Before the Battle

Konoha year 45, autumn.

As the leaves at the village entrance began to turn yellow, the footsteps of war reached Konoha ahead of the autumn wind.

The Sand Ninja formally sent envoys to question Konoha about the Third Kazekage's disappearance.

Sunagakure's envoys spoke in uncompromising terms, pointing out that Konoha Ninja had appeared deep in the desert during the upheaval in Rōran, at almost exactly the same time the Kazekage had disappeared.

Konoha denied the accusation on the spot and warned the Sand Ninja not to keep testing Konoha's limits in the border region.

The Sand Ninja were also furious because, just as Konoha had appeared near Rōran, the squad led by their elite ninja Pakura of the Scorch Release had been wiped out as well.

The problem was that Pakura's squad had died to Ice Release, and Pakura herself had been frozen into an ice sculpture.

When it came to ice-based Ninjutsu, the most representative was the Kekkei Genkai of the Yuki Clan of Kirigakure in the Land of Water: Ice Release.

That meant that if Konoha was a suspect, then Kirigakure was also highly suspect.

With no other choice, they sent envoys to question Kirigakure at the same time.

This had originally been nothing more than a measure to silence gossip. Their target had been Konoha from the start, but who could have expected that Kirigakure would not only ignore the Sand Ninja's accusations, but that one of the envoys would also be killed by a Kirigakure ninja by accident?

A sizable border conflict broke out between the Sand Ninja and the Mist Ninja as a result. Their ninja clashed several times near the waters at the border between the Land of Wind and the Land of Water, with casualties on both sides. The brief conflict ended when both sides withdrew their main forces.

In late autumn of Konoha year 45, just as many people in Konoha believed the matter had blown over, the Sand Ninja bypassed the border, which had long existed in name only, assembled a massive force of ninja, and launched a full-scale invasion of the Land of Fire. Border outposts were swiftly overrun, and the defending forces chose to retreat in the face of an enemy that outnumbered them several times over.

The Sand Ninja's vanguard advanced along the route through the Land of Rivers, heading straight for Kikyo Castle.

Kikyo Castle was the most important gateway to the western Land of Fire. Once it fell, the Sand Ninja's main force could march straight into Konoha's heartland.

Fortunately, Konoha's leadership had not truly let down its guard. The Third Hokage issued deployment orders on the second day of the Sand Ninja offensive.

Tsunade was appointed commander in chief of Konoha's western vanguard and sent to fortify Kikyo Castle with the medical team and defensive forces.

As soon as the vanguard set out, Konoha continued mobilizing ninja, preparing to send more to Kikyo Castle.

But just as the reinforcements were ready to depart, there was significant activity on the border in Kumogakure's direction. Kumogakure's forces were gathering on the northern border in considerable numbers.

Kumogakure had moved too quickly, catching even the Third somewhat off guard. There was no time to assemble another force, so he had Jiraiya take the reinforcements originally intended for Kikyo Castle north instead, to establish defenses on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Lightning.

The western front was suddenly short on manpower.

That was why Baiye's name appeared on the list of the second wave of reinforcements bound for Kikyo Castle. Though he was young, his rank as a Chunin and his combat performance on several missions were enough for the leadership to consider him when manpower was scarce.

Not to mention his special Medical Ninjutsu—the Third needed someone who could keep Tsunade's hemophobia under control to go to Kikyo Castle.

For this, the Third even came to the Hayate Clan personally to find Baiye.

The Third first greeted Baiye's mother and praised and encouraged Hayate for his performance in the Anbu.

After his somewhat apprehensive mother and the seemingly fired-up Hayate left, the Third lit his pipe and took a deep puff.

Instead of exchanging pleasantries as he usually did, he got straight to the point. "Tsunade needs your help."

Baiye knew there was no room to refuse, though fortunately he had no intention of refusing. "All right."

"You're only thirteen, and you lost your father at an early age. You're the pillar of your family. I shouldn't be sending you to the battlefield so soon."

The Third put down his pipe, sincerity in his eyes. "But as you know, given Tsunade's current condition, she could break down at any moment on the battlefield."

"But against the Sand Ninja, only her Medical Ninjutsu can counter Chiyo's poison... So for now, I can only send you to keep Tsunade's condition under control."

The old man's hair was completely white, and his face was full of weariness and helplessness.

"It's all right, Lord Third. Lady Tsunade has helped me a great deal. Even without your order, I would have asked to go to the western front."

Baiye's words did not make the Third happy. Looking at the child before him, so composed that it was easy to forget his age, he felt his guilt grow heavier.

But he was the Hokage, after all. His decisions concerned too many lives, and he could not change a decision he had already made because his heart softened.

That did not stop him from expressing his gratitude, though—as both the Hokage and a teacher.

"Then I'm counting on you!"

They were scheduled to depart early in the morning. Before assembling, Baiye went to the Training Ground at the village entrance—Minato had arranged to meet him there.

The autumn morning light fell across the empty Training Ground, stretching the wooden posts' shadows long. Minato was already waiting there, his golden hair stirring slightly in the morning breeze.

"You're here." Minato turned and looked him over. "Leaving?"

"Yeah. You should be heading out soon too, right?"

"Right, but I'm going to the northern front."

"Kushina must be worried, right? Or angry? You two were getting ready to marry, after all."

Baiye had hit the mark, and Minato gave a wry smile.

"It can't be helped. We can't exactly tell the other countries to wait a while before coming."

"Oh? You can even joke about it? Sounds like you're pretty confident."

"I've gained some insight into Sealing Jutsu lately, and it's made my Flying Thunder God more flexible... If we sparred now, you might be in for a rough time. Want to try?"

Minato raised an eyebrow at Baiye in a small provocation, though paired with his sunny expression, it hardly came across as a taunt.

"You can already place a Flying Thunder God Mark on someone in an instant? That really would be hard to guard against."

Ever since receiving Aizen's gift, Baiye had often drawn Minato into sparring with him.

Although he had not shown his full strength, Flying Thunder God combined with Minato's extraordinary reactions had indeed been difficult for Baiye to handle. Apart from a narrow victory at the start, when Minato had let his guard down, Baiye had been forced to stay on the defensive for the most part.

But thanks to that, he had been able to master his own power so quickly.

"You guessed even that?"

Minato was a little dejected. He had hoped to surprise Baiye.

"You mentioned Sealing Jutsu. What's so strange about me guessing?"

Baiye looked at the sky. It was almost time to assemble.

"I hear Kumogakure has a troublesome duo. If you run into them, don't let your guard down."

"You too. Sunagakure is one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, after all. Besides their Puppet Technique and poison, they have plenty of formidable experts."

"All right."

"Then take care!"

Minato held out a fist.

"You too."

Their fists bumped lightly.

Baiye turned and left.

He knew that after they parted, Minato would begin his true rise to fame.

In the next few short months, the other villages of the Shinobi World would issue that seemingly unreasonable notice: if you encountered Konoha's Yellow Flash, you could abandon your mission immediately without receiving any punishment.

The name of the Yellow Flash would resound throughout the Shinobi World.

What about him, then?

As his Reiatsu surged, ripples stirred in Baiye's heart as well.