Unlike one-on-one ninja battles, this kind of large-scale encounter had no room for fancy tricks unless massive traps had been laid in advance.
It was simply a head-on clash.
There would be no duels here either. Jonin against jonin? Chunin against chunin? Genin against genin? That was impossible.
Yet the Third Hokage was the first to charge out. That fearless momentum greatly bolstered the morale of Konoha's main force. The Hokage should indeed oversee the overall situation and direct the battle, and unless necessary, should not put himself in danger.
There was ultimately a difference in how one's own ninja felt when the commander stayed behind to give orders versus when he charged at the forefront of battle.
Now, not only had the Hokage come to the battlefield, he stood on the very front line. Perhaps that was because he understood quite well that for people to love one another, they first had to hurt one another.
Hurt one another with all their might.
Konoha had a complete system for battlefield command. The Hokage did not consider himself indispensable as a commander alone, but as a member of Konoha, he could exert far greater combat power on the battlefield.
Sarutobi Hiruzen was first a Konoha ninja, and only then the Third Hokage.
So he sprinted full tilt toward the enemy. Today, the Third Hokage had one—and only one—guard ninja: Minato Namikaze.
From that perspective, Minato was willingly playing the supporting role today.
It could not be helped. Once the Third Hokage accelerated to full speed, among Konoha's many ninja, Minato was the only one who could keep up with him effortlessly.
Although Minato's primary task was not to kill enemies but to protect the Hokage, this did not diminish Konoha's combat efficiency, because the Hokage himself was a high-speed war