soushu, then regarding our orders..." Kouriba Izawa, the Jonin commander of the Second Battalion, quickly raised his hand as if to ask something.
"The headquarters cannot afford heavy casualties!"
Hyuga Soushu cut him off directly, bluntly stating, "Moreover, before achieving a decisive victory in the Land of Rain, the village won't be able to spare many additional ninja forces heading north. Therefore, any conflict with Kumo will necessarily remain limited to border areas and the southern part of the Land of Lightning."
As for whether Konoha could actually secure a victory in the Land of Rain, despite repeated military reinforcements sent there, Soushu remained cautious—even pessimistic—since Sanshouo Hanzo had not yet officially moved against Konoha.
Without the Land of Rain's decisive defeat, the legendary status of "The Sannin"—the Hokage's most prominent pupils—would never have come to be. Even Hyuga Soushu had returned to the village specifically to avoid this near-certain loss!
"It's not a Village-destroying battle!"
A few Jonins couldn't hide their disappointment.
On second thought, though, a limited-scale conflict wasn't all that bad—it meant fewer chances of being treated like cannon fodder in the war machine.
"We must act swiftly. All Jonins, report to your HQs for immediate preparations, then follow me northward!"
Hyuga Soushu calculated the timing. No matter how slowly Keshi Nara's troops moved by stealth, they should already be engaging Kumo's forces stationed at Hakone Prefecture city. Therefore, leaving as soon as possible might still allow them to arrive just in time.
However, what neither Hyuga Soushu nor the thirteen assigned Jonins had anticipated was that right after releasing the messenger hawks to inform each detachment unit, Uchiha Takahiro hurriedly arrived and reported urgent intelligence!
"What?! Northern Ninja Force utterly defeated?!"
Hyuga Soushu was instantly shocked.
The Jonins exchanged glances, clearly at a loss.
"Yes. Kumo's force is personally led by A, the heir to Raikage. No one in our Ninja Force can match him in combat."
Uchiha Takahiro reported solemnly, "Moreover, this intelligence came through an absolutely secret 'Ninja Cat' channel operated by our spy embedded within Hakone City. The authenticity of this intelligence has been verified."
"This is a huge problem now."
Hyuga Soushu couldn't help but rub his temples, feeling rather troubled. "If Kumo overwhelms us completely, even our rear camp won't be safe anymore."
Currently, though the thirteen detachments nominally numbered nearly five hundred, along with several hundred reserve ninjas training under the Instructor Corps at camp, they were too scattered and lacked the coordination to mount an effective joint response. If Kumo indeed advanced aggressively, there was a real possibility of hundreds of enemy ninjas breaking through the northern front of Fire Country.
Should things truly escalate that far, regardless of how strong his political support was, the consequences for Hyuga Soushu—who had always walked on wire strings—would leave him either defecting out of self-preservation or dying in battle to atone for his failure.
"Takahiro Jonin, return immediately to the rear base camp. Take command of the Ninja Force and coordinate the defense efforts!"
Hyuga Soushu made his decision promptly. "Furthermore, send additional messenger hawks to inform your subordinates. Mobilize one full Squad from each unit to move into the Land of Lightning and make every effort to rescue retreating comrades beyond our borders!"
"Understood!"
The Jonins didn't hesitate, quickly pulling out summoning scrolls and writing brief encrypted messages before dispatching their messenger hawks.
"Move out!"
The Jonins acted swiftly, completing Hyuga Soushu's orders in less than three minutes. Following his lead, they dashed toward Hakone Prefecture city in the Land of Lightning.
Under constant surveillance using Byakugan by accompanying Hyuga ninjas, they encountered a small group of Konoha ninjas fleeing south in retreat merely fifty kilometers within the Land of Lightning.
"Do not panic! Immediately join formation and follow me north to fight!"
Hyuga Soushu shouted immediately.
"This..."
This ragtag group of survivors looked visibly reluctant to comply.
Hyuga Soushu didn't bother wasting words either. He immediately pulled out the sealing scroll and unsealed a newly repaired Torch Pole weapon from within it, staring at these defeated ninja with his [Byakugan] fixed and unblinking.
"We hear and obey, Lord Soushu!"
Under Hyuga Soushu's deadly gaze, the defeated ninja quickly made the obedient choice. Nervously, they then turned north again under the watch of the Uchiha guards assigned by Soushu.
"Lord Soushu!"
After rounding up over forty defeated ninja one after another, the Hyuga scout responsible for checking ahead suddenly cried out, "We've discovered a battlefield up front—one of the fighters is none other than A from Kumo!"
"Speed up! We must rush to support them!"
Hyuga Soushu immediately issued the order and was the first to dash forward using Body Flicker.
Meanwhile, the six Uchiha ninja who had accompanied the team northward forcefully pushed the dispirited defeated ninja to quicken their pace, trying to form at least an outward appearance of a proper battle formation.
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