Battle Report!

Hokage's Office.

"These children... have really built themselves a nice place!"

The Third Hokage looked through the crystal ball at Chiba's Japanese-style residence and the grassy field around it, a faint smile appearing at the corners of his lips.

Then, he lightly formed a hand seal, and the image within the crystal ball slowly faded away. As the image disappeared, the smile on the Third Hokage's face gradually froze as well. He took a soft breath, looked ahead, and asked.

"How is the situation?"

At that moment, an Anbu Ninja was kneeling on one knee before the Hokage's desk, seemingly waiting for the Hokage's question. Upon hearing the Third Hokage's words, he immediately replied, "The situation is not optimistic. Iwa and Kumogakure have launched attacks on us at the same time. Although they are fighting each other as well, it is obvious that both sides have deployed their largest forces against us. The pressure on the front lines is immense."

"Mm."

Hearing this, the Third Hokage silently nodded. He glanced at the intelligence scrolls on the desk and pondered for a moment.

Since the New Year, after each side had spent half a month recuperating, Kumogakure had been the first to launch an attack on Konoha's front lines. Iwa had followed suit, while another portion of Iwa's forces had launched a surprise attack on the rear of Kumogakure's positions. Kumogakure had apparently been prepared for this attack on Iwa's forces, and the war had immediately descended into a three-way melee that had continued until now.

Konoha, having fallen into a disadvantage last year after being plotted against by Iwa and Kumogakure, was now completely pinned near the border line in the face of attacks from the two great ninja villages. Although they had held off both sides' assaults, they had