Night fell, and all was silent.
A four-man squad moved swiftly through the forest, their figures cutting through the darkness with practiced ease—Sarutobi Hiruzen, Orochimaru, kaoru , and Kyusei.
A special team composed entirely of Kage-level combatants.
Originally, Sarutobi Hiruzen had not planned to bring kaoru along. If she left the River Country front, once Ebizō realized her absence, he would undoubtedly throw everything he had into suppressing Tsunade.
However, kaoru 's Flying Thunder God technique was simply too useful. Whether the raid succeeded or failed, it allowed them to disengage instantly.
After weighing the options again and again—combined with kaoru 's own insistence and Tsunade's confident guarantee—Sarutobi Hiruzen ultimately decided to bring her.
The wind rushed past their ears. Aside from the faint chorus of nocturnal insects, the night was deathly quiet.
Kyusei glanced back at the Sand ninja's forward encampment, now swallowed by darkness.
With Kagura Mind's Eye, he could perfectly avoid every Sand patrol. That was precisely why the four of them had slipped through Ebizō's border defenses without the slightest resistance.
All four were elite shinobi, unburdened by supplies. Moving at full speed, they crossed the entirety of the River Country in less than four hours.
Ahead, endless yellow sands came into view—the Wind Country.
Over sixty percent of the Wind Country was barren desert. Because of this, they couldn't sustain a large population and were desperate to expand outward, seizing more fertile land.
And the Land of Fire was the perfect target.
That was why in the First, Second, and now the Third Shinobi World Wars, the Wind Country had stubbornly crashed headlong into the Land of Fire every single time.
The River Country's terrain wasn't bad either—but the Land of Fire would never allow the Wind Country to annex it.
If the River Country fell into Wind Country hands, it would mean two great nations sharing a direct border—something the Land of Fire absolutely would not tolerate.
Small nations were meant to serve as buffers.
As the four entered the desert, Kyusei felt the temperature drop rapidly.
The desert was a strange place—daytime temperatures soared to forty or fifty degrees, yet at night they could plunge below freezing.
After an unknown amount of time, Sarutobi Hiruzen finally stopped. He took out a map, studying the coordinates carefully under the moonlight.
"We're about three hours from Sunagakure," he said.
"We'll rest here for three hours. Recover chakra and stamina."
No one spoke. The upcoming battle would determine the course of the final confrontation—and the lives of nine thousand Konoha shinobi across the battlefield.
Sarutobi Hiruzen retrieved several Konoha-standard military coats from a sealing scroll and handed one to each of them.
They weren't pretty, but as official military gear, their quality was unquestionable.
Durable, waterproof, fire-resistant, warm—everything they needed.
Kyusei wrapped himself in the coat and crouched in a corner. kaoru immediately slipped into his arms, eyes closed, breathing steady as she recovered the chakra spent during the long march.
Sarutobi Hiruzen glanced at the two of them but said nothing. He simply took a soldier pill from his pocket and swallowed it.
He was old. After fighting at the Grass Country front, rushing to the River Country, and then pushing straight into the Wind Country, his body was starting to protest.
His breathing was slightly labored, white mist escaping his mouth and nose.
At that moment, a waterskin was offered to him.
"Warm yourself up, Sensei," Orochimaru said calmly.
Sarutobi Hiruzen took it and drank deeply, then paused in surprise.
"This is…?"
"Borrowed from Tsunade," Orochimaru replied with a faint smile.
"Probably her last stash."
"Alcohol is forbidden during wartime," Orochimaru added lightly,
"but special circumstances call for special measures."
Looking at his most dependable disciple, Sarutobi Hiruzen ultimately said nothing.
Kyusei watched the quiet display of teacher-and-student camaraderie without comment, only tightening his hold around kaoru .
Others needed to recover chakra—but he felt perfectly fine.
Uzumaki were born chakra monsters, and on top of that, he was… well—
the protagonist's dad.
No, scratch that.
His chakra reserves were already enormous, and with the Nine-Tails inside him, depletion was hardly a concern.
He could even sense that kaoru still had plenty of chakra left.
Idly, he twirled a strand of her golden hair between his fingers, gazing at her sleeping face. On the eve of a major battle, he felt an unexpected sense of peace.
Smack!
kaoru slapped his wandering hand away.
Kyusei pouted, looking down at her.
My kaoru 's being mean…
As if sensing his mood, kaoru cracked one eye open and shot him an annoyed glare.
He still hadn't explained the matter with Uzumaki Meixiang!
If it weren't for how pitiful Meixiang was, kaoru would've exploded already.
Tch—kaoru 's glaring at me…
Ignoring their interaction entirely, Sarutobi Hiruzen remained curled up quietly, eyes closed, conserving energy as efficiently as possible.
Time passed bit by bit.
As the sun began to rise and the horizon glowed faintly, Sarutobi Hiruzen opened his eyes sharply.
Orochimaru, Kyusei, and kaoru were already prepared.
"How long did I sleep?" Hiruzen asked, standing and stretching his body.
"Not long. About an hour and a half," Orochimaru replied.
"We have a little over ten minutes before departure."
Even someone as strong as Sensei couldn't escape the passage of time…
"No more delays. We move now," Sarutobi Hiruzen said decisively, feeling the chakra flowing steadily through his body.
Sunagakure lay deep within the desert. With its defensible terrain and the natural chokepoint known as the "One-Line Sky," it had never been breached head-on.
But in Kyusei's eyes—who would bother trekking all the way to this desolate wasteland just to attack Sunagakure?
It was nothing but trouble.
Yet today, Sarutobi Hiruzen intended to do exactly that.
At 6:30 in the morning, while Sunagakure's civilians were still lost in their dreams, four uninvited guests appeared outside the village's perimeter.
Kyusei looked up at the dozens-of-meters-high natural barrier, his expression unchanged.
Sunagakure claimed to follow an "elite shinobi" path, but honestly, it was the weakest of the Five Great Villages.
If not for the endless desert shielding them, they wouldn't be so arrogant.
"According to plan," Kyusei said calmly.
"Old man, I'll go first."
He slipped a Flying Thunder God kunai into his pouch as golden chakra once more spread across his body.
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