Sunagakure Front

At the border where the Land of Fire met the Land of Rivers.

Konoha's camp.

With the war's arrival, the border outposts here had all been transformed into frontline camps.

But the camp's situation was far from good.

Wails of agony rose and fell throughout the camp.

The center of the camp had been divided into two clearly distinct areas.

On the left were neatly arranged stretchers, occupied by ninja with bluish-purple faces as they writhed and wailed in pain. On the right sat others with the same bluish-purple complexions, though they were not suffering as badly. They merely sat cross-legged on the ground.

Soon, one of the seated ninja spat out a mouthful of purple blood, and the discoloration on his face quickly faded.

Sakumo Hatake swiftly appeared beside him.

"How is it?"

The ninja opened his eyes. His face was pale, but he endured the discomfort in his body and described his condition.

"Basic Inner Cultivation can indeed purge the poison, but it also causes the loss of most of one's Chakra."

Sakumo Hatake's expression relaxed upon hearing that.

The ninja who had expelled the poison also felt that the price was not too steep.

A few months of saving up Chakra would be enough to recover it.

Ever since these people had exchanged for Basic Inner Cultivation, they had rarely faced Chakra shortages.

They were merely returning temporarily to their former state.

It was just that being unable to use ninjutsu at first was rather unpleasant.

"Lord Sakumo, only a minority have exchanged for Basic Inner Cultivation. If this continues, we will collapse."

A bespectacled female ninja beside him reminded him.

Sakumo Hatake's expression turned grave.

"Is there no way to formulate an antidote for Chiyo of Sunagakure's poison?"

"The components of her poison are too complex."

The female ninja shook her head.

Ever since they had encountered Chiyo of Sunagakure, they had been steadily driven back.

The main reason was Sakumo Hatake's choice to protect the lives of his subordinate ninja.

They had surrendered the entire front across the Land of Rivers.

The female ninja did not know how to judge that decision.

Orochimaru, whom the ninja jokingly called the Cold Lord, would never have made such a choice.

Reclaiming lost positions would require an even greater price.

Not only had they lost their positions, but more than half the camp's fighting force had been poisoned. If they still failed to create an antidote—

This place would not be far from falling.

For now, they were only holding on with the ninja who had not yet been poisoned, along with those who had recovered through Basic Inner Cultivation.

Looking at Sakumo Hatake, whose face was expressionless as he pondered, the female ninja sighed.

"The only ones who can deal with Sunagakure's poison now are Lady Tsunade in the rear and that ninjutsu prodigy, Uchiha Jin."

"Lady Tsunade should be able to resolve the poison. Uchiha Jin might be able to create a ninjutsu that prevents it."

The female ninja's words made Sakumo Hatake's eyes light up.

"Notify the village immediately. Have Tsunade come assist us. At the same time, notify Jiraiya and have Uchiha Jin dispatched here for coordinated operations."

"Yes!"

The female ninja dropped to one knee in acknowledgment.

The next moment, she turned into smoke and vanished.

Only then did Sakumo Hatake look toward Sunagakure.

"If I can lose it, then I can take it back."

Known as someone who could see through people's hearts, Sakumo Hatake naturally understood the female ninja's thoughts.

But to him—

People mattered more than land.

Sunagakure's front line.

Chiyo, still in her prime, looked over the map of the Land of Rivers they had opened up, as well as the routes they had mapped out through the Land of Fire.

Unfortunately, every route within the Land of Fire had been destroyed by Sakumo Hatake.

Smoke rose beside her.

Ebizo appeared at Chiyo's side.

"Sister, I couldn't stop Orochimaru. A troublesome figure appeared on their side, and Orochimaru has also mastered a troublesome ninjutsu."

After returning, Ebizo had organized the intelligence concerning Konoha.

The troublesome figure was a ninja named Might Duy. He had failed the Chunin Exams for a long time and had always remained a genin.

Yet he had suddenly risen to become someone even Ebizo found troublesome.

As for Orochimaru's technique, based on Ebizo's later analysis—

It was probably not a new Clone Technique. Otherwise, Orochimaru would not have been the only one in Konoha capable of using it.

It should have been some kind of ninjutsu that allowed clones to continue fighting.

Chiyo rubbed her brow.

"What a string of bad news."

Originally, she had intended to cripple eighty percent of Konoha's forces with poison.

Unfortunately, while Konoha's antidotes could not cure her poison, they could keep the victims alive.

Some people could even expel the poison from their bodies.

Konoha's resistance on this front had not weakened much. Their only hoped-for breakthrough, the Land of Rain, had also been blocked by Konoha.

The Third Kazekage now had to guard against Iwagakure.

Sunagakure could not spare any additional forces either.

Konoha had fallen into a crisis, but Sunagakure was not doing much better.

"First, redeploy part of our forces here. We can pull back some of our forces in the Land of Rain."

Both Orochimaru and Sakumo Hatake were dangerous figures.

But the situation in the Land of Rain was too complicated. Iwagakure was not the only concern. Amegakure, the Land of Rain's defensive force, also seemed to have produced someone formidable.

They still held the advantage here.

They would break through here first.

Iwagakure's front line.

A small Iwagakure squad raced through the forest.

It was a Chunin squad.

The three moved swiftly.

Their main objective was to bypass the front line and scout Konoha's supply routes.

Suddenly—

Minato Namikaze attacked with a Kunai in hand.

The three immediately scattered, causing Minato Namikaze's strike to miss.

But people also appeared from the other two directions, blocking them off.

Team 7 intercepted the three in a triangular formation.

"My apologies, but this road is closed."

Jin smiled as he swung his long blade.

Kushina expressionlessly blocked off another route.

"Who told you to insist on charging through our defensive line?"

"Unfortunately, you'll have to die here."

The three rushed toward the three Iwagakure ninja.

The battle was decided with equal speed.

Jin flicked his long blade, and droplets of blood slid from it.

By now, all three carried the smoke and grit of war upon them.

Yet ever since they had entered the battlefield, Kushina had become less lively than before.

"How much longer do we have to guard this place?"

Jin leaned against a tree, watching the falling leaves.

They had guarded this place for many days, mainly intercepting stragglers who slipped through the net.

The fighting at the front was far more intense.

"When the war ends, it will be over."

As Minato Namikaze said that, a confused look appeared on his face.

As the war progressed, both he and Kushina had been shaken by what it had become.

"When it ends..."

Jin looked up at the sky. He remembered that the Second Great Ninja War in the Naruto World had lasted several years before ending.

Now, it had only just begun.

The three fell silent. None of them could find the carefree feeling they once had when they joked and played around.

Caught in the war, each of them had different thoughts.

Just as the three remained silent—

A cloud of smoke suddenly rose, and a man wearing an Anbu mask appeared.

He held a scroll in his hand.

"Latest deployment order: Uchiha Jin is to be transferred to the Sunagakure front immediately."

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