No Fighting in Konoha

How Kumogakure launched its grand assault on Ping'an County... no, Konoha, was Jiraiya's problem to handle.

Jiraiya commanded the army at the front, and another two or three thousand ninja arrived there in successive waves. The two villages fought fiercely.

But for all the noise, little came of it. Neither side suffered many casualties.

Sarutobi Hiruzen soon figured it out. Kumogakure had no stomach for a fight to the death with Konoha right now. That old bastard the Raikage was inviting the other ninja villages to join in.

It was a scheme laid out in plain sight.

Everything went as Dodai had predicted. Konoha launched no particularly fierce counterattack, instead settling into a war of attrition with Kumogakure.

In the blink of an eye, more than three months passed.

Uchiha Mai was never sent to the most dangerous part of the front. Apart from the occasional intelligence-gathering mission, he spent most of his time in Konoha.

Sarutobi Hiruzen understood the folly of draining a pond to catch its fish.

A genius who had reached Elite Jonin strength at nine deserved protection. Once he grew up, the village would have another formidable fighter.

As for whether too much time away from battle would dull his skills...

That was practically impossible. Uchiha Mai's surname was Uchiha, not Sun or Nobi.

Mai had not been idle over those three months. He had devoted himself to studying and learning Innate Time Control.

In the Type-Moon World, it was a great Magecraft second only to a Reality Marble, and exceptionally difficult to learn.

That remained true in the Naruto world. The ability involved both time and space, and the system had given him only a basic introduction and instructions for its use.

After three months, Mai could still only use the technique at a basic