The War Begins

Mito Uzumaki's strength level was rather awkward—no one could truly defeat him, but when facing a Kage-level opponent, he also struggled to win.

Truly, he couldn't beat anyone.

Minato was in a similar situation, and due to his age, he hadn't fully matured yet, so his strength was still a notch below Mito Uzumaki's. In regular training, he could hold his own for a short while, but over time, Mito Uzumaki almost always won.

The two of them weren't suited for a direct confrontation with Rasa. The best arrangement for them was to pin down either Chiyo or Pakura, or else cut through the enemy army like mowing grass.

Regardless, Orochimaru had to prepare to fight multiple Kage-level opponents. After all, Sunagakure's One-Tail and Ebizo hadn't yet appeared on the main battlefield.

But these weren't what worried Orochimaru most. What truly concerned him now were the other great nations.

Once Konoha got bogged down in a war with Suna, the other great nations would likely take advantage of the chaos.

Currently, the only ninja in Konoha with the strength and prestige to command large forces and earn their subordinates' trust—besides the Hokage and Orochimaru—were Jiraiya and Hatake Shōsō. Tsunade had developed hemophobia and was doomed to stay off the battlefield.

If the remaining three great nations all attacked Konoha, only the Third Hokage could step up. Danzō had already lost one eye and half an arm, his strength severely diminished, no longer reaching Kage-level, and unable to block the enemy's possible Kage or tailed beasts.

That would leave the village empty without a powerhouse to guard it, and Danzō might stir up trouble. Over time, chaos would be inevitable.

Not to mention, without the Third to check Danzō, he would secretly leech off the war to expand his Root, and might even target the Nine-Tails to seize its power.

What if the other three great nations really did strike at Konoha? That was highly likely.

From the outside, Konoha had won two Ninja Wars in a row, and internally boasted six Kage-level fighters: White Fang, the Three Ninja, Hiruzen Sarutobi, and Shimura Danzō—an overwhelming force.

Even the retired Torifu Akimichi counted. If he took the red pill, he could kill a Kage-level opponent. Over the past centuries of the Warring States Period, every Akimichi clan head had been capable of a one-for-one trade with a Kage-level fighter.

That made seven.

Add the strongest tailed beast, the Nine-Tails, and what the hell were we supposed to fight against?

One village stronger than two villages combined—that would inevitably draw a siege from multiple villages.

The first two Ninja Wars had been all-out brawls across the entire ninja world.

For example, the Second Tsuchikage had died alongside the Second Mizukage. The Land of Wind had been raided from the coast by the Land of Water. The Second Hokage had once beaten the other four ninja villages one by one.

If war broke out on other fronts of the Land of Fire, the only solution was to resolve one battlefield as quickly as possible to free up manpower.

Konoha could win against one village, stalemate two, but three was hopeless.

At the very least, Konoha couldn't afford to fight on three fronts.

But right now, Orochimaru saw no possibility of defeating Sunagakure quickly. He could only hope the other villages would delay their attack on Konoha until after he crushed Suna.

As the main force of Konoha arrived, even without a large-scale battle, countless squads had already set out.

They would conduct infiltration, counter-infiltration, gather intelligence, intercept enemy intel, and carry out assassinations.

Orochimaru grew restless. Recently, Konoha ninja had been losing ground.

His own ninja forces had been hastily assembled, lacking elite numbers and overall strength, while the enemy had come fully prepared.

If things continued like this, their disadvantage would only grow.

Orochimaru needed to lead Konoha's ninja into a battle.

Winning would curb Suna's arrogance, boost their own morale, and halt the enemy's momentum.

The enemy were invaders, the attacking side. They only had a few viable routes, and to ensure supply lines and large-scale encampments, a little probing would easily reveal their position.

In fact, the earlier squads had been partly gathering intel on this.

Border, plains.

The first direct clash between Konoha and Sunagakure began.

This area was near River Country.

Though River Country was a small nation, it had decent resources and, backed by Konoha, had been doing fairly well.

But before Suna's overwhelming power, the Daimyo immediately surrendered with a French salute—otherwise, River Country would have gotten a new Daimyo.

The two sides deployed their forces. Following the martial world's custom, they bantered before fighting, hoping to boost their own morale and demoralize the enemy.

"Orochimaru, so you're the leader. What, is White Fang too scared to show up?"

The one with such a grudge against White Fang was clearly Chiyo.

"What, Granny Chiyo, did you reattach your arm? Didn't it hurt last time?"

The one who had cut off Chiyo's arm was Hatake Sakumo.

"Thanks to your Konoha, this old woman's arm no longer feels pain. Orochimaru! Answer me honestly! Was Sasori's incident also your Konoha's doing?"

Chiyo had fitted herself with a mechanical arm, but it was so lifelike it was hard to notice without close inspection.

Orochimaru was taken aback. We really didn't do that!

"Granny Chiyo, could it be... that Sasori assassinated the Third Kazekage and then disappeared?"

Orochimaru stated the truth.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Orochimaru, what nonsense are you spouting!"

Chiyo was furious. How dare Orochimaru insult her beloved grandson.

She decisively ruled out the correct answer.

"Elder Chiyo, there's no point in talking sense with a sharp-tongued, truth-twisting scoundrel like Orochimaru. Pakura, let's take him together!"

The newly appointed Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, declared that there was nothing to discuss with a petty man like Orochimaru—no need to observe martial virtue; they would all rush in together.

Pakura had long been waiting. With a wave of her hand, a massive fireball carrying searing heat came howling through the air.

Pakura's fireball was the power of her Kekkei Genkai, Scorch Release—anything it touched would die.

Orochimaru fired off a Water Dragon Bullet to meet it, canceling out the fireball, but then a sky-covering wave of gold dust surged forward.

This was Rasa's "Magnet Release: Gold Dust."

"Summoning: Triple Rashomon."

Orochimaru summoned three gates of hell to block Rasa's attack.

Chiyo directed her puppets to charge forward, and Orochimaru summoned Manda to counter them.

Pakura was about to continue her assault, but a purple-haired figure had appeared beside her without warning.

"I can't let you interfere with Lord Orochimaru. Your opponent is me!"

A flash of blue-violet light passed, and Pakura was relocated elsewhere by Mito Uzumaki to fight.

Minato Namikaze saw that Chiyo was protected by multiple puppets. Instead of going after her, he touched two of the Ten Puppets of Chikamatsu nearby, teleporting them away before returning.