Kumo had never been one to swallow its pride, especially not when it came to being wronged.
And now A, the heir to the Raikage title, had just been brutally beaten by Hyuga Soushu into something resembling a shattered shadow of himself. Although Kumo's medical ninja later confirmed there would be no impact on actual function, there was inevitably some degree of effect.
Upon learning about the catastrophe from the Southern Border, Third Raikage flew into such rage he smashed his office into a pile of ruins. Had it not been for the intervention of a few still-rational Kumo Elders, he might have actually ordered the entire village to mobilize southward immediately and declare full-scale war on Konoha!
But after venting his fury, Third Raikage began thinking more clearly.
His question was: Why had Konoha, which had always maintained a polite and cooperative demeanor—a spirit of shared prosperity—undergone such a sudden and drastic change in such a short time? So much so that they've actually attacked Kumo, who hasn't officially joined the conflict since the start of the Second Great Ninja War. And they even seemed eager for a bigger war!
Everyone knew A was the acknowledged heir to the Raikage title—wasn't attacking him tantamount to provoking Kumo's most sensitive nerve?
Going back further, ever since the Kumo units embedded in the southern buffer states under contracted missions were suddenly eliminated by Konoha, things had started going wrong.
As these thoughts crossed his mind, a shadow fell over Third Raikage's heart.
"Any intel on what Konoha's up to lately?"
he asked.
"Sakumo Hatake has already left the Land of Fire's western front line and will soon arrive at the Northern Border to assume battlefield command. In addition, Konoha's mobilized forces are ready and expected to reach the border within three days."
One Kumo Elder reported.
Ever since Takahiro Uchiha took over the existing intelligence network of the Northern Front and proceeded with mass executions—eliminating nearly every spy even slightly suspected of disloyalty—the double agents originally embedded within Konoha's Border Force by Kumo also suffered collateral damage. Coupled with direct disruptions caused by subsequent battles like the Northern Border Purge and the surprise attack on Hakone, Hidden Cloud Village Headquarters' once highly efficient intelligence network temporarily developed an irreparable void. The information now available to the headquarters mostly consisted of isolated fragments purchased at great cost from the black market.
However, certain truths couldn't be explicitly conveyed to the village leader himself, so the intelligence-keeping Elder could only offer vague responses.
"How many troops has Konoha mobilized? And from which clans were the ninja drawn?"
Third Raikage pressed further.
"Roughly around eight thousand."
The Elder gave a somewhat exaggerated estimate.
"Eight thousand?"
Instantly, the Raikage grew calmer.
Such a scale of mobilization was no longer just indicative of a mere border skirmish.
Though most hidden villages usually have tens of thousands of ninja, many are spread out across the country or assigned to administrative and support duties, so the actual number available for battle isn't that high.
Therefore, 8,000 ninja already represented nearly a full village-wide mobilization!
Of course, even though Kumogakure had long sought to become the strongest Hidden Village, it still recognized that Konoha's current power stood unmatched across the Ninja World. This was an undeniable truth. Thus, although the Third Raikage found this shocking figure hard to believe, he simultaneously considered much more.
"Is Konoha preparing for a total extermination campaign against our village?"
The Third Raikage's expression immediately darkened.
"Not exactly. The initial mobilization from Konoha wasn't that large—eight thousand must represent their full-scale mobilization objective."
A Kumo Elder quickly clarified: "Specific intelligence is still awaiting reconnaissance from our hidden operatives!"
"In that case, good."
The Third Raikage snapped back to reality and breathed a sigh of relief.
Even though the Third Raikage often showed disdain for Konoha in front of his subordinates and frequently criticized the current Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, for his supposed incompetence to boost his own prestige, the Third Hokage remained a legendary shinobi acknowledged across the Ninja World—an existence that demanded utmost caution.
Additionally, there was Soushu Hyuga, who had recently taken office and brought immense trouble to Kumogakure, as well as Sakumo Hatake, who was about to arrive at the front lines.
The Third Raikage rubbed his face and abandoned all vengeful plans previously brewing in his mind before declaring, "It's high time our village fully mobilized!"
"Yes sir!"
Upon hearing the report of 8,000 mobilized ninja from Konoha, other Kumo Elders were similarly startled. Naturally, they harbored no objection whatsoever toward the seemingly rash command issued by the Third Raikage.
After all, they knew their own weaknesses best. During the later stages of the First Great Ninja War, when Konoha and Kumo had formed an alliance, the Second Hokage Tobirama Senju had been killed by the rebel forces of Kinkaku and Ginkaku from Kumogakure. It was only natural for Konoha's leadership to harbor resentment and desire revenge against the Kumogakure faction.
"Raikage-sama, how many ninja do you think should initially be mobilized?"
Another Kumo Elder stood up and asked.
"Three thousand!"
The Third Raikage replied decisively, "And they must complete assembly and supplies within three days and reach the southern front line within five days to take over defense duties!"
"No problem!"
The Kumo Elder answered resolutely.
"Additionally, notify the Two-Tails Jinchuriki—he should head south as well!"
Still feeling uneasy, the Third Raikage continued adding measures: "If Konoha invades from the north before our full mobilization completes, then the Jinchuriki may use the forbidden technique without restraint!"
"I'll make sure it gets done."
The Kumo Elder hesitated slightly before nodding in agreement.
This so-called forbidden technique referred to allowing the Two-Tails Jinchuriki—who hadn't yet achieved perfect synchronization with her tailed beast—to fully transform into the beast form, thereby unleashing maximum destruction. However, since her control and communication with the Two-Tails paled in comparison to the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, who was regarded as the next Raikage's right-hand man, the transformation would indiscriminately attack all living beings, friend or foe alike. In other words, this would essentially amount to mutual annihilation!
Thus, one could see just how immense the pressure was on the Third Raikage—the leader of an entire Hidden Village—when that intelligence officer so recklessly spouted reckless nonsense like that!
The elder could only keep his grievances to himself at this moment. Truth be told, the intelligence he had reported earlier was nothing more than a guess. If he admitted that now, given the Third Raikage's temperament, he might very well die on the spot!
So all he could do was pray that the spies hidden in Konoha would bring back solid intel soon enough to make things right. Otherwise, when the truth eventually came out, he'd still end up paying the price.
While the Land of Lightning was intensively mobilizing its Ninja Forces to move southward, the Hidden Rain Village in the Land of Rain officially launched a massive offensive. The entire Rain Ninja Forces, led by Sanshouo Hanzo, initiated a desperate counterattack against the Konoha invaders who occupied the eastern regions of the Land of Rain, vowing to completely eradicate the presence of Konoha Ninja from their homeland.
Anticipating this, Orochimaru quickly ordered the scattered Konoha ninjas stationed across various occupied territories to mount a staunch defense and counterattack.
In no time, the eastern region of the Land of Rain once again plunged into brutal and merciless warfare.
After Konoha occupied the eastern part of the Land of Rain, they intentionally supported local collaborating forces. These opportunistic fence-sitters were the first to face Rain's counterattack. To ensure their presence or movements weren't detected by the people of the Land of Rain, Konoha mercilessly executed all native Rain citizens within their deployed areas under the pretext of anti-espionage efforts. Because of that, even before the main armies clashed, the eastern Land of Rain—just barely stabilized—erupted in smoke and blood again, quickly becoming a living hell.
Although the Rain ninjas launched a determined and fearless counteroffensive and managed to upgrade their equipment after seizing Iwagakure's supplies, both their individual abilities and gear level remained far inferior to Konoha's well-trained and disciplined Ninja Forces.
As such, by the second day of their counterattack, the Rain ninja units were gradually halted by Konoha's defensive counter-strategy of scorched-earth tactics and fighting while retreating. Several Rain units even suffered heavy losses due to intermittent Konoha counterattacks and traps, ultimately being easily crushed.
In fact, aside from the elite force personally commanded by Sanshouo Hanzo, the massive Rain offensive was almost entirely dismantled by Konoha within a single day!
"Prepare for battle."
After marking the situation map detailing enemy and allied positions, Orochimaru said quite satisfiedly, "All Rain offensives have been stalled. Currently, only Sanshouo Hanzo's Directly Commanded Unit continues advancing deep inside our lines but has already become separated from the rest of the Rain forces. Our tactical objective has been achieved!"
"It actually went smoothly enough to trap this smug fish right into our pincer formation. It's truly unbelievable,"
Jiraiya muttered in amazement as he observed the map alongside others. "Looks like that old lungfish really is too ancient to recognize the changing battlefield. He kept charging headfirst into the trap!"
"Probably because of excessive self-confidence," Tsunade casually replied, "those so-called seasoned veterans always boast about their youthful exploits and refuse to listen to anyone else's opinions."
"Then why does it sound like you're talking about Sarutobi-sensei?"
Jiraiya immediately stepped closer and said, "As long as you're happy!"
Tsunade couldn't be bothered to explain further.
"There's something off with you," Orochimaru observed after glancing at Tsunade, expressing his judgment.
"I guess so," Tsunade replied while massaging her temples. "Dan wrote yesterday saying he has accepted the village's temporary conscription and will be transferred from the Herb Country to participate in the battle along the Northern Front."
"That guy again!" Jiraiya muttered discontentedly.
Orochimaru didn't say anything else but continued studying the map on the table, repeatedly reviewing for flaws within his strategies.
The three of them really went all out preparing for this battle. They not only set up multiple traps according to the Rain ninjas' attack direction, but also broke down specific combat objectives for each ninja force unit all the way down to the squad level. Even a contingency plan for Iwagakure's sudden assault was prepared by Orochimaru, making the entire plan practically bulletproof.
As for Sanshouo Hanzo who was currently advancing forward with unstoppable momentum, the confident trio regarded him simply as a dead man walking.
Within the Land of Fire's Northern Front headquarters, after resolving the confrontation triggered by the Hokage faction ninjas, Saemon Sarutobi, the Reinforcement Unit's deputy commander, had already fallen far behind in the struggle. He gave up entirely.
There was no other choice—Hatake Sakumo's attitude had been just too terrifying. His determination to provoke civil conflict just to eliminate rival factions shocked the previously self-satisfied Hokage faction ninjas into submission.
Therefore, Sakumo Hatake smoothly implemented a series of personnel adjustments afterward.
Firstly, they resolved the issue of free personnel transfer between both sides originally negotiated with Hyuga Soushu; over one hundred shinobi from the Border Force operational squads deployed within the Northern Border Buffer State requested transfers, which were approved by Soushu Hyuga and these defensive zones subsequently handed over to the Reinforcement Unit for control.
Meanwhile, more than four hundred clan-ninjas originally belonging to the Reinforcement Unit chose to join the Border Forces, a decision Sakumo Hatake swiftly endorsed without hesitation.
After the dust settled, the Direct Command Units had taken quite a hit numerically. But viewed differently, both sides purged factional influences internally—making it a win-win situation.
At the same time, Sakumo Hatake systematically dismantled the pre-existing squad-level or higher formations among the Hokage faction ninjas, integrating them with the ninja forces under Koryo Jonin's control.
As for the clan-based shinobi who had gathered based upon family ties, Sakumo Hatake refrained from imposing additional interference, since these shinobi were already mobilized from their respective clans, rarely cooperating with other village ninja beforehand. Keeping them organized within their family units might better unleash their fighting capabilities.
Just as Sakumo Hatake was busily deploying his troops and arranging strategic positioning, Takahiro Uchiha, responsible for intelligence, returned with urgent news.
"Kumo has already dispatched three thousand ninja soldiers to the old site of Hakone."
Upon receiving the report, Sakumo Hatake couldn't help but remark, "Lord Third's judgment still holds true—Cloud's wolfish ambition never dies. Judging from this deployment, they clearly have already made full preparations for total war!"
"Possible Jinchuriki confirmed arriving at Hakone. Kumo is definitely going all-in!"
Hyuga Soushu, however, was focused on a different angle. "I wonder which one we'll face — the Two-Tails or the Eight-Tails?"
His tactics proved relatively ineffective against tailed beasts and other large summoned creatures — a common shortcoming among most ninja.
"Hyuga-kun, what do you think we should do?" asked Sakumo Hatake.
"Kumo has already revealed their intentions. Instead of staying defensive, why not take the initiative and advance northward again?"
Hyuga Soushu shrugged lightly and voiced his opinion.
"That makes sense," Sakumo Hatake nodded thoughtfully. "If that's the case, perhaps large-scale Ninja Force assaults aren't necessary. Squad-level infiltration and elimination might be more effective."
"Precisely. Small units of Ninja Force continuously harassing and attacking to wear down Kumo's resolve, then swiftly deploying heavy forces at the right moment for a decisive strike!"
"As long as we launch attacks from multiple directions simultaneously, we won't be restricted by mere jinchuriki."
"Then let's prepare to hold a war council."
Sakumo didn't add anything else. "By the way, for this operation, Hyuga-kun, what kind of code name do you think we should choose?"
"[Cyclone!]"
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