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On the northern front, Taiichi helped push Cloud back for the moment. But Cloud wasn't stupid.
They quickly pieced together what was happening on the western front and realized Taiichi was using Flying Thunder God to jump between battlefields.
One man could only be in so many places at once. He could keep one front together, but two fronts meant gaps. Cloud learned their lesson. They stopped launching big, flashy assaults. Instead they ground forward slowly, bleeding Leaf forces and forcing Taiichi to keep splitting his attention.
While Cloud played the long game in the north, the Hidden Mist Village held its own war council.
Inside a wide meeting hall, the Third Mizukage sat with the village's top brass. The message from the western front had reached them. Leaf had taken heavy losses and just sent reinforcements west. Their village was stretched thin. Mist could strike now and actually make it count.
"Kage-sama, make the call already," said Kaguya Kuma, head of the Kaguya clan. The man was a born war hound. If Cloud's people were brutal, the Kaguya were straight-up insane. Even the other Mist clans kept their distance.
"Exactly," added Hozuki Chojuro—no, wait, the elegant black-haired man was Hozuki Asuka, head of the Hozuki clan. His voice was soft, almost feminine. "Leaf is already fighting on three fronts. They just suffered a defeat. This is the perfect time to kick them while they're down."
Hozuki Asuka leaned forward. "If we win, we can seize the Land of Waves and turn it into a permanent foothold on the continent. A bridgehead for Mist."
Ghost Lantern Hoshizuki, head of the Hozuki clan, spoke last. His voice was quiet but carried real weight. "Mist needs a foothold closer to the mainland. This is our chance."
The Third Mizukage looked at the oldest man in the room—the elder Genji, who sat with his eyes half-closed like he was already asleep.
"Genji-dono, what do you think?"
The old man didn't even open his eyes. "I'm too old for this. You young ones decide. Just call me if you need a witness."
The Mizukage's blood was already running hot. He had kept Mist out of the last war on purpose, letting the village grow strong in the shadows. Now the opportunity had finally come.
He looked around the table. Every clan head was waiting, eyes burning with hunger.
"Very well," the Mizukage said. "Mist formally declares war on Konoha."
The room erupted in unified shouts.
Mist moved fast. That same day they dispatched their elite unit—the Seven Ninja Swordsmen—to land on the eastern coast of the Land of Fire. Their mission was simple: infiltrate deep into Leaf territory, wreck supply lines and logistics, and soften the village up for the main invasion force.
News of Mist's declaration reached Konoha almost immediately, along with desperate calls for help from the eastern coastal outposts. The Seven Swordsmen were already cutting through everything in their path.
Hiruzen called an emergency meeting in the large jonin hall. Normally this room hosted full jonin assemblies. Today it was packed with clan heads.
The reason was simple: Konoha had almost no spare manpower left. The western front had already taken most of what they could spare. Pulling more people would leave daily missions undone and piss off clients. Hiruzen needed the clans to lend their own shinobi.
"Everyone here knows the situation," Hiruzen said. "Mist is coming hard. Our eastern outposts are screaming for help, but the village has no one left to send. Leaf belongs to all of us. In this moment of crisis, I'm asking every clan to send fighters to the front."
The clan heads stayed quiet. Sending family members to war was one thing. Losing them was another. They looked at each other, waiting to see who would move first.
Just as Hiruzen was about to push harder, Uchiha Fugaku spoke.
"Leaf is our home. As one of the founding clans, the Uchiha will not stand by while the village is threatened. We will send two hundred of our own to fight Mist."
A ripple went through the room. Two hundred was a huge number. Fugaku wasn't just offering troops—he was offering real strength.
Then Fugaku stood up. "As clan head, I will lead them personally."
The silence that followed was deafening. Even Hiruzen and the two elders stared.
Hiruzen recovered first. If the Uchiha were stepping up this hard, he couldn't look weak.
"The Sarutobi clan will also send two hundred shinobi," he declared. "I may be old, but I won't ask others to bleed while I stay safe."
Hiashi Hyuga clenched his jaw. No way was the Hyuga going to be shown up by both the Uchiha and the Hokage's own clan.
"The Hyuga will send one hundred and fifty," he said.
After that the dam broke.
The Nara, Yamanaka, and Akimichi each offered one hundred. The Aburame sent eighty. The Inuzuka sent ninety. Smaller clans added what they could.
In the end they scraped together roughly twelve hundred clan shinobi. Combined with the eastern outposts and whatever the village could scrape from daily operations, they had a force of about two thousand.
It wasn't huge, but it was enough to meet this immediate threat.
Hiruzen smiled, the Will of Fire shining in his eyes. "Where the leaves of Konoha dance, the fire burns on. New buds will always sprout in the light of that fire."
He heaped praise on the clan heads. They had come through when it mattered.
Then came the next problem.
Who would command this force?
The Sannin were the obvious choice, but Jiraiya was on the southern front, Orochimaru was on the northern front, and Tsunade was still missing. No one else had the strength and reputation to keep the Uchiha and Hyuga from killing each other in the same army.
After a long, tense discussion that went nowhere, every eye turned to Hiruzen.
The Hokage rubbed his temples. Danzo's failure had made him doubt the elders' ability to lead in the field. He couldn't afford another disaster.
For a moment he wished Tsunade were here. Then an idea struck him.
Taiichi had been keeping in contact with Tsunade. More importantly, Taiichi's Water Release was nearly as strong as his Fire Release. On a coastal battlefield against Mist, that would be a massive advantage. And as an outsider with no clan ties, he could command respect without triggering old rivalries.
Hiruzen made his decision.
"I already have a commander in mind," he said. "Give me a little more time to confirm. Return to your clans and prepare your fighters. I'll give you a final answer soon."
Once the clan heads left, Koharu spoke up. "Hiruzen, are you sure we have someone left who can handle this? If not, I'll go myself. At least I can keep the clans from tearing each other apart."
"No," Hiruzen said flatly. "We cannot lose this fight. Danzo's defeat already showed the other villages we can be beaten. If we lose to Mist as well, every village will come running to tear off their own piece of us."
Koharu and Homura went pale. They hadn't fully grasped how close to the edge Konoha actually was.
"Then what are you planning?" Homura asked.
"I'm going to bring Tsunade back," Hiruzen said. "And I'm pulling Taiichi off the western front. His Water Release will give us the edge against Mist on the coast."
"What about the western front?" Koharu protested. "Taiichi is the only reason we're still holding there. And Orochimaru still needs him on the northern front too."
Neither elder had realized how far Taiichi's influence had spread. He was now the glue holding multiple fronts together.
Hiruzen didn't answer. He was already thinking about how to convince Tsunade to return—and how to explain to Taiichi that he was about to be asked to fight on yet another battlefield.