Konoha Main Camp, inside the command tent.
Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Shikaku Nara sat around together, an indelible sorrow lingering on their faces.
Sakumo Hatake's death had cast a shadow over the entire Konoha Main Camp.
Tsunade could not keep this matter under wraps even if she wanted to, because Sakumo Hatake's body was still in Sunagakure's hands.
They had to retrieve Sakumo Hatake's body, no matter the cost!
Sakumo Hatake was Konoha's hero, Konoha's Blood-Red White Fang!
He should be buried in the Heroes' Graveyard, with his name engraved upon the Memorial Stone.
"Lord Jiraiya, Lady Tsunade, this is not the time for grief." After a moment of silence, Shikaku Nara spoke.
Jiraiya stared expressionlessly at the table, while Tsunade rested her chin on her hand and gazed out the window.
It was as though neither of them had heard Shikaku Nara. Their expressions remained unchanged.
"Lady Tsunade, there is something I do not know whether I should say." Shikaku Nara's tone turned solemn.
"What is it?" Tsunade frowned and asked impatiently.
"The location where the Sunagakure Shinobi stored their provisions was purchased by Lord Sakumo through the underground exchange. This operation should have been top secret, so why..." Shikaku Nara voiced the doubt in his heart.
In other words, not many people in Konoha Main Camp even knew about this matter, much less the hostile Sunagakure.
Shikaku Nara suspected... there was a traitor!
"You mean?" Tsunade came back to herself, recalling what Sakumo Hatake had told her.
"If we eliminate them one by one, I'm afraid there is only that person..." Shikaku Nara sighed helplessly.
Tsunade and Jiraiya both froze, staring at Shikaku Nara in shock.
This was... a time of war!
"How certain are you?"
"Do you have any evidence?"
Tsunade and Jiraiya spoke at the same time. Though their words differed, they meant the same thing.
Shikaku Nara pressed his lips together and remained silent. He had no evidence, but he was ninety percent certain of his conclusion.
Tsunade and Jiraiya exchanged a glance. Shikaku Nara's silence was the answer.
Bang!
"That bastard!" Furious, Tsunade slammed down her fist. The cup on the table jolted violently, and tea splashed across the tabletop.
Just as Jiraiya and Shikaku Nara wondered why the table had not shattered—
Crack!
A crisp sound rang out, and visible cracks split the tabletop in two.
With a crash, the round table between the three of them broke apart and collapsed to the ground.
"There is one more piece of news..." Shikaku Nara muttered inwardly that this was troublesome, deciding to get all the bad news out at once.
"Speak!" Tsunade sat angrily in her chair, her chest rising and falling turbulently, making Jiraiya drool.
"Iwagakure and Kirigakure have officially declared war on us." Shikaku Nara collected himself and spoke in a heavy voice.
A simple sentence, barely more than a dozen words, yet it was like a heavy bomb falling into a calm lake.
Jiraiya and Tsunade's expressions changed drastically. They were utterly shocked.
"If that happens, Konoha will face war on three fronts." Shikaku Nara's meaning was obvious.
Even Konoha, the strongest of the Five Great Nations, would struggle to fight on three fronts, especially when none of the three opponents were weak.
Furthermore, Kumogakure, another military powerhouse, was watching Konoha like a tiger eyeing its prey!
"What did the old man say?" Tsunade bit her fingernail, worry flashing in her eyes.
"This is the Third Hokage's intention." Shikaku Nara extended one finger and pointed at the map behind Tsunade.
"What about Sakumo?" Tsunade asked with a frown, her voice rising unnaturally.
Retrieving the hero's remains was the most important matter at present!
"The Third Hokage intends for Sunagakure to deliver him back on their own after the war," Shikaku Nara explained.
The deep furrow between Tsunade's brows gradually eased. Perhaps that was not a bad choice.
Let the hero witness with his own eyes that his sacrifice had value.
"Fine, we'll do it that way!" Tsunade declared decisively. "When will Orochimaru arrive?"
"At the earliest, tomorrow morning. At the latest, tomorrow night," Shikaku Nara answered.
Two days passed in succession, and Konoha Main Camp remained steeped in faint sorrow.
Sakumo Hatake's remains had yet to be returned, and the ninjas in camp began growing restless.
"What is Princess Tsunade thinking? Why hasn't she brought Lord Sakumo's body back yet?"
"Lord Sakumo died fighting for everyone. His body must never remain in the hands of the Sunagakure Shinobi!"
"That's right! Let's go take Lord Sakumo back ourselves!"
"Kill the Sunagakure Shinobi! Destroy Sunagakure!"
"Let's go find Princess Tsunade!"
For a time, the ninjas of Konoha Main Camp were fired up, flooding toward the central command tent in a swarm.
Tsunade had now been appointed the supreme commander of the Land of Wind battlefield.
At that moment, Tsunade, Shikaku Nara, Orochimaru, and Jiraiya were secretly discussing...
Suddenly!
A noisy uproar came from outside the tent. Faintly, they could make out words such as "Princess Tsunade" and "Lord Sakumo."
The four exchanged glances, stopped their discussion, and turned to head outside.
Outside the command tent, Orochimaru stood on the left, Jiraiya on the right, and Tsunade in the middle. The three stood side by side, while Shikaku Nara took a step back and stood behind them.
Seeing the dark mass of noisy people, Tsunade immediately felt anger rise within her.
"What do you think you're doing?"
Her explosive shout rivaled the roar of a lioness, and the noisy camp instantly fell silent.
The Konoha ninjas who had been so arrogant just moments ago now shrank their heads like quails, terrified that Tsunade might notice them.
Tsunade was someone who could refuse to give even the Third Hokage any face, and who even dared lay hands directly on the council of elders.
That was not even the main point. As ninjas, who had not been beaten before?
It was just that Tsunade's fists...
Gulp! Everyone unconsciously swallowed, their faces pale as paper.
Tsunade planted her hands on her hips, her sharp gaze sweeping across the crowd one by one.
"Seven days from now, the decisive battle at Kikyo Mountain!"
Silence. Deathly silence.
Everyone looked dumbfounded, staring blankly at Tsunade as she spoke those words.
"Hehe... isn't this what you wanted?" Orochimaru's hoarse, alluring voice sounded.
Only then did everyone come back to their senses. They looked at one another, confirming that their ears had not deceived them.
"Go back and rest up! In seven days, we'll wipe out every last Sunagakure Shinobi!" Tsunade shouted, raising an arm high.
"Wipe out the Sunagakure Shinobi!"
"Wipe out the Sunagakure Shinobi!"
"Avenge Lord Sakumo!"
"Bring Lord Sakumo back!"
In an instant, the crowd became fervent. Everyone shouted and roared in rage, like fierce tigers about to be unleashed from their cages.
The lifeless Konoha Main Camp immediately boiled over.
Their morale had returned all at once.
Tsunade and the others exchanged smiles. The first step of their battle plan had succeeded!
That night, dusk spread quietly like a gray net, shrouding all of Konoha Main Camp.
The night breeze was somewhat chilly, and the dark woods exuded coldness from every corner.
A thin figure moved through the dim camp.
There were no patrolling ninjas nearby. Perhaps the chill in the air had made everyone unwilling to come to this area.
Besides, no one had any reason to worry about the safety of this area.
"Tōka, I did not expect you to come looking for me so late." A slender figure emerged from the shadows beneath a large tree.
"Uncle Orochimaru, it seems you were waiting for someone." Tōka asked meaningfully.
"Hehe... Tōka, you really are humorous." Orochimaru licked his lips, his long tongue making one's skin crawl.
Tōka gave Orochimaru an expressionless look and decided not to keep bantering with him.
After organizing his thoughts, Tōka took something from his robes.
"I want to make a deal with you, Uncle Orochimaru."
"A deal?" Orochimaru raised a brow and glanced at the box in Tōka's hand, but did not reach out to accept it.
He did not believe that Tōka, a mere genin, possessed anything worth trading for.
Tōka kept one hand raised with the box, while extending his other hand. A trace amount of chakra gathered at his fingertips.
With a bang, a finger bone shot out.
It sank directly into the large tree behind Orochimaru. The small hole where the finger bone had entered began to collapse at a visible speed.
Before long, a tree that would have taken several people to encircle became a pile of shredded paper.
"Oh? So this is Tōka's Kekkei Genkai? I had heard of it, but seeing it with my own eyes is far more interesting!"
Orochimaru licked his tongue in his trademark manner, intense interest gleaming in his eyes.
Kekkei Genkai? Tōka held a faint smile and said nothing. He neither admitted nor denied it. Want to figure it out?
Go ahead and guess.
Orochimaru, who excelled at research, naturally had sharper eyes than Ebizo.
After seeing Tōka attack just once, he had roughly determined the ability of the All-Killing Ash Bones.
"Anything alive that is struck turns to dust. Terrifying destructive power," Orochimaru murmured, pinching his chin.
Naturally, Orochimaru's analysis included the intelligence gathered by the Third Hokage.
During the year and a half Tōka had spent in Konoha, Anbu had followed him to monitor him. He simply had not noticed them.
Although Tōka could not detect the Anbu's presence, he understood the Third Hokage's nature.
However, he did not care that the All-Killing Ash Bones' ability had been exposed.
Who could say for certain that the All-Killing Ash Bones were Tōka's final trump card?
"Uncle Orochimaru, is this bargaining chip enough?" Tōka opened the ordinary box. Three finger bones lay quietly inside.
"Hehe, interesting." Orochimaru habitually licked his tongue and laughed hoarsely.
As long as Tōka did not deliberately retract the ability, the ash bones would not disappear easily.
They were like mutated bones. As for how long they could be preserved, that would depend on Orochimaru's skill.
The atmosphere became strange. It had been calm just a moment ago, yet now it carried a hint of drawn swords and bared bows.
The air was filled with killing intent, and bone-piercing cold repeatedly stimulated Tōka's nerves.
The more it was like this, the less he could back down.
Tōka knew this was Orochimaru testing him. Someone like Uncle Orochimaru did not like weaklings.
Orochimaru stood quietly. Even without doing anything, he radiated a heart-palpitating aura.
Especially those green snake eyes. Whenever they fixed directly on someone, an urge to turn around and flee immediately seemed to rise from the depths of one's heart.
Tōka stared back at Orochimaru expressionlessly. He pretended not to care about the other man's gaze, though his heart was pounding wildly.
"Uncle Orochimaru, you're making me a little scared by staring at me like that!~"
Tōka spoke half-jokingly. It was true that being watched by Orochimaru made him feel uncomfortable all over.
Orochimaru, "..."
After a brief silence, Orochimaru broke the stillness. "I wonder, what does Tōka hope to obtain?"
Hearing that, Tōka secretly sighed in relief. Orochimaru saying this naturally meant he had agreed to the deal.
"My chakra is only at genin level. I cannot continuously use the All-Killing Ash Bones at high intensity." Tōka stared intently at Orochimaru.
Whenever there was a problem with ninjutsu, the first person one would think of was the Third Hokage.
But when the normal route could not be taken, Orochimaru was the best choice.
"So Tōka's Kekkei Genkai is called the All-Killing Ash Bones." Orochimaru savored Tōka's words. Naturally, he understood what Tōka wanted.
There were two ways to solve Tōka's problem: treat the symptoms, or treat the root cause.
The symptomatic solution was simple. Could he not use the ability continuously at high intensity?
He could use Sealing Scrolls to store some techniques when he was free, then release them during battle.
This method was called treating the symptoms. It addressed the need but brought no fundamental change.
As for treating the root cause...
Orochimaru was thinking, while Tōka quietly waited.
"Is Tōka worried about the great battle at Kikyo Mountain?" Orochimaru suddenly asked.
"A little. After all, I'm only a genin!" Tōka nodded and answered honestly.
"Tōka really is rather unique." Orochimaru flipped his palm and tucked the box containing the ash bones into his sleeve.
Then, his throat swelled up as though a foreign object were lodged inside, expanding to several times its size.
"Urghhh~~"
Three sticky scrolls slid out of Orochimaru's mouth.
Though expressionless and unafraid, Tōka could not help the twitch at the corner of his eye. This is fucking disgusting!
Orochimaru showed no awareness of it whatsoever and directly tossed the scrolls to Tōka.
"Seven days should be enough time for three Sealing Scrolls." Without looking back, Orochimaru turned and walked toward the command tents.
A voice drifted over from afar. "As for the lack of chakra, I'll find a solution for Tōka."
Tōka caught the three scrolls with his sleeve-wrapped hand, then wiped them with a look of disgust. "Another jacket wasted!"
Though he had only obtained three Sealing Scrolls, Orochimaru's reliability in matters of trade was still guaranteed.
Since Orochimaru had said he would find a way, he would definitely get something satisfactory for Tōka.
With a turn of thought, Tōka carried the dried scrolls back toward his tent.
Seven days were indeed enough for three Sealing Scrolls.
Land of Rivers, Sunagakure Shinobi military fortress.
"This is Konoha's declaration of decisive battle." Rasa placed the letter on the table and gestured for everyone to read it.
Ebizo picked up the letter. Its contents were very simple.
"Location: Kikyo Mountain. Time: seven days from now."
Everyone could more or less guess the reason for the decisive battle. Iwagakure had declared war on Konoha, and Kirigakure had declared war on Konoha.
To avoid fighting on three fronts, Konoha hoped to end the Land of Wind battlefield as soon as possible.
"Iwagakure is very strong. Ōnoki will likely lead their forces personally."
Ebizo paused before continuing, "As for Kirigakure, they are most likely just trying to profit from the situation."
Kirigakure was in the midst of a civil war, yet they had still sent the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to attack Konoha's supply lines.
However, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist had been wiped out in one go. More importantly, the seven ninja swords had fallen into Konoha's hands.
Kirigakure did not wish to appear weak by trading concessions for the ninja swords. Instead, they intended to demand the return of the seven swords as victors.
However, Kirigakure's civil war meant they were destined to be unable to deploy many shinobi.
"Should we accept the challenge?" Rasa was deeply conflicted and hesitant.
"Fight!!" Ebizo and Chiyo said in unison.
"Hm?" Rasa raised a brow and looked at the two in confusion.
Though Chiyo and Ebizo were siblings, it was truly rare for them to speak so unanimously.
"Even if we drag this out, if we cannot secure victory within a year, we will have lost," Ebizo explained.
Sunagakure Shinobi's greatest problem was still supplies. Once war broke out among the four great nations, food would become increasingly scarce.
Under normal circumstances, not only the Land of Wind, but even the Land of Earth had to purchase grain from the Land of Fire.
Once Sunagakure, Iwagakure, and Konoha went to war, how could the Land of Fire possibly continue selling grain to the Land of Wind and the Land of Earth?
Merchants did smuggle goods in secret, but not only were the quantities small, the prices had multiplied several times over.
Rasa gritted his teeth. How could he not know Sunagakure's situation?
But... he was unwilling to accept it!!
"Besides, if we do not dare to accept the challenge, it will severely damage morale," Chiyo added.
Rasa's strategic mind could not compare to Ebizo's, but he was not stupid. A slight hint was enough for him to understand.
With a soft sigh, Rasa loosened his clenched fist.
The final decision...
"Fight!"
Before you continue