Iwagakure's Infiltration, the Outbreak of the Kumogakure–Iwagakure War

Early summer, Year 52 of Konoha.

The war between Konoha and Kumogakure had gradually fallen into a stalemate.

Jiraiya sent intelligence to Konoha's Command Center, but by the time Konoha had assembled its forces and arrived, Kumogakure had retreated again.

Konoha had not expected that.

Neither had Anju.

In the original story, the overwhelmingly aggressive Kumogakure had repeatedly withdrawn after the war began.

Anju had originally decided that once Kushina drove back Kumogakure, he would have her suggest sending Shisui back to Konoha to recuperate.

That way, with an Uchiha hero who had directly repelled the A-B Combination returning to Konoha, the Third Hokage would feel a greater sense of urgency and would not be driven to desperate measures.

Moreover, Shisui's presence could stabilize the Uchiha and keep them from constantly wanting to head to the front lines to help him earn even greater achievements.

After all, Shisui had already made a name for himself in this war.

But Kumogakure had withdrawn! Withdrawn!

Konoha could only continue advancing after them.

Most frustrating of all, Kumogakure had retreated straight to the border of the Land of Lightning, abandoning every position in the Land of the Moon.

And to reach the border of the Land of Lightning, Konoha had to cross both the Land of Hot Water and the Land of the Moon, making its supply line rather too long.

That was also why wars between Kumogakure and Konoha were so rare.

Whether Kumogakure attacked Konoha or Konoha attacked Kumogakure, their supply lines had to pass through two countries.

That stretch of land was practically a meat grinder.

Small-scale clashes between ninja from both sides often broke out along the supply routes.

Most frustrating of all, Konoha had more than 4,100 ninja stationed in the Land of the Moon, creating an even larger shortfall in supplies.

If Kumogakure had fought Konoha in a large-scale decisive battle, Konoha might have suffered heavier losses among its ninja forces, but it could at least reduce the amount of supplies it needed to transport. But that was not happening!

The thousand ninja who should have died had also suffered few casualties because Shisui had gone full Gundam and held back Kumogakure's attack.

Nara Shikaku had relocated the Command Center several times already, but every time he committed the entire army, they came up empty-handed. He was growing less and less willing to trust that damned toad.

Every time the toad provided intelligence, he deployed the army, only to discover that Kumogakure's former encampment had been completely deserted. Quite a few ninja also stumbled into traps, which was incredibly awkward.

And the one suffering the most was Jiraiya.

He had followed Raikage A through several Command Center relocations and had already gone numb.

Whenever he sent word and Konoha's army showed signs of pressing in, Kumogakure immediately began relocating its positions. Most frustrating of all, Kumogakure's supplies were transported through the Heavenly Transfer Technique. The Kumogakure Ninja could retreat with ease, while he was left carrying the burden.

He had taken the blame several times.

After all, the intelligence Konoha received all came from him. After so many fruitless deployments, he no longer wanted to send intelligence at all. He was completely numb.

And as the war between Konoha and Kumogakure reached a stalemate, war between Iwagakure and Kumogakure broke out as well.

Akatsuki had taken the money and completed its assigned objective, then stopped caring whether the Iwagakure ninja lived or died, exposing them.

When the Kumogakure Ninja discovered that more than a thousand Iwagakure ninja had already made it deep into the Land of Lightning, they immediately launched a counterattack.

However, because the Kumogakure Ninja had been overly scattered across the Land of Lightning during their initial search for Akatsuki, they were at a numerical disadvantage against the Iwagakure ninja in the early stages. Once the Kumogakure Ninja gathered their numbers, the Iwagakure ninja would be in trouble.

Iwagakure's commander had originally planned to sneak up on Kumogakure Village and directly raid the ninja village. But after the Kumogakure Ninja repeatedly failed to locate his forces, he began to think he could manage on his own. Not wanting to pay Akatsuki any more money, he planned to lead the ninja forces in a surprise attack himself, so he could pocket the hiring fee.

Then he tragically discovered that Akatsuki had sold him out.

Without Akatsuki's cover, their force of over a thousand ninja was immediately discovered by the Kumogakure Ninja and plunged into a desperate situation.

They had already reached the interior of the Land of Lightning. With no further reinforcements and no cover left, they could only make a desperate counterattack and force their way directly toward Kumogakure Village.

That was how the war broke out. Ōnoki had not expected Akatsuki to be so unreliable. They had already been paid, yet they still allowed his men to be discovered by the Kumogakure Ninja, forcing them into a direct confrontation with Kumogakure Village.

The three thousand ninja forces originally hidden along the coastline immediately boarded ships to provide reinforcements.

Ōnoki had truly intended to use the conflict between Kumogakure and Konoha to crush the Kumogakure Ninja in one fell swoop.

Using a thousand elite ninja to launch a surprise attack on the Kumogakure Ninja had been his original plan.

Most of those thousand ninja were chunin, and there were as many as a hundred jonin among them. They could be called the foundation of Iwagakure Village. If those ninja were lost all at once, Iwagakure Village would suffer a severe blow as well.

Kumogakure Village had not expected those thousand ninja to be so formidable. Several large-scale encirclement attempts had been broken through by groups of Iwagakure ninja.

Raikage A was feeling anxious as well. He had already dispatched every ninja he could spare. The three thousand ninja forces around him could not be moved again, or Konoha would definitely exploit the weakness on their side.

At that moment, a tall ninja wearing sunglasses entered from outside the tent.

"Yo! Stupid bro! Leave this to B! Stupid bro, go reinforce them! Yo! Yo!"

Veins bulged on Raikage A's forehead. "Aah!"

His fist shot straight at Killer B.

Killer B crossed his arms and blocked Raikage A's punch, but was forced back two steps.

"Hmph! If you haven't recovered, then obediently lie in bed! Who told you to get up!"

Raikage A's punch immediately revealed Killer B's condition.

Clearly, Killer B had been forcing himself to hold on. His body had not healed at all. If Konoha attacked now, he had no way to stop them.

Leaving Uchiha Shisui aside, even the rumored Nine-Tailed Enchantress Kushina was not someone the severely wounded and unhealed Killer B could handle.

"Lord Raikage."

At that moment, Raikage's Secretary also appeared outside the tent.

"With Lord Killer B stepping forward, the situation with Konoha can already be stabilized. On the contrary, Kumogakure's internal security is facing a far more serious threat.

According to intelligence from the rear, Iwagakure's thousand-man shinobi force has already arrived within a hundred li of the village."

Raikage A's temper flared. "What are those old fools doing? Hiding in the village? Don't they know this will severely damage Kumogakure's reputation?"

"Lord Raikage, you are not in the village. None of the advisors can issue a mobilization order." After Raikage's Secretary said this, Raikage A fell silent as well.

He was accustomed to leading charges himself, so he had entrusted the village's administrative orders to the advisors. But even so, some commands had to be issued by the Kage himself. They did not have that authority.

"Can't I issue the order now?"

"Unfortunately, Lord Raikage, you must deliver this order to the ninja clans in person."

Raikage A did not waste any words and immediately intended to use the Heavenly Transfer Technique to return to Kumogakure.

But once he returned, it would be impossible for him to come back to this battlefield against Konoha anytime soon.

"B! Don't force yourself! If Konoha attacks, fall back!"

"Don't worry, Lord Raikage. I will assist Lord B in carrying out the established plan." As soon as Raikage's Secretary finished speaking, she had already completed her hand seals.

Raikage A glanced southward, then stepped into the range of the Heavenly Transfer Technique without looking back and vanished from the battlefield.

After Raikage A's figure disappeared, Killer B coughed several times.

Raikage's Secretary hurried forward to support Killer B.

"Thank you, Lord B. Otherwise, Lord A still would not have been able to get away."

"Yo! Cough, cough, cough..."

"Alright, Lord B, please rest first. I'll arrange the rest."