"Have they joined forces?"
The Hyuga clan head spoke with a grave expression.
"No wonder Kirigakure dared attack our border base. So they secretly allied long ago and want to surround and crush us the same way they did the Land of Whirlpools."
Hearing that, Kushina Uzumaki—who normally had little interest in war—was suddenly reminded of her childhood memories, and her gaze instantly turned cold.
Hiruzen Sarutobi had lost the ease he'd shown moments ago as well. With a serious expression, he said, "Whether they've formed an alliance or not, we need to strengthen the defenses of all four border bases and prepare for the possibility of going to war with the other four great nations at any time."
After saying that, Hiruzen suddenly looked toward Kushina Uzumaki and Orochimaru.
"Can either of you contact Yoru right now?"
Orochimaru shook his head. "Ryuchi Cave is different from Mount Myoboku and Shikkotsu Forest. To learn Ryuchi Cave's senjutsu, you have to pass its trial and then be personally taught by the White Snake Sage. During the trial, there's no way to contact the outside world."
Kushina Uzumaki said the same. "Yoru told me he'd be back in at most two weeks."
When they heard that it would only take two weeks at most, Hiruzen and quite a few of the jonin quietly relaxed inside.
Even if Konoha really did end up in the worst possible situation and had to fight all four great nations at once, with Konoha's current ace combatants, high-end power, and overall national strength, they could absolutely hold out for two weeks.
And by the time Gojo Yoru returned, he would most likely be a space-time shinobi who had mastered senjutsu.
All three of Hiruzen's direct disciples were contractors of the Three Great Sacred Lands, and even his own summoned beasts were the monkey clan, a race capable of speaking human language. Hiruzen knew very well how powerful senjutsu was.
Once Sage Mode was activated, ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu all improved dramatically, and it also granted different special properties depending on the user.
Any ninjutsu performed with senjutsu chakra would also gain the prefix "Sage Art."
If Hiruzen Sarutobi himself could learn senjutsu, then his Five Release Great Combo Technique would become Sage Art: Five Release Great Combo Technique. Its power would be unimaginably great.
Unfortunately, although the monkey clan could speak human language and was one of the oldest and strongest among summoned beasts, it had no senjutsu inheritance of its own.
After letting out that quiet sigh of relief, Hiruzen's gaze suddenly sharpened. He swept his eyes across the room and said in a deep voice, "In the coming days, all of you must stay alert to the people around you. Yoru isn't in Konoha right now, which means those creatures may have slipped back in and disguised themselves as the people most familiar to you."
"There's a very high chance the organization those creatures belong to—or the person controlling them from behind the scenes—also has ties to the Land of Wind and the Land of Water. Otherwise, those villages' intelligence networks should not have been capable of knowing overnight that Yoru had gone to Ryuchi Cave to train in senjutsu."
"And what a coincidence—Yoru left for Ryuchi Cave on the seventeenth, and today Kirigakure and Sunagakure both launched invasions into the Land of Fire."
"Perhaps among us right now—or beneath our feet in the ground—there are those white creatures that can imitate even chakra signatures, parasitize human bodies, merge into earth and plants, ignore all barriers, and completely erase their presence."
At those words, the jonin's expressions changed again. They looked at each other, and each could see a trace of wariness in the others' eyes.
They were naturally no strangers to White Zetsu.
Back when Gojo Yoru had forcefully entered their clan compounds to clear them out, they had watched their own clan members turn into pure white creatures, and they had seen those things crawl out of people they knew. They had broken out in cold sweats on the spot and spent a long time afterward jolting awake from nightmares.
All that time, white reapers those jonin themselves couldn't detect had been hiding right beside them.
Luckily, those white creatures were not especially strong. Otherwise, many of them might already have been assassinated and replaced.
Now that Hiruzen had brought it up, they immediately realized just how serious the situation was.
In all of Konoha, only Gojo Yoru's space-time perception could see through those white creatures' disguises.
And now that Yoru wasn't in Konoha, didn't that mean they had all been thrown back into the same situation as before?
Orochimaru and Tsunade both instinctively turned to look at Kushina Uzumaki.
Kushina formed hand seals and activated the good-and-evil sensing version of her Mind's Eye of the Kagura with all her strength.
A few seconds later, she lowered her hands and said to Hiruzen and the others, "As for the people in this room, I can rule out both transformation and parasitic abilities. But as for the ability to merge into the earth and surrounding vegetation and stay hidden, even my Mind's Eye of the Kagura can't do anything about that. Only Yoru's spatial perception can catch it."
"Being able to rule out transformation and parasitic infiltration is enough," Hiruzen said, letting out another breath of relief. He did not hold back in praising her. "Kushina, it seems your sensory abilities have grown stronger again. Then for the next two weeks, we'll be relying on you."
"Leave it to me. I'll give it everything I have."
Kushina nodded hard, her eyes full of confidence.
Watching the valiant Kushina Uzumaki—who looked almost like a red-haired version of Tsunade—Minato Namikaze, seated some distance away, suddenly looked dazed.
Without realizing it, Kushina Uzumaki had already been in Konoha for nine years.
The feelings he'd once had had long since faded away, but even now, Minato still remembered the way his heart had suddenly started pounding when he first saw Kushina.
For many days and nights, he had even regretted it and imagined what might have happened if he had reached out to help Kushina before Gojo Yoru did.
If he had, would the one standing beside Kushina now have been him?
Would Konoha's strongest duo have been the two of them instead?
But as he grew older and learned more about the world, Minato Namikaze had completely let go of that thought. More than that, he had come to feel that there was some kind of destined inheritance between Gojo Yoru and Kushina Uzumaki—
just like the bond between the First Hokage and Lady Mito.
The God of Shinobi and the Nine-Tails jinchuriki were the perfect match.
After hearing from Jiraiya how Gojo Yoru had trained and guided Kushina, Minato only became more certain of that.
If it had been him, all he would have done was train hard and become someone capable of protecting Kushina.
Gojo Yoru, on the other hand, had raised Kushina into one of Konoha's strongest shinobi.
At least in that regard—in the matter of respect—Minato knew he could never compare to Gojo Yoru.
Naturally, no one knew what Minato was thinking.
Once he saw that Kushina's current sensory ability was also capable of exposing those white creatures' transformation and parasitic powers, most of his concern disappeared at once. Then, with a solemn expression, he said, "From this point on, we need to prepare for a four-front war. Based on what I know of Onoki and the Third Raikage, even if the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning haven't allied with the other two great nations, once our national strength has been worn down enough, they definitely won't be able to resist joining in."
"We need to prepare before it happens."
Hiruzen swept his gaze across the jonin present and began issuing orders.
"The Land of Water's Kirigakure, like the Land of Rain's Amegakure, excels greatly in Water Release and assassination techniques. The Mist shinobi corps and the Rain shinobi corps are both among the finest assassin forces in the shinobi world. The best counters against them are Earth Release and close-combat taijutsu."
"Sakumo—after this meeting ends, lead the Earth Release units and taijutsu units to reinforce and hold the eastern border base. The Hyuga, Inuzuka, and Aburame clans will each dispatch several elite squads to support you."
"Yes, sir!"
Sakumo Hatake rose at once and answered.
The heads of the Hyuga, Inuzuka, and Aburame clans also nodded in agreement.
After a moment's thought, Hiruzen turned to Shimura Danzo beside him.
"Danzo, you will also take what remains of Root, along with members of the Shimura clan, and go with Sakumo to hold the eastern border base."
"I understand," Danzo replied without hesitation, though a glint flashed in his eyes.
This war had come at exactly the right time.
If he performed well, then even if he couldn't regain his position as Hokage Advisor afterward, he might at least recover control of Root. Even if that authority came back weakened, he would still be able to cultivate private troops and avoid ending up like Koharu Utatane and Homura Mitokado, stuck handling civilian administration.
Hiruzen then looked at Tsunade.
"Tsunade, during the Second Shinobi World War, you fought Chiyo before. If nothing unexpected happens, then the one leading Sunagakure this time will still be Chiyo, along with Rasa and Pakura, both of whom have become famous across the shinobi world these past years. You, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya will go hold the western border base—the one you know best."
"Yes."
Konoha's three Sannin answered as one.
Hiruzen continued, "The southern border lies close to the sea. Only Sunagakure and the Land of Water could circle around by sea and reach that route. There will already be sensor units stationed there. Right now, the place we most need to be wary of is the northern border, which borders Kusagakure, Takigakure, Otogakure, and Yugakure. If the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning intend to invade the Land of Fire, then aside from the eastern and western fronts, the only route left is the northern border."
"Dan, your Spirit Transformation Technique has some of the finest sensory and stealth capabilities in the shinobi world. You'll be responsible for holding the northern border base and monitoring the neighboring nations' movements."
"Yes, Lord Hokage."
Dan Kato rose and answered respectfully.
Hiruzen then looked toward Minato Namikaze.
"Minato, your Flying Thunder God Technique can cover the weaknesses of Dan's Spirit Transformation Technique. You'll go with him and help hold the northern border base. Make sure to protect Dan's real body, and if danger appears, use Flying Thunder God to relocate immediately."
"Yes."
Minato nodded in acknowledgment.
Then Hiruzen addressed the remaining jonin.
"The rest of the clan heads, along with Kushina, will stay in Konoha with me, monitor the course of the war, and be ready to reinforce any of the four border bases at any time."
"Yes!"
This time, all the jonin answered together.
After five and a half years, the Land of Fire's war machine—and with it the strongest hidden village in the shinobi world—began moving once again.
Five years could feel both long and short.
For geniuses, five years was enough to grow from a mere genin into an elite all-round jonin—or even into an ace combatant.
For people like Minato Namikaze, the original Kakashi Hatake, Uchiha Shisui, Pakura and Sasori of Sunagakure, Rasa, the A-B duo of Kumogakure, Kitsuchi of Iwagakure, Mei Terumi and the future Mangetsu Hozuki of Kirigakure, and even Yahiko's trio—five years was enough to rise from genin to ace combatant level, or even to the point of killing a Kage or becoming one.
But for ordinary ninja, five years was only enough for two or three graduating classes of genin to grow up.
Some of them weren't even chunin yet.
Even so, five years was enough to fill both the combat corps and support corps with many unfamiliar faces.
And the familiar ones were all veterans who had survived the Second Shinobi World War.
Under the leadership of those veterans, Konoha's response was extremely fast. The vast majority of its forces quickly moved out toward the eastern, western, and northern bases. The remaining smaller portion—specialized shinobi corps with unique talents—headed for the southern border base, where they would hold the line while remaining ready to support the east and west at any moment.
Such major troop movements from three great villages naturally could not escape the notice of Iwagakure and Kumogakure.
Onoki also woke in the middle of the night. Looking at the intelligence report handed over by his son, he said in disbelief, "They actually joined forces against Konoha? Have they gone mad?"
That's right—in Onoki's eyes, even two great hidden villages joining forces to attack Konoha was an act of sheer madness, practically a death wish.
After all, he himself was one of the people who had lived from the Warring States era to the present day.
Senju Hashirama alone had once been enough to keep the four great villages under unbearable pressure, to the point that none of them had dared start a war.
And while Gojo Yoru's strategic deterrence might not equal Hashirama's, he had a fully developed Nine-Tails jinchuriki at his side.
People said the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist could wipe out a small nation with ease if they worked together. Chiyo's puppets also had a record of taking an entire city.
But Onoki had absolutely no doubt that either Gojo Yoru or Kushina Uzumaki could pull off the same feat alone. In fact, he was even willing to believe that the two of them together could destroy a great nation.
Even with Gojo Yoru absent from Konoha right now, the Nine-Tails jinchuriki alone was enough to hold off a great nation. And once Gojo Yoru returned, it would be Konoha's turn to strike back.
Sunagakure and Kirigakure had no chance of victory at all.
"Old man, why do you think they suddenly invaded the Land of Fire? And could they have contacted Kumogakure too?"
Now a fully grown adult, Kitsuchi had matured a great deal in his thinking. With a serious expression, he said, "If this is really like what happened to the Land of Whirlpools, then they shouldn't have ignored us in Iwagakure. I just can't shake the feeling that this war came too suddenly. Something's wrong."
Onoki's expression also turned grave.
Before he could start analyzing, his face suddenly changed.
"Kitsuchi, watch out!"
But his warning came too late.
A sharp, shrill tearing sound exploded right beside Kitsuchi's ear.
In the next instant, his body was already bound by vine-like wooden branches, and he lost control of it completely.
Yahiko—wearing Tobi's armor—used the Mayfly Technique to emerge from the ground right beside Kitsuchi.
"Third Tsuchikage, Onoki of the Two Scales. I've long heard your name."
Yahiko greeted him calmly.
"A Wood Release user…"
Onoki did not panic. Instead, he calmed down almost instantly and said coldly, "I thought those rumors from a while back were just Konoha trying to cover its tracks. I didn't expect a second Wood Release shinobi really had been born into the world."
"I have to say… your face looks a little familiar."
Yahiko didn't hide his identity.
"My name is Yahiko. I am Hanzo of the Salamander's direct disciple, and the new leader of Amegakure."
"And at the same time… the guardian of the Rinnegan."
At those words, Onoki's pupils contracted violently.