When Kyusei returned to the Konoha camp with Meixiang, it didn't cause much of a stir. At most, a few people were curious about the appearance of such a soft-looking, fragile girl inside a military encampment.
But none of that mattered now.
What truly mattered was Iwagakure.
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki of the Two Scales, was a narrow-minded, stubborn old man who never forgot a grudge. Once he learned that his son, Kitsuchi, had died at Konoha's hands, there was no chance he would let it go.
Konoha was already fighting on four fronts. There was no room for the slightest mistake.
Between passive defense and active offense, the difference was simple:
Passive meant getting beaten.
Active meant beating others.
This, Hiruzen understood perfectly.
But with such limited manpower, how could they take the initiative?
Send too few troops, and it would be nothing more than delivering themselves to the enemy.
Send too many, and once Iwa pinned them down, both the Wind and Lightning Countries would immediately reinforce, sharply increasing pressure on the River Country and Frost Country fronts.
With only two or three thousand ninja, it was impossible to withstand a great village head-on.
Not to mention that the Raikage, Kazekage, and the jinchūriki of the two villages still hadn't appeared.
One wrong move—and it would be total annihilation.
A decapitation strike was an option: send Kage-level combatants along with a handful of elite jōnin to raid Iwagakure directly.
Hiruzen considered this plan inside the central command tent.
If they were to strike Iwa, he and Kyusei were indispensable. Orochimaru could also be counted.
As for Jiraiya…
The moment that name surfaced in his thoughts, Hiruzen's brows knitted tightly.
No.
Jiraiya wouldn't do.
As if passing judgment, Hiruzen drained the tea in front of him in one gulp.
Staring at the now-empty cup, his gaze lingered.
Konoha was like that cup of tea—surrounded on all sides. No matter how fluid water was, once encircled, there was nowhere to escape.
They had to break one side of the encirclement first. Only then would there be room to breathe.
The fighting in the Grass Country had temporarily settled. Even if Ōnoki was furious and wanted to mobilize his forces for a counterattack, it would still take time.
Having lived through both the First and Second Shinobi Wars, Hiruzen knew this well.
No matter how efficient ninja movement was, preparations alone required at least three days.
Before troops moved, supplies moved first.
This rule applied everywhere.
Logistics were always the slowest and most troublesome part of warfare.
And that meant—within this brief window, he could knock one opponent flat.
Hiruzen stood up and turned toward the map of the shinobi world behind him.
His hawk-like gaze locked onto a land covered in endless yellow sand.
Even beasts without intelligence knew to pick on the weak.
And the Wind Country was neither too big nor too small—a perfectly sized soft target.
The Rain Country had only Hanzō of the Salamander, and Amegakure's overall strength couldn't compare to a great village.
No matter how weak Sunagakure was, it was still far stronger than the Rain Village.
If they chose the Rain Country, it would mean nothing to the so-called Four-Nation Alliance.
Besides, Danzō was still in the Rain Country, and there had been no news from him yet. Presumably, everything was under control.
Their surprise assault on the Grass Country front wouldn't stay hidden for long. They had to move—fast.
Speed was everything.
And no matter what, the enemy would never expect that Konoha—having just crushed the Grass Country battlefield—would immediately turn around and strike the Wind Country from across thousands of miles.
Decision made, Hiruzen wasted no time. He immediately instructed the ninja guarding the tent entrance:
"Go bring Kyusei and Orochimaru."
Originally, Hiruzen had intended to send Jiraiya back to Konoha.
But now, he couldn't.
If Orochimaru left the camp, this front would be leaderless.
At this point, Jiraiya couldn't return to the village either.
Before long, Kyusei and Orochimaru arrived one after the other.
"Old man, what is it?"
Seeing the sharp look in Hiruzen's eyes, Kyusei's spirits lifted.
The last time Hiruzen had worn that expression was when he led the surprise strike on the Grass Country battlefield.
Was the old man planning something big again?
Hiruzen ignored Kyusei's rudeness. He was already used to it.
In fact, being addressed like this made their relationship feel closer.
Pointing at the Wind Country on the map, Hiruzen spoke coldly:
"Next, we force the Wind Country out of the war."
Orochimaru's eyes instantly lit up.
Yes.
The Shinobi Hero was still the same Shinobi Hero.
"Old man, you mean… defeat them one by one?" Kyusei asked.
"Impossible," Hiruzen replied calmly.
"Ōnoki isn't an idiot. It won't take long for him to learn that we're here."
"He won't give us the chance to dismantle them piece by piece."
Then he smiled—a smile filled with absolute confidence.
"But the problem is, he can't know that fast."
"By the time he realizes what we're doing and tries to merge the allied forces to deal us a decisive blow—"
"The alliance will already be missing an arm."
Four-against-one was too much.
But three-against-one?
Still impossible?
And when the time came, he would drag Yagura in as well. If the Mizukage didn't want to become prey, he would have no choice but to fight for Konoha.
"Then… how do we get there?" Orochimaru asked, frowning.
The distance from here to Sunagakure was no joke. Even at full speed, without rest, it would still take two full days.
At that, Hiruzen silently pulled a three-pronged kunai from his robes.
Kyusei's eyes lit up instantly.
kaoru 's Flying Thunder God Technique.
Summon kaoru , use Flying Thunder God to jump directly to the River Country battlefield, avoid the Sand's frontline troops—and stab straight into Sunagakure's heart.
As Hiruzen channeled chakra into the Flying Thunder God kunai, far away, kaoru —who had been catching rabbits to improve rations—suddenly looked up.
The rabbit that had been chewing grass vanished in fright.
This chakra…
The Third Hokage's Flying Thunder God kunai.
Without hesitation, kaoru disappeared from where she stood.
In theory, Flying Thunder God was spatial teleportation.
For space, one meter and ten thousand meters were no different—the start and end points were both infinite.
The hardest part of the technique was sensing the spatial marker. If someone on the other end injected chakra into the mark, it could greatly reduce the user's chakra consumption.
And so, the very next second—
kaoru appeared right in front of Kyusei.
To be continued.
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