The Truth Really Does Put You in a Bad Mood
Kakashi rolled his eyes and retorted, "Even you're about to be beaten to death. Even if I run over to save you, I'll probably get beaten to death along with you!"
Hinata snorted twice, crossed her arms, and decided not to speak to Kakashi for a week.
Kakashi scratched his head, looking somewhat helpless yet serious, and said, "I will absolutely not let my comrades be in danger."
Never mind!
Seeing that Kakashi still seemed somewhat sincere, Hinata generously forgave Kakashi.
Hinata was just teasing Kakashi out of boredom, but Hinata really wanted to ask was: If Might Guy and Obito fell into the water at the same time, who would you save?
After playing around with Kakashi for a while, Hinata started looking at the map seriously.
"Teacher Kakashi, right now, the attitudes of Kirigakure and Sand Village are probably very important, aren't they?"
Hinata analyzed for a moment and guessed, "Hidden Cloud Village and Iwagakure should have reached an agreement on some kind of goal, but Iwagakure has not yet taken action... The Tsuchikage may still be hesitating, or perhaps they have not yet reached an agreement with Kumogakure on the details."
"The fact that the Hidden Cloud Village is gathering ninja forces on the border is probably not to put pressure on the Konoha, but rather to put pressure on the entire Shinobi World."
Kakashi looked at Hinata with surprise and said in astonishment, "It seems you've grown quite a bit during this time!"
"Of course!"
Hinata said smugly, "I used to be the Lord Hokage's most trusted right-hand woman!"
There were actually some comments in the village about Hinata's resignation, but they were overshadowed by the topic of war.
Moreover, Kakashi didn't want to interfere in this matter, since it was a choice made by an individual's free will.
Although ninjas advocate obedience to orders, with the development of the world and the progress of society, 'freedom' has also become a topic of conversation among ninjas from time to time.
No one wants to live like a machine, let alone a killing machine.
More than a decade has passed since the end of the Third Shinobi World War, and the peace of those decades has allowed the ninjas' thinking to progress.
This is also why the five-village feud did not break out immediately.
If we were to follow the mindset of the Third Shinobi War, Kumogakure and Iwagakure would have already launched a full-scale attack on Konoha by now, and would not be as restrained as they are now.
Although Hinata has already demonstrated her formidable strength, the Tsuchikage and Raikage, who have stood at the pinnacle of the Shinobi World for decades, will not admit that they are inferior to Hinata until they have truly clashed with her.
"How to handle the power dynamics in the Shinobi World is a matter for the village's higher-ups."
"Our current mission is to keep the Hidden Cloud Village outside the borders and protect the safety of the Land of Fire."
Kakashi pointed to several spots on the map and said in a deep voice, "The reconnaissance team consists of one Jonin and three Chunin to ensure the team's survival rate."
"Although the overall situation of the Shinobi World is irrelevant to us, you are right about one thing... The attitude of the Kumogakure will determine whether they will be the first to start a war."
"The Fourth Raikage has a fiery temper and is not good at patience, but not everyone in Kumogakure is a warmonger."
"..."
Hinata initially listened with great interest to Kakashi's long-winded rambling, but she quickly lost interest.
Okay—
Hinata glanced at Kakashi, giving him an expression that said, "I'm really impressed with you."
"In the end, it all comes down to ability."
Kakashi believed that there was a high probability that the Kumogakure had crossed the border, especially after the Kumogakure received the information that Hinata had arrived at the front line, they would definitely send out a strong person to test Hinata's strength.
If you want to test a ninja of Hinata's caliber, an ordinary Jonin won't suffice.
Even Darui, who is known as the Raikage's right-hand man, is not enough.
Since the Raikage himself will not be present, it is very likely that the Kumogakure will send Jinchuriki test the extent of Hinata's danger to the other major Shinobi Village.
Kakashi said helplessly, "Hinata, the situation you mentioned before is still very likely to happen. There's a high chance you'll be surrounded and attacked by the Hidden Cloud Village."
"It doesn't matter!"
Hinata shrugged and said nonchalantly, "People who are too outstanding are always envied."
Kakashi glanced at Hinata: "You should think it through yourself!"
There are two types of balance among the Five Great Shinobi Villages: one is a balance where the combat power is not much different, and the other is a balance where the combat power is greatly different.
Just like when Hashirama Senju was still alive, even though the threat from Konoha was immense, the Shinobi World still maintained a balance.
"I'm going out to take a look!"
Having roughly grasped Kakashi's thoughts, Hinata gave a greeting, turned around, and walked out of the tent.
Kakashi watched Hinata's departing figure, his gaze slightly complicated.
Konoha's deployment this time was very hasty; they didn't even discuss tactics in the village before sending a large force to the border to defend against Hidden Cloud Village.
Perhaps the village had its own considerations, but Hinata kept wondering along the way whether it was really necessary for her to be sent there.
Tsunade and Kakashi both said not to provoke Hidden Cloud Village, and the forces Hidden Cloud Village sent to the border were just ordinary ninja troops.
The border doesn't actually need Hinata's power.
Furthermore, if Konoha needs Hinata's help, there's no need to send ordinary ninjas to hinder them.
Even if Shinobi World war were to actually happen, ninjas of Hinata's caliber would only be assigned to missions in elite squads.
After talking with Kakashi, Hinata finally understood why she was in this unit.
The Konoha sent Hinata to the front lines this time was actually to exert a deterrent effect on Kumogakure in high-level ninja battles.
With the Raikage unable to personally lead the battle, the Kumogakure has a very limited number of combat forces it can send out.
Konoha could even guess who the ninja sent by Kumogakure to test Hinata was.
As Hinata reached the edge of the camp, she felt somewhat depressed.
Smack!
Hinata kicked aside the pebbles blocking her way, sat on the wooden post, rested her chin on her hands, and stared blankly at the ground in front of her.
Although it wouldn't be accurate to say that she was betrayed by the village, Hinata was still somewhat unhappy.
Once the Kumogakure receives intelligence that Hinata has arrived at the front lines, they will only have two options left: 'probe' or 'retreat'.
Given the Fourth Raikage's personality, he is actually more likely to choose the former.
The original purpose of Kumogakure was simply to put pressure on Konoha and the entire Shinobi World, forcing other Shinobi World villages to join in attacking Konoha.
Konoha's attitude, however, was to have Hinata defeat Kumogakure in a high-level ninja battle.
Perhaps the village was worried that Hinata's reckless large-scale battles would kill too many Cloud Ninja, making it impossible for Konoha and Hidden Cloud Village to handle the situation, so they combined Hinata with the ninja army, two seemingly incompatible forces.
However, the village chose to keep it a secret from Hinata.
Actually, judging from Konoha's deployment, this approach can't be considered deception, since there were two thousand ninjas and three hundred medical ninjas accompanying them.
In a sense, Konoha's deployment was to resist the invasion of Kumogakure.
Konoha's power may not be needed by Hinata right now, but once Kumogakure sends out Jinchuriki- level expert, Hinata will have a chance to prove herself.
The reason why Kumogakure sent strong fighters was because Konoha used Hinata as bait to lure them in...