On the eastern battlefield—
Akira and Sakumo received the Third Hokage's transfer orders half a day later.
The speed of ninja hawks truly was quite fast.
"Hah? You want Teacher and me to reinforce the Kumogakure battlefield? The situation over there is already collapsing?"
After Sakumo called Akira over and explained the situation, Akira instantly became speechless.
"What exactly is the Third Hokage thinking? Did his brain short-circuit?"
"Does he seriously think Kirigakure can now be ignored just because Konoha won a single battle?"
"The only reason they aren't attacking right now is because they have no way to deal with the threat of my ninjutsu. Once I leave, even if Teacher stays behind, they'll still dare launch another offensive to recover their losses."
"And now he's transferring both of us away."
"Heh… the Kumogakure battlefield might be saved, but this side is probably going to collapse completely."
Akira had already heard the Uchiha clan was coming as reinforcements.
He could practically imagine the outcome already.
Danzo and the Third Hokage had clearly started targeting the Uchiha.
They wanted to thoroughly screw them over.
"Tch. A bunch of filthy politicians."
Akira's face was full of disdain.
"Ahem!"
Sakumo coughed awkwardly before helplessly smacking Akira lightly on the head.
"It's fine to understand these things internally, but don't say them out loud."
Fortunately, there were no outsiders nearby the commander's tent right now.
Otherwise, if those words reached the Third Hokage's ears, Akira would definitely be in trouble.
And Akira was clearly not the type who tolerated grievances quietly.
If things escalated, nobody knew what kind of disaster he might stir up.
"So Teacher actually agrees with me too, huh? Hehe!"
Akira grinned smugly.
The previous Sakumo would never have thought like this.
Clearly, Akira's ideological "reform" of his teacher had been quite successful.
"None of that matters right now."
Sakumo waved his hand.
"Go say goodbye to Kakashi, then we'll depart immediately. Time is too critical. The Kumogakure battlefield situation is extremely dangerous. We absolutely cannot allow them to break through the defensive lines."
"At present, Iwagakure still hasn't launched a full-scale offensive because Ōnoki is still observing and hesitating. But once Kumogakure breaks through, that old fox will definitely attack without restraint and try to bite a huge chunk off the Land of Fire."
This was a classic case of one movement affecting the entire situation.
At that point, both Kirigakure and Sunagakure would likely launch full-scale offensives against the Land of Fire and Konoha as well.
Fighting for survival and fighting for profit were completely different situations.
Akira nodded, but then added:
"Still, I think we should each leave behind a Shadow Clone here. We can delay things for as long as possible that way. It should buy the eastern battlefield a decent amount of peace."
"Also, I'm not comfortable leaving Kakashi here either. Shouldn't we send him back to Konoha?"
Staying here was simply too dangerous.
Sooner or later, once their Shadow Clones dispersed—or once Kirigakure realized they had appeared on the Kumogakure battlefield—the enemy would immediately react.
At that point, the intensity of the war here would explode instantly.
Without top-tier combatants stationed here, Akira truly could not feel at ease leaving Kakashi behind.
One mistake and Kakashi could easily become cannon fodder.
"Agreed."
This time, Sakumo did not object.
Even if Akira had not suggested it, he had already planned to do exactly that himself.
The Third Hokage would likely not object either.
After all, Kakashi was the only remaining member of the Hatake family line.
It was only reasonable for a father heading to the frontline risking his life to send his six-year-old son safely back to Konoha.
Soon afterward, Sakumo had Akira call Kakashi over and briefly explained the situation.
"You should return to Konoha immediately. Akira and I are also departing now."
Although Kakashi felt unwilling and wanted to follow them, after considering his current strength, he still nodded in the end.
"Alright. I'll work harder. Next time, I won't become dead weight anymore."
He never wanted to experience something like this again—
Being unable to help while only causing his father and Akira to worry about him.
"Hehe. I believe in you."
Sakumo smiled gently and rubbed Kakashi's head.
Afterward, Sakumo gathered the elite Jonin currently overseeing the eastern frontline and explained the situation to them, instructing them to cooperate properly.
Then both Sakumo and Akira left behind Shadow Clones.
Meanwhile, their real bodies used Transformation Techniques to quietly leave the camp before rapidly heading north toward the Kumogakure battlefield.
At their speed, it would still take at least an entire day to arrive.
Of course, if Akira were willing to expose his psychic teleportation ability, he could reduce the travel time to just over an hour.
Including the recovery breaks in between.
Still, Instant Transmission had its drawbacks.
The teleportation distance depended on the range of his psychic perception, and the farther the distance, the exponentially greater the energy consumption became.
Compared to that, the Flying Thunder God Technique seemed far superior for long-distance travel because it relied on fixed coordinates.
As long as there was a marker, distance itself was not an issue.
"Teacher, let's rest here and continue tomorrow morning. Otherwise, by the time we arrive, we won't be in peak condition."
After traveling more than halfway, night had already fallen, so Akira suggested this to Sakumo.
"Alright."
Sakumo did not object.
The two immediately found a suitable place to stop and rest.
Akira directly pulled out large amounts of freshly prepared food from his spatial ring—food he had just created using the Gourmet Tablecloth through psychic communication—and invited Sakumo to eat together.
Naturally, he also summoned Pikachu and prepared a separate meal for it.
"You really are something else, kid…"
Sakumo looked at the massive feast spread across the cloth and asked helplessly:
"Exactly how much food have you stuffed into your spatial ring? It feels like it can never run out."
The amount they had consumed at the eastern frontline over the past several days was already ridiculous.
Sakumo was seriously beginning to suspect how large Akira's spatial ring truly was.
At the same time, he noticed something else.
All the dishes were still steaming hot, as if they had just been cooked.
It was unbelievable.
"Hehe!"
Hearing this, Akira gave him a mysterious grin.
"Maybe it really can't run out. Anyway, Teacher, just eat. Don't ask so many questions. I'm definitely not telling you!"
Digging too deeply into secrets was not a good habit.
"Fine, fine!"
Sakumo shook his head helplessly.
"I won't ask anymore. Though honestly, I really wish you could someday add this kind of preservation ability to my spatial bracelet too."
When people had access to fresh, delicious hot meals, who would willingly eat soldier ration pills?
That stuff was truly inhuman.
Every single bite was basically torture for both the taste buds and the spirit.
The scariest part was—
After all these years, Sakumo had almost gotten used to them.
He would rather never adapt to such things.
"That? Who knows how long it'll take."
Akira shrugged.
"Maybe after I fully research and understand it someday."
The truth, of course, was completely different.
He would have to wait until he exchanged for the proper ability in the future.
After dinner, Sakumo voluntarily took the first night watch shift.
Meanwhile, Akira casually pulled out a fully assembled tent and climbed directly inside.
Seeing this scene, Sakumo's eyelids twitched slightly.
"This brat really knows how to enjoy life…"
Even the tent had already been fully assembled.
How much storage space did that waste?
Sakumo seriously suspected Akira's spatial ring might actually be infinitely large.
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