The night passed quickly. After a hearty breakfast the next morning, all the Konoha ninja gathered on the open ground in front of the camp.
Hiruzen Sarutobi stood on a raised platform and gave a rousing speech about the Will of Fire to boost morale, then led the way out of camp.
The Konoha ninja rushed into the woods, leaping from tree to tree.
This way of traveling let them use the spring of the branches to turn the impact into forward momentum, saving a great deal of energy. It was the most efficient way to cover ground.
As the Konoha Ninja Army set out, the Four Great Shinobi Villages took the matter very seriously as well. The Third Kazekage even personally arrived at Kikyō Mountain Castle. After all, the Third Hokage had come himself, and this was their frontline territory. They couldn't let it fall apart.
Of course, their own ninja forces couldn't suffer too many losses, either. They didn't want to end up like Kirigakure, with almost their entire main force wiped out and even the Mizukage's disciple, their commander, dead.
Iwagakure had also sent an elite unit to join Kitsuchi, mainly to protect him.
They had already lost the Four-Tails Jinchuriki, Rōshi, and four accompanying elites in the earlier battle on the peninsula. This time, they couldn't afford such heavy losses again.
Unlike the cautious Iwagakure, Tamura Hiroshi and the others, representing Kumogakure, were brimming with fighting spirit.
"What gives the Third Hokage the confidence to fight a decisive battle? Could that Forbidden Jutsu from the rumors—the one that can resurrect the dead—actually be real?"
Hanzō had just arrived, but he still couldn't understand why Hiruzen Sarutobi had brought his forces to fight so soon. Such a move was highly unusual.
He had come at the Third