Danzo walked the streets of Konoha after a long absence.
The matter of Kazashiro's promotion to Jonin has been finalized, and his achievements are being spread throughout the streets and alleys, but Danzo's expression is not very pleasant.
Instead of turning up in joy, the corners of his mouth seemed to be turning down.
By the time Danzo had walked from one end of the street to the other, his expression had changed to this: "Λ˙"
As for the reason...
Villager A: "Have you heard? There's a genius named Kazashiro who's incredibly powerful. He single-handedly fought against three Kumogakure!"
Villager B: "Really? That's amazing! By the way, who is this Kazashiro?"
The above conversation caused Danzo's lips to curl upwards slightly.
But what he said next completely broke down his defenses.
Villager A: "Kazashiro, you don't know him? He's the Third Hokage's newest disciple!"
Villager B: "I see. No wonder you're so brave. You're a disciple of the Lord Third."
After hearing this, Danzo's smile faded slightly.
It eventually turned out that way.
Unable to vent his anger on the streets Danzo returned to the Root Base and finally unleashed his pent-up resentment. "Kazashiro is my son, my son! The blood of the Shimura Clan flows in his veins, what does it have to do with Hiruzen!"
Meanwhile, the Konoha High Command, who had also heard the rumors circulating in the village, immediately knew that Danzo was the Danzo behind it all. However, they did not object and instead allowed the rumors to spread throughout the village.
This wasn't because Kazashiro was Hiruzen's disciple, but because in times of war, creating a heroic image was beneficial for stabilizing morale, especially since progress at the Kumogakure front wasn't going so smoothly.
The most obvious evidence is that Konoha has already Genin the front lines to carry out logistical and transportation tasks.
"Secret Technique: Magic Mirror Ice Crystal"
Emerging from the Ice Mirror, Kazashiro dispatched a Cloud Ninja who appeared to be a Jonin, then vanished back into it, reappearing from another direction.
In large-scale ninja battles, those charging at the front are mostly Chunin or Genin, so the battles are quite monotonous, mostly consisting of clashes between cold weapons and Taijutsu.
For Chunin and Genin who are severely lacking in ninjutsu reserves and Chakra reserves, they will only consider using Ninjutsu to escape when their lives are seriously threatened.
However, for Kazashiro, who is capable of accurately killing enemies with a single point, the absence of Ninjutsu to bombard the surroundings makes it easy for him to find the target he wants to assassinate.
The enemy's Jonin (high-ranking ninja) naturally shared the same goal; while directing operations from the center, they were also searching for high-threat targets on the enemy side.
After eliminating three suspected Jonin, the Cloud Ninja finally noticed Kazashiro moving back and forth across the battlefield and immediately summoned Jonin from other areas for support.
However, this posed no threat to Kazashiro, who possessed high mobility. After all, not everyone had the terrifying speed of Young Ai. Why fight someone you can't beat? Just run away.
Bending down to dodge a threatening punch, Kazashiro vanished straight into the Ice Mirror, escaping to another point of conflict.
The battle lasted from dawn until dusk before both sides, having left behind a similar number of corpses, withdrew to their respective camps.
Inside Orochimaru's tent, Orochimaru, as the commander, convened a meeting of Jonin, which did not include Kazashiro and other Root ninjas.
"The casualty ratio is not ideal; if this continues, we will find it difficult to maintain the current front."
Sitting to Orochimaru's left, Hizashi Hyuga reported the Branch Family's casualties with some heartache. Branch Family members who were not qualified to learn the Main Family's secret techniques not only had to face the enemy's frontal attacks, but also had to risk their lives to protect the few remaining Main Family members, which was truly infuriating.
Orochimaru ignored Hizashi Hyuga and instead turned his gaze to another spot. That spot should have been occupied by Sōka Sarutobi, the Jonin from the original patrol team responsible for this area, but it was now empty. This meant...
"Su Huo and three Chunin his Chunin subordinates have been killed. The one who did it was Kekeru, Storm Release ninja from Kumogakure."
Hōen Nara, a Jonin who witnessed Suho's last battle, covered his wound and spoke through the pain.
"Yeah..."
Upon hearing that Suho had also perished, Orochimaru frowned slightly, and his expression finally changed.
Just yesterday, Shimura Kazama, a former patrol Kazama Shimura, encountered the Magnet Release Ninja Toroi, who was recovering from serious injuries. Troy, along with several of his Shimura Clan ninjas, went to meet the Six Paths of Heroes. Now, the few remaining members of the Sarutobi Clan in this area have all been sent away by the Cloud Ninja...
Within months of the start of the war, all the original border ninjas had been wiped out, which was not good news for Konoha.
Compared to the ninjas sent to the battlefield later, these ninjas who had been fighting on the border for many years far surpassed other ninjas in both combat strength and familiarity with the terrain. With them around, Orochimaru could formulate many more aggressive plans without worrying about morale.
When you have fewer chips in your hand, you need to change your playing style.
Turning to look at the map behind him, Orochimaru crossed out many prominent features in his mind and conceived many new defensive positions.
With the current number of Jonin, they should be able to hold the optimized front line.
Thinking of the large number of temporarily promoted Jonin who were not qualified to attend this meeting, Orochimaru still relied on the small number of veteran Jonin within his camp.
In the battlefield promotions, only a small number of the newly promoted Jonin ultimately survive to the end of the war.
"The logistical pressure is also immense. For some reason, the enemy suddenly began to harass our transport convoys extensively, and many students who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy have fallen victim to their attacks."
Just as Orochimaru was devising a new defensive line, the Jonin Tōdō Akimichi, who was in charge of logistics, was also complaining to everyone.
For so long since the start of the war, Kumogakure had never targeted the transport convoys. But for some reason, they suddenly began a large-scale infiltration recently, slaughtering any lone transport convoys they caught.
The newly promoted Jonin, Danzo's son...
Upon hearing Tōdō Akimichi's words, Orochimaru seemed to have thought of something and turned his gaze to the location of the Cloud Ninja's position on the map.
"I see..."
Orochimaru muttered to himself and began assigning tasks to the group.
"For now, we'll adopt a defensive stance; I'll handle the rest."
Orochimaru assigned tasks to everyone, and the Jonin present did not question his decision. After spending some time together, they had become accustomed to Orochimaru's way of commanding. He would never explain why he made these arrangements, and even if you asked him directly, he would only be busy with his own affairs and completely ignore you.
Unless he encounters something that interests him.