The Weak

From an outside perspective, whether compared with the First and Second Hokage's era or the later Third Shinobi World War, Konoha was indeed going through a bit of a lull. Mitokado Homura and Shimura Danzō were in charge of the front lines, and neither of them inspired much confidence.

Where was the kind of absolute powerhouse who could decide the outcome of a battle with a single strike? Konoha seemed to have no one like that at the moment.

Hatake Sakumo had only just begun making a name for himself on the battlefield, while Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade had yet to earn the title of Sannin.

The only Konoha ninja with any real standing was the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi. But he couldn't easily go to the front lines, and could only stay back at Konoha, the main base, coordinating operations.

It had been only twenty years, yet Konohagakure, once the strongest village in the Shinobi World, had reached this state. Konoha's overall combat strength was now barely on par with that of the other villages—some might even call it feeble.

Of course, Yuzuru didn't need to wonder why Konoha had ended up this way. A ninja like him was part of Konoha's weakness.

Iwagakure was a formidable enemy of Konoha. Sunagakure was a formidable enemy of Konoha. Even Amegakure was a formidable enemy of Konoha.

"About Iwagakure changing its route of advance, I confirmed it on my way back... The information is accurate. They're no longer taking the route through the Land of Birds. They're advancing through the Land of Grass instead," Torifu Akimichi said.

"Are they pulling away from the stalemate with Sunagakure to crush us first?" Mitokado Homura looked deeply worried. Just the change in Iwagakure's route had put Konoha in a very unfavorable position.

If Iwagakure entered the Land of Rain from the direction of the Land of Birds, Amegakure and Sunagakure would bear the brunt of the pressure. But if Iwagakure took the route through the Land of Grass, then Konoha and Amegakure would be the ones under pressure.

Even setting aside Kumogakure and Kirigakure, who had stayed put, was Konoha capable of fighting on multiple fronts right now?

Iwagakure, Amegakure, and Sunagakure—Konoha was facing enemies on three sides, and would have to bear immense pressure in almost every direction.

If you asked Yuzuru, Konoha's current predicament wasn't actually hard to solve. Konoha just had to switch from offense to defense, hunker down, and withdraw completely from the Land of Rain. Then it could establish a defensive line well away from the border of the Land of Fire and adopt a fortress-like strategy. That way, whether Iwagakure or Sunagakure wanted to attack Konoha's front lines, they would first have to fight their way through the Land of Rain.

It would mean using Amegakure as Konoha's shield.

But as one of the Five Great Shinobi Countries, Konoha wouldn't withdraw from the Land of Rain so easily. In a sense, that wouldn't be a show of weakness—it would be surrender. Pulling back only a short distance would be pointless, while retreating too far would amount to abandoning territory. Neither Konoha nor the Land of Fire could accept that.

"The Land of Birds has no hidden village, but the Land of Grass does. By marching through the Land of Grass, Iwagakure is infringing on Kusagakure's interests... Perhaps we can win Kusagakure's support," Torifu Akimichi offered a suggestion that seemed feasible but was actually of little use.

Had things really come to this? Did Konoha have to seek support from a minor village?

"Kusagakure is neither Amegakure nor Takigakure. It's very weak. More importantly, Iwagakure isn't the only one that's entered the Land of Grass," Shimura Danzō said coldly.

Well, that was awkward. To Kusagakure, Iwagakure was overbearing and ruthless, treating its borders as if they didn't exist. But what about Konoha? Could Kusagakure really consider Konoha any better?

Konoha's ninjas weren't exactly scrupulous about following the rules, either. The great villages had always acted this way toward the smaller ones... During their battles with Amegakure and Iwagakure, Konoha's ninjas often crossed the border into the Land of Grass as well.

For that matter, when Torifu Akimichi had led his squad behind enemy lines earlier, hadn't they ended up in the Land of Grass after wandering around for a while?

"Inform Hiruzen. We need reinforcements. There's no other way."

Shimura Danzō was fairly reliable. There was no point dithering now; requesting reinforcements was the most sensible solution... The problem was that no one knew how many reserve troops Konoha still had.

And so, Danzō had neatly turned the problem on the front lines into one Hiruzen Sarutobi would have to solve.

"We have no choice, then." Mitokado Homura fell silent for a moment before finally agreeing with Shimura Danzō's decision.

"What about the other piece of intelligence? The Four-Tails and Five-Tails Jinchuriki are operating together and have entered the battle directly. How should we deal with that?" Compared with the first report, Torifu Akimichi was more concerned about this one.

Konoha could respond to Iwagakure's conventional movements in the usual way. But how should it handle an unconventional threat?

Konoha couldn't fight Jinchuriki with Jinchuriki. Mito Uzumaki was too old to leave Konoha at this point... If Mito Uzumaki were still young, why would they need to worry about Iwagakure's Jinchuriki?

Before long, Konoha would have to replace its Jinchuriki anyway.

Iwagakure's move was well-timed. Neither Konoha's current Jinchuriki nor the new one who would take over could serve as a direct combatant on the battlefield.

"Why is Iwagakure being so extreme? Aren't they worried that something might happen to their Jinchuriki on the battlefield?" Mitokado Homura had little patience for Iwagakure's reckless approach.

"Hmph. Iwagakure and Kumogakure have always been like this. They only see the benefits and never consider the consequences."

"Perhaps we should ask the Land of Whirlpools for help."

Since they were asking for help anyway, Mitokado Homura took Shimura Danzō's earlier strategy a step further.

It was incredibly difficult to deal with a Jinchuriki or Tailed Beast head-on, but attacking from the side would be much easier. If they sent in Uzumaki ninjas, who were exceptionally skilled in Sealing Jutsu, it might not be difficult to neutralize the threat posed by the Jinchuriki.

However, although the Uzumaki Clan was a traditional ally of Konoha, they were ultimately not part of Konoha. They were an independent hidden village... With the Three Great Shinobi Villages and Amegakure currently embroiled in a chaotic war in the Land of Rain, it would be difficult for Uzumaki ninjas to join the fighting directly.

"No." Shimura Danzō immediately put a stop to that idea. He fell silent for a moment, then proposed a new strategy. "We're not the ones who should be most worried about this. Iwagakure's Jinchuriki are operating in the Land of Rain, after all. Who's most concerned about the destruction they could cause? The answer is obvious... Find a way to pass this information to Hanzō of the Salamander, the leader of Amegakure. He'll deal with the Jinchuriki for us."

No wonder Shimura Danzō was called the Pot Kage. He was as sinister as ever, and the most devious part was that he was using an open, aboveboard strategy.

But there was logic in what Danzō said. The only one who truly didn't want Iwagakure's Jinchuriki operating in the Land of Rain was Hanzō, the leader of Amegakure.

Hanzō was at the peak of his strength. With his "power close to that of a god," perhaps dealing with one or two Jinchuriki wouldn't be beyond him.

At any rate, after reporting the squad's findings in full, Torifu Akimichi's team was temporarily dismissed.

Torifu Akimichi stayed behind for the moment. Yuzuru would head to Konoha Hospital to have his injuries fully treated, while Kairi Omori and Hazuki Uchiha could finally get a few days of rest.

After the others had left, only Mitokado Homura, Shimura Danzō, and Torifu Akimichi remained in the tent.

"Torifu, is there anything else you want to say?"

"Our forward reconnaissance outposts were almost all destroyed at the same time. The enemy's actions were so precise that I suspect some of our intelligence has been leaked... There may well be an Iwagakure spy in the command center, and this spy is in a fairly high position. At the very least, they can access some classified information."

Torifu Akimichi's words immediately put the other two on alert. If such a spy really existed, the damage they could cause would be enormous.

"Wait, doesn't that mean the location of the Frontline Hospital has been exposed? The enemy could strike it at any time..." Mitokado Homura jolted with alarm. Once a key location was exposed, the enemy could strike at Konoha's weak points whenever they wished.

"Should we move it?"

"Not yet. We need to find a way to catch the spy first. Otherwise, no matter how often we move, the new location will soon be exposed too."

"If the spy is close to the intelligence core, we can't interrogate people indiscriminately. It would cause panic."

"Hmph. Don't worry. It's just a matter of catching a rat. I have plenty of ways."

In times of peace and war alike, hidden villages routinely sent spies into one another. The person who had long been in charge of espionage on Konoha's side was Shimura Danzō.

He saw the enemy's attempt to plant a spy in Konoha's forward camp as a provocation.

In many cases, the hidden villages simply assumed that there were spies among their ranks. As long as a spy wasn't in too high a position, couldn't access core intelligence, and couldn't cause irreparable damage, that was proof their counterintelligence measures were working.

Information like the location of the Frontline Hospital, with so many people coming and going every day, could never be kept completely secret.

The weaker a village became, the more it had to rely on schemes and stratagems. Back when Konoha had just been founded, there would have been no need to scheme back and forth. No matter how many moves the enemy made, Konoha would only have needed to punch straight through.

When the First was alive, no Shinobi World War had ever broken out.

But those days were long gone.