Transformation

The Mist ninja's attack route has been determined; their path leads directly to the Land of Waves.

Having obtained the information he wanted, Yichen chose to leave immediately. Now, I can begin my performance.

Yichen first informed the Sunagakure and Cloud ninja of the news of the Mist ninja's army as planned, and then wrote to Ikura, instructing him to hold back.

Yichen believed that once they learned that another army of Mist ninja planned to strike at the heart of the enemy's stronghold, the Sunagakure and Cloud ninja would not stand idly by.

This is indeed a rare opportunity. If Konoha didn't have so many strange Genin, this attack from the Mist ninja could have overthrown Konoha's dominance.

However, Yichen knew better than anyone what would become of the Mist ninja's reinforcements, so he didn't intend to let the Yichen Iwa ninja fight against Konoha at this time. He'd let the Sunagakure and Cloud ninja cause trouble.

As expected, what happened next was exactly as Yichen had predicted: the Cloud ninja, Sunagakure, and even the Iwa ninja all adopted a fighting stance.

However, on Ikura's side, all talk and no action, Tenten keep putting on an act as if they're ready to enter the Land of Grass as a buffer zone at any time, but they just don't budge.

However, the Cloud ninja and Sunagakure did indeed send out a considerable number of squads of ninja, increasing friction with Konoha.

At this time, only Konoha among the Five Great Ninja Villages was unaware that it was about to be invaded.

Minato Namikaze couldn't understand why the situation had suddenly become so unfavorable to Konoha, especially since all three ninja villages had appropriately reduced the number of ninjas sent out when he first arrived at the front lines.

In less than a day, they were all adopting a posture of preparing for a decisive battle. The inexperienced Minato Namikaze Hiruzen Sarutobi through his Summoning Beast.

Hiruzen Sarutobi was also troubled upon receiving the letter. He had not been at the battlefield in the Land of Whirlpools for long, and he had launched a major battle as soon as he arrived at the front lines, achieving considerable results.

However, that's not enough. The Mist ninja Village doesn't have Kage Level ninja to oversee things, but they Jinchuriki Hiruzen Sarutobi is currently at his peak. In the battle just now, he suppressed the Three-Tails Jinchuriki and still had the strength to help the Konoha Army.

However, at this rate, it will still take him some time to completely defeat the Mist ninja.

"Is it still possible to support Minato Namikaze?" Hiruzen Sarutobi lacked confidence.

However, at this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi thought of something else: the Three-Tails Jinchuriki on the Mist ninja side didn't seem to be in good condition today; the Three-Tails gave the impression that it might go berserk at any moment.

"How about we focus on the Three-Tails when we fight again tomorrow? If we can make the Three-Tails go berserk, then the Mist ninja will lose their biggest asset." Standing at the entrance of the Command Center post, looking at the camp that was still busy at night, Hiruzen Sarutobi made up his mind.

Turning back to the Command Center, Hiruzen Sarutobi asked his bodyguard captain, "How's the contact with Orochimaru going?"

"Third Lord, Orochimaru has agreed. He will ensure that at least one Kage Level ninja from Mist ninja and Cloud ninja remain in the villages to oversee them," the captain of the guard replied.

Hiruzen Sarutobi a sigh of relief. It seemed that Jiraiya's death had a significant impact on Orochimaru. Otherwise, given his personality, having chosen to defect, he would never have done anything for Konoha again.

With Orochimaru's assurance, Hiruzen Sarutobi finally gained some confidence in defeating the Mist ninja. The Mist ninja only had one Kage Level Fourth Mizukage, and if Karatachi Yagura didn't leave the Kirigakure, the Mist Ninja Army in front of them would be easy to deal with.

It's decided. Tomorrow, we'll deal with the Three-Tails first, and then crush the Mist ninja in one fell swoop.

Hiruzen Sarutobi knew that once this decision was made, the Konoha ninja would inevitably face a tough battle the next day. This kind of quick victory required the ninja to fight for their lives.

Fortunately, he still had Tsunade, Tsunade was currently treating the injured ninja. Of course, Tsunade, who suffered from hemophobia, was only treating the injured ninja remotely from her tent using Katsuyu.

Tsunade's return has boosted the morale of the Konoha ninja to some extent; at least on the battlefield, they are no longer so afraid of getting hurt.

With Medical Ninja like Tsunade who had an overpowered advantage, Konoha should have chosen a more cautious approach, gradually gaining an advantage with low attrition, which would have resulted in far fewer casualties.

However, time was of the essence, as Minato Namikaze was still waiting for reinforcements.

"Damn Danzo." If Danzo had listened to Minato Namikaze's commands at this moment, the situation would definitely be much better.

However, Danzo disappeared after he came to support the Land of Whirlpools, and even Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't know where Danzo went.

After thinking for a while, Hiruzen Sarutobi went to Tsunade's room. Tsunade had already finished her remote treatment and was resting.

When the little girl Shizune saw Hiruzen Sarutobi enter, she quickly bowed to him and poured him tea.

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled at Shizune; this little girl, barely ten years old, had been taking care of Tsunade for several years.

After taking a sip of tea, Hiruzen Sarutobi said to Tsunade, "Tsunade, tomorrow during the day, don't conserve your Chakra. Summon Katsuyu, and we'll defeat the Three-Tails Jinchuriki together."

Tsunade was taken aback, then realized what she meant and asked, "Has the situation on Minato Namikaze's side deteriorated?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi nodded and said, "Yes, we must finish this quickly. During today's battle, I noticed that the Three-Tails Jinchuriki was not in good condition; this is a Wind Release: Breakthrough."

Tsunade nodded without speaking. She wasn't feeling well either. Although remote healing didn't require seeing blood—just providing Chakra to the Katsuyu — Tsunade couldn't help but think about the injured ninjas bleeding.

Seeing this, Hiruzen Sarutobi could only tell Tsunade to rest well before getting up and leaving.

The next day, Hiruzen Sarutobi led the Konoha ninja in another attack against the Mist ninja.

As Kage Level ninja, Hiruzen Sarutobi charged ahead, single-handedly unleashing a variety of wide-range Combination Ninjutsu.

On the Mist ninja side, the Three-Tails Jinchuriki was forced to face Hiruzen Sarutobi once again.

Upon seeing the Three-Tails Jinchuriki, Hiruzen Sarutobi became even more certain of his earlier assessment; the Three-Tails seemed to be in even worse condition than yesterday.

Hiruzen Sarutobi whispered to the little Katsuyu on his shoulder, "Tsunade."

Then, behind the Konoha ninja, a huge cloud of smoke appeared, and a final, enormous Katsuyu suddenly materialized.

Upon seeing the Katsuyu appear, Mist ninja, the head of the Hozuki Clan in charge of command on the Hozuki Chizuki Ninja side, looked grave and began to worry about the upcoming battle.

A Jonin nearby said, "Lord Blood Moon, Hiruzen Sarutobi is too strong. The Three-Tails was already struggling to deal with him, and now Tsunade is added to the mix. Moreover, the Three-Tails' condition..."

Hozuki Chizuki naturally knew the situation was bad. He hadn't been optimistic about the war before he set off, and he didn't understand why the higher-ups had provoked Konoha first.

Gritting his teeth, Hozuki Chizuki asked, "Where is Tsunade?"

Another Jonin in charge of reconnaissance and perception Jonin, "They seem to be still behind Konoha, and didn't rush over with the Katsuyu. They're probably treating the wounded."

Hearing the Sensory Ninja's ambiguous answer, Hozuki Chizuki frowned even more deeply, then said, "I'll hold off the Katsuyu, you retreat."

"What? But Lord Blood Moon, our mission is to hold out for at least five days, and we've only been on the second day." A Jonin expressed his concern.

"We can't hold on for five more days. Hiruzen Sarutobi is more decisive than we expected; he won't give us time. Besides, the Three-Tails can't hold on any longer; today should be its last burst of power."

"Arrange an immediate retreat." Hozuki Chizuki knew that retreating at this time would not be easy and would likely draw criticism from the High-ranking officials. But he had no choice; he hadn't expected the usually cautious Hiruzen Sarutobi to act so forcefully this time.

He never expected that Tsunade, who had been away from Konoha for so long, would suddenly appear on the battlefield of the Land of Whirlpools.

After giving the order, Hozuki Chizuki led several Elite Jonin to intercept Katsuyu and Hiruzen Sarutobi.

The battle went more smoothly than Hiruzen Sarutobi had anticipated. The Mist ninja's determination to resist was far less than he had expected. In today 'First Shinobi War, the two sides made only brief contact before the Mist ninja withdrew.

Their speed was so fast that Hiruzen Sarutobi didn't even have time to arrange a large-scale pursuit.

However, this First Shinobi War also yielded significant results. The Three-Tails -Three-Tails truly went berserk, and it didn't even last until the Katsuyu's attack, completely losing control under Hiruzen Sarutobi's relentless assault that disregarded Chakra consumption.

Afterwards, the Three-Tails inflicted significant damage on both Konoha and Mist ninja. However, Konoha Mist ninja relatively few casualties because they had summoned the Katsuyu beforehand. On the contrary, Kirigakure suffered more attacks and greater losses because the Three-Tails was heading back to the sea in the same direction as Mist ninja.

In just two days, Hiruzen Sarutobi repelled the Mist ninja and caused Mist ninja lose one of their Tailed Beast. It's likely that the Mist ninja will now focus on recovering the Three-Tails.

"Finally, I can go and support Minato Namikaze." Hiruzen Sarutobi a sigh of relief.

But soon, he received news that almost made him vomit blood: a force of about three thousand Mist ninja had penetrated deep into the Land of Fire.

The news came too late, because the Mist ninja army was spearheaded by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. The seven moved quickly and took down many Konoha ninja along the way.

Because of the war, most of the Konoha ninja were concentrated in a few large armies, leaving few scattered ninjas within the Land of Fire. Coupled with the assassinations by the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, the Konoha ninja had virtually no opportunity to send out intelligence in the early stages.

Occasionally, a few survivors would slip through the cracks, only to be either eliminated by the Mist Ninja Army behind them or by Yichen.

So when Minato Namikaze and Hiruzen Sarutobi received the news, the Mist ninja army had already advanced halfway; with another half, they would have truly reached Konoha.

At this moment, Hiruzen Sarutobi and Minato Namikaze could no longer care about anything else. Minato Namikaze immediately dispatched two thousand frontline ninjas back to Konoha to provide support.

In fact, the ninjas remaining in Konoha are quite powerful, and they cannot be defeated by a mere 3,000 Mist ninja.

However, Konoha is the rear area. If Konoha is also caught in the war, then the supply lines to the front lines will be completely cut off.

Hiruzen Sarutobi left only two thousand ninja in the Land of Whirlpools, and the rest of the ninja rushed to Konoha at full speed without even taking a rest. He himself only took a few Elite Jonin speed to intercept this Mist Ninja detachment.

The chaos in Konoha was naturally discovered by the other parties. The Sunagakure and Cloud ninja coordinated their actions with the Mist ninja, and as soon as they received news that Konoha had ninja reinforcements, they led their troops into the buffer zone in the middle.

Then, Minato Namikaze traveled to Two Battlefields on the same day, clashing with the Fourth Raikage and the Fourth Kazekage.

Surprisingly, the Iwa ninja, who had been clamoring for an attack, suddenly fell silent.