The Third Shinobi World War spiraled out of control amid chaos; amid that loss of control came mutual slaughter; after the slaughter, the overall situation gradually became clearer—only for someone else to suddenly intervene at the moment it did.
Amid the killing, some collapsed and defected, some held fast to their convictions, some were gravely wounded and retired, and others became heroes—heroes both living and dead.
On the Grass Country front, Iwagakure, under the combined blows of Konohagakure and Kumogakure, gradually showed signs of decline and had already begun to reveal its defeat.
But Konohagakure had likewise suffered heavy casualties. Left with no choice, some of the rookies who had graduated in the past few years were sent onto the battlefield, charging in with the hot blood of the underage.
Whether in the world of ordinary people of a previous life or in this extraordinary world with chakra, war is fought over supplies and contested through accumulated foundations.
Ninjas are not gods. Chakra comes from the body; soldier pills are merely emergency items and cannot be eaten as regular food. For ninjas to sustain prolonged combat, their bodies must be well fed, and their appetites far exceed those of ordinary people.
Food, shuriken, kunai, and explosive tags are the most heavily consumed basic supplies, and they are continuously transported from the rear areas of the various ninja villages to the front lines.
During transport, losses from enemy raids must be prevented; during stockpiling, strict defense is even more critical—if everything were wiped out in one sweep, it would be a fatal blow to one's own side.
Sealing scrolls? They are not that miraculous. Those things cannot store very much, because sealing large quantities of supplies requires an extremely high level of summoning technique aptitude.
Summoning techniques are also a type of space–time ninjutsu. Quite a few people possess such aptitude, but those who can reach an exceptionally high level are exceedingly rare. Not everyone can be like Tenten or the young girl Ajisai, sealing tons of items with a single card.
What if supplies are not enough? Then they are taken from small countries—because at times like these, no one cares whether they live or die.
But the war had already dragged on for several years. The civilians and ninjas of the small countries had suffered countless casualties, and there was nothing left to squeeze out of them.
In July, Konohagakure seized the initiative through its intelligence advantage. Since the outbreak of the Third War, the most eye-catching jōnin active on both the Iwagakure and Kumogakure fronts—Namikaze Minato—led his elite squad in successfully infiltrating the rear of the Iwagakure forces and blew their stockpiled supplies sky-high.
Afterward, he joined forces with his own students to destroy a key node on Iwagakure's transport line: Kannabi Bridge. Built over a deep ravine, once destroyed, people might still find ways to cross—but moving supplies would become a serious problem.
He also casually wiped out, on his way back, the large group of Iwagakure ninjas who had been blocking Konohagakure's forces and fighting them hard.
Once the reinforcements closed in, the nearly two-thousand Iwagakure ninja force and wounded who were still between Kannabi Bridge and the front lines became turtles in a jar.
What could Ōnoki do? Could he really just watch these subordinates go die?
Iwagakure followed a mass-mobilization route; it had the largest number of ninjas among the Five Great Nations, so its casualty rate was also the highest. Early on, ten thousand men were completely manhandled by the Third Raikage, A, alone, and they lost a whole pile of people for nothing without managing to kill him—he died from exhaustion.
Now, their troop strength had already fallen to a dangerous level, so Ōnoki could only seek peace talks with Konohagakure, trading for the lives of that group.
Because they still had to deal with Sunagakure and Kumogakure.
After Sunagakure's surrender, Konohagakure defeated another opponent once again.
In this battle, the Konohagakure ninjas who were killed or wounded were all heroes, but a few were especially eye-catching.
The greatest contributor was Namikaze Minato—a living hero. His strength had already become a consensus across the shinobi world, and he had become a new object of worship for the village's juniors, as well as the reliable partner of every ninja on the front lines.
Namikaze Minato first forced back the future A–B duo of Kumogakure, and later almost single-handedly beat Iwagakure into suing for peace; he was practically like the heroes described in storybooks.
The main Konohagakure force that held Iwagakure back on the front lines was almost completely wiped out, leaving only four people, including Mimura Hamaki; carrying their comrades' last wishes, they too became heroes—living ones.
In this battle, two Sharingan heroes were born. They were the meritorious contributors who assisted their teacher, Namikaze Minato, in blowing up Kannabi Bridge.
Hatake Kakashi—alive.
Uchiha Obito—dead… or was he? If he died, then in the eyes of Konohagakure's people, he was dead, and he earned the Uchiha clan a big boost in public impression points.
Not only that—before dying, he gave his right eye as a gift to Kakashi, allowing this teenage genius, whose personality had changed drastically due to his father's suicide and conflicts of ideals, to understand the meaning of comrades.
...
Although the sacrifices were enormous, the powerful Konohagakure once again defeated an opponent of comparable scale, causing the intensity of the Third Shinobi World War to begin to decline.
This allowed people to see hope. The villagers and ninjas within Konohagakure had reason to believe that this war—far more brutal than the previous two—had already reached the point of ending, and that Konohagakure would, as history had always shown, ultimately achieve final victory.
Those dissatisfied with this were probably only the Uchiha clan.
Even Higashino Megumi expressed optimism about the future situation. Moreover, for the Higashino family, the good news did not stop there.
Higashino Jirō was still alive. Although his body bore many additional scars, he was indeed still vigorous and actively fighting on the front lines.
He and Uzuki Yūya both belonged to the mobile patrol force, responsible for operating along the flanks of the main force, tracking down and eliminating all Iwagakure ninjas who attempted to charge into the Land of Fire.
Afterward, acting as reinforcements, they joined with many comrades who had converged from elsewhere to capture the remaining Iwagakure forces on the front lines.
If they had been in Mimura Hamaki's defensive unit, their bodies would probably have gone cold long ago, because that unit was ultimately reduced to only four survivors.
Had Namikaze Minato not arrived in time to turn the tide, that unit would have been completely wiped out.
This was a small piece of advice from Higashino Makoto. In order not to become the only man left in the Higashino family, he had previously used his advantage as a foreknower to give his father a brief analysis.
As a mobile force, relying on the ninjas' extremely high mobility, even if they could not win, there was still a chance to retreat and find a way to transmit intelligence back to headquarters. Unlike defensive units, which faced the enemy's main force pushing straight through and the responsibility of defending national territory, they had no opportunity to fall back.
This might be somewhat unfair to those Konohagakure ninjas who had died, but people are people—everyone has their private motives. Higashino Makoto could not influence the overall situation, but he could at least slightly sway the choices of a particular family member.
Besides, the mobile force was also a dangerous posting, because they likewise faced Iwagakure's elite assault units. Among them was the famous Iwagakure Demolition Unit led by Gari; when it came to life and death, everything still depended on strength.
Fortunately, luck was on their side. Higashino Jirō not only survived, but together with Uzuki Yūya, he also received a promotion.
With casualties on the front lines being severe, the two of them, on the strength of both merit and ability, received recommendations from many elite jōnin—including Namikaze Minato—and were promoted to full jōnin.
In essence, this amounted to developing capable subordinates of his own. With his status as both teacher and husband, coupled with his enormous contributions in this war, Namikaze Minato had already become a leading candidate for the next Hokage.
As for the other three candidates?
Tsunade-hime lingered in gambling halls and was habitually absent; Jiraiya had no interest in the Hokage position and devoted himself fully to promoting his disciples; the most likely candidate, Orochimaru—the commander behind Konohagakure's first victory in the Third War—had his role deliberately downplayed by his teacher, the Third Hokage, because the methods he employed did not align with the Will of Fire.
At this moment, "Uncle Snake" was completely absorbed in his experiments, unable to pull himself out.
Aside from a few resentful diehard subordinates, probably only Danzō harbored ulterior motives and continued to support him with full effort.
...
The Higashino household, night.
Higashino Megumi held a letter in her hand, an unmistakable look of relief in her eyes.
"May the Sage of Six Paths bless us. Makoto, it seems this war may end quite soon. Your father is still alive and safe for now, and most importantly, I don't have to worry about your generation being dragged into the war."
"Mom, you're imagining reality as far too beautiful."
"You little brat—can't you say something nice and let your mother stay happy a bit longer?"
"All right. I hope your wish comes true, Mom. But, Mrs. Higashino, have you forgotten that this world still has a major power called the Land of Water, and among the Five Great Ninja Villages there is also Kirigakure? That bunch of lunatics aren't the kind of audience who will just stand by and watch the show."
Higashino Megumi: "…"
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