The battle reports from the Land of Wind and the Land of Fire were soon delivered to the Kage of the Lands of Lightning, Earth, and Water.
In the Hidden Mist Village—still desperately trying to lie low and recover—Yagura Karatachi stared at the report in his hands, momentarily dazed.
Blonde. Female.
Wasn't this the girl who stayed by the side of the Nine-Tails jinchūriki, Uzumaki Kyusei?
Flying Thunder God.
No–hand-seal ninjutsu.
Either of these techniques alone would already be shocking to the shinobi world.
The Flying Thunder God was a jutsu created by the Second Hokage, Senju Tobirama. He himself had earned the title of the fastest shinobi in history through this technique.
If not for the peace treaty signed between the Lands of Fire and Lightning during the Second Shinobi World War—and the subsequent rebellion of the Gold and Silver Brothers—
Tobirama wouldn't have needed to sacrifice himself to protect Hiruzen Sarutobi and the others.
If he had wanted to leave, no one in this world could have stopped him.
As for no–hand-seal ninjutsu, it outright created an unprecedented precedent in the shinobi world.
No matter what field it was in, going from nothing to something was always the hardest step.
Yet this girl had accomplished that very miracle.
And according to intelligence reports, she had already used Wind Release and Fire Release techniques of considerable power on multiple occasions.
Another genius?
Yagura Karatachi let out a soft sigh as he read the report.
Through the window of the Mizukage Building, he gazed out toward the Hidden Mist Village.
At the village's main gate lay an enormous crater, spanning an immense area.
That scar had been left behind by a Tailed Beast Ball used by the Nine-Tails jinchūriki before his departure.
It was also the scar of the Hidden Mist Village itself.
Why had he, Yagura Karatachi, lowered himself so far as to beg Konoha for an alliance?
Because he had witnessed the true power of the Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
If, after the fact, they stubbornly resisted Konoha—
Even if Konoha lost the war, as long as the Nine-Tails jinchūriki survived,
Konoha would still be Konoha.
Push him far enough, and Konoha could simply send the Nine-Tails jinchūriki to tour the major hidden villages one by one.
Perhaps the Hidden Cloud and Hidden Stone could barely hold out for a while.
But the Hidden Sand?
They absolutely couldn't withstand the power of the Nine-Tails jinchūriki.
They might even fare worse than the Hidden Mist.
The Land of Water relied on the sea—not only a natural geographical advantage, but also an inexhaustible treasure trove of resources.
As long as Yagura was given time, the Hidden Mist Village could recover.
But what did the Hidden Sand have?
That vast, desolate desert?
Yagura Karatachi chuckled softly, then spoke:
"Someone come in."
At once, a secretary in professional attire appeared before him.
"Have Kurotsuchi Raiga lead five hundred shinobi to Konoha in the Land of Fire. Say that this is all the support our Hidden Mist Village can provide."
And that was indeed the truth.
Aside from the shinobi required to maintain internal defense, the Hidden Mist Village truly couldn't spare any more manpower.
"Yes, Mizukage-sama."
Watching the secretary leave to carry out the order, Yagura Karatachi couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Mizukage…
He was probably the most miserable Mizukage in history.
—
Hiruzen Sarutobi was currently feeling both joy and worry.
Even though he had prepared himself long ago, Kaoru's excellence still exceeded his expectations.
As expected of the future Fourth Hokage.
Her very first battle had already delivered such a stunning performance—she hadn't wasted a single bit of his careful cultivation.
Yet what worried him was that Konoha had already displayed such overwhelming strength.
Now that the four nations of Wind, Earth, Lightning, and Rain had completely torn off all pretenses with Konoha, there was no way they would simply let this go.
The situation in the Land of Rivers was overwhelmingly favorable.
With Tsunade and Kaoru working together, the Sand shinobi were retreating again and again.
In both the First and Second Shinobi World Wars, the Sand had pushed all the way to Kikyo Castle, that border stronghold.
Now they hadn't even caught a glimpse of it.
On the Frost Country front, Hatake Sakumo had firmly pinned down the Hidden Cloud, and there were even signs of a counteroffensive.
Meanwhile, on the Grass Country front, Orochimaru and Jiraiya were locked in a stalemate with Kitsuchi.
Although Kitsuchi was reasonably strong, taken alone he was no match for either Orochimaru or Jiraiya.
The reason for the stalemate was the Hidden Stone's combined ninjutsu—it was simply too troublesome.
Joint techniques involving dozens or even hundreds of shinobi left even Jiraiya and Orochimaru without a good solution for the time being.
As for Danzo Shimura, who had gone to confront the Rain Country, there had been no news at all.
Still, Hiruzen Sarutobi had great confidence in his old companion.
Hanzo of the Salamander was strong—he even bore the title of "Demigod"—but at best, he was roughly evenly matched with Danzo.
That title existed largely because during the First and Second Shinobi World Wars, the Five Great Villages had been fighting so fiercely that no one had the time to deal with him.
With the major villages preoccupied, Hanzo had been allowed to rise.
When there are no heroes, even a nobody can become famous.
As for him naming the Three Sannin?
One had to remember how young Orochimaru, Tsunade, and Jiraiya were at the time.
Let Hanzo face any of the current Three Sannin now—
If they didn't beat his brains out, Hiruzen would take his surname.
All four battlefronts looked promising, but that was exactly what worried Hiruzen Sarutobi.
Konoha had already deployed nine thousand shinobi.
There weren't many left.
Scraping the barrel, they might be able to assemble another five thousand.
But the Lands of Wind, Earth, and Lightning still hadn't gone all out.
Leaving Wind and Lightning aside—
The Land of Earth alone had over ten thousand shinobi.
On the Grass Country front, Onoki of the Two Weights had only deployed four thousand so far.
At least seven thousand more had yet to move.
That was an enormous reserve force.
Not to mention the Explosive Corps, the Four-Tails, the Five-Tails—
And even Onoki himself had yet to appear.
The Hidden Cloud's Two-Tails, Eight-Tails, and the Raikage were also still absent.
As for the Land of Wind?
Hiruzen frankly didn't think much of the weakest of the Five Great Nations—
No, second weakest now.
Seated in his office chair, Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression was calm and unreadable, like a slumbering tiger.
His aged fingers tapped rhythmically against the armrest.
"Someone."
"Summon Uzumaki Kyusei."
If necessary, Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't mind being the first to deploy a jinchūriki.
In fact, he had already prepared himself to personally take the field.
This was both a calamity—and an opportunity.
If they survived this trial, Konoha would彻底 become a colossal hegemon of the shinobi world.
At that point, all of shinobi society would have to follow Konoha's lead.
Perhaps even—
Unify the entire world.
What Senju Hashirama couldn't accomplish,
He, Hiruzen Sarutobi, would.
His prestige would then surpass that of every Hokage in history.
Yet benefits always came with equal costs.
If he failed, Hiruzen Sarutobi would become Konoha's greatest sinner.
But now, an unprecedented gamble lay before him.
Konoha had never been this powerful.
Far beyond even the era of the Second Hokage.
How could Hiruzen Sarutobi not be tempted?
Without realizing it himself, a desire called ambition had already filled his heart.
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