The footsteps of war gradually quickened.
The best way to stay alive during a war was to avoid the battlefield, but Aburame Tetsumaru now understood Konoha well enough to know that going to war was mandatory. In Konoha, everyone except the higher-ups had to go to the battlefield. Only shinobi who proved their combat strength on the battlefield could protect their own interests.
All of this stemmed from the Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, being an extremely contradictory figure:
He valued education at the Ninja Academy, yet restricted the spread of ninjutsu.
He preached the Will of Fire and protected Konoha's children, building Orphanages, yet sent shinobi under ten years old to the battlefield in large numbers.
He valued civilian shinobi and suppressed ninja clans, even tacitly allowing the extermination of the Uchiha, yet indulged the Sarutobi Clan's hundredfold expansion.
Sarutobi Hiruzen's greatest flaw lay in his indecisiveness. He agonized and hesitated over every decision, domestic and foreign alike, dissatisfying the hardline shinobi. Coupled with his lack of courage to shoulder responsibility, this gave rise to Shimura Danzō and Root.
His pursuit of moral purity and complete separation from darkness had made Root effectively independent, splitting the Hokage's authority and producing all kinds of distorted policies.
No matter what the Third Hokage said, his actions proved that he did not care nearly as much about those who did not go to the battlefield. In his heart, they were all expendable.
Aburame Tetsumaru understood that only great strength gave him hope of surviving the war.
Affected by Sarutobi's reforms, Aburame Tetsumaru had no access at all to advanced ninjutsu or Genjutsu, forcing him to place his hopes on Chakra Rune research and Ninja Insect experiments.
With all his friends having graduated, there was no longer any value in staying at the academy.
Aburame Tetsumaru seriously considered what excuse he could use to ask for leave. Perhaps he could cite research, but what results could he use as a cover?
After scratching his head and failing to think of a suitable excuse, he decided he might as well skip class.
Once he began skipping class, he could increase his daily testing time to twelve hours, testing 1,600 combinations a day. Of the remaining 120,000 five-seal combinations, he could finish them in roughly eighty days.
Very good, very good. That would leave him time within three months to think about combat methods. The plan was perfect.
Aburame Tetsumaru then entered a frenzied class-skipping routine. He only attended the first class each day, and as long as there was no test, he slipped home starting from the second class.
Three months later, burdened with six warnings, Aburame Tetsumaru completed the first stage of his Chakra Rune research.
Yet he had not found any inspiration, let alone discovered the Shinobi World's greatest secret in one stroke, and his strength had not undergone any immediate, dramatic leap. Honestly, he was somewhat disappointed.
Only half a year remained until graduation. He had to hurry and improve his strength and combat methods.
Fortunately, no matter how busy he was, Aburame Tetsumaru never relaxed his Chakra training or meridian adjustments. He now possessed not only a robust body comparable to an adult's, but also an enormous amount of Chakra.
In this era, Senju Hashirama, the unit used to measure Chakra by the ton, had been dead for a long time, while Kakashi, the unit used to measure Chakra, had not yet been born. Aburame Tetsumaru also could not often meet the Hokage, so he could only use his teacher, Domoto Daibutsu, as a reference. The Chakra flowing through his Chakra Grand Circulation was equivalent to that of fifty Domotos.
Shinobi had eliminated samurai and onmyoji by relying on Chakra. With his enormous advantage in total Chakra reserves, Aburame Tetsumaru was confident he could handle any Genin.
Though certain Genin of Konoha did not count.
He could even deal with Chunin whose offensive power was weak. Aburame Tetsumaru was confident he could drain the enemy's Chakra, then kill them.
But Jonin were different. Jonin existed on another level.
Aburame Tetsumaru's Chakra reserves definitely exceeded those of a Jonin, but in every other respect, he was not worth mentioning. He simply had no means of harming a Jonin.
During the six months before graduation, he had to find a way to master the ability to escape from a Jonin.
At this time, Sunagakure, the Shinobi World's foremost hothead, was provoking Iwagakure, Kirigakure, and Konoha all at once. It eventually chose its main direction of attack, and the young Third Kazekage personally arrived at the newly built Northern Fortress.
After the Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, cursed furiously, he helplessly dispatched his son Kitsuchi to lead reinforcements. The two shinobi armies directly faced off, and a clash could break out at any moment.
Sunagakure—
Chiyo stood before the office window, gazing at the village as she silently pondered.
Behind her, more than a dozen shinobi led by her younger brother Ebizo were calculating figures. Before long, Ebizo picked up a stack of forms and walked to his sister's side.
"Big Sister, the statistics are complete."
"What is the situation?"
"Very bad. After the shinobi gathered, they consumed far more supplies than we had imagined. The Northern Fortress has the worst consumption. Food has to be transported entirely from the village, along with a considerable amount of fresh water."
Ebizo's voice sank.
"The village has sufficient grain reserves, and the Oasis has ample water, but we cannot get them to the north. Our transport capacity is insufficient—severely insufficient."
Chiyo gave a self-mocking cold laugh. "We never knew that once the transportation volume reached this level, the losses during transport would be so outrageous."
"Our teachers taught us all this, but we never took it to heart. Truly..."
At this time, Sunagakure was organizing mobilization efforts, and the noisy crowds cheered for the approaching war.
Chiyo sighed. "First, order the Puppet Masters to research transportation puppets."
"Second, mobilize the Genin from every clan and use manpower to supplement our transport capacity."
"Third, send word to the Third Kazekage and ask him to return as soon as possible. We need to change our direction of attack."
After the messenger shinobi left, Chiyo turned back toward the window and muttered, "Teacher was right. He was always right. We were the fools."
Only when one ran a household did one understand the price of rice and firewood. Sunagakure's newly established leadership bitterly discovered that once they truly embarked on the road to war, "wealthy" Sunagakure did not even have enough water to use. Its vast territory became an even more serious burden during an offensive.
Iwagakure—
The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, was furious. The Kamizuru Clan was still as arrogant and unruly as ever, actually questioning his decision.
Iwagakure's war strategy had three mutually conflicting directions: the Tsuchikage faction advocated striking the Land of Wind first, destroying Sunagakure's Northern Fortress, driving those desert rats back into the desert, and then attacking the Land of Fire;
The great clan faction led by the Kamizuru advocated attacking the Land of Fire with full force while defending against the Land of Wind and the Land of Lightning;
The Daimyo faction believed that the Land of Wind was weak, the Land of Fire was cowardly, and only the Land of Lightning was a formidable enemy.
In Ōnoki's view, the great clan faction had been blinded by profit. Sunagakure was powerful, and its border was closer to Iwagakure. Unless they crushed the Land of Wind, Iwagakure's shinobi army attacking the Land of Fire could have its supply lines cut by Suna Ninja at any time.
The Daimyo faction was simply inexplicable. Iwagakure's mainstream shinobi training was Earth Release, which was countered by Kumogakure's mainstream Lightning Release. Attacking the Land of Lightning across an ocean or several countries—wasn't that absurd?
Unless they could seize an opportunity to launch a surprise attack on Kumogakure with several times their enemy's forces and wipe out Kumogakure in a single battle, they should not go to war with the Land of Lightning.
Forcibly suppressing his rage, Ōnoki decided to meet the Daimyo and persuade him to support himself.
Then, he failed.
The Daimyo had been persuaded by the Kamizuru. The Daimyo faction instead supported the great clan faction's strategy. Ōnoki flew into a rage, but there was nothing he could do. Sometimes, pure shinobi simply could not understand the dealings between nobles.
Kumogakure—
Thunderous booms rang out endlessly through the valley. A large group of Cloud Shinobi surrounded its perimeter, watching their Raikage and the rampaging Eight-Tails beat each other with reverence.
Yesterday, the Jinchuriki's seal had suddenly gone out of control. Fortunately, Kumogakure knew that its Sealing Technique was inadequate, so the Jinchuriki had not been living in the village, limiting the losses. The rampaging Eight-Tails could not be sealed, so the Cloud Shinobi could only attack desperately to prevent it from escaping the valley.
After losing more than a dozen lives, the Third Raikage arrived to provide support. Alone, he fought the Eight-Tails evenly. The savage Lightning Release Chakra Mode violently clashed with the Eight-Tails' complete form, and the aftershocks were enough to kill Jonin, forcing the Cloud Shinobi to flee the valley.
Only two days later, when both sides' strength began to wane, could the large group of Cloud Shinobi approach the edge of the valley and witness the terrifying combat power of their Third Raikage and the Tailed Beast.
The entire valley had been completely destroyed. The Raikage's Four-Finger Nukite had carved trench after trench, crisscrossing the ground, while the Eight-Tails' Tailed Beast Bombs had blasted out overlapping circular craters. It had truly dug three feet into the earth.
As the battle reached its final stage, both sides gathered their last reserves of energy to unleash their ultimate moves.
"Roar~~~" The Eight-Tails opened its mouth again and condensed a Tailed Beast Bomb.
The Raikage A's Lightning Release Armor swelled as he extended his right hand forward, overlapping his thumb and little finger.
"Hell Stab: Three-Finger Nukite!"
The Raikage's attack severed three blocking tentacles and charged toward the Eight-Tails' mouth in a trail of sparks and lightning, precisely striking the Tailed Beast Bomb still forming within.
The newly formed Tailed Beast Bomb shattered, and several thick bolts of lightning leaked out, striking both the Raikage and the Eight-Tails.
The Eight-Tails' eyes rolled completely white as its enormous body slowly fell backward. The Raikage also lost consciousness and dropped to the ground.
Both sides had scored a GG at the same time.
"Quick! Sealing Squad, seal the Eight-Tails!"
Dodai, Kumogakure's intellectual backbone and a Jonin, hastily issued orders.
"Medical team, treat the Raikage immediately!"
The watching Cloud Shinobi rushed into the valley in a panic, scrambling to clean up the mess.
A regained consciousness on his own after less than ten minutes. The final clash had left a lightning-shaped wound on his chest. It was deep and would definitely leave a huge scar.
With bandages wrapped around his chest, the Raikage insisted on working. His first order upon returning to his office was to hear the various reports that had been delayed for two days.
"Delay the Ninja Academy's expanded enrollment?"
"No. Did we not suffer enough from that during the later stages of the last war? We must expand enrollment according to plan. I will negotiate with the Daimyo over the money."
Heh. Every shinobi understood that this so-called negotiation should be read as coercion. Since taking office, the Third Raikage had been gentle within Kumogakure and forceful toward outsiders. He had never considered backing down.
"We must accelerate our stockpiling of war supplies. Once war begins, they will be difficult to buy even with money. If we can buy them now, do not be stingy."
"No, Kumogakure will not prepare for an offensive. For at least the next two years, we must focus on defense. Preparing an attack is the stage when we are most vulnerable to a surprise assault. Before we clearly determine our target and timing, we must maintain a defensive strategy."
"Our main defensive focus is the Land of Water. The nobles of the Land of Earth are more powerful, greedy, and ignorant; they will target the Land of Fire. The Land of Fire lacks fighting spirit. It is a fat domestic pig, so there is no need to worry. The Land of Wind is too far away. Only the Land of Water is isolated and chaotic. Even I cannot figure it out, so focus our defenses on them first."
After assigning the backlog of work, Dodai left with the staff shinobi and casually shut the Raikage's office door behind him.
Soon afterward, the sound of furniture being smashed came from inside the office. None of the staff shinobi found it strange, and they all went their separate ways.
Dodai sighed and went to the logistics department to move another desk himself. Today, Lord Raikage had been thoroughly enraged by the Eight-Tails. He must be furious inside. One desk might not be enough; perhaps he should move a few more as spares.
Kirigakure—
The Third Mizukage was deeply troubled. According to intelligence gathered by Kirigakure's Anbu, the Four Great Ninja Villages on the continent had all entered full war preparations, yet mighty Kirigakure was still caught up in internal division.
After the Second Mizukage inexplicably perished together with the Second Tsuchikage, the succeeding Third Mizukage lacked the authority to suppress Kirigakure and fell into the predicament of his orders not leaving the village.
In present-day Kirigakure, three great clans stood in balance above, while ninja clans large and small fought for power and profit below. They also deliberately joined forces against the Mizukage, leaving his authority inferior even to that of Elder Genji.
After Konoha's Ninja Academy displayed enormous strategic value, the Mizukage proposed establishing Kirigakure's own Ninja Academy. No problem.
The Mizukage himself serving as the Ninja Academy's principal was also acceptable.
But they would not hand over personnel authority for teachers and admissions. It had to follow the ninja clans' wishes, and there was not a single teacher inclined toward the Mizukage.
Kirigakure's Ninja Academy could train more than a hundred shinobi every year, greatly accelerating Kirigakure's recovery of strength. Yet the graduating Genin either came from ninja families or were recruited under the banner of ninja families.
The shinobi loyal to the Mizukage were not only few, but weak. There was no way to improve the Mizukage's hollowed-out position.
They established Kirigakure's Anbu, directly under the Mizukage, in imitation of Konoha's Anbu. No problem, but personnel authority was still unavailable.
The Mizukage could not obtain personnel authority over the Anbu. Kirigakure's Anbu was fragmented, with most squads controlled by some clan or another. Their obedience was greatly reduced, and confidentiality was out of the question.
"We still have to increase the number of civilian shinobi, gradually expand the Mizukage's power, reclaim leadership, and only then can we discuss anything else."
A blood-red gleam flickered in the Third Mizukage's eyes as a dangerous impulse became increasingly impossible to suppress.
Those damned ninja clans. Mere stray dogs had actually become the masters. They all deserved to die.
At this tense moment with a great war approaching, Kirigakure quietly implemented the Blood Mist Policy in its Ninja Academy: its teaching principles encouraged real combat and bloodshed, and graduation required killing a designated competitor. Genin who graduated this way could be sent directly to the battlefield.
Konoha—
The Third Hokage was worried sick. According to intelligence, the Four Great Ninja Villages were all restless and eyeing Konoha covetously. Konoha's current total number of shinobi was not much lower than the combined total of the other four, and it did not lack core Jonin. The problem was that its top-level shinobi were not strong enough. In other words, there were too few shinobi at Sarutobi Hiruzen's level.
Once war began, there would be at least three fronts, perhaps even four fighting at once. He could command one, Danzo could command one, but there was no suitable candidate for another.
Lady Mito? Her strength was not a problem, but she was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki and was also elderly. She was not suited to leaving Konoha.
The Hyuga Clan? No, the Hyuga Clan's shinobi were not strong enough.
The Senju Clan? Sigh. After Teacher's death, the strong figures of their generation had all grown old, while the new generation had not yet matured.
Besides, it would be best if the Senju did not produce another strong figure. Otherwise, it would become even more troublesome.
The Uchiha Clan? Even less suitable. If Kagami were still alive, he could have guarded one front and mobilized the Uchiha Clan as well.
Torifu Akimichi? That would not work either. Although he was powerful, he needed cooperation to fully display his strength. Furthermore, after Kagami's death, Torifu had grown distant from him, and the power of Ino-Shika-Cho could not be allowed to grow any further.
Irritated that his former friends neither understood nor supported him, Sarutobi Hiruzen took fierce puff after puff from his pipe, surrounding himself with smoke.
Before you continue