Kumogakure's War Intentions

Orochimaru took the scroll, scanned it, and the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

"Kumogakure, are they finally making a move? This is really... too slow."

After a few sinister chuckles, Orochimaru's figure vanished from the spot.

This ninja war was a good opportunity for him—a perfect chance to completely get a grip on the Uchiha clan.

No one would be allowed to stand in his way.

Outside the Hokage Building, the area was packed with ninjas summoned in an emergency. A rough count showed hundreds of them, all elites of the village; a single glance revealed not a single genin among them.

Kakashi and Guy were also in the crowd, standing together with their peers like Kurenai Yuhi and Anko Mitarashi.

Kurenai Yuhi frowned slightly. "With so many ninjas assembled, it seems we are going to war again."

During the Night of the Nine-Tails not long ago, Kurenai Yuhi had just lost her father and was still in deep grief. Now that the village was being kicked while it was down and forced into war, her words carried a sense of depression and unhappiness.

This was not cowardice before battle, but rather the posture of a "grieving army," eager to head to the front lines and kill the enemy right now.

Most of the surrounding Konoha ninjas felt the same way. The Nine-Tails Incident had come out of nowhere, and they hadn't found the mastermind even after it ended, but on the battlefield, the enemy was plain to see.

Kakashi also wore a cold expression, having remained silent from the start. Suddenly, his face changed slightly, as if he had seen something incredible. "How could they be here?"

Following his gaze, the others also spotted the newly assembled squad of ninjas.

They wore uniform ninja attire with the fan crest printed on their backs. Regardless of gender, they were all expressionless, radiating an aura that warned others to keep their distance.

Guy asked in confusion, "What's wrong with the Uchiha? They participated in the last ninja war, too."

"Idiot, that's not what Kakashi means." Anko Mitarashi shot Guy a glare and explained, "Last time, they were drafted from the Uchiha, but this time they are clearly participating as the Uchiha Police Force. In the previous three ninja wars, this has never happened before."

"So that's how it is." Guy suddenly realized, though he only understood the most superficial layer.

He said in surprise, "Anko, you're amazing. You seem to know so much about the Uchiha."

"Anyone could see that much." Anko curled her lip, pretending it was nothing.

But in reality, she had only started paying attention to them after learning that Orochimaru had single-handedly crushed the Uchiha Police Force.

"Swish..."

After a sound of wind being torn, a figure arrived in front of the Hokage Building and vanished into the main entrance in the blink of an eye.

Among the ninjas present, those with keen observation skills saw who it was, and a few gasps erupted in the crowd.

"It's Lord Orochimaru!"

"Will one of the Sannin be participating in this war?"

"If Lord Orochimaru leads us, we will surely win much more easily."

"..."

As war approached, there were those like Kurenai Yuhi who suppressed their anger and longed to kill the enemy immediately, and naturally, there were those who knew the cruelty of war and felt uneasy.

Anxiety was something everyone felt to some degree, and having a powerful ninja nearby would undoubtedly greatly soothe that unease.

Thus, the crowd began to discuss Orochimaru's strength and achievements.

Among them, the most recent and most talked-about event was none other than his solo battle against a certain dōjutsu clan, a fight that was a complete crushing victory.

Since it wasn't just one fight, some bold jōnin had watched from afar, and as they spoke of it now, they described it with such vivid gestures that it sounded as if they had been the ones doing the fighting.

Not far away, the expressionless Uchiha clan members no longer looked as they had before; their faces were slightly stiff.

If not for the impending war, a few clansmen would surely have gone over to teach the storytelling jōnin a lesson.

"Master Orochimaru is truly amazing."

Listening to the surrounding discussion, Guy also looked as if he shared in the honor.

Anko looked at Guy with dissatisfaction. "Why do you call Lord Orochimaru 'Master'?"

Guy smiled. "When Master Orochimaru taught me taijutsu, he said I could call him that. If you don't believe me, you can ask Kakashi."

Seeing Kakashi nod in confirmation, Anko's face soured instantly, her eyes filled with annoyance, looking for all the world like someone who had been abandoned by her father.

Setting aside the events in front of the Hokage Building, when Orochimaru stepped into the conference room, the long table was almost surrounded by people.

Because the underground laboratory was far from the center of the village, Orochimaru was the last to arrive.

However, apart from the Third Hokage and Danzo, no one present dared to give him a cold look; the rumors circulating in the village recently had made them much more cautious.

Pulling out a chair at the head of the table, Orochimaru sat down and lifted his chin. The Hokage's assistant immediately hurried to his side to report the current intelligence.

After listening to the briefing, Orochimaru raised an eyebrow, feeling somewhat surprised.

Kumogakure had essentially mobilized its entire village this time. Aside from leaving enough ninjas to defend against a surprise attack from Iwagakure, almost everyone had been sent to the battlefield.

They were betting everything on this, taking advantage of Konoha's weakness to decide the outcome once and for all and completely crush the village.

The current Raikage actually had such audacity.

In that case, the previous strategy of relying solely on the Uchiha Police Force to respond was likely inappropriate, and even if he forced the suggestion, no one would agree to it.

However, the general line of thought did not need to change.

Orochimaru pondered for a moment, and the answer formed in his mind.

The core issue still being discussed at this meeting was nothing more than one thing: how to divide the troops?

How many forces should be used to deal with the surprise attack from Kumogakure? How many troops should be dispatched to guard the borders to prevent other ninja villages from kicking them while they were down?

And who should be sent to lead these two fronts?

Fighting Kumogakure head-on was undoubtedly the most dangerous mission; with the Cloud ninjas launching such a massive assault, the battlefield was destined to become extremely brutal.

Although the task of garrisoning and defending against other ninja villages was not easy, it was labor-intensive rather than life-threatening before the fighting actually broke out.

The village had just experienced the Nine-Tails Incident; some ninja clans were unlucky and suffered heavy casualties, while others remained unscathed, and the former naturally did not want to shoulder the burden of frontline combat.

However, none of this was a problem for Orochimaru.

If this ninja war were a game of shogi, he had long since prepared which pieces would be used for the attack.

Amidst the noisy discussion, Orochimaru suddenly spoke up, "The rest can be set aside for now; we must first consider one question.

Why exactly did Kumogakure launch this war? Does the Raikage really think that Kumogakure alone can destroy our Konoha?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the meeting room fell into silence. Many clan heads wore thoughtful expressions, and even the Third Hokage and the two Hokage Advisors could not help but frown.

That was correct; even after the Night of the Nine-Tails, where Konoha lost two Kage-level powerhouses and many mid-to-high-level ninjas, it was impossible for Kumogakure to defeat Konoha.

This was not the arrogance of the strongest ninja village of the past few decades; it was a fact, an obvious fact.

"Everyone, don't you find the current situation a bit familiar?"

Orochimaru tapped the table lightly, drawing everyone's attention, "It was the same situation when the First Hokage had just passed away."

A look of realization appeared on the Third Hokage's face; he knew what Orochimaru was about to say.

"This is the weakest moment for Konoha since it fell from its peak."

Under the suspicious gazes of the crowd, Orochimaru said calmly, "Kumogakure wants to recreate the First Shinobi World War."