December 31, Konoha Year 37. New Year's Eve.
This was also the second New Year's Eve Konoha had spent at war—
Over the past three days, the atmosphere throughout Konoha had grown even more oppressive.
Many ninja families who had still been hoping their loved ones would come home on rotation to celebrate the new year now only hoped they were safe.
That day, Akaseki invited Minato to visit Kushina with him.
"It's even bleaker than last year..." Akaseki sighed as they walked down the street.
"That surprise attack from the Land of Sky really was... Who would've thought a little ninja village had something like that up its sleeve?" Minato shook his head.
Minato had returned three days earlier.
It was the intelligence he had brought back overnight that had cast such a heavy pall over Konoha.
Over the previous three months, Konoha's position on the battlefield had been excellent.
A month earlier, Mitokado Homura had successfully lobbied the Fire Capital. The Land of Fire had officially declared war on the Land of Wind, and Konoha's ninja had crossed the Land of Rain to fight Sunagakure inside the Land of Wind!
After becoming the first major ninja village in the era of hidden villages to have its own country invaded, Sunagakure had put up much fiercer resistance, bolstered by desperation and the advantage of fighting on home ground. Overall, however, Konoha still had it firmly suppressed.
After all, they didn't have the Uchiha Clan. Desperate troops were one thing; whether desperation guaranteed victory was another.
Konoha could have attacked the Land of Wind even more fiercely if it hadn't feared that the Stone Ninja's "master of balancing both sides" would betray their alliance once Konoha gained too much ground. The more they won, the more they had to guard