If it happened, it happened.
Menma couldn't afford to send reinforcements back to preemptively defend them. As cruel as it sounded, as long as he won his battle here, even if the Grass Village was completely overrun by the Sand and suffered catastrophic losses, it was an acceptable outcome.
In fact, an outcome like that would make it even easier for Menma to fully integrate the two villages' forces later. As long as the Sand didn't crush the Grass and flank Menma before his main battle was decided, it was fine.
War was a gamble. For either side, the concept of a "one hundred percent guarantee of victory" simply didn't exist.
Hearing Menma's words, Agun unconsciously gave a slight nod.
"This time is different," Menma said. "The Leaf isn't pushing for a single-point decisive battle. They're advancing in a full-scale encirclement. Because of that, we need to solidify our defensive lines in every direction. The core of it will be right here!"
Menma stood up abruptly and pulled down a massive map behind him. It was covered in various colored markers.
They represented the distribution of allied and enemy strongholds and troop deployments.
Menma raised a wooden pointer and tapped heavily on a spot due east on the map.
Bang!
A dull thud echoed in the room.
"We will mass our forces here to build the core of our defensive line and block the main forces of the Leaf and Mist. I will personally take command. Then, we'll establish secondary defensive strongholds here, and here, forming a triangle formation to support each other. Shibuki-san, Agun-san, the two of you will take command of those."
"Muku will station with me at the central stronghold. Utakata-san and Fu will be positioned in the intermediate zones, ready to reinforce either the flanks or the center at a moment's notice. Unlike our last battle, this clash is very likely to become a war of attrition. I expect all of you to be fully prepared!"
Menma's stern gaze swept over everyone in the room.
"Yes, sir!" Shibuki, Agun, Utakata, Muku, and Fu stood up in unison, their voices ringing out loud and clear.
"Then, gentlemen," Menma said, his tone dead serious, "let our war begin."
"Yes, sir!"
Tasks were assigned. Orders were clearly transmitted.
The Hidden Waterfall mobilized from every corner.
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
Wave after wave of Waterfall shinobi gathered once again.
Led by Menma, Shibuki, Agun, and the others, they marched out at the designated times, advancing toward the front lines.
This was a war to defend their home, bolstered by the halo of their recent victory.
The Waterfall shinobi's morale was at an all-time high. Even facing a coalition of thousands from two Great Ninja Villages led by the Leaf, they showed no fear.
They had watched with their own eyes as Menma single-handedly crushed the Fourth Raikage and captured the Two-Tails Jinchuriki. In this battle, they naturally believed Menma would lead them to victory once more.
---
The advancing Leaf-Mist coalition led by Jiraiya and Mei Terumi.
The defending Waterfall forces commanded by Menma.
Looking purely at the numbers, Menma's Waterfall forces were at an absolute disadvantage. Eight thousand versus three thousand.
And realistically, both the Leaf and Mist shinobi were visibly superior in quality to the Waterfall shinobi.
The gap might not be obvious at the genin level. But at the chunin and especially jonin levels, the Hidden Waterfall simply couldn't compare to the Great Villages. The difference in true combat value was massive.
On paper, the Waterfall was doomed to lose.
But that was exactly why Menma had brought in Muku.
Muku, capable of transforming into Satori, could offset a huge portion of that numerical disadvantage. This would free up Utakata, Fu, and the others to deal with the high-end fighters from the two Great Villages.
As for Jiraiya, Menma would handle him personally.
Menma might not be able to definitively defeat a Sage Mode Jiraiya, but Jiraiya couldn't kill him either. The Flying Thunder God Technique was Menma's absolute safety net.
The only thing he really needed to watch out for was the overpowered genjutsu from the Mount Myōboku toads. But even that could be guarded against!
Out of the entire Hidden Leaf Village, there was currently only one person Menma truly had no answer for—one man who, if he went all out, had a very high chance of killing Menma outright. The Leaf's Noble Green Beast: Might Guy!
The Eight Inner Gates!
Opening the first seven gates provided a massive boost to the user's chakra. But the Eighth Gate, the Gate of Death, was a fundamental transformation!
Opening seven gates put Guy at the peak of the Kage tier, barely brushing the threshold of Super Kage.
But the Eighth Gate! It granted Guy temporary destructive power that practically rivaled the Six Paths level. The technique hadn't just been invented, but Guy was the only one in the world who could push it to such a terrifying height.
If Might Guy appeared on this battlefield and decided to open all eight gates against him, Menma could only passively hope that his Flying Thunder God was fast enough to dodge.
Thinking about how horribly Madara was mangled in the original timeline, Menma didn't feel too confident. Regardless of whether Madara was being careless or trying to play with Guy at first... the end result was right there in front of him.
Might Guy in the Eight Gates Released Formation possessed that kind of horrifying destructive power. He was the one 'singularity' Menma couldn't account for.
A fight to the death on the battlefield? Then let's see who has the last laugh! Walking the path forward, Menma's eyes were filled with an icy chill.
---
Just as Menma's forces mobilized, far to the southwest on the border between the Land of Grass and the Land of Wind, massive armies of Sand and Grass shinobi were locked in a tense standoff.
The Grass shinobi were highly strung, waiting in strict formation. But the Sand shinobi showed no signs of attacking—they were just continuously building up their infrastructure.
Under the pressure of the Sand's presence, the Grass Village's leader, Mui, had personally come to the front lines.
Listening to the constant flow of reports from his scouts, Mui's eyes narrowed.
It seems Lord Menma's guess was right. The Sand most likely doesn't dare launch a full-scale attack first. At most, they'll try some probing raids. Still, we need to maintain strict vigilance.
Mui exhaled a heavy breath.
He systematically issued defensive orders. For the foreseeable future, he would personally hold the line here. He didn't need to do much—just ensure the Sand didn't break through their defenses. For everything else, Mui, just like his son, chose to unconditionally trust Menma.
Menma's judgment was spot on. Mui's choice was correct.
The opposing Sand forces truly had no intention of launching an all-out assault. From their initial gathering to the current base construction, their entire stance was just to apply pressure. That was exactly the Sand Village's strategy.
The Leaf had offered incredibly rich benefits.
These included, but weren't limited to: yielding further mission shares, allowing the Sand to infiltrate the southern coastal nations, providing massive amounts of money and supplies to help the Sand survive their financial crisis, and supporting the further development of their homeland.
All of this could be paid upfront. They even promised that if the war went smoothly and the Waterfall-Grass alliance was crushed, they would support the Sand in claiming the Two-Tails Jinchuriki.
It was a set of negotiation terms entirely beyond their wildest expectations.
Even Baki, acting as Kazekage, was completely swayed.
The two elders, Chiyo and Ebizō, were equally shocked by the Leaf's generosity. Terms like these weren't easily obtained in any era. Even during the Third Hokage's reign—when the Leaf was softer and more accommodating externally—they would never have offered so much.
Offering these kinds of chips proved that the Leaf's upper echelon, led by Tsunade, was one hundred percent committed. The subsequent troop deployments were the best proof of that.
Needless to say, the wait-and-see resolve previously agreed upon by Baki, Chiyo, and Ebizō had been completely shaken.
There's a good saying. Most of the time, so-called "absolute resolve" only looks absolute because the price offered isn't high enough.
Once the chips are heavy enough—especially when they exceed expectations—that resolve becomes something that can be changed at a moment's notice.
Baki's mindset was the perfect example. The subsequent news of the Mist Village joining the march became the final straw that crushed whatever hesitation Baki and the others had left.
With Chiyo and Ebizō's approval, Baki immediately dispatched their most elite Sand shinobi to the front.
However, even then, Baki held onto his last shred of rationality.
Chiyo repeatedly emphasized that they must not attack first. Everything depended on what happened on the main battlefield and how Menma Uzumaki's Waterfall-Grass alliance handled the assault.
To play it completely safe, Baki secretly traveled to the front lines himself. If he wasn't there, he feared his subordinates might do something rash. He needed to control this war personally.
The rewards were rich enough to justify the Sand taking a risk, but Baki still wanted to keep that risk as absolutely low as possible.
Everything hinges on the main battlefield...
Baki took off his Kazekage robes and changed into the combat gear and flak jacket he hadn't worn in a long time. Standing at the front of the camp, he glanced at the nearby Grass Village stronghold before shifting his gaze far to the northeast.
That was where Menma's Waterfall army would clash with the Leaf-Mist coalition. It might be like the Cloud's defeat—decided in a matter of days—or it could turn into a grinding war of attrition lasting months, or even years.
But regardless of how it played out, Baki would not issue the order for a full-scale assault until a clear result or inevitable trend emerged.
"Pass down my orders! Starting tomorrow, we enter condition-one combat readiness!"
"Yes, Lord Kazekage!!!"
---
With all Five Great Ninja Villages fully dragged in—the Stone and Cloud at war, and the Leaf, Mist, and Sand dispatching troops—at this very moment, one could officially declare the outbreak of the Fourth Great Ninja War.
The plot from the original story was now completely unrecognizable.
The future was entirely unpredictable.
And this Ninja War was bound to become the single most critical turning point for whatever came next!
This was true for Menma, and true for the Five Great Villages. The Akatsuki, led by Obito and Nagato, would also be affected to some degree.
Whether that impact was positive or negative depended on who you asked.
At least for Menma, everything was still within a controllable range. Until now, events had played out according to his established will, as if all the luck in the world was on his side.
Now, he was about to face his greatest trial since defecting from the Hidden Leaf.
Standing on the front lines, looking out at the arriving Leaf and Mist coalition, Menma pushed his chakra senses to the absolute limit. Even from dozens of miles away, he could vaguely feel the massive waves of chakra signatures.
Especially a few specific signatures that were overwhelmingly vast, powerful, and familiar.
It was definitely Jiraiya and the other heavy hitters.
A life-and-death war, huh? Menma let out a slow, cloudy breath.
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
With a sharp wave of his right hand, countless figures blurred into motion behind him, advancing toward the territory ahead.
This wasn't the right spot. Menma intended to march the Waterfall shinobi far enough forward that they had eyes directly on the Leaf and Mist coalition camps.
Applying pressure? Menma knew how to play that game too.
War was a contest of strength, but also a contest of momentum. When enemies clash on a narrow path, only the fearless survive!!!
The massive wave of advancing Waterfall shinobi immediately caught the attention of the Leaf and Mist forward scouts.
"It's the Waterfall army! Get this intel back to base immediately!"
Clearly, Menma had no intention of launching a surprise attack like last time.
In this area, there were already defensive strongholds he had ordered built earlier. Unlike before, when he had to seize the tempo, there was no reason to throw away his geographical advantage this time.
Even if geographical advantage didn't mean much in ninja battles, it was still better than nothing.
He had already arranged for his people to lay down countless traps across the surrounding terrain. That alone would kill off a portion of the Leaf and Mist shinobi. It was a tangible advantage, and there was absolutely no reason to waste it.
---