Mist Upheaval

"While Konoha and Mist were fighting, the Fourth Mizukage suddenly appeared on the battlefield and launched a sneak attack. The Uchiha and Hyuga Clan heads stayed behind with their men to cover the retreat and were grievously wounded. They died of their injuries after returning to camp."

"The heads of the other ninja clans who stayed behind to cover the retreat also suffered casualties."

"I deeply regret and mourn such enormous losses. I failed to consider everything carefully enough."

The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, spoke with a grave expression.

"What?"

"Father..."

Fugaku Uchiha and Hyuga Hiashi's expressions changed drastically as they cried out despite themselves.

Shisui Uchiha, Uchiha Gen, Hizashi Hyuga, and the other Jonin from the two clans all wore extremely grim expressions.

Of course, Uchiha Gen did not really feel much about the old clan head's death, but he still had to put on a proper performance.

The other Jonin also had grave expressions on their faces.

The Fourth Mizukage had personally entered the battle. That meant Mist's elite ANBU and other elite forces had certainly joined the fight as well.

The situation on the front line had changed drastically. It was hanging by a thread!

"Hiruzen, how can you blame yourself for this?"

"When we met before, everyone agreed that once Mist was the only one left, they would know when to stop, withdraw their troops, and defend the Land of Whirlpools."

"No one expected Mist to be so hardline, so greedy..."

"This was a collective decision. You need not take all the responsibility upon yourself."

Utatane Koharu sat on a stone chair, her eyes slightly narrowed as she spoke.

"The Fourth Mizukage's personal intervention has shown us Mist's resolve. It seems a hard battle cannot be avoided."

"We must hurt Mist badly enough to force them to retreat!"

Mitokado Homura sat upright, pushed up his glasses, and spoke with a stern expression.

"The urgent matter is deciding on a new commander and reinforcements for the Hidden Mist Battlefield. Self-reflection is something to do after the war has been won."

Shimura Danzō leaned lightly against his stone chair, speaking calmly.

Danzo was in quite a good mood at this moment.

He had originally wanted to use the Hidden Mist Battlefield to weaken Konoha's major ninja clans, but he had gained an unexpected harvest instead.

The Uchiha Clan head and the Hyuga Clan head—two powerful figures beyond elite Jonin and close to Kage-level—had died in the war. The heads of other ninja clans had also suffered casualties. His goal had been more than fulfilled.

Listening to the Konoha Council echo one another, Uchiha Gen curled his lips as he lowered his head. With them speaking one after another like this, how was anyone else supposed to say anything?

A collective decision?

The four of you made that collective decision, didn't you?

When everyone shares the blame, it means no one bears the blame...

"Yes. We must hurt Mist thoroughly enough to make them retreat and bring this war to an end!"

"Therefore, apart from the personnel necessary to remain behind in Konoha, this time all reinforcements will be chosen from among the very best elites!"

"There will be twenty-five Jonin, one hundred and fifty Chunin, and five hundred Genin."

"Additionally, Tsunade, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Minato, all of you will go."

"With this force, together with the remaining forces at the front, we should be able to defeat Mist, correct?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's gaze swept from left to right, falling in turn upon Orochimaru, Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Minato.

"Yes!" the four answered without hesitation.

The Jonin present were all rather surprised. Twenty-five Jonin was no small number.

Before the Third Great Ninja War began, Konoha had only a little over one hundred and ten Jonin in total.

Even after the war had gone on this long, and even with the requirements for becoming a Jonin relaxed, Konoha currently had only a little over sixty Jonin. Yet nearly half of them were being dispatched at once.

Together with four Kage-level combatants, it seemed Mist had truly angered the Hokage.

But with four Kage-level combatants, who would serve as commander?

All four were qualified for the position.

"Tsunade will serve as commander. Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Minato, you three will serve as deputy commanders and assist Tsunade."

Lady Tsunade?

That was indeed the best choice. Her identity, status, and strength were all suitable, and so was her position. She would not favor either side.

"Yes."

The four standing at the front had no objections and answered in unison.

"Go make your preparations. You depart in one hour."

"Yes!" everyone answered in unison.

Ninjas were a profession that placed tremendous emphasis on efficiency. Right there in the main conference room, Tsunade, Orochimaru, Jiraiya, and Minato selected the Jonin who would be heading to the Hidden Mist Battlefield.

They then brought over the ninja registry, which contained detailed records on every ninja, including their rank, areas of expertise, number of missions completed, and more.

In less than half an hour, the six hundred and seventy-five elites from every ninja rank had been selected.

The remaining time was used to return home and prepare for deployment before gathering at Konoha's gates.

Fifty-five minutes later, six hundred and seventy-five fully equipped ninjas gathered at Konoha's gates. Led by the Sannin, they rushed at high speed toward the front line in the southeast of the Land of Fire.

As for the Yellow Flash, Minato Namikaze had already reached the front ahead of them thanks to his support speed, which far surpassed everyone else's.

Tsunade had tasked Minato Namikaze with stabilizing the front line and taking some of the arrogance out of Mist.

As Orochimaru's disciple, a Jonin, and a member of the Uchiha Clan, Uchiha Gen was naturally among those summoned.

Likewise, Team 7, which was directly under Minato Namikaze's command, was also among those summoned.

They were all elites, so their travel speed was extremely fast. They rested only once along the way and reached the front at nine that evening.

After the long forced march, the Genin's combat strength had dropped greatly, while the Chunin and Jonin had also declined to varying degrees. Only the Sannin remained in peak condition.

Naturally, this was not the best time to enter battle, and there was temporarily no battle for them to join anyway.

Minato Namikaze had completed the task Tsunade gave him splendidly. He dealt Mist a direct blow and stabilized the battle line.

Having altered her appearance beforehand and blocked her sense of smell, Tsunade led the reinforcing Konoha Ninja on a tour of the front-line camp. The morale of the Konoha Ninja, which had been low after their recent defeat, soared rapidly.

The Sannin and the Yellow Flash had all arrived. The Konoha Ninja could not imagine how they could lose...

The Mist spies hidden within Konoha's front-line camp used secret methods to send news of the Sannin's arrival back to the Mist camp.

Tsunade and the other three were all well aware of the Mist spies' presence. Konoha had spies in the Mist camp as well.

They wanted the spies to send the news back, changing Mist's war strategy and giving the exhausted front-line ninjas more time to recover, while also allowing the newly arrived ninjas some time to adapt.

Upon receiving the news, Fourth Mizukage Yagura immediately summoned his subordinates for a meeting.

The real power holders of Mist all grew uneasy when they heard the news.

A person's reputation was like a tree's shadow. The Sannin and the Yellow Flash had built their deterrent power bit by bit throughout the war, with not a trace of falsehood in it.

Facing four Kage-level Experts renowned throughout the ninja world at once, Mist's upper ranks all felt their scalps go numb.

Fourth Mizukage Yagura also found the situation extremely troublesome and did not dare act rashly. His resolve to carry out the tailed beast attack on the village plan deepened even further.

Without taking an unconventional path, Mist had very little chance of victory.

After discussion, Mist's upper ranks quickly reached a consensus.

A frontal clash was out of the question. On the surface, they would focus on defense and stalling for time, while secretly carrying out the tailed beast attack on the village plan. Once the plan succeeded, they would seize the momentum and counterattack!

That night, the deployment at Mist's front line changed overnight, shifting from offense to defense.

The Mist Ninja suddenly forced to work overtime were utterly baffled.

Although they had suffered some losses during the day, there was no need to turn into turtles hiding in their shells, was there?

The Mist Ninja could not understand it, but they could only obey orders and work through the night.

Mist's upper ranks did not spread the news. Although it would be exposed sooner or later, it was naturally better if their high morale could last a little longer.

Though the ninjas of the Village of the Bloody Mist were cold, ruthless, combative, bloodthirsty, and indifferent to life, that did not mean they had no emotions at all.

Mist had already earned the name Village of the Bloody Mist before Obito controlled Yagura. Obito had merely taken that foundation and multiplied it enormously!

At Konoha's front-line camp, the reinforcing ninjas had all gone to eat and rest. Uchiha Gen and Shisui Uchiha still had to pay their respects to the dead clan heads before they could eat and rest.