Not long after Uchiha Madara decided on his successor plan, Iwagakure sent out a unit as expected, launching an attack on the Land of Fire from the northwest. The unit was led by Higashi Shito, an elite Iwagakure jonin.
Higashi Shito's force wasn't particularly large, but most of its members were battle-hardened elite ninja. For Konoha, which was already locked in fierce combat with Kirigakure on the eastern front, they posed a lethal threat.
After careful consideration, the Third Hokage finally decided to send the rookies who had just passed the Chunin Ninja Exams to join the war.
Konoha still had plenty of hidden ninja forces, but they belonged to Danzo and the Uchiha Clan, respectively, and the Third Hokage couldn't deploy any of them directly.
Danzo was eager for the Third Hokage to make a serious mistake in the war, forcing him to take responsibility and step down as Hokage. The Uchiha Clan, meanwhile, was unwilling to contribute to Konoha's war effort. In their previous negotiations, the Third Hokage had failed to get the result he wanted, as Uchiha Fugaku had repeatedly brushed him off, claiming that the clan needed to protect Konoha's rear.
Although this decision would cause Konoha to lose many young ninja before they had a chance to mature, just as Uchiha Madara had predicted, the Third Hokage had no choice under the circumstances.
The village's rookies had never been to a battlefield. They couldn't compare with seasoned ninja in experience, strength, or morale.
The Third Hokage decided to send most of the rookies to several active battle zones, while recalling some battle-tested ninja from each front. He would then reorganize them into a unit to intercept Iwagakure's forces.
That way, the rookies would be spread fairly evenly among the different units, minimizing the impact on the overall war effort while still providing enough manpower to get through the immediate crisis.
Since Obito Uchiha and Nohara Rin were Namikaze Minato's students, the Third Hokage sent them to join the unit holding off Terumi Mei.
Along with Obito Uchiha and Nohara Rin, other rookies from their year who had just become chunin—including Might Guy, Shiranui Genma, and Ebisu—were also sent to the battlefield.
Might Duy, a perennial genin, was also finally given the chance to go to war due to the dire situation, where he could fight side by side with his son, Might Guy.
Under the Third Hokage's arrangements, Konoha quickly reorganized a new unit. Led by the village's elite jonin, Mimura Hamaki, it headed northwest to confront the Iwagakure invaders.
But to the Third Hokage's dismay, bad news soon arrived from the northwestern front.
Iwagakure's forces were far stronger than the unit led by Mimura Hamaki. After an extremely brutal battle, more than half of Hamaki's ninja were wiped out.
With no other choice, Mimura Hamaki led the surviving forces in a fighting retreat. They eventually fell back to a place called Kannabi Bridge, where they dug in and held their ground, repeatedly sending subordinates to Konoha to ask the Third Hokage for reinforcements.
Kannabi Bridge was an extremely important location for the Land of Fire. If Iwagakure's forces broke through there, they would have a clear path into the prosperous heartland of the Land of Fire.
Even if the Iwagakure unit didn't attack Konoha, simply rampaging through the cities of the Land of Fire would cause devastating losses. As the military organization charged with protecting the Land of Fire, Konoha would inevitably bear the greatest responsibility for the failure.
At this point, the Third Hokage had no choice but to call on Namikaze Minato once again.
Namikaze Minato had mastered the Flying Thunder God Technique, which allowed him to travel swiftly between battlefields. His personal strength had also reached the peak of the Shinobi World's current public power rankings, so he should have no trouble dealing with the unit led by Iwagakure's Higashi Shito.
The forces led by Namikaze Minato and Terumi Mei were locked in a cold standoff. If Namikaze Minato could secretly rush to Kannabi Bridge and resolve the crisis, he could return to the battlefield before Terumi Mei realized what had happened.
The plan carried considerable risk. If Terumi Mei discovered Namikaze Minato's move, she could seize the chance to launch a sudden attack while he was away, inflicting heavy losses on Konoha all the same.
But in this situation, the Third Hokage had no choice but to take a risky gamble!
Namikaze Minato didn't hesitate when he received the order. He immediately made emergency arrangements at top speed, handing command of the unit to his subordinate, Nara Suzaku, before heading alone to Kannabi Bridge.
(Note: In the original story, Namikaze Minato set out from the village with Team Kakashi to support Kannabi Bridge. At the time, only four Konoha ninja remained there, including Mimura Hamaki.)
Nara Suzaku was a Konoha jonin from the Nara Clan. Along with his teammates Akimichi Tōshi and Yamanaka Santen, he formed Konoha's distinctive Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
The three were among Namikaze Minato's finest subordinates, and each had earned a place among Konoha's jonin in both strength and reputation. Nara Suzaku had inherited the Nara Clan's exceptional intellect, making him the ideal choice to temporarily take Namikaze Minato's place as commander.
Though Namikaze Minato had made his arrangements quickly and discreetly, he had no idea that a deeply concealed force was secretly watching his every move!
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