War Erupts

Ebizo and the other elders agreed to Chiyo's proposal to start a war.

"What about Lord Third Kazekage's death? Are we just going to let it go unavenged?"

"Why don't we publicly announce that the Kazekage was assassinated by Konoha, stir up the villagers' hatred for Konoha, and use it to support the war?"

The Third Kazekage had only just died, yet people were already planning to make more use of his death.

"But if we do that, won't the lack of a Kazekage cause panic among the others?" an elder asked worriedly.

"Then we'll choose another Kazekage!" Chiyo declared decisively.

"I nominate Jōnin Pakura as the Fourth Kazekage!"

"I nominate Lord Rasa as Kazekage!"

In Konoha Year 39, the Third Kazekage vanished. Sunagakure's official statement was that he had been assassinated by Konoha, which had assembled the White Fang and the Three Ninja to strike together.

With Chiyo's support, Rasa successfully ascended to the position of Fourth Kazekage and, in that capacity, declared war on Konoha.

Thus, the Third Ninja War abruptly erupted...

Land of Fire, Konoha.

Orochimaru was using the Three Snake Sisters' help to study the properties of Natural Energy.

Then, in the next moment, he received Konoha's urgent recall order.

Sunagakure had assembled a large force of ninja troops and launched an invasion of the western border of the Land of Fire. The defending ninja had suffered severe casualties.

Orochimaru had successfully been promoted to head of Konoha's Jōnin Council last year. He now needed to return and assist the Third Hokage in convening a Jōnin meeting.

Clearly, this Jōnin meeting was meant to discuss how to respond to the crisis.

However, the elders had likely already held a private meeting and reached an understanding beforehand.

It was worth mentioning that Orochimaru had been promoted, and so had Hatake Sakumo.

Hatake Sakumo had also successfully become the Anbu Chief last year, but the Anbu's authority was controlled by the Third Hokage's eldest son, Asuma Sarutobi, who served as deputy Anbu chief.

After Orochimaru returned to Konoha, he summoned all Jōnin currently in the village for a meeting under the Hokage's orders.

"Given Sunagakure's current advance, they will likely reach Kikyo Castle within a week. Once Kikyo Castle falls, the Land of Fire's border will have no natural defenses left. At that point, Sunagakure can directly attack most of the cities in the western Land of Fire. There are many key economic cities there. If Sunagakure takes them, the Daimyo will likely send a direct reprimand."

Mitokado Homura sat upright in his seat as he explained the situation to the more than one hundred Jōnin present.

For once, the Third Hokage was not smoking. With a grave expression, he said, "Our immediate priorities are, first, to assemble a ninja force, and second, to appoint a commander to lead it. Does anyone have a recommendation?"

"Is Lady Tsunade absent? To deal with Sunagakure's poisons, especially Chiyo's poison, only Lady Tsunade can develop a cure!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi shook his head, indicating that Tsunade was indeed not in the village.

"What about Lord White Fang?"

The speaker was a Jōnin from a small ninja clan.

That clan had always been rather close to the Hatake Clan.

"Wouldn't Lord Orochimaru be better? His Medical Ninjutsu is also highly accomplished. He may not be unable to neutralize Chiyo's poison."

The one who spoke was the current head of the Medical Department.

The Medical Department had been founded by Tsunade, and she had originally served as its head herself. But after three months, she found there was too much work and resigned.

Since Tsunade was currently unable to see blood, many of the more difficult injuries were handled by Orochimaru.

After acquiring Tsunade's Medical Ninjutsu, Orochimaru's skill had already reached a fairly high level.

The Jōnin whispered among themselves. With Tsunade and Jiraiya absent, White Fang and Orochimaru were the most likely candidates for commander. But if Orochimaru truly possessed considerable Medical Ninjutsu skill, then even if he could not neutralize Chiyo's poison, he could still greatly improve the survival rate.

After a vote by the Jōnin and the Hokage's final decision, Konoha appointed Orochimaru as commander of Konoha's western front. He would lead a ninja force to the western border of the Land of Fire and halt Sunagakure's advance.

That very day, Orochimaru set out with three thousand Konoha Ninja, traveling through the night toward the border.

Orochimaru did not head straight to the front lines. If he did, it would mean he had to fight and would have no time to handle other matters.

As commander-in-chief, he needed to remain at the center, gather information, and analyze the current situation.

Mito Uzumaki and Minato Namikaze, who were both fast and powerful, were assigned to the reconnaissance force to scout the surrounding area.

It was also they who rescued a Konoha squad that had been surrounded by Sunagakure.

This was an entirely ordinary squad: one Chunin captain leading three Genin.

If they had not been ordinary, they would not usually have been assigned to the border.

They had encountered a four-man squad composed entirely of Chunin.

In fact, by the time Minato discovered this standard four-man squad, they had already lost one member—a Genin had been killed.

When they were rescued, that Chunin Captain had already suffered severe injuries and was poisoned.

Fortunately, there was a Flying Thunder God mark in the camp, allowing him to be sent back in time for Orochimaru to treat personally.

His life had been saved, but one of his legs had to be amputated.

The Chunin had been struck in the leg by Sunagakure poison needles. Yet he had endured immense pressure to hold off two enemy Chunin. The intense battle further accelerated his blood flow, hastening the poison's spread.

The remaining two were kept occupied by the Genin under his command.

If the leg had not been amputated in time, the poison would have spread to his heart before an antidote could be developed.

Even Orochimaru would have been powerless to save him in that situation. Only Tsunade could have relied on her extraordinary Chakra control to forcibly extract the poison from his body.

Fortunately, Orochimaru had already extracted some of the poison as samples and would develop an antidote as soon as possible.

Once that happened, Konoha Ninja would at least no longer be harmed by this poison.

According to the intelligence brought back by the Chunin, Chiyo, Rasa, and Pakura had initially split into three groups, each leading a unit to attack Konoha's border garrisons simultaneously. Judging by their routes, they had intended to rendezvous at Kikyo Castle.

However, perhaps their scouting units had discovered Konoha's approaching forces, or perhaps spies within the village had relayed the information. In any case, they had already joined forces ahead of schedule.

That meant the battle would be difficult, because Orochimaru would have to face three Kage-level opponents at once.

There was no need to mention Chiyo. She was an old adversary, and before declining from her prime, her strength was definitely not weak among Kage-level fighters. The only question was whether losing one hand had affected her abilities.

Both Pakura and Rasa had reached the Kage-level.

Pakura's traits were obvious. With her Scorch Release Kekkei Genkai, her offensive power stood out even among Kage-level fighters, though her other aspects might be relatively ordinary.

Although Rasa's record was rather embarrassing, being chosen as the Fourth Kazekage naturally meant he had some real skill.

His Magnet Release depended on the amount of Gold Dust he carried. With enough Gold Dust, he could turn the surrounding environment into his own home field. Like the Third Kazekage, he possessed both large-scale destructive power and battlefield control.

Mito Uzumaki was quite strong on their side, but if the area was filled with Rasa's Gold Dust, then no matter where he teleported, he would face Rasa's attacks from every direction.

And once Flying Thunder God was taken away, he was only at the level of an Elite Jonin and could not withstand more than a few moves.