The top brass was keeping the Third Hokage's decision to personally take the field strictly confidential. Kamishiro Hagoromo wasn't privy to those high-level secrets, but he didn't need to be to feel the shift in the air. He knew his second large-scale war was about to begin.
Even though barely ten days had passed since the first one.
Konoha's shinobi were throwing themselves into aggressive pre-war preparations. They had a measly three days to get ready.
Although he wouldn't be fighting on the front lines, Kamishiro methodically went through his own checklist. Restocking ninja tools, gathering medical supplies—the standard routine.
Beyond securing logistics, the Konoha command system's most crucial task was reorganizing the troops. Shinobi were sorted by their jutsu specialties into recon, assault, and support units. It didn't stop there. Assault units were further divided into close-quarters combat, mid-range support, and long-range strike teams.
The more granular the formation, the more flexibly Konoha could direct the battlefield. Of course, that also meant a mountain of tedious paperwork and a much heavier burden on the command system itself.
If they split things too fine, orders might be precise, but adding too many links to the chain of command just increased the margin for error at the bottom.
Naturally, none of that was Kamishiro's problem. He was just a tiny gear in Konoha's massive war machine. Whatever way they told him to turn, he turned. Everything else was above his pay grade.
If he hadn't been injured, there was a good chance they would have tossed him straight into the close-quarters vanguard. He might have even gotten the chance to charge the enemy lines alongside the Third Hokage. Unfortunately, while he could move around without much issue, his wounds hadn't fully healed.
His body still needed a bit more time to fully recover.
If he were an adult, command wouldn't have given a damn about his lingering injuries during deployment. Luckily, his age afforded him a tiny bit of special treatment.
So, instead of being shoved into the meat grinder of the vanguard, he was assigned to central command's personal security detail. His job was to protect the day's supreme commander, Tsunade, along with the advisory board and the communications relay team.
However, despite his official title as a guard, Kamishiro's actual mission wasn't protection. It was battlefield surveillance. Tsunade knew he had just captured a massive flying bird.
So, by some stroke of luck, Kamishiro miraculously transformed into an aerial reconnaissance unit. It practically guaranteed he wouldn't see any direct combat this time around.
The ones who actually got the chance to kill the enemy were close-combat specialists like Kakashi. Naturally, the White Fang's son was dumped right into the vanguard.
As for medical ninja like Rin, they were heading to the battlefield too, but their formation was stationed even further back than central command. Their job was strictly search and rescue; there was no reason to put them on the front lines. Medics were essentially the soft underbelly of Konoha's forces, meaning they needed to be tucked away and heavily guarded in the rear.
The three-day prep period vanished in a flash. The Third Shinobi World War's final, massive collision between Konoha and Suna was officially underway.
Having taken a brutal beating in their last clash with Konoha, Suna's defensive lines had already been pushed back. They still maintained their recon perimeter, however.
At midnight on the third day, the Konoha army moved out. They planned to use the second half of the night to cut straight across the Land of Rivers, aiming to breach the Land of Wind by dawn.
During those dark hours, Konoha had to stay completely hidden to ensure their strike on Suna was a surprise. This was easier said than done. The enemy undoubtedly already had intel that the Hokage was marching to the front with reinforcements.
Still, with the Hyuga clan's assistance, Konoha did their best to silently eliminate any Suna scouts hiding in the shadows.
As for breaching the Land of Wind after sunrise? There was no way around it. They just had to march right out in the open. It was a barren, empty desert—how exactly were they supposed to hide five thousand people? Pray for a lucky sandstorm?
Exactly as planned, Konoha's forces marched out of the deep forests of the Land of Rivers right at six in the morning.
Right on cue, shinobi assigned to similar duties as Kamishiro sprang into action.
Kamishiro bit his thumb and slammed his hand down, summoning Yatagarasu. Honestly, dragging a summon this huge into the world is a serious drain on my chakra. Stepping onto the mutant bird's back, he took to the skies to begin his aerial sweep, making sure Konoha didn't march face-first into a minefield of enemy traps.
Reconnaissance was the lifeblood of war. The Land of Wind was hostile territory, and Konoha didn't have the home-field advantage. Caution wasn't just recommended; it was mandatory.
Kamishiro stuck to his designated patrol route. He kept his bearings straight while keeping his eyes glued to the shifting sands below, hunting for enemy targets.
Fifty kilometers deep into the Land of Wind, he hit his limit and banked back, just as instructed. Spotting Konoha's central command, he guided Yatagarasu in a few slow circles directly overhead. He hooked his half-curled pinky finger into the corner of his mouth and let out a series of sharp, rhythmic whistles.
The crisp, high-pitched notes easily pierced the air, carrying clearly to the people below.
The signal meant: The next fifty kilometers are clear. No sign of enemy forces. Central command was constantly moving forward alongside the main army.
A response came up almost immediately. The order: keep scouting ahead.
Yatagarasu broke out of its holding pattern, spun around, and dove straight back into the desert.
He crossed the fifty-kilometer mark and pushed another thirty kilometers deep. Suddenly, his job was done. He had found the enemy's main force.
It was a massive army. Not wanting to get shot out of the sky and roasted alive, Kamishiro did a rapid headcount of the enemy ranks and immediately pulled up to retreat. Intel like this needed to be delivered yesterday.
"Target at nine o'clock, sixty-five kilometers out in a straight line," he whistled down sharply. "Suna main force located. Visual estimate between 4,500 and 6,000 hostiles."
Because the intel was so critical, he repeated the whistling sequence twice before finishing.
The command tent caught the message and instantly relayed it to the vanguard.
Konoha's shinobi slightly adjusted their trajectory, then suddenly exploded with speed, charging straight at Suna.
Kamishiro stayed high above, tracking Suna's movements.
Both sides spotted each other at almost the exact same moment. As soon as Konoha saw Suna's main force, the enemy saw them right back. Without a second of hesitation, the two massive armies slammed into each other head-on!
Usually, ninja battles were relatively quiet affairs. But right at the moment of impact, a deafening roar of absolute fanaticism ripped through Konoha's main camp.
The sudden explosion of noise nearly startled Kamishiro right off his bird. What the hell are you screaming for? Ninjas are supposed to be silent assassins, you idiots! Read the room! He glanced down and instantly realized why Konoha was practically vibrating with hype.
The Third Hokage had charged out of the formation completely alone!
One man, sprinting headfirst into a sea of enemy shinobi!
To put what happened next into perspective: picture how Madara Uchiha would one day casually dismantle the Allied Shinobi Forces. That was exactly how the Third Hokage was currently thrashing Suna.
It was pure, unadulterated madness. Spinning and leaping through the fray, Konoha's village chief was dodging lethal blows so effortlessly he might as well have been fighting with his eyes closed.
It was a spectacle so majestically violent that half the Sand shinobi were too terrified to blink, and the Konoha forces were too stunned to even step in and help.